Fifteen Israeli policemen and some 20 Muslims were injured today when police forced their way into the Temple Mount compound to quell stone throwers hurling rocks at worshippers in the Western Wall Plaza. Jerusalem Police Chief Cmdr. Mickey Levy denied the use of rubber bullets in the action, saying the number of Muslims injured was "exaggerated."

The clashes on the Temple Mount followed a cornerstone-laying ceremony conducted by the Temple Mount Faithful group in a demonstrative act calling for building the Third Temple, which ended uneventfully outside the Old City
this morning. Israeli police went on high alert in the wake of Palestinian calls to defend the Al-Aksa Mosque against attempts by Jews to enter the Temple Mount on the holiday of Tisha B'Av.

The symbolic ceremony was held at the Givati parking lot, south of the Old City's Hulda Gates, which were the main access route for Jewish pilgrims when the ancient Jewish Temple stood on the Temple Mount. Organized by the Temple Mount Faithful, a right-wing fringe group that regularly calls for a Jewish presence on the Mount, the ceremony focused on a 4.5-ton stone brought in especially for the occasion. After the short ceremony ended, police escorted group leaders away and the stone was returned to its storage location near the U.S. consulate in East Jerusalem.

The Temple Mount Faithful, led by Gershon Solomon, had

"We have no intention of letting anyone go up the hill or hurting Muslim people." - Acting Public Security Minister Reuven Rivlin

originally petitioned Israel's Supreme Court for the right to place the stone on the Temple Mount itself on Tisha B'Av. The solemn fast day, which commemorates the destruction of the First and Second Temples and other infamous days in Jewish history, would be the appropriate time for movement members to "go up [on the Temple Mount] not only to mourn the destruction of both Temples but, even more than this, to start the building of the end-time Third Temple," Solomon said.

This week the Supreme Court rejected the Temple Mount Faithful's petition. Supreme Court Chief Justice Aharon Barak, who issued the ruling together with Justices Dalia Dorner and Tova Strassberg-Cohen, accepted the position of the Israeli Police that the "sensitive security situation" does not permit Jewish entry to the Mount at this time. Barak reportedly told Solomon, "Our heart is with you, but we cannot help you."

In April, the court ruled against a similar request by the Temple Mount Faithful to pray on the Temple Mount during the holiday of Passover. The judges at the time accepted the government position that riots could result if such permission were granted to the Jews. A statement issued by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon directed security officials to "find an appropriate way to realize the right" enabling visitors of all faiths to go up to the Temple
Mount.

Heated Arab reaction calls for defending Al-Aksa
The Mufti of Jerusalem, Sheikh Ikrima Sabri, Israeli Arab Knesset members, the Islamic Wakf, and the Palestinian Authority all publicly charged yesterday that the Temple Mount Faithful would be bringing the cornerstone to the mount, and urged Palestinians to safeguard the site.

Sabri, the senior Muslim cleric in the region, called on Muslims to come to the compound in their thousands to prevent the ceremony and to protect the Al-Aksa Mosque on the Temple Mount, revered by Muslims as Al-Haram Al-Sharif, the third holiest site in Islam.

Israel's Channel 2 television reported last night that Islamic Movement member and United Arab List MK Abdel Malik Dehamshe had accused Israeli police of aiding the Temple Mount Faithful, and of incitement against the Islamic Movement. Dehamshe was quoted as saying that instead of defending the Al-Aksa Mosque, police were supporting those who want to damage it.

"This is very, very serious," said senior Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat. "It's pouring fuel on the fire." Erekat told Reuters, "It's ironic that the same prime minister who went in September to Al-Haram Al-Sharif [the Temple Mount] is now just adding another provocative step."

The Fatah Party declared today a "day of rage" and urged Palestinians "to protect the holy city and the holy sites and Al-Haram Al-Sharif from desecration." The Hamas called for gatherings this morning at the Al-Aksa Mosque to defend it "with soul and blood."

Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher spent Saturday urging permanent members of the United Nations Security Council to intervene to stop the ceremony. Maher told reporters the planned move was one of many Israeli "provocations" which he said contravened international legitimacy and could lead to an "explosive situation."

Israel on diplomatic defensive to ease tensions
Ha'aretz reported today that the Prime Minister's Office and the Foreign Ministry held talks over the weekend with the governments of the United States, Egypt, Jordan and a number of European countries, and asked them to press the Palestinian Authority to prevent unrest during the symbolic cornerstone-laying ceremony.

"We have no intention of letting anyone go up the hill or hurting Muslim people," acting Israeli Public Security Minister Reuven Rivlin (Likud) told Reuters. "There will be no ceremony there. They are using this to create incitement against Israel."

"The cornerstone will not be allowed to enter the Old City, and we will not allow anybody to disrupt the peace," Jerusalem Police Chief Cmdr. Mickey Levy reiterated yesterday, referring to potential disturbances by both Jewish and Muslim extremists.

Despite the presence of Force 17 Palestinian police, thousands of Palestinians gathered this morning on the Temple Mount and began causing disturbances. Around noon Palestinians began throwing stones and Israeli
policemen quickly evacuated worshippers from the nearby Western Wall plaza. Representatives of the Muslim Wakf issued calls to calm the situation. The police forced their way into the Temple Mount compound shortly after stones
thrown by the rioters lightly injured six policemen.

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