Friday, February 09, 2007

Shrine dispute heats up



Muslim protestors barricaded themselves inside Al Aqsa mosque shortly after Friday prayers following an attempt by 200 Israeli police to break up their rock-throwing protest against a nearby excavation with a barrage of rubber bullets and tear gas. BBC news did not report any serious injuries. Violence looked set to continue, with the sound of firing echoing across East Jerusalem and the old city walls. Sigh. A little dialogue could have prevented this mayhem.

Cooler heads eventually prevailed after negotiations were completed and managed to avert an extended siege of the mosque, Islam's third holiest site. Anger is still palpable among the younger Israeli Arab community whose weekly worship was interupted by the violence.
click here and here for reports.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

A bus driver was hit by a rubber bullet and lots of worshippers inside the mosque could not breath after stun grenades and tear gas was fired. Nasty business

Anonymous said...

You neglect to say how holy the place is to Jews (our precious Temples were there long before Islam was dreamt up) and also, even Jesus walked on the steps of the temple. (Legend says he threw some Philistine moneychangers out). One-sided tosh