Arrests made as police and youths clash in Jerusalem - Summary

Jerusalem - Israeli police have arrested at least seven Palestinians in East Jerusalem after a day of violence in which youths threw stones at tourists and clashed with police, leaving two officers injured. Early Sunday police confronted stone-throwing Palestinian youths near the al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem, a police spokesman said.

Mickey Rosenfeld told reporters that the youths had thrown stones at groups of tourists in the Temple Mount, or Haram al-Sharif, a complex of holy sites revered by Jews and Muslims.

Later in the day further confrontations took place in East Jerusalem, where the arrests were made. Reports said that two police officers were injured, and some 30 Palestinians had suffered the effects of tear-gas.

Palestinian leaders claimed that hard-line Jewish activists had planned to advance on the Temple Mount complex, on the occasion of the Purim festival which begins on Sunday, and had barricaded themselves since Saturday evening in in protest.

Palestinian eyewitnesses said that some 200 police had arrived at the complex on Sunday morning, and had called on the protesters to leave the site, which contains the al-Aqsa mosque, one of the holiest sites in Islam.

Arab inhabitants of Jerusalem were called on from mosques to "defend al-Aqsa," reports said.

Palestinian accounts said that the attacked tourists were groups of Jewish visitors to the Temple Mount.

According to Jewish belief, the Temple Mount site is where God created Adam, the first man, and is considered the holiest site in Judaism.

In Islam, the Haram al-Sharif (noble sanctuary) site is where the Prophet Mohammed ascended to heaven.

Jerusalem Police Commissioner Dudi Cohen said "We will bring to justice those who incite to violence and go beyond the legitimate rules of protest."

In the past week tensions have risen between Israelis and Palestinians over the government's decision to declare two sites, common to both Islam and Judaism, in Bethlehem and Hebron, as Israeli national heritage sites.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/311745,arrests-made-as-police-and-youths-clash-in-jerusalem--summary.html.