Fighting between Jews and Arabs erupted on the Temple Mount on Sunday morning, as Jews ascended the holy site on Jerusalem Day.
Some eyewitnesses stated that Arabs lashed out in rage against Jews who began singing at the site, while others indicate that Muslims attacked when three young Israelis began waving an Israeli flag.
Police were immediately dispatched to the scene, pushing back crowds of Arabs crying out “Allahu Akbar!” Police similarly detained several of the Jewish visitors, who they said provoked the conduct by breaking rules of conduct at the site, including a man who was accused of bowing down at the site, a rule that the Jordanian Waqf has forbidden to Jews, along with praying at the site.
More Jewish groups were allowed to ascend after tensions were eased.
Along with “Jerusalem Day,” authorities have urged citizens to remain vigilant as the U.S. and Guatemalan embassies open this week, along with the anti-Israel “Nakba Day.”
“Jerusalem Day” is the anniversary of the day in June 1967 when Israel liberated Jerusalem from Jordanian occupation, during the Six-Day War.
The Temple Mount, considered the holiest site in Judaism, was the site of two Jewish Temples that collectively stood for more than 800 years. The Western Wall is a retaining wall of the Temple Mount complex built during the Second Temple period.
Israel’s liberation of the Temple Mount was the pinnacle of the war, with soldiers recording the iconic phrase, “The Temple Mount is in our hands.”