Jerusalem will be the scene this Sunday of the controversial ‘march of the flags’, with which the Israelis remember the occupation of the eastern part of the citywhich coincides this year with weeks of heightened tensions between Israelis and Palestinians.
The parade, for which 3,000 policemen have been mobilized, is held on the so-called ‘Jerusalem Day’, in which Israel remembers the “reunification” of the city, whose eastern part was occupied by Israel in 1967 and annexed in 1980.
The vast majority of the international community has never recognized Israeli rule over East Jerusalem. Hours before it was to begin, an Israeli far-right leader, Itamar Ben Gvir, and other nationalists visited the Esplanade of the Mosques, in East Jerusalem.
“I have come to support the security forces and I expect the police to bring order to the Temple Mount (…) Today I have come to affirm that we, the State of Israel, are sovereign here” affirmed Itamar Ben Gvir.
The Esplanade is at the heart of the recent Israeli-Palestinian tensions in the Old City of Jerusalem. It is the third holiest place for Islam and the holiest for the Jews, who call it the Temple Mount.. The current status quo stipulates that Jews can enter the Esplanade but cannot pray there. The Palestinians denounce as “provocations” the entry of Jews into the place, whose access is also controlled by the Israeli forces.
In the streets of the Old City, dozens of young nationalist Jews sang and danced, waving white and blue Israeli flags, in front of surprised Palestinians, according to an ‘AFP’ journalist.
Anticipating the clashes, in the Muslim quarter of the Old City, Most of the stores closed this Sunday and the inhabitants remained locked up in their houses.
In parts of East Jerusalem, many Palestinians put Palestinian flags on the roofs and windows, as a sign of protest against this Israeli celebration, which will gather thousands of people.
(See also: Israeli Military Police Won’t Investigate Death of Shireen Abu Akleh.)
The Palestinians hope that East-Jerusalem will one day be the capital of their future state.
11 days of war
Last year, on Jerusalem Day and after days of clashes between Israelis and Palestinians in East Jerusalem, the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas fired rockets at Israel from the Gaza Strip, which responded with air strikes against this Palestinian enclave.
Gaza is ruled by Hamas and has been under an Israeli blockade for 15 years. The war left 260 Palestinians dead, including 66 children, while 14 people were killed in Israel. Hamas and other Palestinian groups warned these days that they will “respond” if the participants in the Israeli nationalist demonstration approach the Esplanade of the Mosques.
“We will not hesitate to use all means to prevent the incursion into our holy places and Israel will pay a high price“, Ghazi Hamad, one of the heads of Hamas in Gaza, assured ‘AFP’.
(Also: Strong clashes reported at Al Jazeera journalist’s funeral).
Israeli protesters are expected to enter the Old City through the Damascus Gate, heavily used by Palestinians, before moving towards the Western Wall, which Jews revere as a remnant of the Jerusalem Temple and at which they pray daily. .
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett confirmed that the march “It will be held on the planned route, as has been the case for decades”. That is, within the Old City, but without going through the Esplanade.
The parade will be a “personal” test for Bennett, who has embodied the Israeli nationalist right for years, according to the newspaper ‘Yediot Aharonot’.
According to analyst and former Israeli intelligence officer Shlomo Mofaz, Bennett is betting that “Hamas has no interest in another war and is now focused on rebuilding Gaza”. But if there is violence in Jerusalem and Palestinian casualties, this could prompt Hamas or other Palestinian armed groups, such as Islamic Jihad, to change their minds, he adds.
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