Tensions between Israelis and Arabs simmered as Arab rioters clashed with Israeli police and Palestinian leaders accused Israel of trying to “Judaize” Jerusalem.
The clashes began on September 27, the eve of Yom Kippur, when some 150 Arabs stoned a dozen or so Jews visiting the Temple Mount. Riots spread to several Arab neighborhoods in the Old City and lasted throughout Yom Kippur.
The violence resurfaced the next week when Israel restricted access to the Temple Mount while thousands of Jewish pilgrims visited the Western Wall for Sukkot observances.
“We will liberate al-Aksa with blood and fire,” an Islamic leader, Sheik Ra’ad Salah, told supporters in eastern Jerusalem, referring to the mosque on the Temple Mount. Salah was arrested October 6 for incitement.
Related Articles
* Talk Grows in Israel About Splitting Jerusalem
* Irate at Coverage, Jerusalem Tunes Out Al Jazeera
* Clashes Over Sabbath Parking Lots Reveal Divisions Among Jerusalem’s Jews
“We call on the Palestinian public to confront Israel and its plans,” Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salaam Fayad said in a statement on October 5.
With Arab religious figures calling on Palestinians to flock to the Temple Mount to protect Muslim holy sites, some Israeli commentators said the rhetoric was reminiscent of the fall of 2000, when violent clashes around the High Holidays erupted into the second intifada.
But a deputy police commissioner, Mickey Levy, told the Israeli news outlet Ynet that this kind of violence is common during the Jewish holidays. Mohammed Dahlan, a former Palestinian security chief and Fatah Party official, told Reuters that a full-blown uprising would only harm Palestinians.
The Palestinian Authority condemned Israel for allowing Jews to visit the Temple Mount and called on the international community “to force Israel to halt its efforts to Jewify the city.”
Monday, October 12, 2009
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment