The hashtag calls for the ceasing of the Flag March that is set to pass through Jerusalem’s walled Old City.
Protests to stop a right wing Israeli ‘Flag March’ through the holy city of Jerusalem have emerged online, with the hashtag #ItWontPass trending in Qatar.
The march, set to proceed in front of the Damascus Gate, outside the the Old City’s walls to the Jaffa Gate before running through the Arab markets and finally into the Western Wall plaza, was approved by the new Israeli government on Monday.
https://twitter.com/abohmee/status/1404788456732205060
The new government now sees far-right wing Naftali Bennett as Prime Minister after former PM Benjamin Netanyahu was ousted following a 12 year term in office.
The Flag March was set to take place on May 10, as it does every year, but had been postponed to await the swearing in of the new government at the Knesset.
Occupying Israeli forces have been forcibly removing Palestinians from the area and blocking all the roads that lead to the gate. A number of arrests and police violence have been reported, according to Palestinian writer and activist Mohammed El-Kurd.
Twitter users from Qatar and across the region have used the Arabic hashtag #ItWontPass to protest the controversial and provocative marrch.
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One user said: “The Israeli occupation forces have spread in the occupied city of Jerusalem and set up iron barriers to secure the “flags march” for settlers, this evening. #ItWontPass”
Another user tweeted in support of Palestinians in Jerusalem. “Our elders have gone down [in protest] before our youth, how will you pass? On our souls, you won’t pass #ItWontPass.”
Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh condemned the march, calling it “a provocation.
Hamas spokesperson Abdel Latif al-Qanou expressed that the flag march could spark a new round of conflict “to protect al-Aqsa and Jerusalem,” less than a month after Hamas and Israel reached a Qatar and Egypt brokered ceasefire following an 11 day bombardment of the Gaza Strip.
Israeli attacks
During Ramadan this year, Israeli forces carried out a series of crackdowns and attacks on Palestinians at the Al Aqsa mosque and the Damascus Gate in Occupied Jerusalem.
The provocations were met with an ultimatum by Hamas, which demanded Israel withdraws it forces from Al Aqsa and the neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah in East Jerusalem, one of the only remaining Palestinian areas in the capital facing forced dispossession by Israel.
This triggered a response, and on May 10, Israel began a brutal bombardment campaign on the besieged Gaza Strip, killing at least 255 Palestinians, including 66 children.
Occupying Israeli forces have also conducted brutal attacks and arrests on protesters and journalists covering calls to halt the forced dispossession of Palestinians from Sheikh Jarrah and the neighbourhood of Silwan alike.
In Silwan, dozens of Palestinians were given demolition orders by Israel on June 8. The orders gave them 21 days to demolish their own homes or else face demolition by Israeli authorities.
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