On Sunday, in honor of Jerusalem Day, thousands of Jews participated in the annual Flag March through the Old City, which predictably resulted in some violent outbursts. In the Israeli public sphere, there continues to be an ongoing debate about whether police should change the route of the march to avoid Arab neighborhoods, or prevent it from taking place at all. Ben-Dror Yemini believes that such arguments miss something more fundamental:
The claim that the Jerusalem Day Flag March in the capital serves as the catalyst for violence among Muslims in general and the Palestinians in particular is simply outrageous. All the more so considering this sentiment is often echoed by highly educated and well-informed individuals. Yes, the Palestinians are fuming, but they did not need the march to get there. In a stark contrast to years prior, the Muslim world had remained mostly indifferent to the march this year—apart from Jordan’s condemnation and Al Jazeera’s usual attempt to incite the region.
This specific brand of incitement and hate is nothing new. It began way before the flag march ever existed, and even well before the Six-Day War in 1967. . . . Going even further back, we will find that Jerusalem was one of the most neglected cities in the Muslim world. It is true that it is the third most holy city in Islam—and yet, for centuries they thought nothing of it and paid it very little attention. The eyes of the Muslim world fell on Jerusalem only after the Jews—who were persecuted everywhere, even in Muslim countries—demanded a national home to call their own.
And yet, we must remember that there are Muslims—both inside and outside Israel—who do not partake in [this] murderous ideology. We also cannot ignore the groups of Jewish hooligans, such as La Familia, who attend flag marches in order to encourage violence. However, [the two phenomena] are not the same. Among the Palestinians, there are religious leaders who encourage bloodshed. Among the Jews, there are marginal groups.
The Arab world is on its way of undergoing a process of rehabilitation from anti-Semitism. But that way is long and winding.
More about: Anti-Semitism, Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, Jerusalem