Arabs continued to clash Wednesday night with Border Patrol police officers in the northern Jerusalem neighborhood of Shuafat.
Journalists were ordered out of the danger zone and advised to move to the southern side of the checkpoint near the entrance to the neighborhood for their own safety.
Border Patrol police officers also moved closer to the edge of the neighborhood as well, as rioting Arabs continued to hurl firebombs (Molotov cocktails) and shoot fireworks into the sky and directly at police as well.
Arab violence across the city has been growing by the day, beginning with major riots breaking out at the Temple Mount on October 8.
On October 22, an Arab terrorist drove his car into a crowd of people waiting for the Jerusalem Light Rail near French Hill. A three month old baby and a woman from Ecuador were killed and numerous others were injured in that attack.
On October 29, Temple Mount Faithful organization head Rabbi Yehudah Glick was shot at point-blank range by an Islamic Jihad terrorist after speaking at an event held at the Menachem Begin Heritage Center near the Old City of Jerusalem. The terrorist asked Glick his name to be sure of his target before firing his weapon; Glick has undergone numerous surgeries and spent days fighting for his life at Shaare Tzedek Medical Center. In less than 24 hours Israeli security forces had tracked down his assassin, who opened fire at police when they surrounded the home. Muataz Ibrahim al-Hijazi was killed on October 30 in the shootout with police.
Yesterday, November 4, the Temple Mount was closed for the second time in a week by the Israeli government in response to the increasing Arab violence.
Arabs had clashed all weekend long with Israeli forces in multiple locations. The government was prompted to close the Temple Mount for the first time since 1967 the day after Glick was shot due to fears of Arab violence at the site, which is the holiest place on earth for Jews, and the third holiest site for Muslims.
Wednesday’s closure followed daily clashes in the Old City and Arab neighborhoods elsewhere in Jerusalem. Rioters attacked Israeli police with rocks and fireworks.
Earlier today another vehicular terrorist – this one a member of the Gaza-based Hamas terrorist organization – drove his van into a crowd of bystanders in two separate locations, and then got out of the vehicle and began attacking people with a crowbar. He fled when police arrived on the scene, and subsequently was shot and killed while they were in pursuit.