Police arrest six over clashes on Temple Mount

Five Arabs detained for attempted assault against police officer, one Jew nabbed for refusing to obey police orders.

By MELANIE LIDMAN
Dome of the Rock on the Temple Mount 390 (photo credit: Ilan Evyatar)
Dome of the Rock on the Temple Mount 390
(photo credit: Ilan Evyatar)
Just two days after police arrested five people on the Temple Mount, confrontations again broke out between Muslim and Jewish worshipers on Thursday. Police arrested six people, five Arabs for attempted assault against a police officer and one Jew who refused to obey police orders.
According to Jerusalem deputy police spokeswoman Shlomit Bajshi, a group of around 30 Muslim worshipers began chanting "Allalu Akbar" and began heading towards a group of Muslim worshipers with the intention of attacking them. Police immediately responded to the incident and separated the two groups, provoking a small fracas.
However, the Temple Mount was not closed to visitors on Thursday and the rest of the days' visits proceeded without incident.
Five people, including Likud activist Moshe Feiglin, were arrested after a confrontation on the Temple Mount on Tuesday morning during Feiglin’s monthly trip to Judaism’s holiest site.
Similarly, a group of Arabs began chanting "Allalu Akbar" and police immediately separated the groups of Jews and Arabs. Upon searching one of the Arabs, police discovered that he was carrying a concealed knife, which is illegal on the Temple Mount. Police arrested three Arabs for disturbing the peace, and one of them for also carrying an illegal weapon.
Security forces also arrested Feiglin and another Jew for praying, which is “in violation of the customs of the site,” according to Bajshi. All of the suspects from Tuesday's confrontation were served with restraining orders prohibiting them from visiting the Temple Mount for 15 days. Feiglin refused to sign and was brought before the Jerusalem Magistrate's Court, where he was released without condition.