Tens of thousands of mostly young and right-wing Israelis marched through East Jerusalem's occupied Old City on Wednesday, brandishing Israeli flags and anti-Palestinian slogans at people living in the Muslim Quarter.
The Old City braced itself for the violence it has sadly become accustomed to during past marches, as protesters physically attacked people, including Palestinian shopkeepers and journalists, in an attempt to enforce what they perceive as Israeli sovereignty over the occupied Palestinian territory. .
But this year, standing in the path of far-right protesters in an effort to protect innocent bystanders were around 60 activists from the Jewish-Palestinian activist group Standing Together.
An unhappy and angry 'victory' march
The Flag March, part of Israel's broader Jerusalem Day, has been growing since 1967, when a few religious students accompanied ultra-Orthodox nationalist rabbi Zvi Yehuda Kook through the streets of Jerusalem to commemorate his capture by Jordanian forces.
Since then, the event has grown: there were up to 70,000 participants in 2022, when gangs of ultra-nationalist Israeli youth rampaged through the Old City.
More than 160 Palestinians were injured then, including those hit by live ammunition fired by police, and many required hospital treatment.
The route itself, which deliberately runs through the Muslim quarter of the Old City, has long been a source of controversy.
Starting at the Great Synagogue of Jerusalem in downtown, protesters sing and dance through the city, accompanied by orchestras playing Yeshiva music on the back of trucks, before entering the Old City through the Dung Gate or Gate of Damascus.
They then cross the Muslim Quarter to reach the Western Wall.
The numbers for Wednesday's march have not yet been tallied.
However, the images show thousands of men, mostly young, rampaging through the streets, attacking people and journalists who were there.
מאות ביריונים הגיעו לירושלים בהסעות מההתנחלויות, להשתולל בעיר העתיקה ולהתקיף בתי-עסק של פלסטינים, מול עיני המשטרה. פעילי המשמר ההומניטרי עומדים משעות הבוקר מולם, כדי לתעד, לספק ת מגי נה, ולהכריח את השוטרים לעשות את תפקידם.
>> pic.twitter.com/0UqfaksIfi— עומדים ביחד نقف معًا Standing together🟣 (@omdimbeyachad) June 5, 2024
“Hundreds of thugs arrived in Jerusalem on transports from the settlements, to raze the Old City and attack Palestinian businesses, in front of the police. Humanitarian guard activists have been in front of them since early morning, to document, provide a protective presence and force police officers to do their duty.”
standing together
Standing Together co-director Alon Lee Green, 36, says he confronted school-aged protesters, who had been bussed from religious establishments across Israel and the occupied West Bank to march in Jerusalem.
“They shouted things like, 'Hamas should kill you,'” he said.
Some of the group's activists were slapped and many were pushed. Fortunately, none required medical treatment, Lee Green confirmed.
“We were especially concerned about the Palestinian activists we had with us,” he said. “They had made the decision to stand between the far right and the Palestinians in the Old City.
“That's incredibly brave.”
In addition to the thousands of far-right Jews who flooded East Jerusalem's Old City yesterday, there were some 3,000 police officers deployed in the area, ostensibly to maintain order.
But, Standing Together says, since the appointment of far-right provocateur Itamar Ben-Gvir as Minister of National Security two years ago, security forces have taken to new extremes the tendency to support settlers and Jews during clashes with the Palestinians.
“As minister, Ben-Gvir is not supposed to control the police at any level beyond the overall strategy, but he does,” Lee Green continued.
“Everyone, from the police chief on down, knows that their success, or not, depends on supporting Ben-Gvir.
“He has remade the police in his own image. “We have lost them.”
Speaking to the crowd before the march, Ben-Gvir was unequivocal in his intention.
Addressing energetic, flag-waving crowds, he said the purpose of this year's march was to signal to Hamas that “Jerusalem is ours.”
That same day, Israeli media reported that some 1,600 Jewish pilgrims had entered the grounds of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, one of Islam's holiest sites known to Jews as the Temple Mount.
Under the site's current legal status and in accordance with a rabbinic prohibition, Jews are prohibited from praying there.
However, one Jewish activist reportedly wore tefillin, leather straps wrapped around the forearms, while walking around the site, constituting an act of worship that violates Israeli law.
Speaking on Radio Galei Israel later that day, Ben-Gvir appeared to contradict both existing laws and the prime minister, telling listeners: “I am also happy that the Jews went up to the Temple Mount and prayed there today,” he said. “It is very important. My policy is very clear on this matter: Jews can be anywhere in Jerusalem, pray anywhere.”
The growing extremes
Across Israel, figures like Ben-Gvir and his hardline colleague, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who also participated in yesterday's march, are gaining influence.
From historical outliers in previous governments, growing support for hardline positions in much of society has catapulted their agenda to the heart of Israeli politics, establishing itself as an effective bloc to US ceasefire proposals. and urging the current attack on Rafah in Gaza.
In recent weeks, Ben-Gvir used his influence over the police to effectively enable the looting of aid convoys to Gaza, a campaign overseen by the far right.
Standing Together, which has helped protect aid convoys to Palestine, said it witnessed what it described as police complicity in the attacks.
Many of those attacking the convoys are religious Zionists who envision Israel's future as one completely devoid of Palestinians and therefore support policies of settlement building and violence against Palestinians, said Standing Together activist Sally Abed.
These groups have been emboldened under Israel's current government, the most right-wing in its history.
“They're the extreme of the extreme,” Abed said.
“There is serious carelessness or negligence on the part of the police. It is a complete collaboration,” he added.
Abed's claim was confirmed by Rachel Touitou, spokesperson for Tvaz9, one of the main groups behind the attacks, who confirmed to Al Jazeera that the group was acting based on information provided by security forces.
Abed said that while settler groups like Tvaz9 are not the same groups that have been carrying out violent attacks against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, they do share an ideological connection.
Pushing back.
However, on Thursday morning in East Jerusalem, Standing Together activists are busy removing many of the traces of yesterday's far-right provocations.
Stickers proclaiming “Muhammad is dead” are removed from ancient stone walls, competing for space with graffiti and other stickers saying “Kahane lives,” a reference to an ultranationalist former rabbi convicted on terrorism charges.
Lee Green admitted that the number of hardliners and ultra-Orthodox people is increasing, but “they are still a minority. A large group, it is true, but a minority at the same time.”
“Despite all the noise, you have to remember that there are only about 500,000 settlers in the West Bank,” he said. “We outnumbered them. We just need to organize around a single idea and push back.”
Standing Together's membership has skyrocketed since the war in Gaza began, making them a growing power within the country, Lee Green added.
“This is a battle. It is a battle for society,” he said, “if we win, we will get a new country, a country where both Israelis and Palestinians can exist, free and equal.”
