Het voornemen van premier Netanjahoe van Israël vorige week, om enkele belangrijke Joodse heilige plaatsen op de Westoever toe te voegen aan de lijst van Israëlisch nationaal erfgoed, heeft geleid tot rellen in Hebron en Jeruzalem. Palestijnen hebben voor een derde intifada gewaarschuwd (maar dat doen ze al jaren vrij regelmatig).
De herdenking van Baruch Goldstein door extremistische Israëli's maakt het er allemaal niet beter op.
Wouter
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Haaretz - 1 March 2010
Settlers remember gunman Goldstein; Hebron riots continue
Haaretz - 1 March 2010
Settlers remember gunman Goldstein; Hebron riots continue
By Chaim Levinson and Avi Issacharoff
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1152775.html
Confrontations between Israeli security forces and Palestinian demonstrators in Hebron continued for the fifth day in a row Friday, with the Palestinians throwing stones at Israeli soldiers and police to protest the inclusion of the Cave of the Patriarchs on a list of Israeli "Heritage sites." The site holy to both Jews and Muslims houses a synagogue and a mosque. Last night dozens of settlers in nearby Kiryat Arba held a ceremony in memory of Baruch Goldstein, who in 1994 shot and killed 29 Muslim worships and injured 125 at the Cave of the Patriarchs before being killed himself.
Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad visited Hebron on Friday and warned Israel of increased risk of violence as a result of the Israeli government decision on the sites, adding "we are all united against the decision of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and against the terror of the settlers."
Last Sunday, at a cabinet meeting in the north, Prime Minister Netanyahu announced that the heritage program would include two West Bank sites, Rachel's Tomb in the Bethlehem area and the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron. As reported in Haaretz, the two West Bank sites were added to the heritage site list at the last moment and Netanyahu did not consult with security forces regarding the decision.
The U.S. administration condemned the decision to include the West Bank sites, as did the Jordanian parliament.
In the past several days Netanyahu has tried to calm tensions over the issue and to convey a conciliatory message, including assurances that the status quo between Jewish and Muslim worshippers at the Cave of the Patriarchs will not be altered and that only the Jewish side of the site will be renovated, inasmuch as the Muslim portion of the site had already been renovated recently.
An increased police presence was deployed at the Kiryat Arba commemoration in memory of Baruch Goldstein. The police prevented the participants from reaching Goldstein's grave in the settlement. On the eve of Purim last night, among those in the area were extreme right-wing activists Baruch Marzel and Itamar Ben-Gvir.
Kiryat Arba council member Mordechai Sayed, who attended the memorial ceremony for Goldstein said "I have come to honor a friend who saved many people in his life and in his death." Another council member, Yisrael Bramson, said, "we have respect for Dr. Goldstein, for his work and his deeds."
Kiryat Arba councilman Benzion Gopstein said "Goldstein observed the commandments - not only to eat hamentashen [Purim pastries] but also the work of Mordechai and Esther [of the Purim story] who avenged the enemies of the Jews. We are here to honor his legacy."
During the ceremony the Book of Esther was read and a scuffle broke out between two drunk people, one of whom was injured. They were both arrested.
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Confrontations between Israeli security forces and Palestinian demonstrators in Hebron continued for the fifth day in a row Friday, with the Palestinians throwing stones at Israeli soldiers and police to protest the inclusion of the Cave of the Patriarchs on a list of Israeli "Heritage sites." The site holy to both Jews and Muslims houses a synagogue and a mosque. Last night dozens of settlers in nearby Kiryat Arba held a ceremony in memory of Baruch Goldstein, who in 1994 shot and killed 29 Muslim worships and injured 125 at the Cave of the Patriarchs before being killed himself.
Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad visited Hebron on Friday and warned Israel of increased risk of violence as a result of the Israeli government decision on the sites, adding "we are all united against the decision of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and against the terror of the settlers."
Last Sunday, at a cabinet meeting in the north, Prime Minister Netanyahu announced that the heritage program would include two West Bank sites, Rachel's Tomb in the Bethlehem area and the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron. As reported in Haaretz, the two West Bank sites were added to the heritage site list at the last moment and Netanyahu did not consult with security forces regarding the decision.
