Israeli policemen guarding the Damascus Gate in Jerusalem’s Old City on October 9, 2015. Israeli police declared an age limit on Friday for Palestinians wanting to enter the Old City, only allowing males above the age of 45 and all females to enter. (Flash90)
(JTA) — Hundreds of right-wing Jewish protesters clashed with police Thursday night after they were almost prevented from marching to the Western Wall.
Also on Thursday evening, police arrested dozens of Arab Israeli demonstrators in Nazareth after a demonstration there turned violent, the Times of Israel reported.
Demonstrators in Nazareth set fire to tires and garbage cans and threw stones at police. Arab Israeli protests in Lod and Jaffa the previous two nights also became violent, with rocks thrown at police.
Many of the demonstrators, who gathered in Jerusalem Thursday evening to protest the recent wave of terror attacks, threw stones at police and border guards, and chanted “death to Arabs,” Ynet reported.
Some protesters approached passersby and “aggressively” asked if they were Arab, leaving them alone if they said no, according to Ynet.
Earlier Thursday in Nazareth, a leader in Israel’s Islamic Movement said at a press conference that his organization plans to respond to the “continued Israeli escalation” at the Temple Mount and has “a package of plans ready to be unleashed immediately.”
Sheikh Raed Salah called on Palestinians and Arab Israelis to stand up against “Israeli aggression,” adding “to die for Al-Aqsa is a great honor.”
Al-Aqsa is the mosque on the Temple Mount, known to Muslims as Haram al-Sharif, or the Noble Sanctuary. The Temple Mount is the third holiest site in Islam and the holiest site in Judaism.
