Israel clampdown at shrine fuels Muslim fears
Source: AP-Excite
By KARIN LAUB
JERUSALEM (AP) — Hundreds of Palestinians knelt on prayer carpets in a Jerusalem street Friday, faced by a cordon of Israeli riot police who blocked them from reaching Islam's third- holiest shrine in the nearby Old City.
The worshippers eventually dispersed peacefully, but the scene highlighted the escalating tensions over the holy site — a walled, hilltop plateau known to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary and to Jews as the Temple Mount.
Israel argues that restricting access to the shrine, which has been common in recent weeks, is needed to clamp down on growing unrest in the contested city of 810,000 people. On Friday, Muslims under age 35 were denied entry, while restrictions were broader in preceding weeks.
Jerusalem's Muslims, who make up about a third of the population, say the security clampdown only heightens fears that their traditional control of the holy site, home to the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the gold-topped Dome of the Rock, is under threat from Jewish zealots.
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Palestinians pray outside the Old City in Jerusalem as Israeli police limited the access to Al-Aqsa Mosque, Friday, Nov. 7, 2014. The holy site in Jerusalem's Old City is known to Jews as the Temple Mount and is the most sacred spot in Judaism. Muslims revere it as the Noble Sanctuary, Islam's third-holiest site and home to the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the gold-topped Dome of the Rock. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)
Read more: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20141107/ml--israel-palestinians-0f2eef3749.html
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