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Israeli Police Storm Al-Aqsa, Gaza Protests Jerusalem Bill
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Israeli police stormed Al-Aqsa mosque and fired tear gas grenades at
Palestinian worshippers
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GAZA
CITY, October 4 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - While Israeli
police stormed Al-Asqa Mosque (Islam’s third holiest site), killing
one Palestinian and injuring 4 others, including a child, some 1,500
Palestinian demonstrators took to the streets of Gaza City Friday,
October 4, to protest a U.S. law calling for the U.S. embassy to be
moved from Tel Aviv to Occupied Jerusalem, implicitly recognizing the
city as Israel's capital.
"Jerusalem
is our capital!" the demonstrators chanted, firing shots in the
air, while others were calling for revenge and the pursuit of the
Intifada, an Agence France-Presse (AFP) correspondent on the scene
reported.
"We
condemn the U.S. Congress decision and call on Arabs, Muslims and
Christians to intervene for an end to the United States' support for
the Israeli aggression," Palestinian MP Ibrahim Abu al-Naja told
the rally.
The
demonstration was called for by the National and Islamic Forces, an
umbrella organization grouping the 13 main Palestinian resistance
groups.
The
coalition, which includes Fatah and the Islamic resistance group
Hamas, called Thursday, October 3, for an urgent meeting of the
Al-Quds (Jerusalem) committee of the Organization of the Islamic
Conference (OIC) to discuss means of countering the U.S. law.
The
National and Islamic Forces had also called on all residents of the
occupied West Bank, Gaza Strip and Golan Heights to "defy the
Israeli curfew ... and pray at the Al-Aqsa Mosque and gather in all
the churches in Palestine."
U.S.
President George W. Bush had opposed insertion of the language on
(occupied) Jerusalem into the bill authorizing funding for the State
Department, but he still signed the bill.
Even
so, he said that if the provisions on (occupied) Jerusalem were
construed as mandatory rather than advisory, they would impermissibly
interfere with the constitutional authority to formulate foreign
policy.
He
added that "U.S. policy regarding Jerusalem has not
changed."
Along
with many other countries, the United States has maintained its
embassy in Israel in Tel Aviv, considering the nature of occupied Arab
East Jerusalem, which the Palestinians plan as the capital of their
future independent state.
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"Jerusalem is our capital!" chanted demonstrators from all resistance groups |
Israel
occupied Arab East Jerusalem in the 1967 Middle East then later
annexed it. The Israeli annexation has never been recognized by the
international community and Washington has consistently held that the
city's status must be negotiated by the Israelis and Palestinians in
the context of a final peace deal.
Meanwhile,
Israel, supported and protected by its ally the United States,
continues its occupational practices in the Palestinian territories.
In
occupied Jerusalem, Israeli police fired tear gas grenades at a group
of Palestinians worshippers after the weekly Friday prayers at Al-Aqsa
Mosque, the third holiest site in Islam, police sources said, AFP
reported.
No-one
was injured in the incident and the police eventually evacuated a
number of trespassing Jewish worshippers from the Muslim holy site
where the Palestinian Intifada against Israeli occupation erupted just
over two years ago, following a provocative visit by then general
Ariel Sharon guarded by a massive number of armed security guards.
In
the northern West Bank village of Barta'a, a Palestinian was killed by
Israeli fire Friday, Palestinian security sources said. The victim was
throwing stones at an Israeli army position, and his identity and age
were not immediately disclosed.
In
the West Bank town of Nablus, the Israeli occupation army opened
tank-fire on Palestinians Friday, critically injuring a Palestinian
child and wounding three others before the army abducted dozens of
Palestinian civilians.
Sporadic
bloody incidents were also reported in the Gaza Strip.
Ibrahim
Madani, a 12-year-old Palestinian child, was hit by Israeli army tank
fire in Nablus' Askar refugee camp and was suffering from critical
head injuries, Palestinian medical sources told AFP.
In
the northern West Bank town of Jenin, the Israeli army staged a fresh
raid Friday morning, sparking clashes that left another three
Palestinians injured, Palestinian security sources said.
A
group of young stone-throwers confronted Israeli tanks and jeeps as
they stormed the city center, and the Israeli army responded to stones
by firing live bullets, AFP reported.
The
army claimed an explosive device was hurled at a group of Israeli
soldiers supervising the military curfew imposed on Jenin and that
they responded by opening fire.
The
Israeli occupation army also abducted a total of 18 Palestinians
overnight, including at least four near the southern West Bank city of
Al-Khalil (Hebron).
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