Palestinians And Jews Fight For Control Of Temple Mount (moved from ATSNN)

www.nytimes.com
Palestinians and Israelis Skirmish Atop the Temple Mount

By CHRISTINE HAUSER
Published: June 6, 2005

JERUSALEM, June 6 - At least five people were slightly injured and a Palestinian was arrested today when the Israeli police confronted Palestinians throwing rocks at Jews at one of Jerusalem's holiest sites.

The brief flare-up took place at the Temple Mount, revered by Jews as the site of the two Jewish temples destroyed in ancient times. The spot is sacred to Muslims as the Haram al Sharif, which contains Al Aksa mosque and the Dome of the Rock.

While today's disturbance was relatively minor, it took place at a site that has often been a tinderbox in a city whose status remains one of the most complex and delicate issues between Israelis and Palestinians, where the smallest eruptions of tension can quickly draw reaction from leaders on both sides. The mount is considered the place where the second intifada began in 2000, after Ariel Sharon, then the opposition leader but now the prime minister, visited it. The next day, the police fired at stone-throwing protesters, killing several. Today's confrontation took on added significance because it fell on Jerusalem Day, a national holiday marking Israel's capture of East Jerusalem from Jordan in the 1967 war. Many Israelis visit the city in groups or on school trips for the holiday.




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