Needless rightist march
Sunday’s rally in Silwan jeopardizes Jewish sovereignty in Jerusalem
Thousands of police officers and hundreds of news reporters from Israel and abroad descended upon Silwan’s main street in order to welcome dozens of rightist marchers headed by Baruch Marzel and Itamar Ben Gvir, even though it was a blatant provocation with immense potential for damage.
As opposed to the previous rightist march in Umm al-Fahem, which was also a blatant provocation yet caused almost no damage, the latest march poses a clear threat to anyone interested in Jewish sovereignty in the whole Land of Israel, and particularly in Jerusalem.
Anyone interested in the wellbeing of Jewish sovereignty in Jerusalem realized that the march would certainly create more objections and pressures against the settlement enterprise and construction in the east of the capital.
During the 43 years of the unified Jerusalem, all those involved in the work made sure to act, rather than talk. And so, at this time Jerusalem spreads almost all the way to Ramallah in the north, outflanks Bethlehem on the south, and hundreds of Jewish families live in almost any location in the east of the capital, including in Silwan.
Silwan (that is, Kfar HaShiloah) underwent a great revolution in recent years and has turned into an attractive tourist site offering a safe and tranquil atmosphere. This revolution was premised, first and foremost, on massive development of impressive historical sites, through tight and quiet cooperation among government and city hall officials, the police, and village residents.
Yet now, the marchers attempted to destroy many of these great achievements for nothing. There was no doubt that the march would create media resonance that would further boost the great question mark presented by Obama and the Israeli leftist camp over Israel’s sovereignty in east Jerusalem.
High Court at fault
The media storm would deter the average Israeli from visiting Jerusalem and the renovated Kfar HaShiloah. Moreover, the result may be further construction freezes precisely in Jerusalem, as result of global pressure. This media storm will only benefit Marzel, Ben Gvir, and their few supporters.
For this reason, the overwhelming majority of the rightist camp objected to the march. Exceptionally so, Silwan’s Jewish residents published a joint statement to that effect with Arab village residents. The same sentiments are held by the prime minister and most rightist Knesset members, and we can assume that the same is true for an overwhelming majority within the Yesha Council.
While Ben Gvir and Marzel are not agent provocateurs on behalf of the Shin Bet, their efforts are the wet dream of the Israeli Left and of the elements within the Shin Bet that in the past made a great effort to smear the rightist camp.
Despite the public’s clear reservations, the march went ahead and nobody was able to stop it. This is a classic case where a tiny minority drags a whole country in tow, in line with its destructive caprices. This phenomenon is made possible only thanks to the High Court of Justice, which allowed the march to go ahead.
For too long, the High Court has turned into the most welcoming address for all our nutcases. Any radical, foolish, or destructive argument is granted in-depth discussion by the honorable judges. The High Court clearly had no other option but to approve the needless march, after it already allowed the Gay Pride Parade to go ahead in Jerusalem of all places, as well as the Sheikh Jarrah protests and all the other blatant provocations by the far Left.
Indeed, Marzel’s and Ben Gvir’s march clearly disparages the absence of limits forced upon us by the High Court – all of us are paying the price for it, both leftists and rightists.
