Open gallery view
Palestinians celebrate outside Damascus Gate after barriers that were put up by Israeli police are removed, last week.Credit: AMMAR AWAD/ REUTERS
Yanal Jbarin
May. 3, 2021 5:04 PM
Yanal Jbarin
May. 3, 2021 5:04 PM
The epicenter of the clashes in Jerusalem’s Old City in recent weeks has been its Damascus Gate. This is a wide plaza surrounded by stairs that regularly attracts large crowds of Muslims – young and old, men and women – during the holy month of Ramadan. They come every night to hear the prayers at Al-Aqsa Mosque marking the end of the daily fast.
But this year, due to a decision by the Israel Police to close off the stairs to pedestrians, the plaza became the scene of a battle that included large numbers of police officers, including mounted ones, wielding water cannons to disperse gatherings at the site.