Israelis parade to mark 50 years of capturing East Jerusalem
                 Source: Xinhua | 2017-05-25 03:51:17 | Editor: huaxia

A boy wrapped with Israel's national flag is seen during a parade marking Jerusalem Day, the day in the Jewish calendar when Israel captured East Jerusalem and the Old City from Jordan during the 1967 Middle East War. (Reuters photo)

JERUSALEM, May 24 (Xinhua) -- Tens of thousands of Israelis marched Wednesday through East Jerusalem's predominantly Palestinian Old City to mark 50 years of Israel's annexation of it.

The marchers, mainly ultranationalist religious Jewish youths, waved Israeli flags and blew horns as they passed through the Old City's Muslim Quarter en route to the Western Wall, above which is the city's most sensitive site, a hilltop compound where the al-Aqsa Mosque, the third holiest site to Muslims, resides.

The holy site is known to Muslims as the "Noble Sanctuary," and to Jews as the "Temple Mount."

Clashes then erupted between Palestinians and Israeli human rights activists near the Old City's Damascus Gate. The Palestinians protested against the march, during which far-right activists usually walk through Muslim Quarter, shouting racist slogans and sabotaging Palestinian property.

Local media reported that the Palestinian protestors were forcefully dispersed by the police.

Police spokeswoman Luba Samri said major roads were temporarily closed, and thousands of police officers were deployed across the route of the march to maintain order.

The parade is the main event of Jerusalem Day, an Israeli annual holiday commemorating the reunification of Jerusalem.

Israel seized East Jerusalem in the 1967 Middle East War, along with the rest of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. It later annexed East Jerusalem and declared it as part of its "eternal and indivisible capital," a move that has never been recognized by the international community.

Palestinians, who make up more than one third of the city's overall population, however, consider East Jerusalem as the capital of their future state.

A police statement said three guards from Waqf, a Jordan-based Islamic organization in charge of administrating the holy site, were arrested, as they allegedly attempted to attack Jewish visitors to the site, according to the police.

Samri said 15 Israeli teenagers were also detained after they prayed at the al-Aqsa compound, defying a restriction which allows Jews to visit the site but forbids them to pray there.

The parade came a day after U.S. President Donald Trump left Israel finishing a two-day visit to the country and the occupied West Bank, during which he visited the Western Wall.

In an address to the Knesset (Israeli Parliament), Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Trump's visit to the Western Wall has "destroyed UNESCO's propaganda and lies," referring to the two resolutions by the UN cultural agency which criticized Israel for its control over Jerusalem without mentioning Jewish ties to the holy city.

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Israelis parade to mark 50 years of capturing East Jerusalem

Source: Xinhua 2017-05-25 03:51:17

A boy wrapped with Israel's national flag is seen during a parade marking Jerusalem Day, the day in the Jewish calendar when Israel captured East Jerusalem and the Old City from Jordan during the 1967 Middle East War. (Reuters photo)

JERUSALEM, May 24 (Xinhua) -- Tens of thousands of Israelis marched Wednesday through East Jerusalem's predominantly Palestinian Old City to mark 50 years of Israel's annexation of it.

The marchers, mainly ultranationalist religious Jewish youths, waved Israeli flags and blew horns as they passed through the Old City's Muslim Quarter en route to the Western Wall, above which is the city's most sensitive site, a hilltop compound where the al-Aqsa Mosque, the third holiest site to Muslims, resides.

The holy site is known to Muslims as the "Noble Sanctuary," and to Jews as the "Temple Mount."

Clashes then erupted between Palestinians and Israeli human rights activists near the Old City's Damascus Gate. The Palestinians protested against the march, during which far-right activists usually walk through Muslim Quarter, shouting racist slogans and sabotaging Palestinian property.

Local media reported that the Palestinian protestors were forcefully dispersed by the police.

Police spokeswoman Luba Samri said major roads were temporarily closed, and thousands of police officers were deployed across the route of the march to maintain order.

The parade is the main event of Jerusalem Day, an Israeli annual holiday commemorating the reunification of Jerusalem.

Israel seized East Jerusalem in the 1967 Middle East War, along with the rest of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. It later annexed East Jerusalem and declared it as part of its "eternal and indivisible capital," a move that has never been recognized by the international community.

Palestinians, who make up more than one third of the city's overall population, however, consider East Jerusalem as the capital of their future state.

A police statement said three guards from Waqf, a Jordan-based Islamic organization in charge of administrating the holy site, were arrested, as they allegedly attempted to attack Jewish visitors to the site, according to the police.

Samri said 15 Israeli teenagers were also detained after they prayed at the al-Aqsa compound, defying a restriction which allows Jews to visit the site but forbids them to pray there.

The parade came a day after U.S. President Donald Trump left Israel finishing a two-day visit to the country and the occupied West Bank, during which he visited the Western Wall.

In an address to the Knesset (Israeli Parliament), Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Trump's visit to the Western Wall has "destroyed UNESCO's propaganda and lies," referring to the two resolutions by the UN cultural agency which criticized Israel for its control over Jerusalem without mentioning Jewish ties to the holy city.

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