Israeli ultranationalists sing anti-apartheid slogans during the Jerusalem Day March | Israel-Palestine War News

Israeli supporters who marched through Jerusalem’s Old City chanted “Death to the Arabs” and “Let your cities burn” during the annual Jerusalem Day celebrations, as many Palestinians stayed indoors and closed their shops.

Tens of thousands of Israelis – many of them young and old – take part each year in the procession, which Israeli officials say celebrates the “reunification” of Jerusalem after Israel captured East Jerusalem in the 1967 war.

The occupation of East Jerusalem, home to the majority of Palestinians, was prohibited by international law, according to the United Nations.

Over the years, the march has become violent, with youth groups demanding anti-Palestinian laws and racist chants, threats and assaults. This year’s event took place against Israel’s war with Iran and the so-called “cease fire” in Gaza, which is characterized by almost daily violations by the Israeli army.

By early morning, most of the Palestinian vendors in the Old City had pulled down their metal shutters and left the narrow cobblestone streets. Some Israeli marchers hit closed shutters as they passed, while others clapped and chanted.

Authorities sometimes order Palestinian businesses to close along the route, which leads to the Western Wall, the Jewish holy site.

A few Palestinian shops remained open under the protection of activists from Standing Together, an Israeli-Palestinian group that sent volunteers through the Old City to try to protect residents and businesses from harassment.

“Our presence is only to protect people from being attacked, places from being destroyed. And we are trying to reduce this day,” said Rula Daoud, the leader of the group, who said that the march is growing every year. He criticized the Israeli police for failing to intervene to stop the violence.

“Today, thousands of regulars and right-wing thugs young and old will roam the streets chanting racist slogans, trying to destroy Palestinian-occupied areas and terrorize the entire area,” he said.

Journalists who covered the march also faced hostility, with some reporters being pushed and prevented from filming by the participants, according to local media.