Thousands attend Tisha B’Av prayer service at Western Wall

Thousands of people attended a Tisha B’Av prayer service at the Western Wall in Jerusalem Saturday night. The ninth day of the Jewish Calendar’s month of Av is an annual fast day, commemorating the destruction of both the First Temple and Second Temple in Jerusalem.

Roughly 500 people, led by right-wing politicians and rabbis, participated in the Women in Green’s annual march around the Old City. The march aims to assert Israeli sovereignty over Jerusalem.

Right-wing activists march around the Old City of Jerusalem on Saturday, July 28 (photo credit: Joshua Davidovich/Times of Israel)

The Women in Green is an organization that advocates for full annexation of the West Bank. Its name comes from the hats that many of the activists wear to mark their opposition to Israel surrendering territory that lies beyond the 1967 “Green Line.”

This year’s march was at risk of being canceled after the police refused to approve its route citing fear of friction with Muslims leaving the nearby Temple Mount at the end of the daily Ramadan prayers. After the organization threatened to petition the High Court the police permitted the march to take place in its planned route.

Hundreds of police officers and soldiers secured the event. No major disruptions were reported, but Arab onlookers shouted “Allahu Akbar” (God is great) towards the protesters.