Fatah calls for violence in order to prevent the Jerusalem Day Parade to the Western Wall

Fatah calls to come to the Damascus Gate of the Old City at 5:00 p.m., the exact same time at which the traditional flag parade will pass the spot on its way to the Western Wall

Palestinian Media Watch turned to the Israeli police to warn about violence that the Fatah Movement has called for today, Jerusalem Day. Yesterday Fatah posted on its official Facebook page a call to Palestinians to "come... to the Damascus Gate at 5:00 p.m. in order to emphasize the Arabness and Islamicness of Jerusalem to the herds of settlers who want to desecrate the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the streets and alleys of Jerusalem."

5:00 p.m. this afternoon is the time that the traditional Jerusalem Day Parade is scheduled to pass that location on its way to the Western Wall. The purpose of Fatah's call was to have Palestinians violently disrupt the parade.

In the notice published on the Fatah Facebook page, three events in which Palestinians used violence to achieve political gain were stressed as precedents for today's call to Arabs: 

"As the [Palestinian] public has succeeded in thwarting the Zionist plan of imposing a division of [prayer] times and the invasions during the Jewish holidays in September 2015; and the cancellation of the decision to place metal detectors at the Al-Aqsa Mosque gates during the Lion's Gate protest; and the opening of a place of worship at the Gate of Mercy by force after a Zionist closure that had lasted 16 years."

In 2015, a plan to allocate unique prayer times for the three religions (Judaism, Islam, and Christianity) was tabled. This proposal was met with widespread violence, and the incitement that followed ignited a terror wave during which more than 40 people were murdered. The decision to place metal detectors was made after a shooting attack on the Temple Mount in which 2 Israeli policemen were murdered. Due to the widespread violence that began following this decision, the Israeli government decided to remove the metal detectors. The invasion of the prayer area on the Temple Mount adjacent to the Gate of mercy was also accompanied by violence, and ended with the opening of the area, in contradiction of a judicial decision on the matter.

This call for violence during the flag parade, at 5:00 p.m., is in addition to another call to the Palestinians to remain on the Temple Mount the whole night (Saturday night) "in order to thwart the attempts of the Zionist Temple groups to invade and celebrate the anniversary of 'Jerusalem Unification Day.'"

This morning at 7:00 a.m. there were indeed violent riots by Arabs at the Temple Mount, in accordance with Fatah's request. 

It should be noted that this is not the first time that Fatah figures, including Fatah Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, have used the concept of "desecrating the Al-Aqsa Mosque" in order to encourage violent activity around the Temple Mount. PMW reported similar words by Abbas in the middle of September 2015 that were broadcast on the official PA TV repeatedly which sparked a wave of stabbing and car ramming attacks that broke out in the beginning of October 2015. 

PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas: "We bless you, we bless the Murabitin (those carrying outi, religious conflict/war to protect land claimed to be Islamic), we bless every drop of blood that has been spilled for Jerusalem, which is clean and pure blood, blood spilled for Allah, Allah willing. Every Martyr (Shahid) will reach Paradise, and everyone wounded will be rewarded by Allah. The Al-Aqsa [Mosque] is ours, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre is ours, and they have no right to defile them with their filthy feet. We will not allow them to, and we will do everything in our power to protect Jerusalem."