JERUSALEM — Crowds of Palestinian youths went on violent rampages in east Jerusalem on Thursday, stoning buses, overturning cars and facing down Israeli riot police at the holy city’s most sensitive religious site following the shooting death of a local man.
Wednesday’s clashes broke out in the Silwan neighborhood shortly after a 32-year-old Palestinian man was killed by a private Israeli security guard watching over Jewish families in the area. About 70 ultranationalist Jewish families live in Silwan, amid some 50,000 Palestinian residents.
After the shooting, rioting spread throughout Silwan and to the nearby walled Old City.
At one point, Israeli riot police stormed the hilltop compound known to Jews as the Temple Mount and to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary. Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said police moved into the compound after stone throwers attacked Jewish worshippers at the adjacent Western Wall, the holiest prayer site for Jews.
He said the stone throwers fled into the Al Aqsa Mosque, Islam’s third holiest site, and after a standoff for several minutes, riot forces pulled back without further incident.
Read tomorrow's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.
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