On the evening of March 21, Israelis created a human chain around parts of Jerusalem’s Old City in an event that replaced the traditional annual Flag March for Jerusalem Day, which celebrates the 1967 unification of the city after the Six-Day War. Coronavirus restrictions also meant that a smaller-than-usual celebration was later held by the Western Wall.

The Flag March — or Flag Dance — is a particularly sensitive event politically. Not only does it celebrate Israel’s sovereignty over both East and West Jerusalem, the march also crosses the Old City through the Muslim Quarter on the way to the Western Wall.

The march is considered a volatile and high-risk event and involves a large number of security forces. Many of the marchers are religious teenagers and the Old City’s Muslim Quarter route has frequently been the source of tensions. Vendors in the Muslim quarter are usually told to close early, and Muslim residents are careful to stay home as the nationalist marchers pass by. Marchers have been known on occasion to shout obscenities at Arab shopkeepers. Shops have been damaged and there have been clashes between Israeli Jews and Palestinians during the marches. 

Over the years, left-wing associations repeatedly asked the High Court to prevent the march, which hurts the feelings of many Israeli-Arab citizens. But while the court on some occasions has order a change in the route of the march in order to minimize friction with Jerusalem’s Muslim residents, the event itself was always held.