Disturbances Quiet Down on Temple Mount in East JerusalemA spasm of disturbances Friday caused by Palestinians hurling stones from Muslim holy site of the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound at the neighboring plaza of the Jewish holy site of Western Wall has quieted down, witnesses said.Several Palestinian youngsters who climbed onto the top of the Al-Aqsa Museum to throw stones were probably pulled down by Palestinian security forces. Israeli forces deployed in the Western Wall plaza pulled back to the western side of the area, refraining from responding by shooting. Israeli security forces occupying the rooftops neighboring the Al-Aqsa Mosque, the third most important Islamic holy site, are ready to cope with emergencies. Thousands of Muslims who have gathered at the Al-Asqa Mosque compound for Friday prayer services are shouting loud and angry slogans. Their emotions are running high. Exactly one week after the bloody clashes on Temple Mount, known to the Muslims as the Al-Haram Al-Sharif, or Noble Sanctuary, in the Old City of Jerusalem, Israel has deployed heavy security forces in the area, bracing for any possible outbreak of disturbances. As a result of the closure imposed by Israel on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip since early Friday morning, Muslims coming for Friday prayers are much less in number as compared to ordinary Fridays. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak has ordered a closure barring Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza from entering Israel in response to the militant Palestinian Hamas movement's call for a "Day of Rage" on Friday to mark the bloody shooting at the Palestinians on the Temple Mount last Friday, which killed four Palestinians and injured more than 200. The clashes later spread to the West Bank and Gaza, killing about 70 people, mostly Palestinians, and injuring nearly 2,000. Israel beefed up security measures after Hamas warned in a statement on Thursday that "Friday will be a day of distinct escalation and clashes." Marwan Barghouteh, the leader of the Fatah, the mainstream faction of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), said his movement has similarly called for demonstrations "to commemorate the one week after the Al-Aqsa massacre." He said Fatah would continue demonstrating until Palestinian demands are met. West Bank Preventive Security Service chief Jibril Rajoub has also urged Israel to refrain from shooting at Palestinian demonstrators. Barak on Thursday vowed again to make an all-out effort to reach a peace deal with the Palestinians in the coming weeks and called on Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat to take measures to stop the violence on the Palestinian side. |
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