Abbas asks US to stop Israeli 'escalations' in East Jerusalem - Lazar Berman - http://www.timesofisrael.com/abbas-asks-us-to-stop-israeli-escalations-in-east-jerusalem/
Urgent missive to Washington comes as Jordan warns that changes to status quo at al-Aqsa Mosque could endanger peace treaty
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas sent an urgent message to the United States Sunday, asking the administration to stop "Israeli escalations" in East Jerusalem.
According to the official Palestinian news agency WAFA, Abbas emphasized what he described as "incursions by extremist settlers" into the al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount.
Abbas warned that Israeli actions around holy sites would lead to a dangerous and uncontrollable "explosion."
The missive came as the capital has been rocked by days of unrest in East Jerusalem, as Palestinian protesters have clashed with police in the wake of a terror attack on the Jerusalem Light Rail by Silwan resident Abdelrahman al-Shaludi that left two people dead.
Tensions had already flared over the last several weeks after a number of Jewish families moved into apartments in Silwan, a flashpoint East Jerusalem neighborhood abutting the Old City.
There have also been a number of clashes between police and protesters on the Temple Mount over the last several weeks, forcing officials to close or restrict access to the holy site.
Meanwhile, Jordan's ambassador to Israel, Walid Obeidat, warned that any change to the status quo on the Temple Mount could endanger the peace treaty with Israel, Israel Radio reported.
Obeidat made his remarks during a ceremony in Tel Aviv to mark the 20th anniversary of the Israel-Jordan peace agreement.
Jerusalem saw more unrest Sunday, even as police reinforcements streamed to the city and officials vowed to crack down on the unrest.
Demonstrators marching to the Silwan home of Shaludi threw rocks at policemen, who responded with crowd-dispersing methods, according to the Israel Police.
Police arrested several suspects.
The protests came as a second victim of the Wednesday terror attack succumbed to her wounds, raising the death toll to two.
Also Sunday evening, Palestinians threw four Molotov cocktails at an Israeli bus traveling near the city of Halhul, north of Hebron. No injuries were reported.
A Molotov cocktail was hurled at police in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Beit Hanina. No injuries were reported in that incident, either.
Earlier Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blamed riots in Jerusalem on "Islamic extremists" and promised to restore order, as police braced for renewed unrest around the funeral of Shaludi, set for later Sunday.
Netanyahu said Jerusalem would be reinforced with some 1,000 policemen, special forces and troops from the Border Police gendarme force, as days of violent protests gave way to fears that a funeral for a slain terrorist would lead to more riots.
"We cannot allow a situation to emerge in which people are hurling stones, throwing Molotov cocktails and disturbing the peace," Netanyahu said at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting Sunday. "This isn't coincidental. There are Islamic extremist elements that are trying to ignite Israel's capital, and we will operate with all the force needed, with determination and responsibility, so they won't succeed. I expect here the full support from all Israeli citizens in order to protect Israel's capital."
Tensions have been high since June, when three Israeli teenagers were kidnapped and killed by Palestinian terrorists in the West Bank. Jewish extremists retaliated by kidnapping and killing a Palestinian teenager in East Jerusalem, sparking riots. The kidnappings set off a series of events that led to the 50-day Gaza war.
Disorder will not become new reality in Jerusalem - http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4584457,00.html
Prime minister says massive reinforcements called up to secure city and will operate decisively to quell violence.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that the government was working to avert the violence in Jerusalem. "In recent days we have reinforced the city with a thousand police officers, border police and specialized units. We will not allow rock throwing and disorder to become a reality in the capital."
Netanyahu added that "it is not a coincidence that there are radical Islamist sources attempting to inflame the Israeli capital, and we will operate all force necessary to decisively and responsibly thwart their efforts. I expect wide support from all Israelis to defend the capital of Israel."
Earlier on Sunday, Palestinians clashed with police in east Jerusalem as tensions mounted ahead of a funeral Sunday for a Palestinian who plowed his car into a crowd of Israelis, killing a baby.
Police said at least five Palestinians were arrested overnight Sunday as nightly clashes continued across the capital city.
Tensions have been rising ahead of Sunday night's funeral for Abed a-Rahman a-Shaludii, the Palestinian who drove into a Jerusalem crowd on Wednesday, killing three-month-old Chaya Zissel Braun and wounding six others.
His funeral was due to take place around 11 pm near Jerusalem's Old City walls, after it was delayed from Friday for security reasons.
Israeli authorities are only allowing 20 mourners to attend and they have had to submit their names to police in advance.
The overnight clashes were especially intense in the flashpoint Silwan neighborhood, an area near Jerusalem's Old City from where Shaludi hailed.
Police dispersed gangs of stone-throwing protesters in Silwan overnight, spokesman Micky Rosenfeld told AFP, adding that there was scattered unrest again on Sunday morning.
"At least 400 to 500" extra police units have been deployed "to prevent and respond to any incident," Rosenfeld said.
Shaludi was shot dead by police as he fled on foot from what Israeli authorities branded a "terror attack" that killed the 3-month-old baby, who was also a US national.
Tensions were further stoked after the army on Friday shot dead a West Bank teenager who Israeli authorities said had been about to hurl a petrol bomb at Israeli motorists near Ramallah.
Relatives of the dead 17-year-old, Orwa Hammad, said his funeral would also take place on Sunday, to allow his father time to travel from the United States where he is a resident citizen. Hammad was also a US national.
Washington has urged "all parties to help restore calm and avoid escalating tensions in the wake of the tragic recent incidents in Jerusalem and the West Bank."
State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki also called for "a speedy and transparent investigation" into Hammad's death.
On Saturday the clashes saw Silwan residents stone a sanitation vehicle sent to clean up debris from Friday's stone-throwing.
In Al-Tur on the Mount of Olives, masked Palestinians blocked the road with garbage bins and threw stones and petrol bombs, while near the Shuafat refugee camp stones were thrown at the Jerusalem light railway, a frequent target.
Israel seized Arab east Jerusalem during the 1967 Six-Day War and later annexed it, in a move never recognized by the international community. Some 200,000 Israelis live there alongside about 300,000 Palestinians.
Much of Palestinian anger is focused on Jewish settlements in east Jerusalem and in particular on Silwan - a densely populated Arab neighborhood on a steep hillside just south of the Old City.
Silwan hit the headlines in the past month when settlers acquired another 35 apartments there, triggering outrage from the Palestinians and US condemnation.
On Friday, Israeli media reported that hard-line Housing Minister Uri Ariel was considering moving into Silwan, a move that would surely boost tensions.
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