Haaretz
After two weeks of relative quiet in the Jerusalem area, disturbances again broke out in the city and its periphery yesterday morning. Shortly after the Temple Mount was opened up to tourists and other non-Muslim visitors, several dozen Palestinians began throwing stones at both police and tourists. The police attempted to disperse the stone throwers and the Temple Mount was closed to visitors....
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...Jivara al-Budairi, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Jerusalem, said the violence in the Old City erupted after the Israeli police fired tear gas and stun grenades at Palestinian students and youths in the area.
The youths retaliated by throwing stones at the police.
Israeli police had deployed extra troops to the site early on Sunday after Palestinians called for demonstrations in response to rumours that rightwing Jewish activists were planning to gather at the compound.
The rumours circulated after a fringe Israeli group, the Organisation for the Defence of Human Rights on the Temple Mount, called on Jews to gather at the mosque compound as well as the adjacent Western Wall.
A spokesman for Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, condemned "the storming of Haram al-Sharif by Israeli forces" and called on Israel to "halt all provocative acts".
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FAQ on Current Jerusalem Unrest
The Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem. (Mimmi Nietula, Maan Images)
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The Online Guide to Al-Haram al-Sharif in Jerusalem
AT THE HEART OF JERUSALEM is the Noble Sanctuary, Al-Haram al-Sharif, enclosing over 35 acres of fountains, gardens, buildings and domes. At its southernmost end is Al-Aqsa Mosque and at its centre the celebrated Dome of the Rock. The entire area is regarded as a mosque and comprises nearly one sixth of the walled city of Jerusalem.
The Noble Sanctuary is one of the three most important sites in Islam, and a showcase for Islamic architecture and design from Umayyad to Ottoman times that continues as an important religious and educational centre for Muslims to the present day.
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The Nobel Sanctuary is threatened by Jewish extremists who seek to destroy it and replace it with a Jewish Temple.
Temple Mount Faithful
Our goal is the building of the Third Temple on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem in our lifetime in accordance with the Word of G-d and all the Hebrew prophets and the liberation of the Temple Mount from Arab (Islamic) occupation so that it may be consecrated to the Name of G-d.
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Long Term Objectives
1) Liberating the Temple Mount from Arab (Islamic) occupation.
2) Consecrating the Temple Mount to the Name of G-d so that it can become the moral and spiritual center of Israel, of the Jewish people and of the entire world according to the words of all the Hebrew prophets.
3) Rebuilding the Third Temple in accordance with the words of all the Hebrew prophets.
4) Providing a Biblical point of assembly in order that all Israel may fulfill the commandment to assemble three times annually at the times of G-d's festivals and at the place where G-d established His Name forever.
5) Making Biblical Jerusalem the real, undivided capital of the state of Israel.
6) Rejecting false "peace talks" which will result in the dividing of Israel and the breaking of G-d's covenant.
7) Supporting the settlements in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the Golan Heights as they are holy.
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