Soumaya Ghannoushi, writer and expert in Middle East politics, says that on the Jerusalem Day rally, which celebrates Israel’s occupation of the Old City of Jerusalem, the city is not celebrated but desecrated. The march, staged annually under the banner of nationalist pride, has degenerated into a spectacle of unrestrained hatred, but this year, it plummeted to new depths of depravity.
As Haaretz reported, Israeli youths marched through the Muslim Quarter chanting “death to Arabs”, “flatten Gaza” and “there’s no school in Gaza, there’s no children left”. Flagpoles were slammed against ancient doors, while marchers cursed the Prophet Muhammad and mocked the memory of Palestine. Not a single person was arrested for incitement.
Ghannoushi says that Jerusalem is being remade in the image of supremacy, not only against Muslims but against Christians too. The Christian presence in the city, ancient and indigenous, is being systematically erased. Priests are spat on, churches are vandalised, lands are seized, and worshippers are barred from attending holy services.
But she reminds us there is another Jerusalem. A city of conscience. A city where coexistence was once sacred. She says that the battle for Jerusalem is the most consequential struggle of all, between conquerors and the indigenous, between exclusion and inclusion, between a settler-colonial ideology and a city whose greatness once lay in its sacred plurality.
The march of hate may thunder now, Ghannoushi concludes, but it will fall silent. And on that day, Jerusalem will return to its people its spirit unbroken, its sanctity undiminished.
- Sign up for Aliran's free daily email updates or weekly newsletters or both
- Make a one-off donation to Persatuan Aliran Kesedaran Negara (ALIRAN), CIMB a/c 8004240948
- Make a pledge or schedule an auto donation to Aliran every month or every quarter
- Become an Aliran member
Produced by: Middle East Eye
AGENDA RAKYAT - Lima perkara utama
- Tegakkan maruah serta kualiti kehidupan rakyat
- Galakkan pembangunan saksama, lestari serta tangani krisis alam sekitar
- Raikan kerencaman dan keterangkuman
- Selamatkan demokrasi dan angkatkan keluhuran undang-undang
- Lawan rasuah dan kronisme
