Israel, high tension for “Jerusalem Day”: clashes on the Temple Mount

JERUSALEM. High tension in Israel for Jerusalem Day when the “Parade of Flags” traditionally takes place, the nationalist parade scheduled for today, which is one of the most famous traditions to celebrate what Israelis consider the “reunification” of Jerusalem in the War of the Six Days of 1967; but that same war marks for the Palestinians the beginning of the occupation of the eastern part of the city which they see as the future capital of their eventual future state.

The Israeli police forces clashed with Arab extremists on the Temple Mount, which the Arabs call the Temple Mount: Palestinian youths barricaded themselves inside the al-Aqsa Mosque and threw stones and rockets at the Jews; the police reacted by locking the doors. Israeli security forces said they also stopped several Arab buses heading north to Jerusalem in an attempt to prevent passengers from reaching the holy sites. In the meantime, Jewish groups have begun organized visits to the site, considered the holiest of Jews and the third most revered in the Muslim faith.

A recent wave of deadly attacks on Israelis by Palestinians or Israeli Arabs and the killing of dozens of Palestinians by Israeli forces has fueled anger on both sides. Added to this are the recriminations for the killing of the journalist from Al Jazeera Shireen Abu Aqla, shot dead while reporting on an Israeli military operation in the West Bank on 11 May.

Unfortunately, the tension is destined to rise at the “Parade of Flags”: tens of thousands of young far-right religious, many of whom reside in the colonies of the occupied West Bank, visit different parts of the city until they reach the symbolic Porta di Damascus and crossing the Muslim quarter, waving Israeli flags and shouting extremist slogans, ending with a ceremony at the Western Wall. Last year, the Palestinian reaction to this same march began an escalation of the war that went on for eleven days causing over 270 deaths.