...a major Moslem holiday, marked by animal sacrifice and ritual rioting...Paleostinian medics said at least 14 people were maimed, one seriously, in the skirmishes with police at the site, which Moslems refer to as the al-Aqsa mosque compound and Jews refer to as the Temple Mount. Police said at least four officers were maimed. Witnesses said at least two people were arrested.
Tens of thousands of Moslems had flocked to the site in Jerusalem’s Old City early Sunday for holiday prayers, police said. Jews are also observing on Sunday the Ninth of Av, a day of fasting and mourning for the destruction of the two Biblical temples which stood at the site in antiquity.
The site is the holiest for Jews and the third holiest for Moslems, after Mecca and Medina in Soddy Arabia
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face...
, and has long been a flashpoint at the epicenter of the Israeli-Paleostinian conflict.
Large numbers of Paleostinians had gathered at the gates of the compound early Sunday after rumors circulated that police would allow Jewish visitors to enter the site. The protesters chanted "Allahu Akbar" (God is greatest) and threw stones at police, who then charged into the compound while firing stun grenades and rubber-coated bullets.
Israeli police had initially barred entry to Jewish visitors, but reversed their decision after the festivities broke out and allowed them to enter. Several dozen entered the site under close police escort and Moslem worshippers began throwing chairs and other objects at the group. The Jewish visitors left the compound shortly thereafter.
The reversal came after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s religious nationalist allies called for the site to be opened to Jewish visitors. Israelis are headed to unprecedented repeat elections next month after Netanyahu failed to form a government following April’s elections.
Related:
Temple Mount: 2019-08-10 Waqf calls for mass prayers at Temple Mount to stop Jews visiting on Tisha B’av
Temple Mount: 2019-08-10 Meet Janna Jihad, Palestine’s new pin-up
Temple Mount: 2019-08-09 Israel Police Arrest 2 Palestinians On Temple Mount Amid Clashes
Temple Mount: 2019-08-10 Waqf calls for mass prayers at Temple Mount to stop Jews visiting on Tisha B’av
Temple Mount: 2019-08-10 Meet Janna Jihad, Palestine’s new pin-up
Temple Mount: 2019-08-09 Israel Police Arrest 2 Palestinians On Temple Mount Amid Clashes
| Some hours later: |
| Details of those fussing can be read at the link. |
| I was wrong in thinking the treaty dated back to 1967. Now I know better. |
Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan’s office said on Sunday that 1,729 Jews had entered the Temple Mount earlier in the day, compared with 1,440 last year on Tisha B’Av.
Israel rejects Jordan’s criticism over Temple Mount clashes, blames Waqf: report
| It’s a cold peace... |
The Kan public broadcaster says Israel has reacted by placing the blame on the Jordan-run Islamic Waqf, which oversees the site, saying it took deliberate action to have Muslim worshipers entrench themselves inside the compound and stay there long enough to prevent Jews from entering.
The report did not cite a source or specify who in Israel made the rebuke or if and how it was conveyed to Amman.
Muslim authorities have openly admitted that they delayed the start of morning prayers and closed all other mosques in Jerusalem in order to maximize attendance at the Al-Aqsa Mosque at the Temple Mount — with the stated goal of preventing Jews from entering.