Organizers of the annual Jerusalem Day Flag Dance have submitted a request to Jerusalem District Police for tens of thousands of participants to march from the city's center to the Old City's Western Wall Plaza via the Damascus Gate on May 29.
Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram
In their request, organizers said Jerusalem Day was the time to "bolster the unity of the city and to offer expression to the absolute opposition to its division."
Organizers requested the march conclude with a huge rally to mark Jerusalem Day.
Last year's Flag Dance was brought to an abrupt halt when rockets were launched from the Gaza Strip toward Jerusalem and its surrounding communities. While the march did eventually proceed, participants did not pass through the Damascus Gate.
As for the possibility that Flag Dance participants would be allowed to pass through the Damascus Gate, police said, "Administrative work and preparations have only just begun. We will act and do everything necessary for the proper and safe existence of the parade as every year."
Regional Cooperation Minister Esawi Frej told Israel Hayom: "The flag march has for a while been transformed into a provocation march whose sole purpose is to raise tensions in Jerusalem and throughout the region. I intend to raise the issue at the next government meeting and act so that the parade route does not pass through areas where its goal is not to celebrate the Jerusalem holiday but to provoke its residents."
Matan Peleg, the chairman of the right-wing nongovernmental organization Im Tirzu said: "The attempt to make the route of the flag march controversial is a grave injustice to the Israeli capital. Unfortunately, the Damascus Gate has become an ex-territory for Jews. The area has become a distribution point for clothes with markers of incitement that are aimed at stowing fear and an atmosphere of terror among Jews. That is why it's very important to restore sovereignty to the Damascus Gate and all of Jerusalem.
"Those who issue guidelines to police to withdraw from the Damascus Gate and limit the forces there are making a serious mistake. Ultimately, the violence reaches the Western Wall, the Temple Mount, and even [the] Mamilla [Mall] last week. The flag march is not a provocation but rather an event in which the liberation of Jerusalem is celebrated. If the diplomatic echelon is incapable of realizing sovereignty of the city and allowing citizens full freedom of movement in Jerusalem, then this is an absolute failure."
Maor Tzemach, chairman of the Lach Yerushalayim ("For You, Jerusalem") advocacy group, which seeks to safeguard Israeli sovereignty in Jerusalem, said: "The reality that does not allow for a march in the heart of Jerusalem with the Israeli flag is a reality that cannot be accepted, and it leads to violence and terrorism in the thinking that this is how Jerusalem can be divided. The flag, the Israeli symbol of sovereignty, must be raised everywhere in Israel including and especially in Jerusalem."
Meanwhile, police across the country are preparing for Nakhba Day, to be marked on Sunday. In recent years, the day has been marked peacefully, but recent security tensions and the threat of terrorist attacks have police on high alert.
The Nakba ("catastrophe" in Arabic) refers to the displacement of Palestinian refugees during Israel's War of Independence. Nakba Day, commemorating this event, is marked on May 15, which was the first full day of Israeli independence in 1948.
Police forces will be concentrated adjacent to communities and sites where riots are expected with the aim of either quickly quelling them or preventing them from the outset.
Subscribe to Israel Hayom's daily newsletter and never miss our top stories!
