In wake of east J'lem clashes, PA president again warns of religious war in ME.
By ABE SELIG, JPOST.COM STAFF, APabbas pointing finger 311 ap(photo credit: AP [file])
Israel has crossed every red line and made prospects for peace even dimmer in clashing with Muslim worshipers on the Temple Mount, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said in a statement released Friday evening.Abbas said Israeli security forces, which he termed the “occupationarmy,” were “provoking” members of other faiths in a way that could“set off a religious war in the region.” He warned that “Israeliescapades” in east Jerusalem would have repercussions not just in thecity and the Middle East, but also in Muslim world.The PA president urged the US and the international community to intervene and stop tensions from escalating further.The PA president urged the US and the international community to intervene and stop tensions from escalating further.Syria also condemned what it termed Israel's "desecration of Arab and Islamic sanctities" in Jerusalem on Friday, adding its voice to those opposing indirect negotiations between the Palestinians and Israel."The desecration ... comes at a time when the majority of the Arab League Council's memebers adopted the indirect Palestinian-Israeli negotiations," read a statement released by the Syrian Foreign Ministry and quoted by SANA. It further noted that the clashes serve as "extra evidence on Israel's non-seriousness about peace ... and a proof of the Israeli anti-peace policy that aims at liquidating the Palestinian cause."Echoing Abbas's earlier statement, Damascus called Friday's incident a "blatant provocation to the feeling of hundreds of millions of Muslims."Eighteen policemen were lightly wounded in their attempt to restoreorder on the Temple Mount after Arab youths emerging from Fridayprayers started hurling rocks down onto those worshiping at the WesternWall.Having restored calm by use of stun grenades, andfollowing helpful intervention by other Muslim worshipers to defuse theclash, police eventually withdrew in coordination with the Waqf toallow olderworshipers to leave the Temple Mount.Eight of the injured policemen were hospitalized in light condition. Five suspects were arrested during the riots.Ron Krumer, a spokesman for Jerusalem's Hadassah Medical Center,confirmed an Arab woman was wounded in the head by a rubberbullet and hospitalized in serious condition. Palestinian medicsreported 13 injuries.
Police denied using rubber bullets to disperse the riot.Najeh Btirat, a Waqf official, said the clash followed a mosque sermon on the issue."TheFriday sermon focused on the Islamic sites that are being targeted byIsrael and the need to preserve them," he said. About 300 young menthrew stones at police after prayers, he said.Rock-throwing then spilled over into Jerusalem's Muslim Quarter. Policedeployed stun grenades, restoring calm.Throughout the afternoon, stun grenades fired by security forces could beheard exploding in the Muslim Quarter. The faces and bloodshot eyes of Arab medics, who could be seen runningthrough the alleyways, clearly reflected the usage of tear gas. Crowds weremilling around waiting for something to happen.
In the east Jerusalem neighborhood of Ras el-Amud, some 20 Arab youths threw rocks at security forces. Theywere later dispersed. Clashes also broke out at the entrance to Issawiya, near the French Hill.
From the , across the valley, smoke could beseen rising up from Ras el-Amud as the young men throwing rocks at police set garbage on fire.Skirmishes also broke out to the south, in the West Bank city ofHebron, after Friday prayers but no serious injuries were reported. Agroup of about 100 Palestinians protested outside the holy site knownto Jews as the Cave of the Patriarchs and to Muslims as the Ibrahimimosque.
Last Sunday, Jerusalem’s Old City erupted in violence as clashesbetween Arab rioters and security forces broke out on the Temple Mountand spread into the alleyways of the Muslim Quarter and the eastJerusalem neighborhood of Ras el-Amud. Four policemen were wounded andupwards of a dozen Muslim protesters were reportedly hurt during theclashes.The repeated clashes in Jerusalem follow Prime Minister BinyaminNetanyahu's announcement incorporating the Cave of the Patriarch's inHebron and Rachel's Tomb in Bethlehem onto Israel's list of nationalheritage sites.Meanwhile on Friday afternoon, some250 Palestinians and left-wing activists clashed with security forcesin violent protests in the Ramallah area.No one was wounded in the demonstrations in the villages of Na'alin, Bil’in and Dir Nizam.
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