The U.S. administration condemned the decision to include the West Bank sites, as did the Jordanian parliament.
In the past several days Netanyahu has tried to calm tensions over the issue and to convey a conciliatory message, including assurances that the status quo between Jewish and Muslim worshippers at the Cave of the Patriarchs will not be altered and that only the Jewish side of the site will be renovated, inasmuch as the Muslim portion of the site had already been renovated recently.
An increased police presence was deployed at the Kiryat Arba commemoration in memory of Baruch Goldstein. The police prevented the participants from reaching Goldstein's grave in the settlement. On the eve of Purim last night, among those in the area were extreme right-wing activists Baruch Marzel and Itamar Ben-Gvir.
Kiryat Arba council member Mordechai Sayed, who attended the memorial ceremony for Goldstein said "I have come to honor a friend who saved many people in his life and in his death." Another council member, Yisrael Bramson, said, "we have respect for Dr. Goldstein, for his work and his deeds."
Kiryat Arba councilman Benzion Gopstein said "Goldstein observed the commandments - not only to eat hamentashen [Purim pastries] but also the work of Mordechai and Esther [of the Purim story] who avenged the enemies of the Jews. We are here to honor his legacy."
During the ceremony the Book of Esther was read and a scuffle broke out between two drunk people, one of whom was injured. They were both arrested.
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Riots erupt on Jerusalem's Temple Mount
Hebron tension spreads to Jerusalem: Youths barricaded in al-Aqsa Mosque since Saturday evening throw stones at passerby, prompting police forces to enter compound. Stones hurled at police in Old City as well; Four police officers and 18 protestors injured; seven suspects arrested
Efrat Weiss 02.28.10, 09:05
Morning of clashes in Jerusalem's Old City: Police forces entered the al-Aqsa Mosque plaza at the Temple Mount on Sunday morning after dozens of Arab youths who barricaded themselves in the mosque on Saturday night began hurling stones at passersby entering the Temple Mount compound.
Two policemen and two Border Guard officers were lightly injured by stones hurled in the Old City's alleys. They received medical treatment on site and resumed their activity. At least 18 protestors were injured and seven were arrested.
Sources in the mosque reported that at least eight worshippers were hurt by tear gas. According to the Palestinians, hundreds of policemen encircled the mosque, demanding that the youths evacuate themselves.
The police reported that some 30 Arab youths had barricaded themselves inside the mosques and that efforts made by the Waqf (the council managing Muslim sites) to remove them had failed. Police entered the mount's plaza following the stone throwing and closed its gates, and the youths fled into the mosque.
The police then opened the mount's gates to worshippers, but restricted entrance to the site to male worshippers with Israeli identity cards over the age of 50 and to female worshippers of all ages.
The mufti of Jerusalem and the Palestinian Authority condemned the police forces' entry to the mosque compound, which he said was aimed at allowing extremists to enter the area. He warned against the serious implications of the police's entry.
Waqf sources said that Jewish worshippers had entered the compound and were protected by the police. A Jerusalem Police official strongly denied the claim, saying that "this is a lie. Some 1,000 visitors have entered the Temple Mount compound since the morning hours, both Jews and non-Jews."
Visits to the site continue as usual, although stones are occasionally being thrown from the mosques towards the police forces stationed at the entrances.
Clashes in Old City streets
Stones were occasionally thrown at police officers in the alleys of the Old City, including near the Antonia Fortress, which is one of the entrances to the Temple Mount. There were no reports of injuries. Seven suspects were detained for questioning.
Some 100 girls who attempted to launch a protest march in the Sultan Suleiman area in east Jerusalem were stopped by the police.
It is estimated that Sunday's events at the Temple Mount come following the tension that arose over Israel's decision to include the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron and Rachel's Tomb in Bethlehem to its list of national heritage sites.
Members of the Waqf and various Islamic organizations, including the Islamic Movement, urged Muslims over the weekend to flock to the Temple Mount, claiming that "radical Jewish organizations have called on their followers to arrive at the mount today and on Tuesday in an attempt to lay the cornerstone for the temple."
The Islamic organizations also called on Muslims to be on high alert around March 16, when they said extreme Jewish organizations were planning to mark the global day for the temple's reconstruction.
Ali Waked contributed to this report
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