A celebration of hate: racism and incitement at Jerusalem’s flag march

On Monday, tens of thousands of Israelis joined a state-funded march through the Muslim Quarter of the Old City in Jerusalem, where large groups chanted racist slogans, including “Gaza is ours”, “Death to the Arabs”, and “May their villages burn”.

The ‘Jerusalem day flag march’, commemorating Israel’s conquest of the eastern part of the city during the Six-Day War, has for years been marred by racism and attacks on Palestinians. It is often preceded by a campaign of violence in the Old City that effectively shuts down Palestinian-majority areas, particularly the Muslim Quarter.

The morning began on a positive note, as peace activists handed out flowers to challenge what they saw as the main march’s divisive message. Orly Likhovski of the Israel Religious Action Center said those participating in the peace event were “not willing to accept that this day is marked by violence and racism”, adding that they hoped to represent “a Jewish voice for a different kind of Jerusalem”.

Some Palestinians accepted the flowers, but one elderly man near Damascus Gate politely refused, saying to Al-monitor “Do you see what is happening in Gaza? I'm sorry, but I cannot accept.”

Violence broke out in the walled Old City shortly after midday, according to a Reuters witness, when young marchers began harassing the few Palestinian shopkeepers who had yet to shutter their stores ahead of the rally.

The crowd shouted nationalist slogans and called for violence against Palestinians, chanting: “Death to Arabs”. A Palestinian woman and several journalists were spat on by a group of marchers, while nearby Israeli police did not intervene, the Reuters witness added. No arrests were reported as of late afternoon. A police officer at the scene stated that young Israeli marchers could not be arrested because they were under the age of 18.