JERUSALEM (AP) – A group of young Israeli Jews chanting “Death to the Arabs” and singing “Your Village on Fire” passed through Muslim neighbours in Jerusalem’s old town on Monday during their annual march marking Israel’s eastern conquest.
The Palestinian shopkeeper was closed early, and police lined up alleys before the march. At one point, the officer raised his arms at the celebration and hugged the marcher. It was on fire, and the temperature hit 98 degrees Fahrenheit (37 degrees Celsius) in the late afternoon.
Police maintained a meticulous clock as demonstrators jumped, danced and sang.
A few hours ago, a small group of protesters, including Israeli members of Congress, stormed a compound in East Jerusalem, belonging to the Palestinian refugee agency known as the UNRWA.
This March commemorates the capture of East Jerusalem by Israel during the 1967 Middle East War, including sacred sites for Jews, Christians and Muslims, over the Old Town and its sacred sites. The event threatened to inflame the tensions that existed in the city after nearly 600 days of war in Gaza.
Jerusalem is at the heart of the conflict between the Israelites and the Palestinians. Each sees the city as an important part of its national and religious identity. This is one of the most cumbersome issues of conflict, and is often a flash point.
Israel considers everything in Jerusalem to be an eternal, undivided capital. The annexation of East Jerusalem is not internationally recognized. Palestinians want an independent state with East Jerusalem as their capital.
Last year, the procession was when ultranationalist Israelis attacked Palestinian journalists in the Old Town, calling for violence against the Palestinians in the first year of the war in Gaza. Four years ago, the march helped launch an 11-day war in Gaza.
Tour buses carrying young ultranist Jews lined up near the entrance to the old town, bringing hundreds of people from outside Jerusalem, including Israel-occupied West Bank settlements.
After March of this year, the Arab shopkeeper went outside and started rubbing the shop.
Police, who called the procession a “flag dance,” detained many people and said they “acted swiftly to prevent violence, conflict and provocation.”
Speaking at the archaeological park in East Jerusalem, near Palestine, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged to “preserve the sovereignty of the entire united Jerusalem and Israel.” He said the government recognizes Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and encourages foreign embassies to invest billions of shekels in the city’s development.
The Propeace organisation working with the Palestinians in Jerusalem and the free Jerusalem group volunteers working with the Palestinians have sought to position themselves among marchers and inhabitants to prevent violence.
One shopkeeper swept the floor after Malcher turned the bale of the veil leaf. A group of young Jewish Israelis chased the Palestinian woman through the streets and called her “charmouta.”
“This is our home, this is our condition,” one protester cried out to the Palestinian woman.
“Leave you from here!” she replied in Hebrew.
Increased Jewish visits to the Holy Land of Flashpoint
Itamar Ben Gwil, Israel’s far-right national security minister who oversees Israeli police, visited the holy site for Jews and Muslims, with the al-Aqsa mosque and the rock dome. We could see Israeli lawmaker Yitzhak Kroyser praying.
The invaded invasions by Jews on the site have caused widespread violence on many occasions dating back decades. Hamas accused Israel of “secrating” the site when it launched the attack on October 7, 2023.
“We are marking Jerusalem’s holiday,” said Ben Gwyr, accompanied by other lawmakers and rabbis. “There are so many Jews overflowing the mountains of temples. How lovely to see them.”
Beyadenu, an activist group that encourages Jewish visits, said dozens of people rose to the Israeli flag-covered complex and prayed there.
Since Israel acquired this place in 1967, due to a tenuous understanding between Israel and Muslim religious authorities of the compounds, Jews who respect the place as a temple mountain, the location of the biblical temple, visited it but did not pray.
Ben Goville said he is changing that status quo. Palestinians say they have been eroded for a long time due to the increased number of Jewish visits.
“Thank God today, it is possible to pray at Temple Mount,” Ben Gwil said, according to a statement in his office.
The Prime Minister’s Office said there was no change in the current situation. Police said Monday’s march would not be on the site.
For many in Israel, Jerusalem Day is a pleasant opportunity to show the redemption moments of the history of the country, where access to the major Jewish holy sites of the Western Wall is restored and the cities are unified. However, in recent years, the day march in Jerusalem has been ruled by young nationalists and religious Israelites.
Protesters attack UN compounds in Jerusalem
UNRWA West Bank coordinator Roland Friedrich, about 12 Israeli protesters, including Julia Malinovsky, one of the legislators behind Israeli law that banned Israeli law, climbed the main gate with Israeli police in sight.
Protesters raised a flag calling for the conversion of the compound into an Israeli settlement. The Israeli Housing Minister said last year he instructed the ministry to “find ways to return the area to Israel and see how to use it for housing.”
Israel claims that the UN denied that the government agency, Gaza’s biggest aid provider, had accused Hamas of invasion.
There were no immediate comments from Israeli police.
The compound has been in the air since the end of January after UNRWA asked staff not to work from there. The United Nations says it has no vacant compounds and is protected under international law.
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