Israeli flag march to go ahead amid unrest

Police on Sunday gave the go-ahead to the annual Jerusalem Day parade, a flagwaving display of Israeli claims to all of the contested city, despite days of unrest and soaring Israeli-Palestinian tensions at a flashpoint holy site.

Monday’s parade was scheduled to pass through Jerusalem’s Old City, part of east Jerusalem, which was captured and annexed by Israel in the 1967

Mideast war. The march was approved amid ongoing clashes between police and Palestinians in the Old City, the emotional epicentre of the longrunning conflict, and in a nearby Arab neighbourhood where Jewish settlers are trying to evict dozens of Palestinians from their homes.

Before dawn Sunday, thousands of Muslim worshippers skirmished anew with police at the gates of the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in the Old

City. Videos on social media showed Palestinians hurling water bottles and rocks at officers, who fired stun grenades.

Amos Gilad, a former senior defence official, told Army Radio that the Jerusalem Day parade should be cancelled or rerouted away from the Old City’s Damascus Gate, saying “the powder keg is burning and can explode at any time.” Israel’s public broadcaster Kan said the final route of the parade had not yet been decided.

The site, known to Jews as the Temple Mount and to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary, is considered the holiest site in Judaism and the third holiest in Islam. It has been a tinderbox for serious violence in the past.

Dozens of Palestinians were hurt in confrontations with police in Jerusalem overnight from Saturday to Sunday, when Muslims marked Laylat alQadr, or the “night of destiny,” the holiest period of Ramadan.