Today is “Jerusalem Day,” celebrating when Israel occupied the city during the Arab-Israeli war in 1967. Thousands of right-wing extremists marched through East Jerusalem, the Arab section of the city, some of them chanting “Death to Arabs” and others shouting slogans that Gaza would become Israel just as they believe Jerusalem did when the Israeli army conquered the city in the 1967 war. That was, however, never accepted by the international community, which considered Jerusalem a divided city, shared by the Israelis and the Palestinians.
The demonstrators also marched into a UN facility, indicating their disdain for the UN, which has been helping the Palestinians in Gaza, and demonstratively went to the Temple Mount. Violence broke out when they started attacking Arab shopkeepers and harassing Palestinian women who were sitting at their booths or walking through the streets. Netanyahu also gave a speech on the occasion, which helped whip up the agitators.
