Is it really true that Sadaam Hussein is on the way riding a big white horse? This one guy sized up the situation in this article when he said the Israelis were just a bunch of bullies. Welly Bully for Sadaam Hussein and the Iraqis for the cavalry is on its way? If he is succesful in this, he might just end up with a Nobel Peace Award? How many mad Arabs on their way? Saba Blast kills 6 Palestinian activists � New fighting rocks Temple Mount holy site � � � � Israeli border police face Palestinian protesters at the Al-Aqsa mosque compound during clashes Sunday that erupted when Palestinians threw stones at Jewish worshipers.� � � MSNBC � � � NABLUS, West Bank, July 30 � �Six Palestinian activists were killed in an explosion early Monday in a shack near a Palestinian refugee camp, witnesses and security officials said. � � � �� � � � � July 29 � The Temple Mount, a site sacred to both Jews and Muslims, was the scene of violence on Sunday. NBC's Jim Maceda reports. � � � �THE BLAST tore apart the tin shack. Palestinian police at a checkpoint about 200 yards away said they heard a loud blast. Palestinian security officials, requesting anonymity, said the cause of the explosion was unclear. � � � �The explosion took place near the Al-Fara refugee camp north of Nablus. An eyewitness said there were no Israeli helicopters in the area, and the blast blew the roof off the shack, indicating that the explosion came from inside the structure. � � � �The Israeli military was checking the report. � � � �Palestinian security officials said all six dead Palestinians were activists in Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement, and that three served in a Palestinian military intelligence unit. All were on Israel's wanted list for planning attacks inside Israel, they said. � � � �In recent weeks Israel has carried out targeted killings of Palestinian militants suspected of planning or carrying out attacks in Israel. In other cases, militants have been killed in explosions, apparently while preparing bombs for attacks, incidents the Israelis call "work accidents." � � � �Palestinian officials did not immediately blame Israel for the blast. � � � �One other man was wounded, the officials said. � � � � TEMPLE MOUNT VIOLENCE � � � �On Sunday, new violence in Jerusalem engulfed one of the most significant religious sites in the world when hundreds of Israeli police stormed a mosque compound holy to Jews and Muslims alike. � � � �At least 35 Palestinians and 15 police were injured and 28 Palestinians were arrested during the confrontation at the compound known to Jews as the Temple Mount and to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary, where deadly waves of Israeli-Palestinian violence exploded 10 months ago. � � � �But almost miraculously, police fired no live ammunition and no one was killed in confrontations fought at ground zero of the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian dispute in the divided Old City of Jerusalem. � � � �The compound, home to the Al-Aqsa and Dome of the Rock mosques, is the third-holiest site in Islam, known collectively in Arabic as al-Haram al-Sharif. It is built atop the ruins of the two biblical Jewish temples, the holiest site in Judaism. And Sunday was Tisha B'Av, when observant Jews mark the destruction of Jewish temples at the site in 586 B.C. and 70 A.D. � � � �Israeli and Palestinian police showed remarkable coordination in thwarting Sunday's violence, NBC News correspondent Jim Maceda reported from Jerusalem. � � � �Israeli police stormed the compound after Palestinians began throwing rocks at Jews praying at the Western Wall, which forms one side of the compound. But they retreated slightly while their Palestinian counterparts chased down the Palestinian rock throwers, and meanwhile, Israeli riot police remained outside the Al-Aqsa mosque. � � � �Police spokesman Shmuel Ben-Ruby said that police fired stun grenades, while Israeli radio reported that they also used batons and tear gas. But no shots were fired. � � � � LONG-AWAITED SHOWDOWN Advertisement � � � �Police on both sides had plenty of notice of what they considered an inevitable confrontation. A radical Jewish group, the Temple Mount Faithful, intended to lay a cornerstone Sunday for a Third Jewish Temple at the compound, a spark sure to light an always short fuse in the holy city. � � � �Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's Fatah faction called last week for a "day of rage" and urged Palestinians to gather at the holy site to thwart any attempt to carry the 4.5-ton stone into the compound. � � � �Senior Palestinian official Marwan Bargouthi told NBC that "this is a big crime against the feelings of the Palestinian people and the Arabs and Muslims all over the world." � � � �But Gershon Salomon, leader of the Temple Mount Faithful, proclaimed, "God is with us, and he gave us this hill, the Temple Mount." � � � �As throngs of Muslims converged on the compound Sunday � Reuters reported