‘God gave us this city’: Israeli nationalists join Jerusalem Day protest to mark city’s capture | Israel
Israeli nationalist demonstrators chanted “Death to Arabs”, “Let your villages burn” and “Gaza is a cemetery” during a state-sponsored march in Jerusalem to commemorate the anniversary of the city’s capture and annexation.
The annual assertion of Jewish control over Palestine’s East Jerusalem has become more extreme in recent years, and Thursday’s incident culminated in national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir unfurling the Israeli flag in front of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, the holiest Islamic site in the city.
Most Palestinians in the Muslim quarter of the Old City had closed their shops and returned to their homes before the march began, but members of radical Jewish groups who entered fought with Palestinian residents still there, with both sides throwing chairs at each other, until they were separated by police who forced their way into the city that afternoon.
“I came to show the whole world that this is our city. This is the Holy Land. God gave us this country and this city,” said 19-year-old hiker Ariel Amichai.
When asked what message the march wanted to send to Palestinians in Jerusalem, he replied: “They need to leave. This is our country. And they can’t be here and try to stab us or kill us.”
Amichai, who hails from Modi’in, 43 kilometers from Jerusalem, said he believes Jerusalem Day, which celebrates the capture of the city’s east side in 1967, is the only day Jews can enter the Muslim quarter through the Damascus Gate, but Israeli Jews and Palestinians use the gate every day.
The marchers were bussed from across Israel and settlements in the occupied West Bank in a massive operation funded by the Jerusalem municipality and government ministries. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich also attended Thursday’s march.
After Palestinians left the Old City, much of the tension was between government-backed marchers and members of a Jewish group. Standing TogetherHe came to protect Palestinians from political violence.
Suf Patishi, one of the organizers of Standing Together, said that on a day full of risks, a record number of 400 volunteers showed up wearing high-visibility vests in the organization’s trademark purple.
“We really wanted to comb every corner of the city to make sure we were preventing attacks on Palestinians,” Patishi said. “Yes, it is dangerous for us, but not as dangerous as it is for the Palestinians who live here.”
The protective cordon of counter-protesters included several religious Jews. An ultra-orthodox man with a long gray beard and a golden coat, he said he came from northern Israel and gave his name only as David.
“I am horrified by the violent behavior of people in my community,” David said. “I’m a man of faith and piety, and they’re doing this in our name, and I felt like I had to do something to counter that. It’s a desecration of God’s name, so the only way to fix it is to do the opposite, Kiddush Hashem, sanctify God’s name.”
At the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, known to Jews as the Temple Mount, Ben-Gvir danced with his supporters, singing “The Temple Mount is in our hands” while unfurling the Israeli flag. The national security minister has launched a campaign to erode the 59-year-old status quo dating back to the Israeli takeover of East Jerusalem and the West Bank, where non-Muslims are banned from praying at the holy site.
On Thursday evening, Ben-Gvir wrote on his Telegram social media account: “59 years after the liberation of Jerusalem, I hoisted the Israeli flag on the Temple Mount and we can proudly say: We restored the administration of the Temple Mount.”
