Temple Mount Prayers Uneventful

reprinted from The Jerusalem Post
Sep. 29, 2006

JPost.com Staff, The Jerusalem Post

The first Friday prayers of the month-long Muslim fast of Ramadan finished without incident at Jerusalem's Temple Mount.

All in all, some 100,000 people participated in the prayer services, including many Israeli Arabs and East Jerusalem residents.

Around 11,00 additional worshippers from the Palestinian territories were allowed to enter the temple mount and join in services, but only within certain limits: only men over age 40 were permitted into Jerusalem from the West Bank.

Palestinian women possessing permits, however, were able to enter the Temple Mount compound without hindrance.

Still, thousands of police patrolled Jerusalem's Old City beginning Friday morning, as well as the streets of both east and west Jerusalem, in preparation for the event.

Jerusalem District Commisioner Cmdr. Ilan Franco told Army Radio on Friday that the police had not received any specific warnings of planned terror attacks, but that Jerusalem was "an attractive target."

Meanwhile, the IDF announced on Thursday that a full closure around the West Bank and the Gaza Strip would take effect beginning Friday morning. The closure was scheduled to be lifted on Monday evening, after the end of the Yom Kippur fast.

Defense Minister Amir Peretz decided to call the closure after being informed that the security establishment was aware of 17 specific terror attacks being planned against Israel.

The information indicated that terror groups intended to kidnap Israelis, but that there were no indications of a terror attack in Jerusalem.

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