Page 9 - aruba today sept 29,2015
P. 9
WORLD NEWS 9
Tuesday 29 September 2015
Palestinians clash with Israeli riot police at holy site
IAN DEITCH and Jews, the mosque is
ours. It’s an Islamic holy site
Associated Press and we will not let them do
that,” he said.
JERUSALEM (AP) — Pales- Jerusalem police chief
Moshe Edri vowed to bring
tinians clashed with Israeli violent protesters to justice.
“It is inconceivable that a
riot police after barricad- group of rioters desecrate
a holy place and endan-
ing themselves inside a ger lives,” he said.
It was the second day in a
mosque at Jerusalem’s row of violence at the site.
Monday’s unrest occurred
most sensitive holy site, on the first day of Sukkot,
a weeklong festival that
throwing firebombs and celebrates the fall harvest
and commemorates the
rocks at officers outside wandering of the ancient
Israelites through the des-
during a major Jewish holi- ert following the exodus
from Egypt.
day on Monday. In ancient times, Jews
made pilgrimages to Je-
The hilltop compound in rusalem on Sukkot, and
many Jews are expected
Jerusalem’s Old City is a to visit the city throughout
the holiday period.
frequent flashpoint and its Rumors have swirled
among Palestinians that
fate is a core issue at the Jews are planning to take
over the holy site, which
heart of the Israeli-Palestin- has fueled tensions. Those
rumors were exacerbated
ian conflict. It is known to earlier this month by calls
from a group of religious
Jews as the Temple Mount, Jews to visit the site on
the eve of the Jewish New
site of the two biblical Jew- Year.q
ish temples. Muslims revere
it as the Noble Sanctuary,
where they believe the
Prophet Muhammad as-
cended to heaven there.
Police said young protest- A Palestinian woman flashes victory signs and shouts at ultra-Orthodox Jews during
confrontations in the Old City of Jerusalem, Monday, Sept. 28, 2015. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)
ers barricaded themselves
inside the Al-Aqsa mosque,
despite an order permitting sparked a fire at the en- was quiet, police said. he said, adding that sev-
trance to the mosque. The director of Al-Aqsa eral people had suffered
only men over the age of Waqf guards did not pre- Mosque, Omar Kiswani, from tear gas inhalation.
vent the “desecration of blamed Israeli police for The Mufti of Jerusalem,
50 from entering the com- the sanctity of the place,” the violence. Mohammed Hussein, con-
she said. “We asked the police yes- demned Israel’s actions
pound for prayers. Israel Officers later managed to terday not to allow any against the protesters say-
restore calm but sporadic non-Muslim in the com- ing it will have “serious con-
has imposed the ban at Palestinian stone throwing pound in these tense days, sequences.”
persisted throughout the but police didn’t respond “Israel is trying to divide
times of unrest in the past morning. By noon the site positively to our demands,” the mosque between us
as it is mostly young Pales-
tinians who throw rocks at
the holy site. Women of all
ages are allowed to enter.
Palestinians stockpiled
rocks and other projectiles
at the Al-Aqsa mosque Saudi forces kill 2, arrest 3 in anti-terror raids
overnight, according to
police spokeswoman Luba
Samri. A. AL-SHIHRI Eastern Province city of minent attack inside the cide bombing in the south-
Associated Press Dammam. All five suspects kingdom. Images broad- western city of Abha. That
Police had tried to negoti- RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) were identified as Saudi cast on state TV and on Aug. 6 attack was claimed
— Saudi Arabia’s Interior nationals. local news websites show by a previously unknown
ate with the Waqf — the Ministry said Monday that The statement said one of security forces retriev- Islamic State affiliate in the
security forces killed two the suspects had previously ing weapons and bomb- western region of Saudi
Islamic religious author- suspected militants and ar- been imprisoned for three making material from an Arabia.
rested three others during years after being repatri- underground hideout and The bomber targeted a
ity that oversees the com- a series of counterterrorism ated from Iraq, though it from inside a residence. mosque inside a police
raids, who state-linked me- did not specify if his impris- Several state-linked news compound, killing 15 peo-
pound — to call for calm, dia said were part of an al- onment was for links to mili- websites, such as Al-Eqti- ple, 11 of them security per-
leged Islamic State cell. tant groups there. sadiah, reported the cell sonnel. It was the deadliest
but talks failed and police The official Saudi Press The statement said the two as belonging to the Islamic attack on the kingdom’s
Agency carried the Interior suspects killed in the raids, State group. security forces in years.
entered the compound to Ministry statement, which which took place 12 days The privately-owned Saudi Saudi Arabia is part of a
said the simultaneous raids ago, had fired on security broadcaster Al-Arabiya U.S.-led coalition targeting
seize the “dangerous de- targeted sites around the forces. The ministry said the said those targeted in the the Islamic State group in
capital, Riyadh, and in the five were planning an im- raid were linked to a sui- Iraq and Syria.q
vices intended to harm visi-
tors to the site and police
and endanger their lives,”
she said.
Palestinians threw rocks,
firebombs and firecrackers
from within the mosque at
the police, Samri also said,
adding that the fire bombs
