Last week, activists hosted a festive iftar — the traditional Muslim break fast after sunset during Ramadan — and Passover meal in East Jerusalem’s Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood, where eviction orders hang over the heads of many Palestinian residents.
Orly Noy, a journalist, activist and member of the B’Tselem executive board, recounted that the Palestinian hosts in Sheikh Jarrah refused to allow their Israeli guests to contribute financially or to assist with the preparation of the food. Special kosher for Passover, vegan, and vegetarian dishes were provided in addition to traditional iftar foods.
The meal took place the same evening police blocked MK Itamar Ben-Gvir and other right wing Jewish ultra-nationalists from holding a provocative “flag march” through the Damascus Gate and the Muslim Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem.
Noy said, “Our joint struggle was demonstrated by sitting together in solidarity. In a place where there are those striving to incite continuing madness, normality was itself a protest. It was also a reminder that we can live together with our differences and that it is possible that one day we will sit together not as the occupier and the conquered, the oppressor and the oppressed, but as free people, in dignity and equality — as it should be.”