Thousands of Israeli religious nationalists have marched through Muslim parts of Jerusalem’s Old City, putting the city on the edge after violence during the same event last year helped spark an 11-day war between Israel and Hamas. Palestinian militant group in Gaza. Tira.
The annual flag march, in which the Israelis enter the very symbolic Damascus Gate and walk through the Muslim Quarter to the western wall waving the national flag, takes place toward the sunset on what Israel calls Day of Independence. Jerusalem, the celebration of the capture and annexation of East Jerusalem. in the 1967 war, an internationally unrecognized movement.
An Israeli man attacks a Palestinian woman near the Damascus gate. Photo: Quique Kierszenbaum
Often accompanied by violence, the march along the bustling Muslim route is seen as a profound provocation by Palestinians. The decision to move forward on Sunday despite a recent wave of violence in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories has drawn criticism from both the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank and neighboring Jordan, which remains in custody of Jerusalem’s Muslim holy sites. which warned that it could trigger more violence.
Crowds, made up mostly of young Orthodox Jews, began gathering at the Damascus Gate around 3 p.m., singing and dancing. As the afternoon progressed and their numbers increased, local Palestinians began to withdraw from public spaces and close their businesses.
Several fights erupted as protesters tried to break through the narrow streets of the Muslim quarter; both sides threw glass bottles and Israeli police broke up the fight with tear gas, rubber bullets and batons.
An ultra-Orthodox man spat and attacked an elderly Muslim woman, and the crowd mocked as the Palestinian Red Crescent tried to evacuate a wounded Palestinian through the mass of people. The rescue service said 62 people were injured by Israeli police, including 23 who needed hospitalization.
Israeli police said they had arrested more than 50 people suspected of disorderly conduct or assault on police officers and that five officers had been injured. Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett later issued a statement ordering police to show “intolerance” towards racist behavior.
When the call to the afternoon prayer sounded, the crowd began chanting “Death to the Arabs” as it struck the metal shutters of Palestinian shops and restaurants with flagpoles and flagpoles. Israeli media estimated that about 25,000 people attended. After the protesters marched on the Western Wall, stickers and graffiti of the Israeli flag with the Star of David with blue paint and pen were left on the doors and walls, as well as in the square in front of the Gate of David. Damascus.
This year, the march of the flag comes at a particularly tense time: in the last two months Israel has suffered its worst wave of terrorist attacks in years, killing 19 people, while the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) In retaliation, they raided the occupied East Jerusalem and left about 35 Palestinians dead, including Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Aqleh.
Palestinians and young Jews clash in Jerusalem’s Old City as Israelis celebrate what they call Jerusalem Day. Photo: Ariel Schalit / AP
Accompanied clashes between Israeli police and Palestinian protesters have injured hundreds at the Al-Aqsa Mosque site, which is sacred to both Muslims and Jews, who call it Temple Mount.
“It simply came to our notice then. He [Israelis] they were afraid to come, “said restaurant owner Nidal Hajjar, whose soldiers were not allowed to walk through the Muslim Quarter.” People in the United States, the United Kingdom, can come and go, but I can’t, though I was born here, “the 65-year-old said.” It’s always a disaster here, but it’s worse today. “
Some 3,000 Israeli police were deployed across Jerusalem on Sunday, with snipers patrolling the towers of the Damascus Gate. According to the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth, the IDF is on high alert in the Occupied Palestinian Territories and has adjusted the deployment of anti-missile batteries in anticipation of the possible launch of rockets from both Gaza and Lebanon.
“We are here every day, but today it is especially important because it symbolizes everything about living in Israel,” said Yael Mishan, a 28-year-old Israeli settler living in occupied East Jerusalem. and his three children. . “We are grateful to the army and the police for keeping us safe. If anyone is afraid of violence today it should be him, not us.”
Map of the ancient city of Jerusalem
Earlier in the day, some 2,600 Jewish pilgrims visited the Temple Mount with Israeli police, much higher than usual. The visit prompted some 40 Palestinians, who had barricaded themselves inside the mosque overnight, to throw stones and fireworks. Israeli police said in a statement that they closed the doors of the building and made several arrests before the situation calmed down around noon.
Informally, Jews may visit the site, but not pray at the site. In recent years, however, a growing number of Jewish visitors, sometimes praying or being escorted by police, have ignited long-standing Palestinian fears that Israel plans to annex the area. Israel says it is committed to maintaining the status quo and accuses Hamas of inciting recent violence.
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Last year, amid weeks of unrest in Jerusalem, the Israeli government changed the course of the last-minute flag march to avoid the Muslim quarter, but it was not enough to prevent clashes between Israeli police and Palestinians. on the Temple Mount. Violence on the ground prompted Hamas to fire a rocket bomb on Jerusalem, sparking last May’s war.
Despite calls for the cancellation or reorientation of this year’s march by some of his own coalition allies, Bennett decided to allow the parade to continue as planned.
A Hamas spokesman praised what they called “the great heroism” shown by the Palestinians at Aqsa on Sunday, but the group seems suspicious of re-engaging Israel in another round of fighting as it struggles to rebuild after the war of the year past and keep the devastated economy of the besieged Gaza Strip. floating.