Thousands of people packed the main streets of Jerusalem on Thursday for the annual Jerusalem March. The parade, organized by the International Christian Embassy in Jerusalem, led from Sacher Park to the Old City through the center of town. The march takes place each year during the Jewish festival of Sukkot, also known as the Feast of Tabernacles.
Israel Police spokesperson Micky Rosenfeld had no estimate on how many people were at the parade — there really were that many — with dozens of countries represented in the march.
Every group proudly waved its nation’s flag, expressing solidarity with Israel in obvious defiance of the clearly odious resolution on Jerusalem passed earlier in the week by the Executive Board of the United Nations Education, Science and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The resolution, advanced by the Palestinian Authority, obliterates in its language the historic link between Judaism and Jerusalem’s holy sites.
Many of those who marched were visiting as members of Christian delegations to the Holy Land. Among them were groups from Thailand, the United States, Hungary, Bolivia, China and Brazil. A group from the United Kingdom sang, “We love you, Israel!”
Christians from the Philippines expressed their solidarity with the Jewish People dressed as priests from the Holy Temple of Jerusalem, marching with a model of the Ark of the Covenant. At least 3,500 police officers were deployed across the capital city to protect the marchers and others, according to Rosenfeld.
