Abbas livid after Israeli police squelch Muslim riot on Temple Mount

By ICEJ News

05 Mar 2010

Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas accused Israel of crossing every red line and dimming any remaining prospects for peace after Israeli police entered the Temple Mount compound on Friday to stop dozens of young Muslims from throwing stones on Jewish worshippers at the Western Wall below. Abbas charged the “occupation army” with “provoking” what could turn into “a religious war in the region” and warned that “Israeli escapades” in east Jerusalem would have repercussions throughout the Muslim world. Israeli police sought to restore order on the Temple Mount after Arab youths, incited by an anti-Israel sermon during Friday prayers at the al-Aksa mosque, started hurling rocks down on people praying at the Western Wall. Eighteen policemen and dozens of Muslim rioters were wounded in the clash, as police used stun grenades to restore calm, with some helpful intervention by other Muslims who had come to worship at the site. However, rioting also broke out later this afternoon in other Arab neighborhoods of Jerusalem as well as in Hebron.

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