MidnightWatcher – Prophecy in Motion

By Efrat Forsher and Daniel Siryoti, Israel Hayom – “Jerusalem Police is bracing for violence near the Temple Mount on Friday after the spread of an inflammatory internet article claiming that one of its policemen threw a Quran onto the ground and stepped on it.

Police have reinforced their presence near the Temple Mount out of concern that extremists may stir violence at the most sensitive of locations in Jerusalem.

Muslim Internet forums published photos of an Israeli policeman earlier this week, accusing him of defiling Islam’s holy book, the Quran. The man serves in the Israel Police’s religious sites unit, and the website called on Muslims to throw shoes at the man, and to even slit his throat.

The event which sparked the controversy took place this past Sunday. A group of female Muslim worshippers at the entrance to the Temple Mount were disrupting visitors from entering through the Jewish entrance. Police on site attempted to move the group of women and during the ensuing commotion a Quran fell out of one of the women’s bags.

A police officer standing next to the woman in question became the subject of an intense smear campaign; he was accused of throwing the Quran to the ground, kicking it and even stomping on it. As a result of the ensuing death threats against the policeman, Jerusalem police have had to take measures to ensure his safety.” Read more.

Palestinians Riot on Temple Mount – “Israeli police entered Jerusalem’s Temple Mount on Friday to disperse hundreds of Palestinians who were throwing rocks. Rioters also threw two molotov cocktails at officers… The contested site, where the al-Aqsa Mosque compound is built above the ruins of the biblical Jewish Temple, is one of the region’s most volatile… On Thursday, a Palestinian man, who was shot by IDF soldiers during clashes near Ramallah two weeks earlier, died in an Israeli hospital.” Read more.