This slogan coined by former Knesset Chairman Abraham Burg, a man with deep religious roots, well expresses the spirit of the demonstration that took place Saturday night (March 6) in East Jerusalem.

The protesters shouted in unison: “One-two, One-two / Jerusalem capital of Two States” and “Sheikh Jarrah, don’t despair / We shall overcome the Occupation!”

It was the largest peace demonstration in Jerusalem for a long time. More than 5000 protesters, Jews and Arabs, Israelis and Palestinians, filled the neighboring soccer field, where the demonstration took place according to the court order.

The Jerusalem police, tainted with racism, unwittingly contributed to the success of the protest. Its efforts to ban the protest altogether, or at least to exile it to a far-away spot, and the application submitted by the protesters to the Supreme Court, attracted wide attention and convinced many that they cannot stay away.

According to the court’s proposal, the demonstration took place at the soccer field, but 300 protesters were allowed to march to the houses from which the Arab families were evicted so as to make room for the settlers.

The police called in large forces, which included elite units and mounted police officers, asserting that there was a danger of a clash between the protesters and the settlers. However, there was no violence.

The 300 marchers were headed by present and former Members of the Knesset. In the first row, present members Haim Oron and Dov Hinin marched with former members Uri Avnery, Mossi Raz and Naomi Hazan, the chairperson of the New Israel fund, which is now under a vicious attack by the extreme Right.

Accompanied by drumbeats, the marchers approached the “stolen” houses but were stopped a few yards from there by a line of policemen.

The Sheikh Jarrah protests, which started a few months ago with less than a hundred Jerusalemites, are getting larger and larger with every passing week. Together with the weekly demonstrations in Bil’in and Nia’lin, they are becoming the focus point of a new Left, headed by a new generation of young activists, side by side with the veterans.

photos: http://zope.gush-shalom.org/home/en/galleries/gallery_1267927284/Uri_1.jpg/view_photo

more photos: http://www.yairgil.com/Sheikh-Jarrah/index.htm