Details of the Hateful "Flag March" in Occupied Quds

TEHRAN (Defapress) - The Flag March, organized with the support of the occupied Quds municipality and state backing, was held to commemorate the anniversary of Israel's occupation of East Quds in 1967, sparking widespread reactions.

During the event, thousands of occupying settlers marched through the Muslim neighborhood of occupied Quds, chanting racist slogans such as "Gaza is ours," "Death to Arabs," and "Burn their villages."

The Flag March is held annually by the occupied Quds municipality with state funding, celebrating Israel's occupation of East Quds and its holy sites during the 1967 war. However, Israel's control over East Quds is not internationally recognized.

This march has always been marked by racist behavior and brutal attacks on Palestinian citizens, disrupting the lives and work of Muslim residents each time.

Before noon on Monday, small groups of Zionist youths attacked shopkeepers and passersby in the city, harassing them, disrespecting veiled women, stealing from cafes, looting bookstores, and forcibly entering Muslim homes.

Israeli police had warned Muslim shop owners to close their stores, as they could not guarantee their protection. By 1 p.m. on Monday, most shops were closed, and residents barricaded themselves in their homes.

Gender segregation, based on the beliefs of extremist Jews, is a feature of the Flag March. For this reason, Jewish women approached the Western Wall separately from men. At the Damascus Gate, they chanted "Gaza is ours" and carried a large banner reading "Quds 1967, Gaza 2025," effectively threatening the military annexation of the Gaza Strip to the occupied territories.

The occupying settlers also carried another banner that read, "Without the Nakba, there is no victory", a slogan referring to the expulsion of 700,000 Palestinians during the establishment of the Israeli regime in 1948.

The hateful event was led by Baruch Kahane, son of Meir Kahane, the extremist Jewish rabbi and founder of the Kach party, which was banned in the 1980s under Israel's anti-terrorism laws.

A large number of participants in the march were high school students, with the names of their organizing schools visible on their clothing. Despite the march's history of violence, Israeli police had a minimal presence, merely observing the violence against Palestinians.

Itamar Ben-Gvir, the National Security Minister and a notorious figure of the far-right movement, was seen among the crowd that reached the Old City by sunset. He had previously made provocative appearances in the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, where Israel prohibits Jewish citizens from entering and performing religious rituals.

Meanwhile, Benjamin Netanyahu hosted an Israeli cabinet meeting in occupied East Quds. Israeli media reported that he ignored warnings from the Shin Bet security service that the Flag March would be a provocative act.

In 2021, the Flag March and provocative actions by extremist Jews sparked an 11-day war between Israel and Hamas. Danny Seidemann, an Israeli lawyer and analyst based in occupied Quds, described Netanyahu's cabinet move as "pyromania politics" (a madness for incitement), stating: "This is a completely Palestinian neighborhood, but the settlers, motivated by biblical commands and the goal of displacing Palestinians, are destroying their homes. This is the most critical and unstable place in Quds."