Middle East Monitor / May 18, 2022
Palestinian members of the Israeli Knesset condemned Israeli authorities for approving the right-wing flag march and allowing if to pass through occupied East Jerusalem.
Regional Cooperation Minister Issawi Frej of the Meretz Party criticized the move, saying: “The decision to allow the provocative march to pass through the Muslim Quarter and Damascus Gate is a dangerous and worrying mistake.”
Frej added that he intends to work “on changing the decision in order to avoid its dangerous consequences.”
MK Ahmed Tibi of the Joint List described Public Security Minister Omer Bar-Lev’s decision as “dangerous and stupid”.
Bar-Lev and Police Commissioner Kobi Shabtai approved the provocative march on Tuesday. It is scheduled to take place on Jerusalem Day on 28 May.
During last year’s annual flag march, Israeli far-right supremacists shared selfies posing with guns and messages such as “Tonight we are not Jews, we are Nazis.” A report by Amnesty International on the conduct of Israeli police during May and June’s crackdown on Palestinians found that it had failed to protect Palestinians from Jewish supremacists who had organized attacks and publicized their plans in advance.
Occupation authorities cancelled a planned flag March outside Jerusalem’s Old City organized by right-wing Israeli extremists and which was due to be held in April.
The march was announced days after Al-Aqsa Mosque was stormed by Israeli occupation forces who attacked Palestinian worshippers. At least 152 Palestinians were wounded when Israeli troops entered the mosque and fired at Palestinians.
