Israelis flood Jerusalem for annual celebration of city's capture

Crowds of Israelis flooded into Jerusalem’s Old City to mark annual celebrations of the city’s capture by Israel, clashing at times with Palestinian residents and shouting insults, Al-Monitor via AFP reported on May 26th.

The event, known as Jerusalem Day, pays tribute to Israel’s takeover of East Jerusalem in the 1967 Arab-Israeli War. Israel claims the whole city as its undivided capital, including the east. However, foreign nations not recognise this claim. Rather, Palestinians seek east Jerusalem as the capital of a prospective state.

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir went to the Al-Aqsa mosque compound, which Jews refer to as the Temple Mount, to celebrate the day. “I ascended to the Temple Mount for Jerusalem Day, and prayed for victory in the war” and for the release of captives kept in Gaza, he said. His trips to the site often provoke outrage among Palestinians and their allies.

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The Al-Aqsa mosque stands as Islam’s third-holiest site and is emblematic of Palestinian identity. Jews revere the Temple Mount as their holiest place, although Jewish prayers are prohibited there.

Israeli marchers, the majority being religious Jews, waved flags, danced, and moved through the Old City. Youths were confronting Palestinian shop workers, schoolchildren, and other members of the public. Some uttered violent slogans such as “death to Arabs” and “Gaza belongs to us.”

The march ended at the Western Wall, where large crowds gathered. “We arrived here and conquered Jerusalem, the Temple Mount and the Western Wall,” said, Yosef Azoulai, a 21-year-old Yeshiva student. “So we celebrate this day in which we won over all our enemies.”

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Israeli authorities deployed heavy security and responded to numerous public disturbances. Peace activists offered flowers to Palestinians as a gesture of reconciliation. Orly Likhovski from Israel Religious Action Center said they hoped to convey “a Jewish voice for a different kind of Jerusalem”.

Meanwhile, the Israeli cabinet held a symbolic meeting in Silwan, where Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to “keep Jerusalem united, whole, and under Israeli sovereignty.” Meanwhile, Middle East Eye reported the death toll in Gaza has reached 52,908.

Al-Monitor via AFP, Middle East Eye