The mobilization of religious ultra-nationalists marks a high point for Israelis in the so-called ‘Jerusalem Day’ celebrations. The march, which runs through the Muslim Quarter in the Old City, is seen as a provocation by Palestinians and, a year ago, marked the start of the 11-day war between Israel and Hamas. After weeks of violent events and tensions, the parade raises the alert about a new outbreak.
Israelis and Palestinians have been thinking about this Sunday, May 29, for days. The former with the expectation of commemorating their particular ‘Jerusalem Day’; the latter holding their breath and preparing for the worst, especially in the Gaza Strip –which still remembers the war of a year ago–, but also in the Old City of Jerusalem.
There – an area occupied by Israel – up to 16,000 Israeli ultra-nationalists are expected to participate in events such as dances at Jaffa Gate (one of the seven open entrances to the City) and wave flags with the Star of David from Damascus Gate to The wall of lamentations.
The Christian and Muslim quarters are accessed through Damascus. The tour, in Israeli eyes, is the culmination of the celebration that they consider the reunification of the “capital” Jerusalem after the Six Day War, 55 years ago. It is a parade that annually summons and runs through the Israeli extreme right.
But for the Palestinians, this ‘March of the Flags’ through them reinforces the daily occupation since 1967; if they are merchants or residents, it forces them to close their shops and denies them to walk through the main streets of the walled City; in addition to enduring the chant of hate “death to the Arabs”.
Over the years, this aggression has been brought forward to the Israeli date on Jerusalem, swelled by an increase in violence, with consequences such as the 2021 ‘March of the Flags’ that led to an unequal eleven-day war between Israel , Hamas and groups related to the movement. That ‘Jerusalem Day’ ended with the sounding of anti-aircraft alarms in the city for the first time since 2014.
Despite the 230 Palestinian deaths in Gaza, and the 12 Israeli deaths, and despite warnings of further escalation, the Israeli Ministry of Public Security and the Israel Police Commissioner approved all the acts. Given this, Hamas’s pronouncements have increased and on this eve it returned to haranguing the Palestinians to demonstrate on the “day of anger for Jerusalem.”
Islamic Jihad was more forceful: the Israeli march “will lead to a huge explosion on several levels… The resistance is always fully ready to wage confrontations to defend our holy place.”
The Israeli Government, although divided, supports the ‘March’
Thus, for days now, the Israeli political agenda has also been focused on the ‘March’, although with conflicting opinions among the leaders of the ruling coalition, tied for seats with the opposition in Parliament (Knesset) and made up of eight parties of various political trends.
According to the newspaper ‘The Times of Israel’, fearing that the ultra-nationalist mobilization will generate a new wave of violence, US officials asked the government to divert the route, a proposal endorsed by Defense Minister Benny Gantz and the Foreign, Yair Lapid.
However, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Public Security Minister Omer Barlev decided to keep the original route, which runs from Safra Square – the seat of the Jerusalem Municipality – to the Wailing Wall.
According to the Israeli president, this route has been the same for decades and predicted that the event will take place in a safe and orderly manner. In addition, he defended that, as usual, the march will not reach the Esplanade of the Mosques, a place where Hamas and the Palestinian Authority have called for mobilization on Sunday to “thwart the plans of the occupation.”
If privately he may have had reservations, in public Gantz defended holding the march, a change of tone from 2021, when he called for its cancellation because he felt it put public order at risk. This time, the Minister of Defense defended “sovereignty” to celebrate “the type of march we want.”
Among the opposing government voices were two members of the left-wing Meretz party. One, Tamar Zandberg, Minister for Environmental Protection, called the tour an “act of defiance” that will put “everyone in danger”. Another, Deputy Economy Minister Yair Golan, said it was a “wrong decision” to allow the parade through Damascus Gate. None rejected the realization of the march, but the chosen route.
With the concerns in the air, the UN special coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Tor Wennesland, urged “all parties” to “exercise the utmost restraint and make wise decisions to avoid another violent conflict that will only be will take more lives.”
As we approach 29 May, I call upon all sides to exercise maximum restraint & make wise decisions to avoid another violent conflict that will only claim more lives.
I have been in contact w/ all concerned parties & urge their leaders to hear this call. #Jerusalem
My statement👇 pic.twitter.com/0HREWrkS5D— Tor Wennesland (@TWennesland) May 28, 2022
Controversial measures and incendiary messages, in the run-up to the ‘March’
If it is about appeasing the spirits, there are decisions that go in the opposite direction. For example, according to various local media, the Israeli forces would allow the far-right parliamentarian Itamar Ben Gvir to enter the Esplanade of the Mosques on Sunday, prior to the tour.
This type of visit by Jews to the Al-Aqsa Mosque, a space reserved for Muslim worship, causes rejection among Palestinians, even more so when it comes to a figure like Ben Gvir, a recognized provocateur, who in the past has advocated ” expulsion” of the Arabs.
In return, according to the local ‘Channel 13’, the Israeli police have warned that the presence of Arab legislators at the Damascus Gate before the ‘March of the Flags’ will be considered a “provocation” and they would not be allowed to remain there.
And in this line, the Kan public station broadcast that the police will not act against individuals who chant racist slogans during the mobilization, but will intervene if the chants are in groups.
Also, in the previous days, with the public agenda packed on the subject, some media have reflected incendiary speeches, far from the calls for “moderation.”
Social networks echoed a series of polls by Israeli ‘Channel 12’, in which they asked their viewers about questions such as “do you agree with the statement ‘death to the Arabs’?” or “on a scale of 1 to 10, do you agree with the statement that it is time for a second ‘Nakba’?” – a term by which the Palestinians refer to their ‘catastrophe’ or forced exodus of more than 700,000 Palestinians after the creation of the State of Israel in 1948.
And while some seem to want to put out the fire with fuel, preparations for an eventual escalation are moving forward. The Israeli Army claims to have the Iron Dome anti-aircraft batteries – its defensive system – ready and has deployed 3,000 agents. For their part, in Sderot, a city bordering the Gaza Strip, they have prepared mobile shelters.
Meanwhile, the Hamas-affiliated Shehab agency reported that Palestinian groups have been testing missile launches in the Mediterranean Sea.
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