JERUSALEM, May 20 (Reuters) – Right-wing Israeli marchers
scuffled with Palestinians as a procession marking the Jewish
state’s annexation of east Jerusalem entered the old city’s
Muslim quarter on Sunday, police said.
Tens of thousands of Israelis turned out to celebrate the
anniversary of the capture of the territory in a 1967 war – a
step that did not win international recognition.
Fifteen people were arrested after fighting between some
marchers and Palestinians who gathered outside the Old City
walls, said police.
“Ten Jews were arrested for calling out racist slurs and
attacking Arabs. Five Arabs (were arrested) for throwing objects
and attacking (Israelis),” Jerusalem’s police force said in a
statement.
Palestinians want east Jerusalem to be the capital of an
independent state they hope to establish in the West Bank and
the Gaza Strip. Israel considers the entire city its capital.
“Israel without Jerusalem is like a body without a heart,”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at a commemoration
ceremony on Sunday. “It will never be divided again.”
Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat condemned the
celebrations, saying they were “clear proof that peace is not
part of the Israeli government’s agenda”.
Peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians collapsed in
2010 a few weeks after they began.
(Writing by Maayan Lubell; Editing by Andrew Heavens)