that as many as 2,000 were on hand � Israeli police deployed in large numbers and blocked the ultranationalist Jews from reaching the compound and planting a cornerstone. Israeli policemen carry an injured border policeman Sunday in Jerusalem's Old City. Hundreds of police stormed the mosque compound that is Jerusalem's most contested religious site. � � � �In a compromise, police permitted the group to hold a short ceremony in a nearby parking lot outside the walls of the Old City and removed the cornerstone after the ceremony to lessen tensions. � � � �Shortly afterward, Muslims inside the compound began throwing stones, bricks and bottles at hundreds of Jews praying at the Western Wall. Many of the Jews, both men and women, fled the barrage, some holding plastic chairs or prayer shawls over their heads for protection. The stone-throwing was what prompted police to rush inside. � � � �The initial police action took only minutes and drove most of the Palestinians back inside the mosques. � � � �A tense standoff then ensued, though. Palestinian medical workers, clad in white, formed a human buffer between the police and the stone-throwers in a bid to prevent additional clashes. � � � �Some elderly Muslim worshipers also urged the youths to stop throwing stones. However, the Palestinians periodically tossed rocks at the police, who charged the youths to disperse them. � � � �Under an agreement mediated by an Israeli Arab legislator, police reinforcements left the compound after several hours and the protesters went home. �Latest Mideast news �The Israel-Hollywood nuclear connection �War crimes cases worry Israel �NBC: Jaywalking in Jerusalem �Newsweek: Road rage and the Intifada �Join our discussion � � � �"The Jews are bullying us, and no one is able to make them stop," said Abdullah Mohammed Abdullah, 53, one of the Muslim worshipers. "They are not going to quit until they take everything." � � � �Israeli opposition leader Yossi Sarid, head of the left-wing Meretz party, said in exasperation, "We are surrounded by crazy people from all sides." � � � � BATTLE CONFINED TO WORDS � � � �The Palestinian Authority, in a statement, said it held the Israeli government responsible for the "barbaric attack" by police on al-Haram al-Sharif. It said "international efforts" had persuaded Israel to end the police "siege" of Al-Aqsa. � � � �But Israeli officials praised the restraint of the Israeli forces and accused the Palestinian leadership of deliberately fanning tensions in Jerusalem. � � � �"There was no need and no reason for this kind of violence ... except for the fact that it was incited and developed by the Palestinian Authority as another desperate means to try and create trouble and create violence at this very, very holy site," Raanan Gissin, an aide to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, told Reuters. View images of the tumult. � � � �Israel claims sovereignty over the site, although an Islamic trust has day-to-day control of the compound. Since the current round of violence broke out, only Muslims have been allowed inside the compound. � � � �That violence was sparked 10 months ago, after Sharon, then the main opposition leader, visited the mosque area and provoked outrage among Muslims. Fighting broke out the next day when police stormed the compound and clashed with Muslims after midday prayers on Friday, the Muslim Sabbath. � � � �The compound was one of the most contentious issues in the Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations that collapsed amid the current fighting. � � � � OTHER VIOLENCE � � � �Sunday's confrontation prompted several Palestinian demonstrations in the West Bank. Near the city of Ramallah, three Palestinians and two Israeli soldiers were injured in an exchange of fire. The Israeli army said Palestinian gunmen opened fire and the troops shot back. � � � �Palestinian security instructed civilians in the area to evacuate the streets for fear of an escalation. � � � �Meanwhile, protests of a different sort came from Jewish religious groups incensed that Tel Aviv officials allowed restaurants to remain open during the Tisha B'Av day of fasting. The city's secular leaders cited a bylaw that orders places of "entertainment" to remain closed but does not specifically mention restaurants. � � � �Israel's chief rabbi, Meir Lau, denounced the decision as "awful, disgraceful, regrettable and troubling." He issued a statement titled, "Coffee with cream � an expression in contempt of the national heritage." � � � �In response, Sarid of the Meretz party said on army radio that "the secular community is fed up" with religious groups' dictating rules and regulations. What can be done to end the bloodshed? Join a discussion of world events on MSNBC's International Discussion Board � � � � � � � �MSNBC.com's Alex Johnson, NBC's Jim Maceda in Jerusalem, The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report. � � � � �
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