by Temitope Oladeji
26/5/2025
Tensions flared in Jerusalem on Monday as far-right Israeli activists marched through the city’s Old City, chanting racist slogans and clashing with Palestinians during annual Jerusalem Day celebrations.
The event, which commemorates Israel’s capture of East Jerusalem during the 1967 Arab-Israeli War, has become increasingly controversial in recent years.
Crowds of ultranationalist Israelis marched through predominantly Palestinian areas, including the Damascus Gate and the Muslim Quarter, chanting “Death to Arabs” and other provocative slogans.
Eyewitnesses reported physical assaults and harassment of Palestinian shopkeepers, some of whom were forced to close their businesses amid the unrest.
Slogans such as “May your village burn” and “Your home will be ours” echoed through the narrow streets of the Old City.
Israeli police were deployed in large numbers and intervened as violence broke out shortly after midday. Several aggressive marchers were detained and removed from the area.
Despite the volatile scenes, the annual parade was allowed to continue.
Opposition leader Yair Lapid condemned the event, calling it a display of “hatred and racism” and “a disgrace and an insult to Judaism.”
Right-wing demonstrators held banners with slogans like “67 Jerusalem in our hands; 2025 Gaza in our hands,” hinting at aspirations for broader territorial expansion amid the ongoing conflict in Gaza.
Israel’s far-right National Security Minister, Itamar Ben Gvir, addressed the crowds and reiterated his support for the death penalty for Palestinians accused of terrorism.
He also made a controversial visit to the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, a deeply sensitive site that holds religious significance for both Muslims and Jews.
The compound, administered by a Jordanian Islamic trust, is Islam’s third-holiest site and the holiest in Judaism, where Jewish prayer is officially prohibited under longstanding agreements.
Ben Gvir’s visit and the inflammatory rhetoric surrounding the parade drew sharp condemnation from Palestinian leaders.
Nabil Abu Rudeineh, spokesman for the Palestinian presidency in Ramallah, denounced the march and Ben Gvir’s presence at Al-Aqsa as provocative and destabilizing.
“Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza, repeated incursions into the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, and acts such as raising the Israeli flag in occupied Jerusalem threaten the stability of the entire region,” Abu Rudeineh warned in an official statement.
Earlier in the day, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reaffirmed his government’s stance on Jerusalem, declaring during a cabinet meeting that the city would remain “united, whole, and under Israeli sovereignty.”