Palestine weekly wrap: Jerusalem Day, Nakba mark week of surging attacks

On May 14, Jerusalem Day – Israel’s annual celebration of its 1967 capture of occupied East Jerusalem – tens of thousands of ultra-nationalist Israelis marched through the Old City chanting ‘death to Arabs’ and ‘may your villages burn’, while attacking Palestinian shops and residents. Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir raised the Israeli flag in the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, declaring ‘the Temple Mount is in our hands’ – using the Jewish term for the site – while fellow Jewish Power legislator Yitzhak Kroizer prostrated himself before the Dome of the Rock Mosque and declared on social media, “the time has come to get rid of all the mosques and work to construct the Temple”. Recommended Stories list of 3 items end of list Israeli authorities barred men under 60 and women under 50 from entering Al-Aqsa that morning, clearing it for settler incursions – more than 2,200 in total during the week, according to the Palestinian Authority’s Jerusalem Governorate – in gross violation of the ‘status quo’, which prohibits non-Muslim prayer at the site and vests custodianship in the Jordanian-administered Islamic Waqf. Videos circulated of settlers attacking residents in the Old City’s Christian Quarter and Silwan, reporters shoved and spat upon, and solidarity activists expelled by police while marchers were allowed through. …