Clashes between Israeli police and Palestinians in Jerusalem Old City, Sunday
Clashes spread from the mosque compound into the narrow Old City streets
Palestinian leaders have blamed Israel for raising tension in Jerusalem after a day of clashes at the city's most sensitive religious site.
Police used tear gas and stun grenades to disperse 150 Palestinian protesters who had thrown rocks at non-Muslims who entered the al-Aqsa mosque compound.
The site, known to Jews as the Temple Mount, is sacred to both religions.
Israeli police said the visitors were foreign tourists, but Palestinians said they were Jewish extremists.
"At a time when (the US administration) is trying to bridge the divide... Israel is deliberately escalating tensions in Jerusalem," said Palestinian peace negotiator Saeb Erekat.
"We've seen this before, and we know what the consequences are," he added.
In the past the al-Aqsa/Temple Mount compound has been a flashpoint for Israel-Palestinian violence, notably after the visit of then Israeli opposition leader Ariel Sharon in 2000.
Protests were quelled by Sunday afternoon, with dozens of police patrolling the streets of the walled Old City and blocking some of its gates.
Different versions
There are conflicting accounts as to who was the initial target of Muslim anger.
AL-AQSA/TEMPLE MOUNT
SACRED TO MUSLIMS:
First direction of prayer for Muslims, site of Prophet Muhammad's ascent into, home to al-Aqsa mosque and Dome of the Rock
SACRED TO JEWS:
Site of first and second Temples and the rock on which Abraham offered his son as a sacrifice. As the visible remnant of the Temple, the Western Wall is the holiest site in Judaism
Where archaeology is politics
Palestinian sources said about 15 people from the Temple Mount Guardians group managed to enter the compound and performed acts of worship in contravention of agreements putting the compound under Muslim control.
At first, Israeli police confirmed this, but later issued a clarification saying the group was in fact made up of non-Jewish French tourists.
Police said Palestinian worshippers had started protesting at immodest clothing worn by the visitors.
Other accounts say the tourists were mistaken for members of a large group of religious and right-wing Jews which had gathered at one gate of the compound to press for entry.
Mr Erekat accused the Israeli authorities of escorting hardline Jewish settlers from the Israeli-occupied West Bank, "whose presence is deliberately designed to provoke a reaction", around the mosque.
At least 10 Palestinians were injured in the clashes and several Israeli police were lightly hurt.
The Arab League expressed "extreme anger... at the premeditated aggression" at the Israeli security forces for allowing "Zionist extremists" into al-Aqsa.
The incident happened hours before the start of Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish religious calendar, and Israeli security officials were unavailable for further comment.
More torpedoing of any peace initiatives by Israel who never have had any intention of stopping their harassment and dissolution of Palestinian society. How did we sink so low as to not learn from our own mistakes in colonizing the Americas, Australia, and Africa? How is it that Americans who should know better support such a heartless group of European religious fanatics taking over another 3rd World country? It's done by brainwashing Americans with news manufactured like the above incident and a one-sided "history" provided the world media by Zionists who control so many news outlets such as Rupert Murdock with his Fox News affiliates.
1 comment:
This just in my e-mail today from Mazin Quiseyeh shows more harassment:
Today, Bethlehem University was forced to close because the Israeli authorities imposed a "closure" of the West Bank because of Yom Kippur holiday. As our students and faculty from Jerusalem cannot get to Bethlehem (a mere 5 miles away) because of this closure, the educational activities cannot be carried out. Also all Palestinians who are lucky enough to have permits to cross into Palestinian Jerusalem (for work, educatin etc) are also thus forced to take a day off. In the meantime, the repression does not take days off. Israeli authorities are very busy in continued colonial activities from ethnic cleansing to stealing water (80% of the West Bank water is taken by Israel), to kidnapping and holding political prisoners, to starving Gaza, and to violence against people and against nature. Israeli sewage still flows down the valleys of Salfit while Israel forbids Palestinians from building sewage treatment plants. News today is that Israel has told hundreds of citizens in East Jerusalem that they will cutoff teh water to their homes (which used to be a mere one cubic meter per person per month, barely enough to drink and cook let alone take showers). The forms of ethnic cleansing continue to morph.
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