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EIGHT PEOPLE HAVE been killed in several days of violence following new Israeli security measures at an ultra-sensitive holy site in Jerusalem.
The Haram al-Sharif/Temple Mount site is central to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
It is the third most holy place in Islam and the most revered site in Judaism.
The compound is located in east Jerusalem, an area that was occupied by Israel in 1967 and later annexed in a move not recognised by the international community.
The removal of controversial metal detectors from the site in the early hours of this morning has been greeted with jubilation on the Palestinian side.
Israel’s government says that it will replace those detectors with ‘security inspections based upon advanced technologies’.
Details as to the nature of those technologies are as yet unclear, although security cameras had already been installed at same time as the metal detectors were put in place.
Here is a timeline of events related to the latest crisis.
Attack and mosque shutdown
On 14 July, three Arab Israelis armed with automatic rifles and a knife exited Jerusalem’s Haram al-Sharif compound, known to Jews as the Temple Mount, and shot dead two police officers stationed nearby.
The assailants fled back into the flashpoint holy site, which includes Al-Aqsa mosque and the Dome of the Rock, before being shot dead by security forces.
Arab Israelis are descendants of Palestinians who remained on their land following the creation of the state of Israel in 1948. They largely identify with the Palestinian cause.
Israel then took the highly unusual decision to shut down the compound, meaning Muslim worshippers could not attend Friday prayers there the same day, triggering anger from Muslims and Jordan, the holy site’s custodian.
The site remained closed the next day, while parts of Jerusalem’s Old City were under lockdown as Israel conducted searches for concealed weapons.
Metal detectors
Late on 15 July, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced the site would open the next day and security forces would install metal detectors and surveillance cameras to prevent further attacks.
But when the compound opened on 16 July with metal detectors in place, Muslim worshippers refused to enter due to the new security measures, which they perceived as a means for Israel to assert further control over the site.
Prayers were instead held in the streets leading to the site.
Clashes
From 16 to 20 July, sporadic clashes broke out after prayers.
Muslim worshippers held firm in their resolution to not enter the compound while the metal detectors remained in place as concerns rose over a possible escalation of the situation.
On 20 July, Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan joined the Palestinian leadership in urging Israel to remove the metal detectors.
But after consultations with the security establishment, Netanyahu decided to leave the metal detectors in place, though he allowed police to apply discretion in using them.
Friday eruption
Ahead of Friday prayers on 21 July, Israeli police took the rare measure of closing off the Old City to men under 50.
Mass protest prayers were held around Jerusalem’s Old City and demonstrations there and in the occupied West Bank led to clashes in which three Palestinians were killed.
Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas said he would freeze contacts with Israel.
Later the same day, a Palestinian broke into a Jewish home in the settlement of Neve Tsuf in the West Bank and stabbed four Israelis, killing three of them before being shot by a neighbour.
The Israeli army says the assailant had spoken of the Jerusalem holy site and of dying as a martyr in a Facebook post.
More clashes
On 22 July, clashes in east Jerusalem and the West Bank continued, resulting in the death of two Palestinians, including one when a petrol bomb exploded prematurely.
Diplomats said the UN Security Council will hold closed-door talks two days later about the spiralling violence after Egypt, France and Sweden sought a meeting to “urgently discuss how calls for de-escalation in Jerusalem can be supported”.
On Sunday, a rocket fired at Israel from Gaza hit an open area, causing no injuries.
The Israeli cabinet convened, with officials not ruling out removing the metal detectors if a satisfactory alternative to them is approved by police.
Meeting
The UN Security Council met yesterday over the increased violence and tensions.
Egypt, France and Sweden called for the talks at which Israel said it would do whatever is necessary to maintain security at a holy site
“We hope that members of the council will send a clear message to the parties to de-escalate, to exercise restraint, to refrain from provocations, and to work together to lower tensions and discourage violence,” Swedish diplomat Carl Skau ahead of the meeting.
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‘You’ll be at their graveside with your hand out’ ne’er a truer word spoken, but what joe forgot to mention is that the system is also pushing some of them into their graves. Sad, desolate times.
Bank shares are up this week. Just about says it all…
Pure pantomime.
Peter Mathews “rant” was great. He’s one of the few who are sticking it to these bastards. And fu#k the chairman for his snide remark, it simply shows his ignorance. Mathews simplified much of this crisis in that statement and people should hear that.
I’d like to grill a few bankers, face down in a fire pit!
Not those nice staff who do their best at work every day like you or I but these high 5 slapping gangsta rudeboys in disguise as bob dobolinas! Hardest part would be waiting for the coals to turn fully white before dunking them d!cks.
This “we sent letters out” child like answer to meeting targets should be rubbished by noonan next week and they should be back in next month to answer again about what real work they have done. No ?
The real truth here is they won’t write debts down because they are waiting for the market to rebound a bit. No chief exec wants to accept that debt on his shift. It will affect his job, his bonus, and as important the shares they privately own which are up since the collapse.
Sadly the fact that these banks are state owned would appear to mean sweet f**k all….,
So after the “grilling” what happens? Do the committee make any recommendations on maybe those in the banking sector not performing loosing their jobs or is that the end of the pantomime until next time they are called? Otherwise it is a waste of time and money.
What? No Little Stevie Donnelly? The master of populist rhetoric must be losing his touch. The Fan Club will be very disappointed.
I don’t agree with that comment about Steven Donnelly. He’s not my local Td but anytime I hear him speak he comes accross as a decent hardworking Td with good morals and values. If half of the people in government were like him we might not be in this mess.
Yup, Little Stevie is on the radio now using his favourite words “horrendous” and “horrific” and saying things like “There’s something wrong with the country …….”, then he pauses like he’s waiting for applause.
But he has no solutions. He’s just a waffler.
Surely the soloution is everyone that bought a house between 2003-2008 gets there mortgage reduced by 20% Thus making people’s mortgages affordable again and for those who are paying there mortgage they will have money to put into the local and national economy.
Boucher and Co will continue to treat law makers with disdain and arrogance as long as law makers continue to permit these bankers to receive salaries that are multiples of the salary of the highest ranked law maker in the state. These bankers must, understandably, feel superior and invincible and it must be undignifying for them to have to be accountable to a committee, where the aggregate salaries of any 7 or 8 members would only approximate to that of the highest paid banker. Cut their salaries to sensible levels and observe how cooperative they will suddenly become. Not a problem if they don’t want to work for less, others can be hired.
Political hypocrisy! This state, yet again, faces an existential crisis and the politicians expect bankers (no less) to get them off the hook and to make the decisions that they themselves will not. Bankers will do their job, which in this case is to get as much of the money they imprudently lent out back. To expect otherwise is extremely naive. Politicians are once again ducking the hard decisions. Why? Because to fix this problem we need money and that is already being shipped back to Frankfurt by the tonne. If politicians want the mortgage issue fixed then they need to fix it, not hope for others to fix it for them.
This was a show for the proles. The TDs knew it, the bankers knew it and the proles knew it.
Grilling,hardly
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