Riots Continue in Jerusalem Amid Heightened Temple Mount Tensions
by JNS.org
JNS.org – Clashes erupted between Muslim rioters and Israeli police officers in Jerusalem’s Old City on Wednesday for the fourth consecutive day.
Around 200 protesters convened near the Old City’s Lions’ Gate and performed Islamic prayers to protest the bolstered security implemented at the Temple Mount following last Friday’s terror attack that killed two Israeli police officers near the holy site.
Several of the protesters began shouting chants in support of the Temple Mount complex’s Al-Aqsa Mosque, and were asked by police to leave the area. When one of the protesters refused to comply with the police order, several other protesters began rioting and throwing water bottles at the officers. The police responded by implementing crowd control measures and arresting the man who defied the police order.
Wednesday’s protests came after Muslim rioters clashed with police in the Old City Tuesday night, after Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah party called for a “day of rage” to take place in eastern Jerusalem and the disputed territories. Riots also broke out in Jerusalem’s Old City Sunday when Muslim worshipers blocked a road in protest of new metal detectors placed at the entrance gates to the Temple Mount.