Posted on 05/16/23
| News Source: i24
In response to the Israeli national holiday and nationalist march, calls have been published in Palestinian media to raise Palestinian flags in Jerusalem
Days before the Jerusalem Day flag march set for Thursday, Israel Police said it was prepared to prevent “incidents of friction and violence” amid calls for residents in the Israeli capital to raise Palestinian flags as a counter to the parade.
This year’s Jerusalem Day marks 56 years since the unification of the holy city, and while opponents see the march’s route through the Old City's Muslim Quarter as a provocation, supporters consider it an expression of Israel's sovereignty over a united Jerusalem.
Over 3,200 Israeli police officers, security forces, and volunteers will be deployed throughout Jerusalem on Thursday to “maintain public order, the safety of people and property, and to direct traffic,” Israel Police said, noting that the march will not pass through the Temple Mount, despite “false publications and attempts at incitement.”
Preparations include technology as well as overt and undercover police officers, who will “act decisively against any attempt to violate the order and the law.”
Israeli authorities stressed their desire to “maintain a normal fabric of life as much as possible, and to allow both the participants of the march and the rest of the pedestrian public and worshipers of all religions to reach their destination, and also prevent incidents of friction and violence of any kind.”