Israeli forces on Thursday blocked off a number of traffic arteries in the occupied city of East Jerusalem to make room for a marathon, the official Palestinian news agency WAFA reported.
WAFA correspondent said that Israeli police closed dozens of roads in Jerusalem, starting from the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood and the French Hill colonial settlement – north of the city – to the Jerusalem-Hebron Road – south of the city – ringing traffic to a halt for the race duration.
Heavily-armed police officers deployed on roads close to the race marathon stopped Palestinian commuters in the city and inspected their identity cards purportedly to secure the event.
CNN calls Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem “settlers.” That’s a new one pic.twitter.com/aOSYe3phTX
— Laila Al-Arian (@LailaAlarian) February 15, 2022
The event was held as thousands of Palestinians descended on Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque compound for Friday prayers.
Palestinians assert that the marathon, which is backed by Israeli authorities, illegally passes through occupied East Jerusalem and serves to strengthen Israel’s grip on occupied Palestinian territory.
(WAFA, PC, Social Media)
