This week’s clashes in Jerusalem have prompted a range of responses in Israel.
- "For a few hours yesterday, it looked like Palestinian leaders were about to unleash a third intifada," wrote the Jerusalem Post’s editorialists.
- "Why can we all pray in peace at the Western Wall, but the very notion of a Jew praying on the site of Solomon’s Temple begets only violence, denial and threats?" write Abraham Cooper and Marvin Hier of the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles. (Jerusalem Post)
- The editorialists at Ha’aretz warn that the violence has the potential to disrput the calm Israelis and Palestinians have enjoyed over the last few months: "For the parties to the Arab-Israeli conflict, Jerusalem and its sacred sites are a guaranteed means of inflaming national passions and creating tension and confrontation in times of political duress."
- The riots in Jerusalem are the actions of Arab slaves yearning to be free, writes Arab-Israeli Knesset member Ahmad Tibi in Ynet: The Jerusalem Police under Franco’s command forbids men below 50 years of age to arrive at the al-Aqsa Mosque in order to pray. It also closed down the area in recent days and prevents Palestinians and Muslims from arriving at the site. There is no graver blow to the freedom of worship than this limitation. Even God did not impose an age limit on praying.
