Trouble flares at holy site as Jews mark anniversary of 'unification'

[Behind the Aegis]

"BEN LYNFIELD
IN JERUSALEM


ISRAELI police stormed the Temple Mount/al-Haram al-Sharif compound in Jerusalem yesterday after hundreds of Palestinians threw stones at a group of Jews visiting the site to mark the anniversary of the capture of the east of the city during the Six Day War in 1967.

As they do every year, Israelis celebrated with dancing, concerts and walks in the walled old city what they term the "unification" of Jerusalem and the bringing of its historically and biblically resonant sites under Israeli control.

But yesterday's confrontation, and the absence from the festivities of Palestinians, who make up a third of Jerusalem's population, pointed up how divided the city remains, 38 years after Israel annexed East Jerusalem in contravention of international law.

The police action came after two groups of visitors escorted by officers entered the compound, which houses al-Aqsa mosque, the third holiest site in Islam. It is also the most sacred site in Judaism, where the biblical temples once stood. "

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