Today is the Israeli holiday of Jerusalem Day.
This marks the end of the 1967 war and the beginning of the illegal Israeli occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem, which Israelis claim as the “reunification” of Jerusalem.
Official ceremonies and memorials are held throughout Israel to mark the day.
Chief among these is the controversial Dance of the Flags, or March of the Flags, to use its more modern term.
Participation has grown over the years, from a few students who accompanied Zionist leader Rabbi Zvi Yehuda Kook in 1967, to 70,000 mostly young nationalist Israelis who took part in the event two years ago. which was practically defined by its violence.
Am KeLavi, the group organizing the march, says it anticipates between 60,000 and 100,000 people will attend today’s event, the families of those killed in the Hamas-led attack on the 7 October expected to play a leading role.
Last year’s march – following a ceasefire negotiated after five days of hostilities between the Israeli army and Palestinian factions – took place without major incident, although there were had isolated attacks against Palestinians.
Tens of thousands of people expected to march
Tens of thousands of far-right and nationalist demonstrators are expected to march through the Muslim Quarter of Jerusalem’s Old City, accompanied by mobile bands on the back of trucks. In previous years, they have chanted anti-Palestinian slogans, such as “Death to the Arabs” and “Let your village burn,” while attacking residents.
In 2022, protesters used violence and pepper spray against residents of the Old City, injuring at least 79 Palestinians, 28 of whom required hospitalization.
The previous year, rockets fired by Hamas at the city sparked 11 days of hostilities.
Could they take another route?
The route of the march has always been a source of controversy, both in Israel and abroad.
There are two routes. The two take protesters from central Jerusalem to the Western Wall.
One passes through the Dung Gate to enter the Old City, while the second passes through the Damascus Gate and enters the Muslim Quarter.
Shai Rosengarten, deputy director of the right-wing advocacy group Im Tirtzu protesting today, said the road through the Old City was not a provocation, but rather a “natural and historical right” of the Jewish people.
“In every house that soldiers pass in Gaza, they find photos of the Al-Aqsa mosque on the Temple Mount, Hamas called the (October 7) operation the flooding of Al-Aqsa,” he said. he declared yesterday in a press release.
“Tomorrow, with God’s help, we will fill Jerusalem with a flood of Israeli flags, strengthen the spirit of the people and remind the Middle East that we are here to stay,” he concluded.
And the police?
Ultra-Orthodox provocateur and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir will oversee the deployment of 3,000 police officers, ostensibly to maintain order.
However, he also announced his intention to actively participate in today’s march.
Rather than promising law and order, he threatened to hijack the march and use it to occupy the Al-Aqsa Mosque, one of Islam’s holiest sites, located in a compound known to Jews as name of Temple Mount.
“We have to hit them where it matters most to them. Every year they said it wasn’t appropriate and it wasn’t the time. But the opposite is true. If we give them ground, we will have October 7,” Ben-Gvir told Israeli Army Radio.
“We must come and say that the Temple Mount is ours and Jerusalem is ours. If we consider ourselves owners of the area, our enemies will respect us,” he said.
In addition to the presence of police officers, who operate under the instructions of Ben-Gvir, the Jerusalem municipality contributes to the financing of Am KeLavi.
In addition, funds come from the Ministry of Education and the Society for the Rehabilitation and Development of the Jewish Quarter.
Do all Israelis support this?
The march is not universally popular and still faces resistance from the increasingly small ranks of Israel’s liberal and left-wing sphere.
An editorial in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz called the march a “festival of ugly Jewish brutality,” while Laura Wharton, a Jerusalem city council member and member of the left-wing Meretz party, was quoted in media reports as saying: “I am horrified . that while we are at war, trying to defend our borders, we support such a provocative event.”
Also present at the march will be activists from the organization Standing Together, who will bring dozens of volunteers to protect Palestinians from any violence from protesters and potentially police.