A day after an attack that took the life of a three-month-old Israeli girl, over 150 right-wing activists called for vengeance and the expulsion of Palestinians. Continued restrictions on worship lead to clashes in East Jerusalem.
Photos and text by Oren Ziv, Yotam Ronen / Activestills.org
Israeli police prevented Muslim worshipers under 40 from entering the Aqsa Mosque on Friday. Because of the restrictions, hundreds of Palestinians from East Jerusalem held their Friday prayers near makeshift police checkpoints at the edge of the adjacent Palestinian neighborhoods.
After prayers, police pushed worshipers into the adjacent East Jerusalem neighborhoods. Palestinian youth threw rocks at police forces at Ras al-Amud, which were answered by stun grenades.
Read more on restrictions on worship in Jerusalem
In Wadi Joz, undercover police dressed as Palestinian men arrested three young men after the prayers came to an end.
In the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Issawiya, dozens of young men marched toward the local gas station, where a large group of Israeli police had been stationed since morning. The youth burned tires and threw rocks. The police then entered the neighborhood and shot large amounts of rubber bullets and tear gas.
In Silwan, the East Jerusalem neighborhood where the suspect in the terror attack lived, clashes have been taking place on a daily basis since the attack, and before that in response to new settlement homes in the neighborhood. Police were expected to hand over the body of Abdulrahman Shallodi late Saturday night for burial.
Israeli police barred the entrance to the Aqsa Mosque for Palestinians under the age of 40. (Activestills.org)
A day after a terrorist attack at a Jerusalem light rail station that took the life of a three-month-old Israeli girl, over 150 right-wing activists gathered at the site of the attack to protest what they described as the government’s inaction in preventing attacks against Jews.
Police arrested 10 of the right-wing protesters, some of whom attempted to block the train tracks. Police declared the protest an “illegal gathering,” Thursday night.
The protesters, many of whom wore t-shirts identifying them with the far-right anti-miscegenation group Lehava, called on the government to avenge the death and expel Arabs from Jerusalem, including those who are not involved in violence against Israelis.
Related:
PHOTOS: Protests in Jerusalem over Aqsa Mosque closures
The illusion of religious freedom in Jerusalem
Nine more Jewish families take over Silwan homes in dead of night
