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Contested Holy Site in Jerusalem Reopens for Muslim Worship
Contested Holy Site in Jerusalem Reopens for Muslim Worship
(about 3 hours later)
JERUSALEM — Thousands of Palestinians prayed Friday amid a heavy Israeli police presence at Jerusalem’s most contested sacred site, after an extremely rare daylong closing that the authorities said was to prevent further escalation of intensifying hostilities. Men under 50 were barred from the Old City site, where an Israeli police spokesman said there were no major incidents, though officers used riot-control measures to disperse a protest in a nearby neighborhood.
JERUSALEM — Thousands of Palestinians prayed Friday amid a heavy Israeli police presence at Jerusalem’s most sensitive sacred site, after an extremely rare daylong closing that the authorities said was to prevent further escalation of intensifying hostilities. Men under 50 were barred from the Old City site, where an Israeli police spokesman said there were no major incidents.
Palestinian leaders had called for a “day of rage” because of the closing on Thursday and the killing by Israeli forces of a Palestinian man suspected in an assassination attempt Wednesday night against Yehuda Glick. Mr. Glick is a right-wing activist who promotes increased Jewish access and prayer at the site, known to Jews as the Temple Mount and to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary.
Though Palestinian protesters clashed with Israeli forces in flashpoints throughout the occupied West Bank, intermittent rain and a security crackdown by both Israel and the Palestinian Autority appeared to limit the violence. Maan, an independent Palestinian news agency, reported that Israeli troops’ gunshots wounded eight people at a march near the Qalandiya checkpoint.
By midafternoon, Israel Radio reported that there were riots at several locations in the occupied West Bank, including Rachel’s Tomb in Bethlehem and the often-tense city of Hebron.
Palestinian leaders had declared a “day of rage” because of Thursday’s closing and killing by Israeli forces of a Palestinian man suspected in an assassination attempt the night before against a right-wing advocate of increased Jewish access to the site, known as the Temple Mount and Noble Sanctuary. Israel’s Channel 2 reported Friday night that a second suspect had been arrested for helping in the attack on the activist, Yehuda Glick, a 48-year-old Israeli-American who remained hospitalized in serious condition after sustaining four gunshots.
About 15,000 people, fewer than on a typical Friday, attended noon prayers at the two Islamic shrines on the revered plateau: men at Al Aksa Mosque and women at the Dome of the Rock. Some young men seemed to have sneaked in, and others cursed Israeli police officers for checking identification. But the crowds dispersed quickly in a drizzling rain.
An Israeli security official would not comment on the Channel 2 report, but said the authorities are certain that the man killed Thursday morning, Mu’atez Hijazi, was the shooter because he fired the same gun at the police that was used against Mr. Glick. Mr. Hijazi worked at a conference center where Mr. Glick was speaking as part of a program promoting Jewish prayer atop the mount.
Mohammed Obeidat, a 50-year-old construction worker who was inside the mosque, described the Israeli restrictions as unjust. “There is no state in the world which prevents prayer at the mosque, except Israel,” he complained. “They want to tell us, ‘We are the boss here.' “
An autopsy of Mr. Hijazi’s body shows he was shot 20 times, Maan reported Friday. The Israeli police say officers had surrounded a house seeking to arrest the suspect, and responded immediately when shots were fired at them.
Arafat Abbas, 35, was among about 200 people who prayed at the Lion’s Gate to the Old City after being stopped at one of several police checkpoints around the Aksa compound.
“Things are moving from bad to worse,” said Mr. Abbas, who lives in the Old City. “They want to control our mosque. People will not stay silent.”
Micky Rosenfeld, a spokesman for the Israeli police, said shortly after the end of noon prayers that the site was “relatively quiet,” as was the rest of Jerusalem.
“There were no major incidents reported on the Temple Mount,” he said. “There were a few firecrackers in the Old City, nothing major.”
In the adjacent Palestinian neighborhood of Wadi al Joz, a “strong police presence” dispersed a restive crowd, Mr. Rosenfeld said.
The contested Jerusalem site, where ancient Jewish temples once stood, is the holiest in Judaism, among the three holiest in Islam, and also sacred to Christians, as Jesus worshiped there. Israel seized it with the rest of East Jerusalem and the West Bank in 1967, but immediately handed back control of everything but security at the site to the Islamic Waqf council, a trust run by the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.
The contested Jerusalem site, where ancient Jewish temples once stood, is the holiest in Judaism, among the three holiest in Islam, and also sacred to Christians, as Jesus worshiped there. Israel seized it with the rest of East Jerusalem and the West Bank in 1967, but immediately handed back control of everything but security at the site to the Islamic Waqf council, a trust run by the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.
