Thousands protest against Israel in Amman, Istanbul, Beirut
Some 8,000 gather in Jordanian capital vowing to become ‘martyrs’ for Al-Aqsa, burn Israeli flag, denounce security measures at Temple Mount following terror attack
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A number of anti-Israel protests were held in capitals across the Middle East and Asia on Friday, amid protests in Jerusalem over security measures implemented at entrances to the Temple Mount following last week’s deadly terror attack at the holy site where three terrorists emerged from the compound and killed two Israeli police officers.
Thousands gathered in Amman, Beirut, Istanbul and Kuala Lumpur Friday afternoon in solidarity with Palestinian worshipers who have been protesting the new arrangements, including metal detectors and cameras, since last Friday’s shooting.
In the Jordanian capital, thousands protested against Israel and hailed the attack that killed the two officers last week, according to media reports. A makeshift cardboard “missile” with the words “Al-Aqsa is a red line” was reported to have been carried by the crowd.
“With our soul, with our blood, we will sacrifice ourselves for you, Al-Aqsa,” they chanted.
“We will go to Al-Aqsa in our millions as martyrs,” vowed the crowd, whose country is the official custodian of the Temple Mount, as protesters set ablaze and trampled an Israeli flag.
Parts of the crowd shouting "how beautiful it is to kill soldiers, officers and border police" pic.twitter.com/DUzie9v1Yc
— Raf Sanchez (@rafsanchez) July 21, 2017
Protest in Amman in solidarity with the Palestinians and #AlAqsaMosque. pic.twitter.com/Nn5ZaKuCr6
— Ruslan Trad (@ruslantrad) July 21, 2017
In Istanbul, several hundred gathered to protest against Israel with Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım telling the crowd that the Israeli decision to implement new security measures was “wrong” and that a solution should be found immediately.
WATCH: Thousands protest in support of Al-Aqsa in Istanbul, Turkey. https://t.co/PiGkK476tz | #جمعة_الأقصى pic.twitter.com/dTm0PsHs2w
— Middle East Monitor (@MiddleEastMnt) July 21, 2017
Smaller protests were held in Beirut and Kuala Lumpur on Friday.
On Thursday, Turkish Islamists protested outside a synagogue in Istanbul, saying in a statement that Israel was a “terror state” seeking to block freedom for worship to Muslims.
“If you prevent our freedom of worship there then we will prevent your freedom of worship here,” said the group Alperen Hearths, a far-right ultranationalist and Islamist youth group, in the statement read by its local chairman Kursat Mican.
Israel took the rare step following the attack to temporarily close the Temple Mount — known to Muslims as the Haram al-Sharif which houses the Al-Aqsa mosque and the Dome of the Rock sanctuary — while setting up new precautionary measures after an initial investigation revealed that the perpetrators, Arab-Israelis from the northern Israeli city of Umm al-Fahm, had smuggled and stashed their weapons at the site before launching their assault.
On the instruction of Muslim leaders, worshipers wishing to pray at the site were instructed not to pass through the metal detector gates posted at the Temple Mount and pray outside them instead in protest. But hundreds of worshipers have accessed the site in recent days.
On Friday, only a few Palestinians agreed to security checks and entered the site, with thousands more praying or protesting at various sites around the city
Clashes between Palestinian protesters and Israeli police have also taken place in a daily basis in and around Jerusalem since the July 14 attack.
On Friday, at least two Palestinians were reported killed in clashes in and around Jerusalem with Israeli police.
The Times of Israel Community.