Israeli nationalists march through Jerusalem’s Old City

Thousands of mainly Israeli religious nationalists took part Wednesday in an annual march through a densely populated Palestinian neighborhood of Jerusalem’s Old City, with some of them chanting “Death to Arabs” in commemoration of Israel’s capture of east Jerusalem in the 1967 Mideast war.

Marchers convened outside the Damascus Gate, a central gathering place for Palestinians in east Jerusalem, chanting anti-Arab and anti-Islamic slogans, while dancing and waving Israeli flags as the procession kicked off. Some in the crowd scuffled with police, with five arrested for throwing objects at journalists.

Waving flags and many chanting anti-Arab slogans, thousands of Israeli nationalists marched through annexed east Jerusalem’s Old City on Wednesday, with main streets empty of Palestinians fearing attacks. With some of them chanting “Death to Arabs”, Israelis wave national flags during a march marking Jerusalem Day, an Israeli holiday celebrating the capture of east Jerusalem in the 1967 Mideast war, in front of the Damascus Gate of Jerusalem’s Old City, June 5, 2024.

Jerusalem, at the center of the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict, has been mostly calm during the nearly eight-month Israeli war with Hamas militants in Gaza. But the annual march is seen as provocative by Palestinians. In 2021, Hamas launched a barrage of rockets toward Jerusalem as that year’s march began, triggering a 12-day conflict in Gaza that also saw Jewish-Arab violence in Israeli cities.

The militant group urged Palestinians “to make today, Wednesday, a day of anger.”

This year’s march follows the shock October 7 attack by Hamas on Israel that killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians. Israel’s retaliatory offensive in Gaza has killed at least 36,550 people, also mostly civilians, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry.

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Israel considers all of Jerusalem to be its capital, but its annexation of east Jerusalem in 1967 is not internationally recognized. The Palestinians seek east Jerusalem as the capital of a future state, although Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected a two-state solution to resolve Mideast tensions.

Israeli police deployed 3,000 security personnel to ensure calm. At the insistence of Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who oversees the police, the march followed its traditional route, entering the Muslim Quarter of the Old City through Damascus Gate and ending at the Western Wall, the holiest place where Jews can pray. Palestinian shopkeepers closed in the Muslim Quarter in preparation.

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Police said the march would not enter the sprawling Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, the third holiest site in Islam. The hilltop where the mosque stands is the holiest site for Jews, who refer to it as the Temple Mount because it was the location of the Jewish temples in antiquity.

Perceived encroachments on the site have set off widespread violence on several occasions going back decades.

‘Rampage of settlers’
Police said they deployed officers throughout the city to “maintain public order, safety and secure property, as well as direct traffic” during the march.

As tight streets became packed with religious youth groups entering the Old City in waves, police had little space to prevent acts of petty vandalism on Arab businesses.

The march ended Wednesday evening at its normal terminus, the Western Wall, the holiest place where Jews can pray.

On Wednesday, Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh condemned the event.

“The rampage of settlers in Jerusalem confirms that Jerusalem is the focus of the conflict, and our people will not rest until the occupation ends and an independent Palestinian state is established with Jerusalem as its capital,” he said in a statement.

This year’s march comes nearly eight months after Hamas’s October 7 attack, which resulted in the deaths of 1,194 people in Israel, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.

Israel’s retaliatory offensive in Gaza has killed at least 36,586 people, also mostly civilians, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry.