Dozens injured, five arrested in Al-Aqsa clashes

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Posted by realistic bird under Caricature, Politics Tags: Al Aqsa mosque, Al Quds, Caricature, Israeli crimes, Israeli policies, Jerusalem, news, palestine, Palestinians, Politics, settler violence

September 27, 2009

Jerusalem – Ma’an – At least 40 people were injured and five arrested as fierce clashes broke out at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in East Jerusalem’s Old City on Sunday.

Three of the 37 wounded Palestinians sustained serious eye and head injuries, sources said. Israeli forces said 13 officers were also hurt.

Reports conflicted on the number of Palestinians detained during the incident. Palestinian sources said five were seized, while Israeli sources put the number at nine arrested amid the clashes that were ongoing through Sunday afternoon.

Confrontations erupted after groups of Israelis entered the Al-Aqsa compound on Sunday morning, reportedly under the guard of Israeli authorities. Palestinians threw stones, chairs, and shoes at the Israelis, while Israeli forces injured 37 Palestinians during attempts to forcefully disperse them with batons and stun grenades.

On Thursday, the Al-Aqsa Foundation had warned that Israeli authorities were planning to permit settlers entrance to the area. Officials in East Jerusalem predicted that the break-in would occur on Sunday under the pretext of marking Yom Kippur, or Day of Atonement.

Fierce clashes erupted outside the compound near Majlis Gate, one of the main entrances to the mosque, after police prevented Palestinian worshippers from entering the area, according to witnesses.

Hundreds of Jerusalemites and Palestinians living inside Israel hurried to the mosque compound when word of the clashes spread, but Israeli police closed all entrances in what they said was an effort to contain the fighting. Demonstrators gathered outside the main gates, chanting and denouncing the occupation and alleged assaults against holy places and residents in Jerusalem.

Meanwhile, Israeli police prevented Islamic notables such as Sheikh Ekrima Sabri, chief of the Islamic Supreme Committee and grand mufti of Jerusalem and Palestine, from accessing Al-Aqsa.

Also denied access was Hatim Abdul Qader, former PA minister of Jerusalem affairs and current Fatah representative on Jerusalem. Israeli police produced an order preventing Abdul-Qadir from accessing Al-Aqsa until further notice, under the pretext that he urged demonstrators to gather at the compound to counter settler groups attempting to break into the mosque area.

Al-Aqsa sits atop what Palestinians refer to as the Haram Ash-Sharif, or Noble Sanctuary, in occupied East Jerusalem. Israel’s army handed nominal control of the area to the Waqf in 1967, but the mosque has periodically come under attack by extremists since then. The most notable assault was in 1969, when a Christian Zionist from Australia set it ablaze in an attempt to herald the second coming of Christ…

Confrontations in the Aqsa turn violent

[ 27/09/2009 - 12:26 PM ]

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)-- Israeli occupation police and special security forces fired rubber-coated bullets and gas canisters in abundance to quell Palestinian worshippers in the Aqsa Mosque who tried to obstruct a tour of the holy site by tens of Jewish fanatics.

Eyewitnesses reported that large numbers of Israeli policemen escorted 150 Jews but were confronted by the Palestinians.

Sources told the PIC that the clashes were witnessing ups and downs during the day as the Israeli occupation authority ordered closure of the Aqsa Mosque before worshipers less than 50 years old after many of them headed to the Mosque to defend it.

The witnesses said that 15 Palestinians were wounded with Israeli police bullets, and added that Sheikh Abdul Atheem Salhab, the head of the Awkaf council in Jerusalem was beaten by policemen while entering the Mosque through the Asbat gate.


Hamas: Arabs, Muslims should act to rescue the Aqsa

[ 27/09/2009 - 12:24 PM ]

GAZA, (PIC)-- Hamas urged Arabs and Muslims to urgently act to save the holy Aqsa Mosque in occupied Jerusalem from repeated Zionist attempts to desecrate and control it.

Hamas's spokesman in northern Gaza Abdul Latif Al-Qanu said in a press statement on Sunday that the Arab and Muslim masses and all Muslim scholars should swiftly move to protect the holy site, which is the target of constant Zionist violations, excavations and desecrations.

Qanu said that Arabs and Muslims should assume their responsibilities and duties toward the Aqsa Mosque.

He also asked Palestinians in Jerusalem to confront the "Zionist dirty storming attempts" with all means available.

The spokesman warned the "Zionist enemy" of the ramifications of the incessant attempts to storm and to desecrate the holy site, and held it responsible for all consequent events and stands.

Israeli special forces on Sunday stormed the Aqsa Mosque to protect Jewish settlers who wished to roam the holy site on the occasion of Yom Kippur but were confronted by Muslim worshippers who refused the step, describing it as a desecration of Islam's third holiest site.

Many Palestinians were wounded when the Israeli forces sprayed them with rubber-coated bullets.