Occupied Jerusalem (QNN)- Thousands of Israeli settlers are expected to take part Thursday in the so-called “Flag March” through the Old City organized by far-right groups and traditionally marked by violence and anti-Palestinian racist chants, celebrating the occupation of Jerusalem.
This week, Israeli settlers will commemorate Jerusalem Day, a national holiday marking the occupation of East Jerusalem by Israeli forces after the 1967 war.
The festival begins at sunset on Thursday, 14 May and ends at nightfall on 15 May.
Before the official Flag March began, a mob of Israeli teenagers harassed and taunted Palestinian Jerusalemites, as well as journalists and activists, spitting, shouting racist slogans, and throwing chairs and coffee at passersby as they walked through the Old City.
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An Israeli police officer in Jerusalem's Old City pushed Haaretz journalist Linda Dayan while wearing a press card after refusing her request to accompany her out of the area. Teenagers and youth, seemingly as young as 10 years old, threw water and coffee at her, and stole the phone of another journalist in the area. The mob also shouted homophobic slurs at the journalists.
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The focus of the holiday is the March of Flags, during which tens of thousands of ultra-nationalist Israelis and settlers march through the city waving Israeli flags.
The ultranationalist "Flag March" has been ongoing for years. The Israeli occupation established “Jerusalem Day” in 1968, a year after they occupied the Palestinian city, to celebrate their conquest.
“The participants hold a large march accompanied by songs, dancing, and the waving of flags," the Knesset website states. "The march sets out from the city centre, enters the Old City, and ends at the Western Wall with a mass thanksgiving prayer."
In previous marches, mobs of Israeli youth in the Flag March harassed and taunted Palestinians, as well as journalists and activists, spitting, shouting "Death to Arabs" and "May your village burn.”
Last year, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said at the end of the march that "we are not afraid of victory", referring to Israel's genocide in Gaza.
The marches have come amid growing raids by Israeli settlers into the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex while allowing limited access to Muslims.
Thousands of police officers are deployed in the area, with major roads around the Old City closed. Settlers are set to enter the Old City through multiple gates before arriving at the Western Wall.
The Israeli left-wing independent news outlet Local Call has described the march as "a display of racism and violence under police protection”.
In 2024, the outlet reported that while "the racist chants" had previously been limited to fringe groups, they had become "more and more widespread and were heard from nearly every group" amid Israel’s genocide in Gaza.
B’Tselem has also criticized the event, describing the March of Flags (or "The Flag Dance”, as it calls it) as “an example of Jewish supremacy: thousands of Israelis celebrate provocatively, while the city’s Palestinian residents are forced to close their shops and remain at home out of fear of violence".
2021’s parade took place amid heightened tensions in the city, paving the way for Israel to launch a devastating military attack on the Gaza Strip. The May 2021 assault left 256 Palestinians dead and thousands injured, as well as damaging over 50,000 homes and destroying key infrastructure.
