The Joint List appealed on Friday, June 18, to Defense Minister Benny Gantz, Internal Security Minister Omer Bar-Lev and the diplomatic teams in several foreign embassies in Israel to intervene and stop marches planned by settlers and right-wing Israeli groups for today, Monday June 21.
The List sent letters to ministers and ambassadors in Israel warning them of 14 marches scheduled to take place today in the occupied Palestinian territories which the organizers have called for and justified as “fighting for the land and country.”
Israeli occupation forces suppress a demonstration in East Jerusalem last Friday, June 19, in which Palestinians protested settlers’ being permitted to chant and incite against Palestine and the Prophet Mohammed during Israel’s jingoistic “Flag March” three days earlier. (Photo: Activestills)
The text of the Joint List’s letter reads: “The planned provocations throughout the occupied Palestinian territories could be an opportunity for settler violence against Palestinian civilians, backed by the army. This is because the marches’ organizers have announced that they plan to ‘stop the illegal Arab takeover by foot,’… This event could provoke a general escalation similar to what we experienced in May… These marches will only take place in the occupied Palestinian territories and therefore require international attention. We ask you to do everything in your power to put pressure on the Israeli government to prevent the marches and the planned provocation, which could lead to bloodshed. ”
The warning from the Joint List came in the wake of the controversial “Flag March” last Tuesday, June 15, which the new coalition government allowed to go ahead despite pleas from Palestinians. Thousands of right-wing settlers and racists marched through parts of occupied Jerusalem’s Old City that day with some chanting racist slogans. Footage posted to social media showed the right-wing marchers chanting “Death to Arabs,” “Mohammad is dead,” “A second Nakba is coming,” as well as “Shuafat is on fire,” referring to the occupied East Jerusalem refugee camp neighborhood, and “Jerusalem is ours.”
Lawmakers from the Joint List rallied outside the Old City before the march last Tuesday to denounce it, with the alliance’s leader MK Ayman Odeh (Hadash) saying that occupied East Jerusalem will one day be the capital of a Palestinian state. “On these walls the flag of Palestine will be hoisted and Jerusalem will be the capital of liberated Palestine,” he told journalists.
Video clip: Jewish Israeli racist incitement during the “Flag Match” in Jerusalem, Tuesday, June 15, 2021
Related post: Joint List Slams Decision to Allow Racists to March thru Jerusalem
