On Thursday, the annual flag march—a procession through Jerusalem in honor of the city’s liberation in 1967, that in recent years has become associated with the nationalist religious right—took place without serious incident. Herb Keinon explains why this is significant:
Because Hamas threatened, once again, to fire rockets at Jerusalem if the annual flag march proceeded as usual through the Damascus Gate to the Western Wall; because other terror groups in Gaza threatened to set fields in southern Israel alight via inflammable balloons if the march went ahead; because there was concern that some terror group or a “lone wolf” attacker would try to carry out a terrorist attack in the capital to mar the day and the Israeli celebration.
As in years past, a few among the tens of thousands of marchers disgracefully chanted racist anti-Arab slogans and sang anti-Arab songs while marching through the Old City’s Muslim Quarter. This needs to be roundly condemned. Such actions are reprehensible. In addition, such actions by a small minority give the whole march a bad name. The event organizers need to learn from this and figure out how to prevent this deplorable behavior from recurring year after year.
Another lesson to be learned from this year’s Jerusalem Day is that Israel need not be overly fearful or too mindful of the rhetoric of terrorist organizations. Hamas, with all its bluster, knew that if it were to fire rockets at Jerusalem because of the flag march, Israel would hit back hard. So Israel went ahead with the flag march, and Hamas held its fire. Hizballah knows the same. Their threats and displays of force need to be taken in stride. Israel is not helpless in the face of their threats and, therefore, need not allow their threats to lead to weak knees or dictate Israel’s policies—especially regarding what is and what is not permissible in the country’s capital.
Read more on Jerusalem Post: https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-743770