The march comes as far-right Israeli Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir boasted that Jews prayed freely at a key holy site in violation of decades-old understandings.
JERUSALEM — Thousands of ultranationalist Israel is marched through a sensitive Palestinian area of Jerusalem on Wednesday in an annual procession, chanting racist slogans as the country’s far-right national security minister boasted that Jews had prayed freely at a key holy site in the city in violation of decades-old understandings.
The police stressed that the march would not enter the sprawling Al-Aqsa mosque compound, the third holiest site in Islam. The hilltop on which it stands is the holiest site for Jews, who refer to it as the Temple Mount because it was the location of the Jewish temples in antiquity.But activists said hundreds of Jews had visited the compound earlier in the day, and Ben-Gvir said they prayed there freely, following what he said was his own policy that permitted prayer there.
The annual march commemorates “Jerusalem Day,” which marks Israel’s capture of east Jerusalem, including the Old City and its holy sites sacred to Jews, Christians and Muslims, in the 1967 Mideast war. Just before the march began, crowds scuffled with police and threw plastic bottles at a journalist wearing a vest with the word PRESS emblazoned on it. Police said they arrested 18 marchers “on suspicion of violent crimes, assault and threats and disorderly conduct.”
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