REPORT: Israeli police enter holy site to disperse riot

Israeli police stormed a sensitive Jerusalem holy site Tuesday to disperse a violent riot there mere hours before the Israeli parliament was to hold a charged debate over the status of sovereignty over the same site.
     
Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said about 20 masked Palestinian youths hurled stones and firecrackers at troops from atop the Temple Mount. Police then entered the compound and arrested three people. He said two police officers were lightly wounded.
     
The site, known to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary, is ground zero in the territorial and religious conflict between Israel and its Arab neighbors. Clashes often erupt after Muslims conclude their prayers. Jews typically pray below at the Western Wall but tensions have grown lately with an increased number of Jews arriving to pray at the Temple Mount as well.
     
Revered as Islam's third holiest spot, the site's iconic gold-topped Dome of the Rock enshrines the rock where Muslims believe the Prophet Mohammad ascended to heaven. Jews believe the rock may be where the holiest part of the two ancient temples stood about 2,000 years ago  and where religious Jews pray a third temple will one day be built.
     
The site is so holy that Jews have traditionally refrained from praying on the hilltop, but attitudes among some Orthodox Jews have been evolving and there has been growing demand to allow Jews to pray there freely as well.
     
Nationalist lawmaker Moshe Feiglin of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud Party has been leading the charge. Feiglin initiated Tuesday's parliamentary discussion in which he is to suggest extending Israeli sovereignty over the Temple Mount. Jordan currently administers Muslim religious affairs at the site.
     
The Palestinians claim east Jerusalem, and the Old City, as the capital of their future state. The status of the site remains perhaps the most sensitive and explosive issue in U.S.-brokered peace talks. Netanyahu's office strongly rejects Feiglin's initiative believing any change to the status quo could spark violence and unsettle the talks.
     
Mickey Levy, Israel's deputy finance minister and a former commander of the Jerusalem District Police, called the site "a keg of dynamite" and urged restraint.
     
Zehava Galon, head of the dovish Meretz Party, said Tuesday's riot was a direct result of Feiglin's "religious provocation." She said her party recognized the right to free worship at holy sites, but not every right had to be realized and at this time doing so would merely enflame the region.

 
AP


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