Jewish Extremists Attempt to Storm 2 Muslim Shrines

JERUSALEM —  Jewish extremists, marking the 19th anniversary of the Arab-Israeli Six-Day War, tried to storm two major Muslim shrines packed with Palestinian worshipers today, but Jerusalem police barred them.

The extremists, numbering about 50, broke away from a 12,000-strong march by the ultra-nationalist Gush Emunim (Bloc of the Faithful) celebrating the reunification of Jerusalem by Israeli forces who took the Arab sectors in the 1967 war.

Jerusalem Police Chief Haim Albaldes was slightly injured in jostling as his force barred the way to the Haram Al Sharif (Noble Sanctuary) compound, where 10,000 Muslims were at early morning prayer, witnesses said.

There was no contact between the worshipers and the demonstrators, to whom the compound is also holy, since it was the site of the biblical Jewish temple destroyed 2,000 years ago.

To avert confrontation, police barred the marchers from crossing mainly Arab areas of East Jerusalem.

A Jewish immigrant from Ethiopia was stabbed and wounded by an unknown attacker in the West Bank town of Hebron today, causing Israeli authorities to impose a curfew, but the Arab areas occupied by Israel since 1967 were relatively calm.

In previous years, there have often been demonstrations against Israeli rule throughout the West Bank and Gaza Strip.