Jerusalem Day 2019 at Damascus Gate

Jerusalem Day (Yom Yerushalayim) is a day that celebrates the reunification of Jerusalem after the 6-Day war in 1967. Prior to that, Jerusalem was a divided city under Jordan’s control since the aftermath of the War of Independence in 1948 when the Jordanian Army kicked all Jews out of the Jewish Quarter of the Old City and refused to allow Jews to visit their holy sites like the Western Wall and the cemetery at the Mt. of Olives.

The day is celebrated with lots of flag waving by teen Yeshiva students. Most celebrants enter the Old City via the Jaffa Gate on their way to the Kotel, but some still enter via the Damascus Gate and the Muslim Quarter. This year Jerusalem Day and Ramadan were on the same day but thankfully, violence was kept to a minimum thanks to an overwhelming security presence.

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