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http://english.alarabiya.net Palestinian territories’ borders closed till Saturday; Israeli police arrest protesters On Friday, Israel announced it would close all entries to Palestinian territories until Saturday, in order to observe Yom Kippur. The Jewish state also consolidated its security forces in eastern Jerusalem, dispersing thousands of its police and army in the city to prevent any confrontations between the Palestinians and Israelis. Yom Kippur is also known as the Day of Atonement, and it is considered to be one of the holiest and solemn days of the year for Jews as it completes the annual period of “High Holy Days.” Jews traditionally observe this holy day with a 25-hour period of fasting and intensive prayer, often spending most of the day in synagogue services. Israel also decided to ban Muslim worshipers under the age of 45 from praying in al-Aqsa mosque. Arresting protesters Israeli police arrested seven more people suspected of joining protests in a Bedouin village in northern Israel following an arson attack on a mosque, a spokesman said Thursday. “We arrested another seven people suspected of taking part in the demonstrations, which raises to 25 the total number of people being investigated over the incidents,” police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld told AFP. Since a mosque in Tuba Zangariya village was torched by vandals early on Monday, angry Bedouin youth have been demonstrating throughout the week, throwing stones and clashing with police who were sent in to restore order. The attack, which sparked a wave of international condemnation, is believed to be the work of Jewish extremists. A court in Nazareth, however, slapped a gag order on details of the investigation which is being conducted by the Shin Bet internal security agency. The mosque was badly damaged by fire with the perpetrators scrawling the words “tag” and “revenge” on the walls, in what police described as “a very severe price tag incident” − a term which usually refers to acts of vengeance against Palestinians and their property by Jewish settlers in the West Bank. Although such acts normally occur in the West Bank, a similar attack targeted another mosque in Ibtin village in Galilee last year. The desecration of the mosque was condemned by top Israeli political and religious figures and also sparked angry protests among village residents, who clashed with police. Meanwhile, the Sept. 23 deaths of settler Asher Palmer and his son are believed to have driven reprisal “price tag” attacks by pro-settler extremists since then. Tuba Zangaria is located just seven kilometers (four miles) from the northern town of Safed where a local rabbi last year sparked outrage after calling on Jews to avoid renting or selling property to Arabs. Protesting relocation Hundreds of Bedouins have protested an Israeli plan that would uproot 30,000 members of their community from tent encampments and villages. Last month the Cabinet approved a plan to regulate three dozen “unrecognized” villages in southern Israel whose 90,000 Bedouin residents say they are living on ancestral lands. The state regards them as squatters and refuses to supply services like roads, schools, health care, water, or electricity. Under the plan, half of the ramshackle villages would be legalized, while the remainder would be dismantled and residents would be resettled. The Bedouins say the plan would resettle evacuees in some of the most destitute communities in Israel. They want the state to recognize more villages or offer a better alternative.
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