Posted on 04/10/2005 6:56:26 AM PDT by Pendragon_6
JERUSALEM, April 10 (UPI) -- About 3,000 Israeli police officers were deployed Sunday to Jerusalem's Old City to prevent threatened protests by Jewish militants at the Temple Mount.
Many Palestinians became angered Saturday when three Palestinian youths were fatally shot by Israeli troops in Gaza. Later, Hamas leader Hassan Yusef, climbed to the Temple Mount and gave an interview to Arab satellite channel al-Jazeera calling on Muslims to flock to the mount to defend the mosques there, Israel Radio said.
"If the Zionists defile al-Aqsa mosque, they will be planting the seeds of the third uprising," said Nizar Rayyan of Hamas.
The second Palestinian uprising effectively began in 2000 soon after a visit to the Temple Mount by then-opposition Israeli leader Ariel Sharon, which was followed by clashes between Israeli police and Palestinian protesters, the Ha'aretz news agency reported.
The Temple Mount is revered by Jews as the location of the ancient Temples and by Muslims as the point from which the Mohammed ascended to heaven.
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