On Tuesday, thousands of Israelis participated in what the media described as a provocative march through Jerusalem’s Muslim Quarter. The rally was met with national outrage, IRL and online, for its overt racism and belligerent display of anti-Palestinian violence. The Jerusalem municipality advertised the march as a “festive procession.” They presented it as part of a larger jubilation over the city’s “liberation” following the city’s capture by Israel during the 1967 Six-Day War.
The non-profit organization “Am K’Lavi” has coordinated the public annual flag day march. This particular incident has further fanned the flames within a city that has increasingly found itself engulfed in discord. The task force is chaired by Baruch Kahane, whom Gov. He is the son of Meir Kahane, a rabbi notorious even by Israeli standards for his extremist incitement and founder of the Kach party, which Israel and many other countries recognize as a terrorist organization.
The annual Flag March celebrates Israel’s annexation of East Jerusalem, an act that is still not recognized by the international community. The march has developed a particularly nefarious reputation for being a parade of racism and violence towards Palestinians. This usually results in military repression and violence in heavily Palestinian jurisdictions.
In the week leading up to the march, violence had already exploded in the Old City. This upheaval de facto sealed off large stretches of the Muslim Quarter. This year, tens of thousands of participants flooded the streets. Under the banner of freedom, they passionately chanted slogans including “Gaza is ours” [1], “death to the Arabs” [2], and “may their villages burn” [3]. Some marchers went so far as to wear T-shirts emblazoned with a clenched fist inside a Star of David, more thoroughly cementing their ideological position.
Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel’s far-right national security minister, was one of those marching. He deeply engaged the lively mob only as they approached historic sites in the Old City. One large group arriving at the Damascus Gate carried a banner proclaiming “Jerusalem 1967, Gaza 2025,” alongside another that read, “without a Nakba there is no victory.”
Beginning in the early afternoon, roving bands of Jewish men throughout the city shouted antisemitic incitements towards Palestinians. They yelled slogans including Mohammed is dead and may their villages burn. Given the history of violence on this march, police presence in the Old City was quite restrained. All three witnesses testified that law enforcement did little to intervene when Palestinians were attacked by the marchers.
One police officer was overheard telling a cafe owner, “Shut now, or I can’t protect you,” highlighting concerns over inadequate protection for local residents during the march. Aviv Tatarsky, a researcher with the non-profit organization Ir Amim, expressed his dismay at the situation by stating, “You don’t belong here, we are the ones who own this place.”
The violent rhetoric and aggressive behavior displayed during this year’s Flag March have reignited debates about nationalism and racism in Israeli society. Critics note that these trainings increase the inflammatory tensions and add to the cycle of violence against Palestinian communities.