PARADES

PARADES

Despite many fears and trepidations, the Jerusalem Day flag parade went off almost without a hitch. Of course, there were a number of clashes both physical and verbal.

Some Israelis and Palestinians sustained bruises, contusions, and other minor injuries, but there were no fatalities!  

“Yes, the Palestinians are fuming, but they did not need the march to get there. In stark contrast to previous years, the Muslim world had remained mostly indifferent to the march this year - apart from Jordan's condemnation and Al-Jazeera's usual attempt to incite the region.” Wrote Ben-Dror Yamini Ynet in his weekly column.

“O course, we can’t ignore the groups of Jewish hooligans, such as “La Familia”, who come to the Jerusalem Day flag parade to provoke and cause violent clashes. However, it's not the same thing. Among the Palestinians, there are religious leaders who encourage bloodshed. Among the Jews, the bruisers and verbal abusers are mostly marginal groups.” He concluded.

“At least 60 people were detained for questioning by the police. Five Israeli police officers, three Israeli civilians, and 40 Palestinians were injured during the parade.

The procession was seen as the largest Jerusalem Day march in years, with tens of thousands of Jewish Israelis swamping downtown Jerusalem and heading to Damascus Gate.

Shortly before the flag parade, more than 2,600 Israeli Jews were allowed to visit the Temple Mount, a larger than usual number. The holy site — Judaism’s most sacred sanctuary and Islam’s third-holiest — is a deeply contested flashpoint between Jews and Muslims.

Prior to their arrival, dozens of Palestinians barricaded themselves inside the Al-Aqsa Mosque and hurled rocks at security forces stationed outside.

Despite being a national holiday, Jerusalem Day, which marks Israel’s conquest of the Old City and East Jerusalem from Jordan in the 1967 Six-Day War, is celebrated nowadays mainly by right-wing religious Jews.

On Sunday morning Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said “We have every right to fly the Israeli flag in the capital of Israel. I ask everyone in the parade to celebrate responsibly and in a respectful manner.”

“But for hours during the long, tense day, the Old City felt like a powder keg on the verge of exploding. Police deployed some 2,000 officers to secure the rally, anticipating the tensions, and plainclothes security officers dotted the Old City’s alleyways.” The Times of Israel reported.

In 1967, even before the end of the war, 300,000 Israelis flocked to Jerusalem’s old city en route to the Western Wall, not all at once, but over several days. No clashes, no Palestinians, and not so much as a pebble was thrown at the ecstatic marchers. The same quiet pervaded all the territories captured in that war. Palestinians of all stripes were in a state of shock,  a kind of post-war trauma.  

Since then, they have recovered remarkably well.  Furthermore, they enjoy the unqualified support of numerous NGOs and some leading news media outlets.

There are about 350 full-time foreign journalists stationed in Israel, a country of about 20,000 square kilometres and nine and a half million people. Only Washington, D.C., and possibly London, are home to more foreign correspondents. This makes Israel, on any ordinary day, the most newsmedia-covered country per kilometre and per capita in the world. During wartime, the number of journalists (often referred to as “parachuted” reporters) flocking to Israel typically swells to more than 1,000. 

CNN has taken the lead in maligning Israel and the IDF, especially in reports about the death of Al-Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu-Akleh.

Some observers detect a whiff of antisemitism, certainly, anti-Zionism in CNN reports.

However, CNN like most of the news media today is actually more of a business-oriented operation than a news media outlet.

When most of us hear “news media” we think of unbiased fact-checked and fact-reporting news. However, today news media like CNN are businesses with shares and stock market interests at heart. In the final analysis, they need to show a profit.

Similar complaints about CNN’s anti-Israel bias were made several years ago. Today, as then, it’s mostly about business.

The week ended with yet another parade in Jerusalem. This year marks twenty years of LGBTQ+ Pride marches in Jerusalem and seven years since Shira Banki was murdered at one of them.

About 10,000 people joined the Jerusalem March for Pride and Tolerance on Thursday afternoon.

Earlier in the day, police announced that they had arrested a man from south Jerusalem who had sent anonymous death threats to the organisers of the parade and a number of other people. 

In light of the threats, Knesset Speaker Mickey Levy decided to take part in the march, marking the first time that a Knesset speaker has ever participated in the event.

"Recently, we witnessed a terrible incitement campaign against the LGBTQ+ community which peaked yesterday when death threats were sent to a number of people. I was deeply shocked by this dangerous incitement and the defamation against the gay community" Mickey Levy said.

"No one will threaten us, no one will scare us - no one will put us back in the closet!" said Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz at the march. "This year - it's not just another Pride month. This year is a year of change - this year we have moved from struggling for our rights   - to achievements."

Horowitz pointed to reforms made in surrogacy procedures to allow same-sex couples and single fathers to have children. The minister also mentioned other regulations issued for the benefit of the LGBTQ+ community

The far-right Lehava movement and other right-wing activists held a counter-protest at Bloomfield Park across from Liberty Bell Park where the march started. They carried signs reading “a father and a father is not a family,” “Jerusalem is not Sodom” and “enough with LGBT terror.”

With friends like these who needs enemies.

Chag Shavuot Sameach

 

Beni                                                    3^rd of June,2022