Police on high alert at disputed Jerusalem shrine

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(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-10-26 21:40

A tour guide (R) walks near Israeli police and border police officers in Jerusalem's Old City October 26, 2009. [Agencies]

JERUSALEM: Hundreds of Israeli police patrolled Jerusalem's most volatile holy site on Monday, a day after fierce clashes with Palestinian protesters turned the quiet hilltop compound into a battleground.

The complex, claimed by both Arabs and Jews, was quiet Monday, but after weeks of sporadic violence around the site, police were on high alert.

Beefed-up patrols could be seen throughout the Old City, home to the disputed compound. But there were no outward signs of Sunday's unrest, even in the areas where the clashes took place. Shops were open, tourists were out in throngs and Muslim worshippers prayed freely.

Conflicting claims to the plateau, known to Jews as the Temple Mount and to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary, lie at the heart of the Israel-Palestinian conflict. Jews revere it as the site of their two biblical Temples and Muslims regard the Al-Aqsa mosque compound as Islam's third-holiest site.

In the past, even low-level scuffles there have degenerated into drawn-out conflicts. A visit to the site in 2000 by Ariel Sharon, then an Israeli opposition leader and later prime minister, helped ignite deadly clashes that escalated into violence that engulfed Israel and the Palestinian territories for several years.

Israel has controlled the compound since capturing east Jerusalem in 1967 and insists it will retain it forever, though it has left day-to-day administration to a Muslim clerical body.

Palestinians see east Jerusalem, including the Old City where the sacred complex lies, as the capital of a future state.

On Sunday, officers armed with batons and stun grenades faced off against masked Palestinians hurling rocks and plastic chairs.

The unrest erupted after Muslim leaders urged followers to protect Islamic holy sites from alleged Israeli plots to damage them or let Jews pray in the compound, where only Muslims are allowed to worship.

Israel has been conducting extensive archaeological digs in and around Jerusalem's Old City, but it says none of the work threatens Muslim holy sites. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has accused Muslim extremists of spreading lies to foment violence.

A group of hardline settlers and rabbis fueled tensions Sunday by urging Jews to converge on the site and pray.

Tensions have also been heightened by the breakdown of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks late last year, and continued Israeli construction in settlements built on lands claimed by the Palestinians. Since taking office, President Barack Obama has been trying to restart peace talks, but so far remains unable to bring the sides together.

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