A little more than a month has passed since the High Court of Justice rejected the argument that the law limiting the right to boycott organizations operating in the occupied territories harms the right of freedom of demonstration. The justices ruled that, in this case, the interest of the state takes precedence over freedom of expression, thus upholding the law against those boycotting settlements.

The same court rejected on May 11 the plea of the nongovernmental organization Ir Amim and Gadi Gvaryahu, the chairman of the Tag Meir grass-roots organization, to change the route of the Jerusalem Day Flag Parade planned for May 17 and forbid the marchers from entering the Muslim Quarter. The verdict is full of flowery phrases denouncing violence.

The justices, headed by Vice President Elyakim Rubinstein, resolutely declared that there is “zero room for tolerance for those provoking violence, verbally or physically." The justices even added, “Clear and uncompromised enforcement will be in place.” But the High Court of Justice, the same court accused by the right of "left-wing inclinations,” refused to offer assistance to the thousands of residents and merchants in the Muslim Quarter. Isn't freedom of expression an important value in a democratic society? It is hard to understand why the justices believe that the police will succeed this year in restraining the marchers, when they failed in earlier years in the same location and by using the exact same methods. How will its policemen pursue lawbreakers in the crowded alleyways and stop the thousands of rioters among the crowd? Evidently, the Jerusalem district commander has the answers.

There is no other parade like this in Israel: not in terms of its scope — 50,000-90,000 participants according to police estimates of recent years — and not in terms of its flagrancy. Tens of thousands of young adults and teenagers, mostly members of the religious Zionist community, march from the center of the west of the city to the heart of East Jerusalem. They celebrate — according to the Hebrew calendar — the day of the liberation/occupation of the east part of the city, holding it over the annexed/occupied residents.