Ultranationalists chant ‘death to Arabs’ in Jerusalem

[Pelican Press 0]

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Ultranationalists chant ‘death to Arabs’ in Jerusalem

Chanting “Death to Arabs” and singing “May your village burn”, groups of young Israeli Jews have marched through ******* neighbourhoods in Jerusalem’s Old City during an annual event marking Israel’s conquest of the eastern part of the city.

************ shopkeepers closed early on Monday and police lined the alleys ahead of the march that often becomes a rowdy and sometimes violent procession of ultranationalist Jews.

A police officer raised his arms in celebration at one point, hugging a marcher. It was blazing hot, with temperatures hitting 37C.

Police kept a close watch as demonstrators jumped, danced and sang.

Hours earlier, a small group of protesters, including an Israeli member of parliament, stormed a compound in east Jerusalem belonging to the UN agency for ************ refugees, known as UNRWA.

The march commemorates Jerusalem Day, which marks Israel’s capture of east Jerusalem, including the Old City and its holy sites sacred to Jews, Christians and Muslims, in the 1967 ******** war.

The event threatened to inflame tensions that are rife in the city after nearly 600 days of war in Gaza.

Jerusalem lies at the heart of the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. Each sees the city as a key part of their national and religious identity. It is one of the most intractable issues of the conflict and is often a flashpoint.

Israel considers all of Jerusalem to be its eternal, undivided capital. Its annexation of east Jerusalem is not internationally recognised. Palestinians want an independent state with east Jerusalem as its capital.

Last year’s procession, during the first year of the war in Gaza, saw ultranationalist Israelis attack a ************ journalist in the Old City and call for violence against Palestinians. Four years ago, the march helped set off an 11-day war in Gaza.

Tour buses carrying young ultranationalist Jews lined up near entrances to the Old City, bringing hundreds from outside Jerusalem, including settlements in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

After the march ended, Arab shopkeepers darted outside to begin scrubbing their shops, now covered with stickers reading “Gaza is ours”.

Police said they had detained a number of people and “acted swiftly to prevent violence, confrontations and provocations”.

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