Mideast: East Jerusalem shuts out thousands of prayers

The future of East Jerusalem and of Palestinian access to it has again been brought under the spotlight. Thousands of Palestinians were turned away at West Bank checkpoints leading into Jerusalem by Israeli security forces as they tried to attend Friday Ramadan prayers at Al-Aqsa Mosque. IPS witnessed dozens of heavily armed Israeli soldiers and police cordoning off the Qalandia border crossing south of Ramallah, and preventing hundreds of Palestinians from crossing through. Women wept and elderly men argued with law enforcement officers. Several scuffles broke out, and a number of young men were beaten and arrested as they tried to force their way through the metal barriers. The first Friday of Ramadan, Islam's holy month when Muslims fast from dawn to dusk, is one of the holiest days of the period. Praying at Al-Aqsa Mosque, Islam's third holiest site, is considered a religious duty for all Muslims. While thousands of Palestinians from elsewhere, mostly children, women over 45 and men over 50 made it to Jerusalem, the vast majority of the West Bank and Gaza's population of nearly four million people are forbidden by the Israeli authorities from travelling there.