JERUSALEM- Arab protesters battled Israeli police and army forces for the fifth consecutive day Thursday, and Palestinian leaders accused Israel of trying to derail the peace process by “Judaising” eastern Jerusalem.
Palestinians hurl rocks at Israeli soldiers
The protests began last week, after Israel announced plans to build 1,600 apartments in Ramat Shlomo, a Jewish neighbourhood in northeast Jerusalem. The announcement was made while United States Vice President Joe Biden was here trying to encourage peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. The area is in a section of Jerusalem that Israel captured during the Six Day War in 1967. Palestinians say they want to create a capital in the eastern part of the city, and that includes Ramat Shlomo.
The stoush got worse on Sunday, when Israel celebrated the official opening of the Hurva Synagogue in the Old City of Jerusalem. Although the synagogue is within the historic Jewish quarter of the Old City, Arabs say the opening is part of a move to push them out of the area.
Many Arabs believe Jerusalem is an Arab city because it was part of Jordan before the Six Day War. For Muslims, the al-Aqsa Mosque is the third holiest spot in the world, after Mecca (the birthplace of the Prophet Mohammed) and Medina (Mohammed’s burial site). Mecca and Medina are both in Saudi Arabia.
On the other hand, Jerusalem is also very important to Jews. For observant Jews, the city is the center of the world, and the Temple Mount is the center of Jerusalem. Jewish tradition teaches that Abraham nearly sacrificed his son Isaac on the site.
For many non-observant Israelis, too, Jerusalem has special meaning. Men and women who grew up in Israel well recall the years from 1948 to 1967, when Jews could not visit the Western Wall and when synagogues and Jewish graves were vandalised when the city was under Jordanian control.
