Tough precautionary measures were credited with keeping the peace in Jerusalem on the first anniversary of the Temple Mount riots Tuesday.
Palestinians staged a general strike. But no serious incidents were reported at the Islamic shrines, where at least 1,000 police and soldiers were deployed.
But sporadic disturbances occurred elsewhere in the city and in the West Bank. Security sources said the police would be kept in a state of high alert through this weekend.
The anniversary commemorated the fatal shooting of 17 Arabs by Israeli soldiers and border police, who stormed the Temple Mount on Oct. 8, 1990, after Arabs crowds threw stones at Jews worshipping at the Western Wall below.
More than 200 Arabs were wounded. A subsequent inquiry faulted police conduct but no disciplinary measures were called for or taken.
Anticipating trouble at memorial services Tuesday, the security authorities barred West Bank residents from entering Jerusalem for the day. That, and other precautions, accounted for the low turnout for the services, according to Police Minister Ronni Milo.
Only 200 Arabs prayed at the mosques. They were outnumbered at least 5-to-1 by armed troops and police, who kept them under scrutiny until they dispersed without incident.
Elsewhere in the Old City, a gasoline bomb was thrown at border police guarding the residence that Housing Minister Ariel Sharon established in the Moslem Quarter several years ago. No one was hurt.
Masked youths threw stones at a border police patrol in the Sawahre neighborhood of East Jerusalem on Tuesday evening and blocked roads with burning tires.
The police dispersed them with rubber bullets. No injuries or damage was reported.
Masked men attacked a Jewish driver near Efrat, a settlement south of Bethlehem, in the West Bank. His car was slightly damaged but the settler escaped unharmed.
Several villages near Jerusalem marked the anniversary by protest marches. At least one clash occurred between demonstrators and soldiers in El-Ram village north of Jerusalem.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
