Gush Shalom calls for abolition of "Jerusalem Day" 20 May 2012

Press Release May 19 2012   
  
Gush Shalom calls for abolition of "Jerusalem Day". This is a holiday only to settlers and racists, who get a license to provoke and harass Palestinians . . The real 'Jerusalem Day' - when Jerusalem becomes the capital of two states living in peace.


A lie does not become a truth, even if repeated forty-five times. Jerusalem is a not a united city, and has never been a united city in the forty-five years since 1967. East Jerusalem is a Palestinian area under occupation rule. Just so is it treated by the  governmental and municipal authorities of the State of Israel, and by the settlers who are dispossessing the Palestinian inhabitants, with the funding and backing of these authorities - as recently happened again in  the Beit Hanina Neighborhood.

"Jerusalem Day" is not a holiday to Israel's citizens or to residents of Jerusalem. It is a holiday only for the young settlers, who are given by the Jerusalem Police a free hand to hold a provocative "Flag Dance" throughout East Jerusalem – even though in previous years this "dance" developed into an ongoing chain of racist harassment and violence against Palestinian inhabitants.

It is time to end the lie and erase this ugly stain from the calendar of the State of Israel. The real Jerusalem Day will be the day when the occupation ends and Jerusalem becomes the capital of two states - West Jerusalem the capital of Israel and East Jerusalem the capital of Palestine. Only then can Jerusalem truly be a united city, by the free will of all its inhabitants - Israelis and Palestinians alike.


Contact: Adam Keller, Gush Shalom Spokesperson 054-2340749

Solidarity !!!

Israelis and Palestinians will demonstrate at the Old City's Damascus Gate against the "Jerusalem Day",  which is the Day of Occupation

Today, Sunday May 20, there shall be marked the so-called "Jerusalem Day", dedicated to glorification of the myth of the Unity of the City. But Jerusalem is not united, it is divided and occupied. "Jerusalem Day" a day of celebration for the settlers who make of use of this date to hold various activities in East Jerusalem, activities which are, year after year, accompanied by the terrorizing and mass use of violence against Palestinian inhabitants.

We will join our Palestinian partners in marking Nakba Day which occurred last week and protesting against the Right-wing "Flag Dance" which celebrates the ongoing occupation of East Jerusalem. The East Jerusalem neighborhood committees invited Israelis to join in the

Protest event at the Damascus Gate at wall of Jerusalem's Old City, facing the Right-wing "Flag Dance", on Sunday, May 20, 2012, at 6:00 PM.

It should be noted that the protest is organized by Palestinians and it is our partners who will determine the nature of the demonstrations. We must also warn that in recent years, "Jerusalem Day" is often marked by violence from both settlers and the security forces.

For more information: +972-52-5357456