Jerusalem clashes in day of Arab protests

Israeli police fired tear gas and rubber bullets at stone-throwing Palestinians in Jerusalem’s Al Aqsa Mosque compound today, and briefly sealed off the adjacent Western Wall, Judaism’s holiest shrine, to protect Jewish worshippers.

The clash was part of Arab protests in Israel and the Palestinian lands against Israeli policy.

Israel’s Arab citizens marked their annual Land Day, a symbol of their struggle for equality, while Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip took to the streets for a weekly Day of Rage against Israel.

About 2,000 Palestinians marched toward an Israeli checkpoint in the West Bank town of Ramallah, and hundreds demonstrated in the Gaza Strip.

The protests capped a violent week of suicide bombings, shootings and rocket attacks that killed three Israelis and eight Palestinians.

Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon both said the violent confrontation between the two peoples was likely to continue for some time.

In Jerusalem, more than 100 Palestinians threw stones over the wall of the Al Aqsa compound at Jewish worshippers at the Western Wall below. Police briefly ordered Jewish worshippers to leave the area and fired tear gas and rubber bullets at the stone throwers.

In the Gaza Strip, 30 gunmen from Arafat’s Fatah group led a march, firing in the air and chanting ‘‘Sharon, wait, Fatah is going to open your grave in Gaza.’’