Divisive parade allowed despite escalating unrest
JERUSALEM — Police on Sunday gave the goahead to the annual Jerusalem Day parade, a flagwaving display of Israeli claims to all of the contested city despite days of unrest and soaring IsraeliPalestinian tensions at a flashpoint holy site.
Monday’s parade will pass through Jerusalem’s Old City, part of east Jerusalem, which was captured and annexed by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war. The march was approved amid ongoing clashes between police and Palestinians in the Old City, the emotional epicenter of the longrunning conflict, and in a nearby Arab neighborhood where Jewish settlers are trying to evict dozens of Palestinians from their homes.
Before dawn Sunday, thousands of Muslim worshipers skirmished anew with police at the gates of the AlAqsa Mosque compound in the Old City. Videos on social media showed Palestinians hurling water bottles and rocks at officers, who fired stun grenades.
Amos Gilad, a former senior defense official, told Army Radio that the Jerusalem Day parade should be canceled or rerouted away from the Old City’s Damascus Gate, saying “the powder keg is burning and can explode at any time.”
The site, known to Jews as the Temple Mount and to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary, is considered the holiest site in Judaism and the third holiest in Islam. It has been a tinderbox for serious violence in the past.
Dozens of Palestinians were wounded in violent confrontations with police in Jerusalem overnight from Saturday to Sunday, when Muslims marked Laylat alQadr, or the “night of destiny,” the holiest period of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.
On Friday, more than 200 Palestinians were wounded in clashes at the AlAqsa Mosque compound and elsewhere in Jerusalem. The violence, along with the planned evictions in east Jerusalem, have drawn condemnations from Israel’s Arab allies and expressions of concern from the United States, Europe and the United Nations.
The violence has threatened to spread. Late Sunday, Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip fired rockets into Israel, setting off air raid sirens in the city of Ashkelon, the Israeli military said. Protesters affiliated with Hamas militant group also launched incendiary balloons into southern Israel during the day, setting off dozens of fires that closed roads in the area.
Addressing a Cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that Israel “will not allow any extremists to destabilize the calm in Jerusalem. We will enforce law and order decisively and responsibly.”
Police spokesman Eli Levi said there were no plans to call off the Jerusalem Day parade, despite the rising friction and the potential for violence. He said police were constantly assessing the situation.