May. 11, 2021
The day commemorating Israel’s victory in the Six-Day War and the flag march at its center were the focus of tension and media attention on Monday, but few reported that nearly all those participating in the day’s events were teenagers. Particularly those from religious Zionist schools, who all traveled to Jerusalem that day for festive prayers at the Western Wall, guided tours and the march.
Shimmy and Yonatan, two giggling 16-year-olds from a yeshiva high school in the West Bank, emerged just before noon from Damascus Gate, blinking in the blinding sun. They had arrived late for prayers there, and meanwhile their classmates had gone off on a tour. Just like normal teenagers who missed the bus, they were looking for something to do in the city when they realized they had ended up at one of the main flash points of the Ramadan clashes in Jerusalem.
Palestinians in Jerusalem are reeling from a night of racist, anti-Arab violence that left over a hundred Palestinians wounded and dozens detained, following an ultra-right wing Israeli demonstration in the city.
On Thursday evening hundreds of Israelis marched from the Zion Gate outside the Old City to the Damascus Gate area the entrance to the Muslim Quarter of the Old City as part of demonstration organized by the far-right, anti-Palestinian group Lehava.
During the march, which was advertised as a demonstration to “restore Jewish dignity” to the city, crowds of Israelis chanted various anti-Palestinian slogans, including “Death to Arabs” and “may your village burn.”