Palestinians torch cars in Jerusalem violence

Reuters

Thursday August 26, 2010

Israeli border police officers stand near a torched vehicle in the East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Silwan August 26, 2010. Palestinians torched half a dozen vehicles in East Jerusalem on Thursday and threw stones and firebombs at Israeli police after Jewish settlers approached a mosque, local residents and police said. REUTERS/Ammar Awad

JERUSALEM  – Palestinians torched half a dozen vehicles in East Jerusalem on Thursday and threw stones and firebombs at Israeli police after Jewish settlers approached a mosque, local residents and police said.

There were no reported injuries in the incident in the volatile Silwan neighborhood, where tensions have flared between Palestinians and a small group of settlers who have moved there in the past two decades.

Local residents said settlers tried to reach a spring, which religious Jews view as a biblical site, by crossing through a mosque courtyard.

Israeli police said Palestinians then took to the streets in violent demonstrations, throwing rocks and firebombs at police and vehicles, burning six cars.

Israel captured East Jerusalem along with the West Bank in a 1967 war and regards all of Jerusalem as its capital, a claim that is not recognized internationally. Palestinians want East Jerusalem as the capital of the state they intend to establish in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Palestinians riot in disputed Jerusalem neighbourhood over settler presence

CP

26 08 2010

JERUSALEM — Palestinian residents in east Jerusalem threw rocks at police and settlers and set cars on fire in an ongoing dispute over a contested neighbourhood Thursday.

Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said the early morning clashes in Silwan neighbourhood erupted due to a disagreement over a pathway claimed by both Jewish and Arab families. He said an Israeli court ruled in 2000 that the pathway belongs to a Jewish family.

Palestinian residents, however, say the clash erupted after settlers were seen trying to break into a local mosque.

About 50,000 Palestinians and 70 Jewish families live in Silwan and tensions are high in the neighbourhood over a municipal plan that includes the slated demolition of Palestinian homes. There have been recent clashes.

The pathway leads to an ancient underground spring that some Jews use as a ritual bath to cleanse themselves before morning prayers.

There is a mosque near the spring’s entrance.

Silwan resident Ahmed Qaraein told The Associated Press that residents saw four settlers trying to enter the mosque compound. He said he yelled at the settlers and they ran to a nearby house.

Palestinian residents then threw rocks at the house and settlers responded with warning shots, Qaraein said.

Rosenfeld denied anyone tried to enter the mosque.

Israel captured and annexed east Jerusalem in the 1967 Mideast war. Israel considers the sector part of its capital. That claim is not recognized internationally.

The fate of east Jerusalem figures to play a central role in Israeli-Palestinian peace talks set to resume next week.

Palestinians attack forces in Silwan

JPOST.COM

08/26/

Stones hurled at officers, cars set ablaze in east Jerusalem.

Dozens of Palestinian youths hurled Motolov cocktails and stones at security forces Thursday morning in the east Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan.

Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said the protesters were quickly dispersed, though one policeman was lightly injured in the clashes.

Stones, Molotov cocktails hurled in Silwan

Israel News

08.26.10

Border Guard officers disperse dozens of east Jerusalem residents rioting in neighborhood. No injuries reported; four vehicles, two scooters torched. Palestinians say riots broke after masked Jews tried to enter mosque

Dozens of youths hurled stones and Molotov cocktails at Border Guard officers in the east Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan Thursday morning. The forces dispersed the rioters, who also attacked firefighters.

A spokesman for the Jerusalem Fire and Rescue Services said the rioters torched four vehicles, two scooters, trees, trash cans, and a guard post.

Palestinians said the clashes broke out at around 4 am after masked Jewish residents of the neighborhood tried to enter a mosque in the area. The Palestinians, who were awake because of Ramadan, saw the intruders and alerted the youths who started the riots. Jerusalem Police are probing the incident.

~ par Alain Bertho sur 27 août 2010.

Publié dans émeutes, riots, الشغب