Israelis mark annexation of east Jerusalem amid high tensions

Tens of thousands of Israelis marched Sunday through Jerusalem's predominantly Palestinian Old City amid high tensions to mark Israel's 1967 capture of East Jerusalem.

The marchers, mainly ultranationalist religious Jewish youths, waved Israeli flags and blew horns as they passed through the Old City's Muslim Quarter en route to the Western Wall.

Above the Western Wall is the city's most sensitive site, a hilltop compound where the al-Aqsa Mosque, the third holiest site to Muslims, resides. The site is both sacred to Muslims, who know it as the "Noble Sanctuary," and to Jews, who know it as the "Temple Mount."

The parade came amidst an eight-month-long surge of violent Palestinian uprising, including knife, car-ramming, and shooting attacks. The unrest began in the wake of a campaign by Jewish ultranationalists who press for prayer rights at the flashpoint site.

A few hours before the march, Israel's Supreme Court ordered to limit the duration of the parade to "cause minimum friction with Muslim residents."

Police spokeswoman Luba Samri said that more than 2,000 police officers were deployed across the route of the march in case of any frictions.

Samri said that two Jewish minors were arrested after they were caught shouting anti-Arab slogans.

The parade is the main event of the "Jerusalem Day," an annual commemoration of the "reunification" of Jerusalem.

Israel seized East Jerusalem in the 1967 Mideast War, along with the rest of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. It later annexed East Jerusalem and declared it as part of its "eternal and indivisible capital," in a move that has never been recognized by the international community.

Palestinians, who makes up more than third of the city's overall population, consider East Jerusalem as the capital of their future state.

Later on Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed a commemoration service for fallen soldiers in the battle on Jerusalem, saying that "the State of Israel wants peace."

Netanyahu said he wishes to restart the stalled peace process with the Palestinians, but "only through direct negotiations."

He said that international attempts to pressure Israel to make concessions to the Palestinians will only "harden the Palestinian's stance" and will harm the prospects of peace.

He was referring to the French bid to revive the peace talks, which Israel rejected upfront. On Friday, more than 20 foreign ministers, including U.S. State Secretary John Kerry, met in Paris in preparation for a full conference later this year.

source : xinhua