Israel remembers unification

2005-06-05 20:12

Jerusalem - Protected by 3 500 police, Jewish Jerusalem on Sunday celebrated the 38th anniversary of the capture of the eastern section of the city with a parade in the city centre, though Palestinians claim east Jerusalem as the capital of their eventual state.

The Jerusalem Day parade featured floats, most of them with agricultural themes, as groups representing different areas of the country marched down Jaffa Street, not far from where a wall once divided the city.

One float took on a current political theme. Dozens of marchers from Jewish settlements in Gaza walked behind a sign denouncing Israel's plan to pull out of the coastal territory in the summer, and their float, sporting a huge Star of David and models of settlements, reinforced the theme.

"The city of Jerusalem is not just the capital of the state of Israel, it is the heart of the Jewish people," tourism minister Avraham Hirschson said on the sidelines of the parade.

Jerusalem police chief Ilan Franco said he wouldn't let extremist Jews nor Palestinian militants disrupt the festivities in Israel's capital. Spokesperson Shmuel Ben-Ruby said 3 500 officers were deployed.

Security officials see potential threats from both Israelis and Palestinians this year.

Officials have warned that Jews opposed to the Gaza pullout might attack a disputed holy site in the Old City in an effort to thwart the pullout. Also, Jerusalem has been the scene of several Palestinian suicide bombings during four years of violence, and police are always concerned about large gatherings in the city as potential targets for attackers.

In an effort to prevent clashes on the holiday, Israel's Supreme Court banned a fanatical Jewish group from visiting a disputed Jerusalem holy site known to Jews as the Temple Mount and to Arabs as Haram as-Sharif.

Days after the 1967 war, Israel annexed the Arab section, a step it did not take with the West Bank or Gaza. However, the Israeli annexation has not been recognized by any other nation. Palestinians demand a complete Israeli pullout from the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem, where they want to establish a capital.

- AP