Israel tries to shut down dissent
- - - - by Duane
The government is closing the Temple Mount on Sunday to all non-Muslims, trying to shut down a protest against disengagement.
Bracing for possible violence, Jerusalem police announced Wednesday that the Temple Mount will be completely closed off to non-Muslim visitors on Sunday, the day of a major ultra-nationalist rally to the site.
Jerusalem police chief Ilan Franco had announced last week that he was barring a massive Jewish pilgrimage to the Temple Mount by a group of ultra-nationalists opposed to the planned withdrawal from the Gaza Strip following multiple intelligence warnings that such an event could prompt Palestinian violence at the bitterly contested holy site.
But organizers of the event have said that they were going ahead with the rally, setting the stage for a major show-down with police outside the Jerusalem site on Sunday.
The Jerusalem police decision to completely close off the Temple Mount to Jewish and Christian visitors on Sunday was approved Wednesday by Internal Security Minister Gideon Ezra during a special meeting of security officials ahead of the event, Jerusalem police said in a statement.
The ultra-nationalist organizers of the event had planned to bring thousands of people to the Mount at one time, in an effort to pre-occupy police and the army, and take them away from Gaza.
Once again the government is caving to threats of Palestinian violence, or least using it as an excuse to stifle dissent.