The Palestinian Authority has created an Arab version of the annual Israeli celebration of Jerusalem Day. According to the PA-based Maan news agency, the PA plans to use the day to display its symbols in the capital city.

The PA has labeled its day of celebrations in honor of Jerusalem, “Al Kuds – The Capital of Arab Culture of 2009.” Celebrations will be held on Saturday, beginning at 5 p.m.

Israel's Jerusalem Day is held annually during the Hebrew month of Iyar, in honor of the date that the city was reunited in 1967 after 19 years under partial Jordanian occupation.

The PA's celebrations will include attempts to display sovereignty in the capital city. The most showy of these attempts, according to Maan, will be the flight of a glider plane bearing the colors of the PA flag over the Old City.

Celebrations will also include television programming featuring claims of an Arab right to much of Jerusalem and complaints regarding the security barrier being built between several Arab neighborhoods and the rest of the city.

Several other Arab cities will mark the day as well, among them Bethlehem, Ramallah, the Lebanese city of Mar Elias, and the Israeli-Arab city of Nazareth.

Following the Maan report regarding the PA's plans, the Land of Israel Legal Forum urged police to prevent Arab activists from flying the PA's colors over Jerusalem. The PA is legally obligated to respect Israel's sovereignty within the bounds of the State of Israel, said forum head Nachi Eyal.