Thousands of right-wing nationalist Israelis have poured through the streets of Jerusalem’s Old City, with many chanting violent anti-Arab slogans and demanding Palestinians be expelled from the area.
Warning: This story contains racist language and themes.
The annual Jerusalem Day March, often called the Dance of the Flags, marks the anniversary of the 1967 Six Day War, when Israeli forces seized control of East Jerusalem.
For Israelis, it was the moment the holy city was reunified, but Palestinians view it as the start of the occupation.
Crowds swelled near Damascus Gate, the main entry to the Muslim Quarter in the north of the Old City, for hours before marching through to the Western Wall in the south.
Many were peaceful, while others were deliberately provocative and aggressive.
Songs about Jerusalem echoed around the city for much of the day, along with racist chants.
Several young boys were among the Israeli nationalits who were waving flags in the area. (ABC News: Hamish Harty)
Among those heard by the ABC were “death to Arabs”, “Palestinians will be erased”, “may your villages burn”, and “the Jews have a soul, with the Arab is a son of a b****.”
Banners were also unfurled, including one promising another Nakba, the Arabic word meaning catastrophe, which Palestinians use to refer to the creation of the State of Israel and the mass displacement that followed.
Others referred to the creation of the “third temple”, which is the plan to rebuild a place of Jewish worship on the Temple Mount, currently occupied by the Al-Aqsa Mosque and Dome of the Rock, one of the holiest places for the Muslim faith.
Shops close early in fear of violence
Hours before the event formally began, preparations were already underway inside Jerusalem’s city walls, with the usually bustling ancient streets and laneways eerily quiet.
Many shops closed early, firmly bolting their doors shut for fear of the looming onslaught.
“It’s always advised for us to leave before they arrive here so that, you know, no clashes will take place,” Fayez Dakkak, a third-generation shopkeeper, said.
Fayez Dakkak closed his shop early out of fear. (ABC News: Hamish Harty)
He was preparing to close his shop catering to Christian visitors to Jerusalem, around the corner from the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, one of the most sacred sites in the city.
“There will be hitting, there will be vandalising, there’ll be breaking windows, breaking merchandise. That would be the worst-case scenario,” Mr Dakkak said.
“So you have to do it the smart way and just leave before all that takes place.”
He questioned why there was such aggression being levelled at Muslim and Christian residents of Jerusalem’s Old City.
The doors to shops in the area were firmly bolted shut ahead of the march. (ABC News: Hamish Harty)
“Religion is what you have inside your heart, it’s what you do in your house, but then outside when we’re dealing with each other as human beings, most of our differences go away immediately,” Fayez said.
“I think everything that’s happening now is very political under the umbrella of religion.
“Religion has nothing to do with all the craziness that’s been happening in the last decades.”
Activists wander Old City as a ‘protective presence’
With the exception of a few tourists and pilgrims, most of the people wandering around the Old City ahead of the march were activists working as a “protective presence” for locals — effectively human shields.
“I think the last few years here with war, with escalating violence, with an authoritarian regime, have convinced many people that if we don’t show up, nobody will show up,” said Rabbi Amichai Lau-Lavi, chair of the organisation Rabbis for Human Rights.
The Israeli American said many people in his community feared what was being done in Jerusalem in the name of the Jewish faith.
“Unfortunately, ‘Zionist’ has become a slur, Israel has become a leper in so many contexts because of the actions of the government and many of the people that support the government and the media,” he said.
“So we need to do better.
“There are many, many, many of us around the world who believe in a Judaism and in Israel that is pro-peace, that is pro-justice, that is absolutely the future of Palestinians and Israelis living in coexistence, living in peace, living for justice, re-imagining what right now feels unimaginable.”
Some of the activists were handing out fresh flowers to Palestinians in the city, in a sign of peace and solidarity.
Others, including the Jewish and Palestinian organisation Standing Together, made their presence known, wearing bright purple vests and escorting people through crowds.
Israeli nationalists turn on media
Among the first groups entering the Old City were young Israeli nationalists, many of whom seemed to be barely teenagers, from illegal settlements in East Jerusalem and the West Bank.
The International Court of Justice has ruled that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory is unlawful.
As well as jeering and intimidating Palestinians in the streets, the youths turned on the media trying to document their behaviour.
Israeli nationalists tried to prevent the media from capturing the event. (ABC News: Hamish Harty)
One Orthodox man told journalists that recording what was happening with cameras and phones would only give Israel a bad name overseas.
When challenged as to whether he believed the conduct of those tearing through the city was the actual problem, he declared the gathered journalists were “fake news”.
Police took a much harder stance against onlookers than they did in regard to the behaviour of the nationalists, who were massing, fuelling fears that the authorities are becoming more permissive.
Police officers took a stern approach to onlookers. (ABC News: Hamish Harty)
The ABC saw one Israeli border police officer hoisted onto the shoulder of a group of young men, who sang and danced around him as he enthusiastically waved an Israeli flag.
There has been significant criticism of the actions of police in recent years, since the election of Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition government, which is often described as one of the most right-wing in history.
It has regularly shattered long-established norms, including the rules restricting worship in the Al-Aqsa Temple Mount precinct to Muslims only.
Ben-Gvir holds an Israeli flag at the Al-Aqsa compound. (Supplied: Itamar Ben Gvir’s Office)
Hours before the march, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir entered the compound brandishing an Israeli flag, which is something also banned.
“The Temple Mount is in our hands,” he declared.
Israelis describe hatred of ‘evil’ Palestinians
An hour or so before the main march began, officers began using force to disperse the activists and media gathered inside the city’s walls, including the ABC.
Outside among the crowds gathering, some marching were explicit in their desire to see Jerusalem without any Palestinians.
“They’re evil people. Anyone who identifies themselves as Palestinian is part of a terrorist group,” Atara Serwatien told the ABC.
“Palestine isn’t a state; it’s a terrorist organisation.”
She said she was regularly harassed by Palestinians as she tried to access the Old City.
Young Israeli nationalists were turning on the media as they went through the crowd. (ABC News: Hamish Harty)
“I do hope they get harassed, and I hope they get so harassed that they leave Israel completely,” she said.
“You don’t live side-by-side with cancer.”
Two other residents of the Old City, brothers Levi and Shalom Sperber, wanted to celebrate Jerusalem Day but voiced concern about the rhetoric and behaviour of many at the march.
“My great-grandmother survived the Holocaust, and I find it extremely frustrating seeing people in Israel nowadays acting like it’s Nazi Germany in the 30s,” Levi said.
“[There are] sparkles of fascism coming out of some people here,” Shalom added.
The brothers said it was important for the city’s residents to protect its special qualities: “[The] diversity of people and making Jerusalem stay the way it is, having Christians, Jews and Muslims living all together,” Shalom said.
“Obviously it is very difficult but we should fight for peace in this city.”