Published today (updated) 17/08/2012 18:39
Demonstrators gathered outside mosques across Gaza City after prayers and marched to the al-Shawwa tower.
Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine leader Rabbah Mhanna addressed crowds and called on the PLO to end negotiations with Israel, which he said harmed national interests.
"Getting back Jerusalem will not be through futile negotiations or condemnations but by returning to the struggle and resistance in all its forms including popular, armed, economic and cultural," Mhanna said.
The PFLP leader also called for a mass popular movement to end the national division between Hamas, which governs Gaza, and Fatah, which leads the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank. Mhanna urged both governments to stop violating democratic freedoms.
He added that Palestinian prisoners must be liberated by the resistance, and called for the abduction of Israeli soldiers who could be exchanged for detainees.
Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine politburo member Talal Abu Tharifa also spoke at the rally, and said Jerusalem Day confirmed that Arab and Islamic nations continued to support the Palestinian cause and Jerusalem.
Abu Tharifa said Israeli practices in Jerusalem were provocative measures to usurp the political and cultural identity of the city in violation of international law.
He also called for national unity to respond to Israel's occupation.
In a statement to mark Jerusalem Day, the Popular Resistance Committee said Israeli attempts to Judaize Jerusalem and violations of the Al-Aqsa Mosque would not change the Islamic character of the holy city.
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