Journalists covering the Jerusalem Day flag march were attacked by right-wing participants of the march near the Damascus Gate on Thursday afternoon, with participants jeering at them and hitting them with various objects.
Participants could be seen on a livestream using flag poles to jab at the journalists and displaying their middle fingers at the journalists. Various items, including water bottles, were thrown back and forth between the journalists and the participants as well as police worked to separate the two groups. At least one journalist was arrested.
في مواجهة “مسيرة الأعلام”.. رفع العلم الفلسطيني في باب العامود بالقدس المحتلة pic.twitter.com/lAP01YQ9gs
— المركز الفلسطيني للإعلام (@PalinfoAr) May 18, 2023
A group of children who gathered in front of the journalists chanted “Arabs are sons of b&%*$es” and jeered at the journalists. After being smacked by one of the flags, one of the journalists could be seen grabbing the flag and pushing it to the side while saying “beware of me.”
The police stated that they arrested two of the participants who attacked the journalists. One of the suspects, a minor, was also carrying a knife in their bag.
Israelis and Palestinians stand opposite to each other near Damascus gate to Jerusalem’s Old city as Israel mark Jerusalem Day, in Jerusalem May 18, 2023. (credit: RONEN ZVULUN/REUTERS)The entrance to the Damascus Gate was temporarily blocked by police amid the violence, but was reopened shortly afterward.
مشاهد من باب العامود في القدس المحتلة قبل قليل pic.twitter.com/kLXrqiVb40
— المركز الفلسطيني للإعلام (@PalinfoAr) May 18, 2023
Scuffles were also reported between Arabs and Jews throughout the Muslim Quarter of the Old City before and during the march.
مستوطنون يرشقون الصحفيين بالحجارة خلال تغطيتهم للمسيرة الاستفزازية في باب العامود بالقدس المحتلة. pic.twitter.com/QnLjPlXaU7
— وكالة شهاب للأنباء (@ShehabAgency) May 18, 2023
Police call on public to avoid violence
Between 3,200 and 3,500 Israel Police officers and volunteers operated throughout the city to secure the Jerusalem Day revelries and direct traffic, with 2,500 allocated to the flag march alone.
Police had called on marchers and the rest of the public to obey police instructions and to avoid any manifestation of physical or verbal violence. “Disturbances and manifestations of violence of any kind will be dealt with decisively by the police forces,” stressed Chief Superintendent Yoram Segal from the Jerusalem District Police.
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