An anticipated and closely-analyzed march in Jerusalem on 15 July called for (1) Palestinian independence, (2) for a Palestinian State (and, I think it can be said, at least by implication, for Palestinian plans to seek membership at the UN starting fethis autumn), and (3) an end to Palestinian territory occupied by Israeli in the June 1967 war.
It was largely a different crowd, and a simpler and more sympathetic message, than the two Israeli initiatives (neither from the government) that emerged in April [see the post on our sister blog, at Palestine-Mandate.]
Here’s a great shot, by Yossi Gurvitz, posted on Flikr, here, of the marchers wending their way along the Old City walls from Jaffa Gate in the first stage of their march:
Here’s a couple of photos taken by Dahlia Scheindlin, and published here in a photo essay on +972 Magazine:
At the start of the march:
Asking, politely, for Obama to impose peace in the Middle East (!):
Alongside the wall around the Old City of Jerusalem, one of several identical signs I saw reading: “Two people/two states”:
And, via Didi Remez on Twitter, who wrote: “To understand just how powerful and extraordinary the #July15 Jerusalem march was, watch this short VIDEO | YouTube http://dd.ht/oEriiU | —
As the organizers and Israeli media reports suggest, this march retraces — in reverse order — the steps taken on Jerusalem Day some weeks ago when thousands of national religious Israelis demonstrators (some of whose number were not ashamed to shout, loudly, “Death to the Arabs”, a parallel which was not mirrored yesterday) started off in Sheikh Jarrah and ended up at the Jaffa Gate entrance to the Old City.
Estimates of the numbers participated ranged from 500 (given by the Israeli Police) to over 1000, to over 2000, and to over 4000. At the point at which I was able to see the full line of marchers, when they arrived at their Sheikh Jarrah weekly (Friday) meeting point, I would have estimated something like 1000 or so.
The police were calm, there was a very small counter-demonstration, but there was no violence, and there were no arrests…
It was, for sure, an overwhelmingly Israeli affair, but there were a small number of Palestinian flags, and Palestinian participants, including Silwan notable/activist Fakhri Abu Diab (shaking hands, at 0:26), and Nasser Ghrawi from Sheikh Jarrah (with the bushy black beard and white baseball cap, at (1:37 or so), a brief Palestinian dance-up (2:19, in apparent response to the small counter-demonstration at 2:14), and some lines from a recorded version of the late Vittorio Arrigoni’s favorite Palestinian song, “Onadikum: (2:48)…
Though it is not, yet, a huge mass movement, the ties of mutual support between the Israeli demonstrators and some of the leading Palestinian activists in East Jerusalem seems to be evolving slowly but nicely…
UPDATE: Bernard Avishai wrote this on his blog after the July 15 March: “About a year and a half ago, I suggested that the young activists organizing protest in Sheikh Jarrah (now calling themselves ‘Solidarity’) had the potential to refashion the landscape of Israel’s peace movement. Today’s march in Jerusalem, organized by those same young leaders–the first protest in 44 years in which Israelis and East Jerusalem Arabs marched side-by-side to call for two states and a shared capital–is another turning point. Do not be misled by the numbers. The protest in Sheikh Jarrah started with a few dozen. It grew into a weekly vigil of several hundred that is monitored around the world. Today’s march, of perhaps 3000, is just the beginning, too. Once Jerusalem Arabs see they can march peacefully, that is, along with Israeli leaders who coordinate in advance with the courts and police, they will come out in ever greater numbers. And when they get mobilized, the much larger peace movement in Tel Aviv will get mobilized…” This is posted here.
I saw ICAHD head Jeff Halper marching among the protesters, and think I saw the former speaker of the Israeli Knesset, Avraham Burg, arrive by himself to join to group at Sheikh Jarrah…
And, finally, via Twitter, I found this video on Youtube of Sara Benninga, a leading figure in the Solidarity and Sheikh Jarrah Committee groups that organized and participated in the 15 July demonstration, speaking at a JStreet conference in the US where she was given an award:
OK, and here’s a free bonus, [Egyptian journalist] Mona El-Tahawy’s address to the same JStreet Conference: