Did the Palestinian Authority plan riots for Jewish Holidays?

Palestinians throw stones, after Israel closed the Temple Mount to those under 50 years old. Clashes with police were minimized by the restrictions.

Police believe extensive rioting was planned for atop the Temple Mount to disrupt Jewish holiday rituals at the Western Wall below. In the past stones have been hurled from the Mount to Jewish worshipers below.

PA Waging War over Temple Mount -Barak Ravid & Liel Kyzer

[T]he Palestinian Authority has begun a new diplomatic campaign against Israel over what it terms "provocations" on the Temple Mount.

PA Prime Minister Salam Fayyad told foreign ambassadors last [week] that the clashes on the eve of Yom Kippur were "an assault by extremist religious settlers on the Temple Mount compound." Yet [a]ccording to Israeli officials, a group of French tourists - most of them Christians - came to the mount for a previously arranged tour, and hundreds of Palestinians began hurling stones at them.

Nevertheless, Fayyad's plea drew a swift response from the U.S. and many EU countries, all of which demanded explanations from Israeli officials.
(Ha'aretz)


PA calls on Palestinians to confront Israel on Temple Mount -Abe Selig

The Palestinian Authority condemned Jerusalem's decision to restrict entrance to the Aqsa Mosque compound, calling on Palestinians to confront Israel in light of the "Israeli aggression." The PA government publicly decried "Israel's attempts to conduct Jewish prayer services in the Aqsa compound" and urged the world "to force Israel to halt is efforts to Jewify the city."

Jerusalem police explained their decision to allow only worshipers over the age of 50 into the Temple Mount, revealing that wheelbarrows filled with rocks had been discovered throughout the Aqsa Mosque compound on Sunday. Palestinians had filled the wheelbarrows with stones and bricks in preparation for riots in the Old City, police assessed.

The discovery of the wheelbarrows, in addition to intelligence information and the call on Palestinians to "come and defend" Al-Aqsa, led the police to restrict entrance to the Temple Mount.

Large forces of police and border police patrolled the city as thousands of Jewish worshipers flocked to the Western Wall Plaza for the [Sukkot] Priestly Blessing, which went ahead without incident.
[Jerusalem Post]
[Wheelbarrow is a file photo]
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