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Israel will celebrate the controversial Jerusalem Day festival on Monday amid fears that this year’s event will be especially provocative for Palestinian residents of the city.
Along with a staple ultra-nationalist march through the Muslim Quarter of Jerusalem’s Old City, Israel’s far-right government announced in mid-May that the cabinet would, for the first time, hold a “special” meeting in the East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Silwan.
“The Israeli government is proud to hold its special cabinet meeting marking Jerusalem Day in the City of David – the cradle of our national heritage and the very heart of our united and eternal capital,” said a statement from the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
East Jerusalem is recognised as Israeli-occupied Palestinian territory under international law. Jerusalem Day celebrates Israel’s capture of the city in 1967, when Arab forces were defeated in the eastern part. Israel then declared Jerusalem as its undivided capital, a move that the majority of the international community rejects.
Dimitri Diliani, a member of Palestinian faction Fatah’s Revolutionary Council and a Jerusalem resident, told The National that the decision to hold the meeting in Silwan is “politically calculated”.
“Silwan is an occupied Palestinian neighbourhood under extraordinary pressure from settlement groups and state-backed Israeli terrorist activity,” he added.
“Holding a cabinet meeting there sends a message: it asserts delusional Israeli sovereignty through physical presence on land that remains under military occupation in violation of international law.”
Power struggle
Densely populated Silwan, to the south of the Old City of Jerusalem, has been at the centre of a power struggle between Israeli settlers and Palestinians for years. Since 2010, the municipality of Jerusalem has been trying to transform the area into a park called King’s Garden.
Israeli lawyer and Jerusalem specialist Daniel Seidemann said in a publication by Terrestrial Jerusalem, an NGO that focuses on Jerusalem affairs, that the decision “is basically going to the most volatile area in Jerusalem and playing with matches”.
After the meeting in Silwan, tens of thousands of Israelis, mostly far-right youth, will then descend on Damascus Gate, the main entrance to the Old City’s Muslim Quarter, and march along a street that traverses many of the gates to the Al Aqsa Mosque, the third holiest site in Islam. The compound on which the mosque sits is also holy for Jews, being the site of the First and Second temples.
Previous marches have included assaults on Palestinians and their businesses, racist chants, and attacks on journalists. Far-right politicians typically join, with last year seeing visits by ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich. In 2011, the march helped spark 11 days of fighting between Israel and Hamas.
“There is profound apprehension in Jerusalem as the so-called ‘Jerusalem Day’ approaches. The occupation flag march, which winds through the neighbourhoods of the Old City, has come to embody the spectacle of Israeli settler-colonial terror,” Mr Diliani said.
German intelligence warnings
- 2002: "Hezbollah supporters feared becoming a target of security services because of the effects of [9/11] ... discussions on Hezbollah policy moved from mosques into smaller circles in private homes." Supporters in Germany: 800
- 2013: "Financial and logistical support from Germany for Hezbollah in Lebanon supports the armed struggle against Israel ... Hezbollah supporters in Germany hold back from actions that would gain publicity." Supporters in Germany: 950
- 2023: "It must be reckoned with that Hezbollah will continue to plan terrorist actions outside the Middle East against Israel or Israeli interests." Supporters in Germany: 1,250
Source: Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution
Red flags
- Promises of high, fixed or 'guaranteed' returns.
- Unregulated structured products or complex investments often used to bypass traditional safeguards.
- Lack of clear information, vague language, no access to audited financials.
- Overseas companies targeting investors in other jurisdictions - this can make legal recovery difficult.
- Hard-selling tactics - creating urgency, offering 'exclusive' deals.
Courtesy: Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching
Brief scores:
Toss: Northern Warriors, elected to field first
Bengal Tigers 130-1 (10 ov)
Roy 60 not out, Rutherford 47 not out
Northern Warriors 94-7 (10 ov)
Simmons 44; Yamin 4-4
Scores
Oman 109-3 in 18.4 overs (Aqib Ilyas 45 not out, Aamir Kaleem 27) beat UAE 108-9 in 20 overs (Usman 27, Mustafa 24, Fayyaz 3-16, Bilal 3-23)
The National Archives, Abu Dhabi
Founded over 50 years ago, the National Archives collects valuable historical material relating to the UAE, and is the oldest and richest archive relating to the Arabian Gulf.
Much of the material can be viewed on line at the Arabian Gulf Digital Archive - https://www.agda.ae/en
Sholto Byrnes on Myanmar politics
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
The years Ramadan fell in May
Key figures in the life of the fort
Sheikh Dhiyab bin Isa (ruled 1761-1793) Built Qasr Al Hosn as a watchtower to guard over the only freshwater well on Abu Dhabi island.
Sheikh Shakhbut bin Dhiyab (ruled 1793-1816) Expanded the tower into a small fort and transferred his ruling place of residence from Liwa Oasis to the fort on the island.
Sheikh Tahnoon bin Shakhbut (ruled 1818-1833) Expanded Qasr Al Hosn further as Abu Dhabi grew from a small village of palm huts to a town of more than 5,000 inhabitants.
Sheikh Khalifa bin Shakhbut (ruled 1833-1845) Repaired and fortified the fort.
Sheikh Saeed bin Tahnoon (ruled 1845-1855) Turned Qasr Al Hosn into a strong two-storied structure.
Sheikh Zayed bin Khalifa (ruled 1855-1909) Expanded Qasr Al Hosn further to reflect the emirate's increasing prominence.
Sheikh Shakhbut bin Sultan (ruled 1928-1966) Renovated and enlarged Qasr Al Hosn, adding a decorative arch and two new villas.
Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan (ruled 1966-2004) Moved the royal residence to Al Manhal palace and kept his diwan at Qasr Al Hosn.
Sources: Jayanti Maitra, www.adach.ae
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
More on Quran memorisation:
Zayed Sustainability Prize
Team Angel Wolf Beach Blast takes place every Wednesday between 4:30pm and 5:30pm
