Occupied Jerusalem- The anxiety of Jerusalemites about the so-called “Unification of Jerusalem” day begins early every year with the launch of extremist calls to carry out a mass storming of Al-Aqsa, and the exceptional preparations of the Israeli police for this occasion in Jerusalem, which is punctuated by a march of Israeli flags in which the most extremist settlers participate, during which they attack Jerusalemites and their property.
This day is considered a “national holiday” to commemorate Israel’s control over what remains of the city of Jerusalem, and the occupation of its eastern part, in particular the Old City and Al-Aqsa Mosque, during the June 1967 war.
On Wednesday morning, hundreds of settlers gathered at the Mughrabi Gate, one of the doors of Al-Aqsa Mosque, and the door was closed after about 1,600 extremists stormed, marking a 22% increase over the past year 2023, during which 1,262 settlers stormed the mosque on the same occasion.
Settlers perform provocative dances in the streets of Old Jerusalem and in the vicinity of Al-Aqsa Mosque, to celebrate the anniversary of the occupation of East Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa Mosque in the year of the setback. pic.twitter.com/3yta8BZtEi
– Tel Aviv Tribune Net | Jerusalem (@Aljazeeraquds) June 5, 2024
Dancing and singing in Al-Aqsa
In light of the severe restrictions on the entry of worshipers to the first qibla, and preventing most of them from reaching it, the settlers were given the opportunity to perform all their ceremonial and religious rituals related to this holiday inside the mosque, especially in the eastern area and between Bab al-Silsilah and al-Qatanin in the western wall, where the intrusive rounds end.
The settlers danced, sang the “Israeli national anthem”, raised flags and waved collectively repeatedly, and some of them wore T-shirts reading “The Temple Mount is in our hands.” On these T-shirts was drawn a hand destroying the Dome of the Rock chapel, and another raising the “Temple” that extremist groups wish to build in its place. This is the prayer hall.
Hundreds of settlers deliberately stormed the courtyards of Al-Aqsa Mosque barefoot, considering it a “Jewish sanctuary.” Also, for the first time since 1967, a settler brought black prayer scrolls (tefillin in Hebrew) into the mosque, and all of these violations took place with full protection from the Israeli occupation police.
The Minister of Heritage of the occupation government, who called for the bombing of Gaza with a nuclear bomb, participates in the Judaization flags march pic.twitter.com/I8rli0tGWs
– Capital News Network (@alasimannews) June 5, 2024
Attacks on Jerusalemites
In the vicinity of the mosque, Jerusalemites were not spared from attacks during the settlers’ exit from Al-Aqsa. They deliberately harmed the people and merchants of the Old City by cursing them, repeating anti-Arab phrases, and assaulting them by beating and spitting.
Elderly Jerusalemite Fatima Khader told Tel Aviv Tribune Net that what pained her most this year was her inability to reach Al-Aqsa Mosque, due to her deteriorating health condition resulting from the occupation forces’ repeated attacks on her over the past years, especially during the “Unification of Jerusalem” Day.
She added that she feels “deep oppression and frustration on this occasion every year, because the space of Jerusalem is polluted by Israeli flags, and Al-Aqsa squares are desecrated by settlers’ incursions.”
A group of female settlers loudly chanted the Israeli national anthem (Hatikvah) inside Al-Aqsa Mosque, this afternoon, waving occupation flags, amid a complete evacuation of worshipers from the mosque.#Jerusalem_The_Compass pic.twitter.com/NeG1QQxkrM
– Jerusalem Compass (@alqudsalbawsala) June 5, 2024
Jerusalemites are prisoners of their homes
Fatima is not the only one who finds herself surrounded by all forms of injustice and oppression. Rather, about 40,000 Jerusalemites living in the Old City find themselves forcibly confined to their homes, due to the closure of all entrances to the Old City, and forcing its merchants to close the doors of their shops.
Secretary of the Arab Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Jerusalem, Hijazi Al-Rishq, told Tel Aviv Tribune Net that the owners of 2,100 shops in the Old City and the surrounding commercial streets are affected and are forced to close them so that the settlers can celebrate and have an orgy on this occasion, which Jerusalemites pessimize before its arrival every year.
Al-Rishq pointed out that the Israelis’ celebration of the 57th anniversary of the completion of the occupation of Jerusalem takes place under difficult living conditions, due to the Israeli war on Gaza that has been ongoing for 8 months.
He added, “As soon as the police announced the deployment of 3,000 members in the city of Jerusalem to secure the parade of flags and the settlers’ ceremonial rituals, it gave the impression to Jerusalemites not to go to the Old City and its surroundings to avoid friction with the police or exposure to settlers’ provocations.”
Al-Rishq pointed out that the provocations to which the merchants of the Bab Hatta neighborhood in the Old City were subjected last year on this occasion ended with the arrest of the merchants and the release of the extremists who smashed the storefronts of the shops, vandalized their contents, and assaulted their owners.
Many merchants, especially those whose shops are located in the area of Bab al-Silsilah, Al-Wad Street, and Bab al-Mujahideen in the Old City, are forced not to open their shops even in the morning before the arrival of the flag march, because the settlers move around in small groups, waving flags and deliberately, as they pass by, sabotaging Palestinian property.
Al-Rishq concluded his speech by saying, “Jerusalem is an economically afflicted city, and the day of the unification of Jerusalem increases and deepens this catastrophe.”
He cursed and spat
Because the “Flag Dance Parade” is considered the most prominent celebration on this day, and it starts annually from the agreed-upon gathering place west of Jerusalem after the gathering of tens of thousands of settlers, Damascus Gate, one of the most prominent gates of the Old City, is considered their largest gathering place, as this year they deliberately spit on journalists. They were harassed and attacked every Jerusalemite they encountered in the vicinity of the place.
The extremists did not leave the stands of this historic gate until after cursing the Arabs and the Prophet Muhammad – may God bless him and grant him peace – and repeating the phrase “Muhammad died” en masse.
The curtain on the celebration of this day was lowered after arriving at Al-Buraq Square, passing through Al-Wad Road and the Islamic Quarter in the Old City, but the journey of Jerusalemites begins the next morning in restoring what the settlers damaged after the assault on their property. Merchants will also open the doors of their shops, optimistic about a near future in which the black cloud of war will clear. And life returns to their city and its markets again.
