CAIRO, Thursday, May 18, 2023 (WAFA) – Egypt Thursday evening condemned Israeli settler intrusion into Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque compound and the annual Jewish supremacist march in the occupied city. The Egyptian Foreign Affairs Ministry decried in a press statement the storming of Al-Aqsa Mosque by groups of Jewish extremists, including members of the Israeli government and parliament, as part of the so-called ‘Flag March’, along with accompanying provocations against the indigenous Palestinian people. It slammed the march as an irresponsible escalation that inflames sensibilities and exacerbates tensions in the occupied territories while calling on Israel, the occupying power, to respect the historic and legal status quo at the holy places of Jerusalem, pursuant to which Al-Aqsa Mosque compound is the sole property of the Muslim Waqf. It concluded by affirming that East Jerusalem is an integral part of the Palestinian territories that have been occupied by Israel since 4 June 1967. The so-called ‘Flag March’ is organized by Israeli Jewish supremacists to celebrate Israel’s occupation and colonization of East Jerusalem since 1967. Extremist and right-wing cabinet ministers and members of parliament from the government coalition, led by the fascist Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben Gvir, participated in the march. Other politicians who participated in it included Minister of Transport Miri Regev, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, and a number of Knesset members. The annual Flag March usually see thousands of right-wing Israeli settlers, under police protection, carrying machine guns, waving Israeli flags, dancing, singing and descending on Jerusalem to celebrate the so-called unification of the city, including the hotbed Palestinian neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah, Bab al-Amoud and the Muslim Quarter of the Old City on their way to the Wailing Wall, as Palestinians are forced to close their stores. Palestinian maintain that the provocative Jerusalem Day events are meant to intimidate Palestinian residents of Jerusalem and reflect Israel’s policies of settler-colonialism, ethnic cleansing and expulsions of the Palestinian population. Although Palestinians in East Jerusalem, a part of the internationally recognized Palestinian Territory that has been subject to Israeli military occupation since 1967, they are denied their citizenship rights and are instead classified only as “residents” whose permits can be revoked if they move away from the city for more than a few years. They are also discriminated against in all aspects of life including housing, employment and services, and are unable to access services in the West Bank due to the construction of Israel’s separation wall.
Source: En – Palestine news & Information Agency – WAFA