LONDON: Journalists covering the flag march in Jerusalem on Thursday said they were attacked by Israeli nationalists who paraded in their thousands through the Muslim quarter of the Old City.
Chanting “Death to Arabs” and “We will burn your village,” the marchers hurled rocks, sticks and bottles at Palestinian and foreign journalists at the Damascus Gate entrance, the BBC reported.
Three members of the press, including a Palestinian reporter for Haaretz, were wounded, according to the Israeli newspaper’s website.
Palestinian journalist Ibrahim Hamad, who was reporting from Damascus Gate, told The Guardian the attack was unprovoked.
“We were standing here as journalists and there were also some women wearing hijabs near us,” he said. “Groups of extremist Zionists started throwing glass bottles and sticks.
“I believe they were trying to stop us from showing what they were doing.”
The marchers were joined by several far-right Israeli politicians, including National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who said during the march that, “Jerusalem is ours forever.”
Many Palestinians in occupied East Jerusalem secured their homes and shops for fear of violence from Israeli nationalists.
The flag march was held to mark the day on which East Jerusalem was occupied by Israeli settlers in 1967 at the end of the Six-Day War.
A poll by Arab News and YouGov showed that Palestinian youths are against compromising with Jerusalem, with a majority saying the city’s return to Palestine was nonnegotiable.
