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In Jerusalem: Jews and Arabs march against Israeli occupation

'We don’t need to wait for the next war or a new Intifada — every day is a good day to end the occupation.'

April 3, 2017 at 8:40 pm

Thousands of Jews and Arabs joined in a march in Jerusalem to protest against the Israeli occupation on Saturday.

Organised by Standing Together, an umbrella movement consisting of pro-peace organisations and left-wing parties, the protest marked 50 years since the Six-Day War.

In a statement, the movement said the action was to “protest against the continued Israeli control over the territories and especially East Jerusalem, and in favour of a peaceful solution and justice for both peoples.”

Masses of protesters from across Israel are marching against the occupation and are demanding peace. We don’t need to wait for the next war or a new Intifada — every day is a good day to end the occupation.

The protest followed the fatal shooting of a Palestinian man earlier on Saturday after the shooter allegedly injured two civilians and a border policeman with a knife in Jerusalem’s Old City.

Commenting on the incident, one of the organisers, Itamar Avneri, said that the incident “was a painful reminder of the price of the occupation”.

Knesset Member Zehava Galon, the chairwoman of the Meretz party, addressed the rally, saying: “We can’t keep the conflict with the Palestinians on the back burner, when the flame is on top of a barrel bomb. The stabbing attack in the Old City exposes the illusion that it’s possible to deprive an entire people of rights and sovereignty without the desperation turning into horrible hatred and violence.”

Organisers estimated some 2,000 people marched to near the Old City’s Jaffa Gate to a platform bearing both Israeli and Palestinian flags for the protest.