The Israel Police and left-leaning Israeli organizations reported several instances of violence in the Old City and the Arab Quarter of Jerusalem.
Monday is Jerusalem Day, which marks the reunification of east and west Jerusalem.
It is also notable when violence breaks out in Arab sections of the city in light of the Jerusalem Day Flag March, where participants march through the Arab quarter of the city.
רמקולים חובה. pic.twitter.com/kEQ14vfy90
— نير حسون Nir Hasson ניר חסון (@nirhasson) May 26, 2025
The police said that its officers “have dealt with dozens of suspects on suspicions of disorderly conduct, assault, and threats.”A police statement said that officers arrested two people on suspicion of pepper-spraying a citizen on the street.
Police separate Standing Together activists and rioters in the Old City in Jerusalem on May 26, 2025. (credit: Eve Young)
Videos circulated on social media showed activists from Standing Together being assaulted by rioters and escorted out of the quarter by the police.The organization said that it was providing a protective presence to Arab Israelis in the area.
In one video, far-right rioters were seen backing activist Alon Lee Green into a door and kicking him in the back of his leg.
זה אלון לי גרין, המנהל הארצי השותף של @omdimbeyachad. בשבוע שעבר הוא נכלא בגלל שהפגין נגד המלחמה ובעד עסקה, היום הוא מגן בגופו על בתים של תושבים בעיר העתיקה בירושלים ממתקפות של כהניסטים ופעילי ימין קיצוני. שם ופה זה אותו מאבק, הימין רוצה מלחמת נצח, עומדים ביחד נאבקת על ההפך בדיוק pic.twitter.com/dSBGyDgl5a
— Nissim Perets (@NissimPerets) May 26, 2025
Another video showed rioters swarming a group of Arab Israeli women and performing derogatory gestures.
רמקולים חובה. pic.twitter.com/kEQ14vfy90
— نير حسون Nir Hasson ניר חסון (@nirhasson) May 26, 2025
Activists assaulted, police assaulted
Jerusalem Post witnesses on the scene reported seeing a child spit on activists, as well as demonstrators trying to forcibly break the police protective line around them.
Post reporters witnessed violence upon entering the Old City and saw police trying to de-escalate the situation.
No arrests were reported as of late afternoon. A police officer at the scene said young Israeli marchers could not be arrested because they were under the age of 18.
Post reporters also heard nationalistic chants that could incite racial violence, including “We will burn your villages!”
Reporters also saw marchers in the Flag Day Parade wearing shirts that said “Without Nakba, there is no victory.”
Nakba (catastrophe) is what pro-Palestinians call the 1948 war in Mandatory Palestine and its aftermath until today.Signs in the parade also contained expansionist and nationalistic themes, including: “67: Jerusalem is in our hands 2025: Gaza is in our hands.”
Democrats Party MK Gilad Kariv questioned Education Minister Yoav Kisch in the Knesset plenum as to whether he would condemn the acts of violence and racism in the Old City.
Kisch responded, “I saw people walking around Jerusalem with flags; it’s unfortunate that some choose to disparage them here. Even this [violent] minority is being taken care of. I support the wonderful youth.”
Democrats chairman Maj.-Gen. (res.) Yair Golan called the riots an offense to Judaism and Zionism.
“This is not what love for Jerusalem looks like: This is what hatred, racism, and bullying look like. This is not our Judaism. This is not the Zionism we believe in,” he wrote on X/Twitter.
“This is the product of an anti-Zionist and non-Jewish government – inciting and racist,” Golan said. “We will fight for a Jerusalem that belongs to all of us – Christians, Jews, and Arabs, secular and religious. Jerusalem belongs to all who love her. We will fight for her and restore her to be a city for us all.”
Jesus Christ is King
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