Jerusalem police are bracing for more violence from Muslim demonstrations at a construction site near the Al-Aksa mosque on the Temple Mount.
The head of the Islamic Movement’s northern branch, Sheikh Ra’ad Salah, has vowed to continue protests against the Israel Antiquities Authority’s repair work on a footbridge to the Temple Mount that collapsed in a storm in 2004. The Authority is conducting simultaneous excavations at the site in order to preserve artifacts uncovered during the process.
Salah and other Muslim leaders continue to insist that the work will damage the mosque, which located 60 meters away from the site. The Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court will decide Thursday afternoon whether to agree to a petition by police to extend by 60 days a restraining order keeping Salah outside the Old City.
The head of the Islamic Movement’s northern branch, Sheikh Ra’ad Salah, has vowed to continue protests against the Israel Antiquities Authority’s repair work on a footbridge to the Temple Mount that collapsed in a storm in 2004. The Authority is conducting simultaneous excavations at the site in order to preserve artifacts uncovered during the process.
Salah and other Muslim leaders continue to insist that the work will damage the mosque, which located 60 meters away from the site. The Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court will decide Thursday afternoon whether to agree to a petition by police to extend by 60 days a restraining order keeping Salah outside the Old City.