Israel/Palestine: A demonstration by opponents of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's Gaza withdrawal plan that was supposed to bring thousands to a disputed holy site in Jerusalem petered out yesterday after only several dozen ultra-nationalist protesters turned up.
But the demonstration, which threatened to reignite violence after weeks of calm in the region, may have achieved one of its goals - to force the police to deploy in large numbers to head off potential clashes.
Opponents of a withdrawal, which is supposed to begin in late July, are hoping to spread the police and security forces thin during that period in an effort to draw them away from Gaza and prevent an evacuation of the 7,000 settlers there.
In the Strip, the killing of three teenage Palestinian boys by Israeli troops on Saturday also threatened to shatter a two-month truce. Militant groups retaliated by firing dozens of homemade mortars and rockets at Jewish settlements in Gaza.
Yesterday some 3,000 police, many in riot gear, deployed in Jerusalem's Old City after an ultra-nationalist group, called Revava, threatened to bring 10,000 people to one of the world's most hotly disputed pieces of real estate: a hilltop compound that Muslims call the Haram al-Sharif - their third-holiest site - and from where they believe Mohammed ascended to heaven.
For Jews, the area is the Temple Mount - their holiest site. The compound contains the Al Aqsa Mosque, which is built on the ruins of the two biblical Jewish temples.
The group's leaders have said that they plan to bring thousands of their supporters to the area in a bid to storm the sensitive site in July, as Israeli troops move in to Gaza to evacuate settlers, with the intention of forcing the security forces to redeploy away from the Strip. Police minister Gideon Ezra conceded yesterday that the security forces had been forced to deploy in large numbers.
"We've got around 3,000 [ police] from all around the country brought in to Jerusalem, instead of doing what they have to do in other places," he said.
Police, who had barred Jews from visiting the site to prevent violence, arrested 31 far-right activists as they tried to make their way on to the hilltop. Nearby, some of their supporters chanted "Police state."
Several right-wing lawmakers also arrived at the site, insisting it was their right as Jews to pray in the compound, but police blocked them from entering.
The dispute over the site has turned bloody in the past. In September 2000, a visit to the compound by Mr Sharon - then opposition leader - sparked deadly clashes which ultimately escalated into the hostilities that have become known as the second intifada. On the mount, thousands of Palestinians gathered to prevent the Jewish protesters from entering the compound and hurled rocks at Israeli security forces.
Police arrested one of the leaders of the radical Hamas group in the West Bank, who addressed the crowds. "Al Aqsa is in danger," the leader, Hassan Yousef, told the crowd.
"The attempts to desecrate Al Aqsa have not ended."
In a bid to prevent clashes, police barred all Palestinian males under the age of 40 from entering the compound.
As the withdrawal from Gaza draws closer, security has been stepped up around the site for fear that Jewish extremists might try to harm the mosques there in a bid to thwart the planned evacuation. A strike on the mosques would reverberate throughout the Muslim world and could spark widespread violence.