Palestinians stage parallel ‘flag march’ in East Jerusalem

By Said Amouri

JERUSALEM (AA) - Hundreds of Palestinians staged a parallel “flag march” in East Jerusalem on Sunday amid rising tensions over a planned march by Israeli settlers through the occupied city.

Flag-waving Palestinians rallied in Salaheddin street near the Bab al-Amud (Damascus Gate) area in Jerusalem’s Old City, witnesses said.

According to witnesses, Israeli police fired rubber-coated bullets and tear gas canisters to disperse Palestinian protesters.

The Palestinian march came as thousands of Israeli settlers gathered in Bab al-Amud area to participate in a controversial flag march through the city.

Settlers organize the march to mark what they call the day of unifying Jerusalem, in reference to Israel’s occupation of the city in 1967.

Israel occupied East Jerusalem, where the flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque complex is located, during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. It annexed the entire city in 1980, in a move never recognized by the international community.

Clashes surrounding last year’s flag march led to an 11-day Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip during which more than 260 Palestinians were killed and thousands injured. Thirteen Israelis were also killed in Palestinian fire from Gaza during the course of the conflict. The violence, the worst in years, came to a halt under an Egyptian-brokered truce.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar in Ankara