BICOM

Violence erupted at the Lions Gate, the entrance to the Temple Mount, last night after Muslim clerics and Waqf officials (who run the Muslim holy site,) began praying outside the Temple Mount.

They were protesting against the introduction of metal detectors at the entrance to the compound following last week’s shooting attack that killed two Israeli police officers.

The Red Crescent says that fifty Palestinians were injured in violent clashes with Israeli police. 15 were hit by rubber bullets including senior Palestinian politician, Mustafa Barghouti, who was taken to the Al-Makassed Hospital in East Jerusalem.

There were also protests in the Silwan and Issawaiya neighborhoods of East Jerusalem, where firebombs, stones and fireworks were launched at police officers who dispersed the protestors. Palestinian sources reported that a teenager was injured from a live bullet during the clashes in Silwan.

The violence erupted after Fatah, which is headed by Palestinian Authority President Abbas, called for a “Day of Rage” to begin on Sunday. Fatah called for marches in the West Bank in the direction of Israeli army positions and that Friday prayers, when many worshipers normally go to the Temple Mount, should be conducted in public squares instead.

The Waqf also called on Muslims “to reject and boycott all the Israeli aggression measures, including changing the historical status quo including imposing the metal detectors. If the metal detectors continue to be imposed, we call upon the people to pray in front of the gates of the mosque and in the streets of Jerusalem.”

Jerusalem Grand Mufti Muhammad Ahmad Hussein has repeatedly accused Israel of changing the status quo at the  al-Aqsa Mosque. In an interview to Asharq al-Awsat, he said that placing the metal detectors at the entrances to the Temple Mount was wrong, and that any new security measures taken by Israel would encounter staunch resistance. He stated that the Palestinians demand free and dignified passage to the mosque, and would not permit al-Aqsa to be treated like a mall with guards and metal detectors posted at the entrances.