Police break up Jewish ultranationalist march through Muslim quarter of Jerusalem’s Old City

The Jewish ultranationalist march that was going to cross the Muslim neighborhood of the Old City of Jerusalem Thursday night barely managed to bring together 100 people and was unable to advance more than 50 meters. Their objective was for Jews to claim absolute control of the city, especially the sites that are sacred to Muslims. The police — who outnumbered the protesters — halted the march and took away their banners. There was a bit of struggle, but no altercations. Jako, 15, made it clear why he was marching. He held a sign reading “A bullet in the head of every terrorist” — a message that was seen on other signs. “We have to kill all the Arabs,” he said, with his face covered.

Minutes later, his cardboard sign — which featured a shiny gold projectile — was in the hands of the officers. The protesters’ only weapon was to chant and shout before the march broke up an hour later. The demonstrators mixed historical demands with chants about Israel’s current war against Hamas, which was launched after the October 7 attack.

The police accused the protesters of “violating” the agreement for the march with “racist chants” and then trying to advance without permission, according to a statement.

“We are going to march, just as we marched 2,000 years ago,” said Yehuda Sherez, 63, at the rally, referring to the goal of recovering what Jews consider the Temple Mount, a place revered above the Wailing Wall in Judaism and which today holds the esplanade of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, the third-holiest site for Muslims. “Let them take everything to Mecca. We’ll help them,” he said with a big smile through his long gray beard.

Sisters Atara, 16, and Arial Serwatien, 21, who are both originally from the United States, criticized the Israeli government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for not taking strong enough action against Arabs. “They destroyed our temple, now let them decolonize it,” they said, while covered with Israeli flags. The sisters did not oppose the destruction of the mosques and the rest of the buildings on the esplanade.

The most right-wing government in Israel’s 75-year history — which has been questioned in the wake of the war in Gaza and the Hamas attack that killed 1,200 people — had in principle authorized the march. The decision was made by the far-right lawmaker Itamar Ben Gvir, who is in charge of the National Security portfolio.

After the march was authorized, there were calls for it to be banned. In a message on X, opposition leader Yair Lapid called it “a flagrant attempt by the Kahanists to set fire to new fronts and cause more death and destruction.” He was referring to march organizers, some of whom support the views of Meir Kahane, a rabbi murdered in 1990 who defended the expulsion of all Palestinians. Ben Gvir is one of his disciples. An editorial in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz called it an “ultranationalist provocation” that has no place in the current war, and demanded that Netanyahu stop it from going ahead.

The goal of the Israeli extreme right groups was not only to take control over Muslim holy sites, but to put an end to the Jerusalem Waqf, a religious institution in the city that is an organ of the Jordanian monarchy. This Islamic religious trust maintains authority over the mosque esplanade, even though Israel has controlled the entire city since 1967. The day chosen for the so-called Maccabees March coincided with the start of Hanukkah, the Jewish festival of lights. The eight-day festival celebrates the Maccabean Revolt, when the Jewish people regained their independence in the 2nd century BC.

The fact that the ultranationalist march was allowed to go ahead contrasts with the strict restrictions on the Israeli Arab population since the October 7 attack. Demonstrations against the military operation in Gaza are not allowed, and hundreds of people have been arrested for expressing solidarity with victims on social media. Muslims are also blocked from freely entering the esplanade of the Al-Aqsa Mosque.

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