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According to the Palestinian Red Crescent, 19 Palestinians were among the injured, some of whom were hit by rubber bullets. Five of them were taken to the hospital. Seven other people were injured by stone-throwing Palestinian youths outside Jerusalem’s Old City.
Ramadan, Passover and Easter coincide
Tensions between Israelis and Palestinians have escalated significantly in recent weeks. The violence on Sunday has increased the number of people injured in Jerusalem to more than 170 since Friday. The tensions come during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, which this year overlaps with the Jewish Passover and Christian Easter. The fact that the three important festivals of the monotheistic religions coincide could of course have been a reason to prioritize what connects before what divides – but things turned out differently.
Young Palestinians threw stones
According to the Israeli police, hundreds of Palestinian demonstrators had piled up stones on Sunday morning shortly before a planned visit by Jewish believers to the Temple Mount. Security forces intervened to “restore order”. A team of AFP reporters saw Jewish believers leaving the Temple Mount early this morning. They were accompanied by heavily armed police officers.
In another incident in Israel-annexed East Jerusalem, young Palestinians threw stones at passing Israeli buses. A video released by the police showed two buses with their windshields and side windows destroyed. According to its own statements, the Shaare-Zedek Hospital admitted seven people with minor injuries. The Israeli police reported the arrest of 18 Palestinians.
Clashes sparked serious violence last year
Last year, clashes on the Temple Mount and around the Al-Aqsa Mosque led to days of heavy clashes between the radical Islamist Hamas in the Gaza Strip and Israeli security forces. By the time an Egyptian-brokered ceasefire came into effect, 260 Palestinians and 13 Israelis had been killed.
The Temple Mount with the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the adjoining Dome of the Rock is considered the third holiest site in Islam (Al-Haram al-Sharif). Judaism reveres the Temple Mount as its holiest site (Har HaBait). Access to the Temple Mount is strictly regulated. Jews are allowed to visit the holy place, but not to pray there.
The senior Palestinian representative Hussein al-Sheikh accused Israel of being responsible for Sunday’s violence. “The dangerous escalation on the Al-Aqsa compound by Israel” is a “blatant attack on our holy sites,” he said. Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh declared: “Al-Aqsa (mosque) belongs to us, and to us alone.” Over loudspeakers, mosques in Palestinian neighborhoods in Jerusalem called on people to go to Al-Aqsa Mosque.
In light of the recent violence in Jerusalem, Pope Francis called for “peace” in the Middle East and free access to the Temple Mount for Jews, Christians and Muslims in his Easter message. “May Israelis, Palestinians and all residents of the Holy City, together with the pilgrims, experience the beauty of peace, live in fraternity and be granted free access to the Holy Sites with mutual respect for the rights of each individual,” he said.
The Central Council of Muslims in Germany called on the federal government to work to protect the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the faithful “and end the provocations on the Temple Mount in order to end the spiral of violence”.
Source: Nachrichten