A small band of religious Jews, including Mr. Glick, a 48-year-old Israeli-American who was seriously wounded by four gunshots on Wednesday night, have in recent years protested Israel’s prohibition against non-Muslim prayer at the site, with some calling for a third temple to be erected there. Palestinian, Jordanian and other Arab and Islamic leaders have warned that such a move could lead to a holy war, and clashes between worshipers and security forces have become more frequent.
A small band of religious Jews, including Mr. Glick, have in recent years protested Israel’s prohibition against non-Muslim prayer at the site and called for a third temple to be erected there. Palestinian, Jordanian and other Arab and Islamic leaders have warned that any change in the status quo at the site could lead to a holy war, and clashes between worshipers and security forces have become more frequent.
The man suspected of shooting Mr. Glick, Mu’atez Hijazi, was killed on Thursday by an Israeli counterterrorism unit. An Israeli security official said Friday that Mr. Hijazi, a Palestinian in his 30s, was found holding the same gun that was used to shoot Mr. Glick. Investigators were checking whether Mr. Hijazi — who worked in the restaurant of a conference center where Mr. Glick spoke at a program urging Jewish prayer atop the mount — had any help in planning the attack.
But none occurred Friday, when smaller-than-usual crowds attended noon prayers at the two Islamic shrines on the revered plateau: men at Al Aksa Mosque and women at the Dome of the Rock. Some young men seemed to have sneaked in, and others cursed Israeli police officers for checking identification. But people dispersed quickly in a drizzling rain.
“He was the shooter,” the official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to do otherwise. “What we have to do is to check if there are other people who were involved, or knew about it, or were involved afterward.”
“There is no state in the world which prevents prayer at the mosque, except Israel,” complained Mohammed Obeidat, a 50-year-old construction worker, who was inside. “They want to tell us, ‘We are the boss here.’ ”
The site is the most contentious in a deeply divided city that has been roiled by tension and violence since the start of summer. A spokesman for Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian Authority president, called the closing on Thursday “a declaration of war.”
Arafat Abbas, 35, one of about 200 people who prayed at the Lion’s Gate to the Old City after being stopped at one of several police checkpoints around the Aksa compound, warned: “People will not stay silent.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel has tried to calm the situation by making clear that he has no intention of changing the status quo in the city’s holy sites, and by adding 1,000 police officers to Jerusalem’s streets in recent days.
Yitzhak Aharonovitch, Israel’s minister of internal security, toured the Old City on Friday and explained in a radio interview why the government had closed the sacred site the day before.
“We took this step to prevents riots, and today, we already allowed it to open for Friday Prayer,” he said. “I will not allow the Temple Mount to be damaged, and I will not change the status quo.”
Israel Radio reported that one of Israel’s chief rabbis met on Thursday with a leading Islamic cleric and that the two had called for freedom of prayer and an end to the “cycle of blood.”
Separately, Rabbi Aryeh Stern, one of Jerusalem’s two chief rabbis, was quoted on the Israeli news site Kipa as saying that while he did not believe that Jews should ascend the Temple Mount, he also did not think the Israeli authorities should prevent them from doing so.
“When we hear about places around the world where Jews are not allowed in, we are shocked,” Rabbi Stern said on the news site. “And here we accept this.”
“It must be clarified that the place of the people of Israel on the Temple Mount goes without saying,” he added.
Israel allows Jews and other non-Muslims to visit the site at certain hours — not on Fridays — but they are prohibited from openly praying there. The authorities occasionally bar Muslims from the site during Jewish holidays, or close it to non-Muslim visitors, citing security concerns.
Israel allows Jews and other non-Muslims to visit the site at certain hours — not on Fridays — but they are prohibited from openly praying there. The authorities occasionally bar Muslims from the site during Jewish holidays, or close it to non-Muslim visitors, citing security concerns.
Around 5 a.m. Friday, more than 1,000 Palestinians lined up in five long rows at Al Aksa for the first of Islam’s five daily supplications.
Yitzhak Aharonovitch, Israel’s minister of internal security, toured the Old City on Friday and said on Israel //TELEVISION?///afterward: “I will not allow the Temple Mount to be damaged, and I will not change the status quo.”
Some older men sat on plastic chairs, and one in a wheelchair, unable to bow or kneel.
“May Allah deny his mercy to those who prevent us from entering Al Aksa,” the imam said.
