Day marked by W. Bank, J'lem protests

7-meter ship held up in Bil'in; hundreds demonstrate near Route 443.

By JPOST.COM STAFF
arabs riot temple mount 311 (photo credit: AP)
arabs riot temple mount 311
(photo credit: AP)
High tensions were recorded in Jerusalem and the West Bank on Friday in the wake of Monday's IDF raid on the Mavi Marmara, which sparked protests all around the world.
Hundreds of Palestinians and left-wing activists protested near Route 443, with youths hurling rocks at security forces. In Jerusalem, a protest march was held after Friday morning prayers. Though police boosted their presence in the city in anticipation of violence, they allowed the march to proceed on the condition that it did not turn riotous.
Hundreds attended the weekly protest over the security fence in Bil'in, where several demonstrators held up a seven-meter-long model of a ship.
A number of arrests were made during the day.
The entrance to Jerusalem’s Temple Mount for participation in Friday prayers was restricted to men aged over 40 and possessing Israeli citizenship and women in hopes of averting more violence.
Jerusalem police reinforced their presence along major thoroughfares in Arab neighborhoods of east Jerusalem and throughout the Old City.
There have been past incidences of rock-throwing by Muslim youths and worshipers after Friday prayers at times of tension between Israel and the Palestinians. In March, rocks were hurled down at Jews praying at the Western Wall.
When police tried to disperse these rioters, severe and violent clashes with the locals erupted.
When Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's announcement incorporating the Cave of the Patriarch's in Hebron and Rachel's Tomb in Bethlehem onto Israel's list of national heritage sites in March, rock-throwing spilled over into Jerusalem’s Muslim Quarter, and various parts of the West Bank.