Women in Green Tisha B'Av walk
Women in Green Tisha B'Av walkGershon Ellinson

The PA Foreign Affairs Ministry in a statement today condemned the “Women in Green” march customary for the past 24 years on the Tisha bAv anniversary of the Temple’s destruction.

The Ministry called the walk a “Judaization night march", branding it "a rebellion against international legitimacy”. Scheduled for July 21, the walk proceeds around the walls of the Old City of Jerusalem under the title: Walk Around the Old City Walls for the implementation of Israeli Sovereignty over Jerusalem our eternal capital and over Eretz Yisrael. The walk is conducted with participation of a number of Israeli officials.

The Ministry called the walk "an extension of the state of extremism that dominates the political arena in Israel and the settlers, since Trump’s ominous declaration on Jerusalem and the transfer of the embassy and the continuous Judaization of the Holy City and its separation from its Palestinian surroundings."

The Ministry further said "this prevents the creation of a viable Palestinian state with a territorial and sovereign with East Jerusalem as its capital."

Women in Green Tisha b'Av walk
Women in Green Tisha b'Av walkGershon Ellinson

The Ministry called upon the international community to "act quickly to defend its remaining credibility and to implement its relevant UN resolutions and to take legal measures to force Israel to comply with international law, and the will of international peace," saying the "failure to hold Israel accountable for its aggressive and provocative practices encourages it to continue to commit further violations and crimes and to continue its violent isolation of occupied Jerusalem and its holy sites."

Women in Green responded: “The Palestinian Foreign Affairs Ministry decided to call on the international community to issue an objection to the Walk of Tisha b’Av, which has been organized for the past 24 years by Women in Green, restoring the ancient Jewish custom of walking around the walls of Jerusalem on the eve of the fast day.

"The Palestinian Authority is correct in a few of the points that they raise in their call:

"Indeed, the walk on the eve of Tisha b’Av is intended to reinforce our sovereignty in the eternal city, the capital of Israel, Jerusalem. We take this opportunity to thank the President of the United States, Donald Trump, for his support in this matter. We are proud that this walk constitutes another layer in the process of preventing establishment of a terror state in the heart of the Land, as they themselves claim. The steps taken for sovereignty in Jerusalem are part of an overall process in which we are striving to apply Israeli sovereignty over Judea and Samaria."

Tisha B'Av walk flyer
Tisha B'Av walk flyerWomen in Green

"To the international community we state: The People of Israel is here because this is our Land and the capital of this Land is Jerusalem, toward which we have prayed for thousands of years. Only under our Israeli sovereignty can all of the nations and religions pray in it and travel in it freely and safely. We also take this opportunity to tell the international community that we are here because of a divine commandment and a history of more than 3,000 years, as well as by right of international institutions which declared the right of the Jewish People to this Land, from the Balfour Declaration, the San Remo Resolution, the resolution of the League of Nations and so on.

"It is important to clarify to the Palestinian leadership that the world has changed and no longer buys the Arab-Palestinian lie; the world has opened its eyes and can now distinguish between good and evil and there is increasing understanding that the aggressor no longer is the one who wins sympathy. The world has opened its eyes also as a result of changes in the White House and because of the Muslim immigration to the European countries.

"Jerusalem under Israel’s sovereignty is a cosmopolitan city representing freedom, holiness and morality. We call on everyone to join the walk, which will begin this coming Saturday night at 10:15pm after the mass reading of the Scroll of Lamentations in Gan Ha’atzma’ut (Independence Park) in the heart of the capital; the walk will encircle the walls of the Old City, stop at the Lion’s Gate for speeches with participation of Ministers, Knesset Members, and public figures,and conclude at the Western Wall.”

Women in Green Tisha b'Av walk
Women in Green Tisha b'Av walkGershon Ellinson