#jerusalem

#jerusalem

At the bottom of a steep and densely populated valley just below Jerusalem's old city walls, the earth has been shaken in recent weeks by jackhammers and bulldozers. These have been the sounds of Jerusalem for decades as the Israeli state has relentlessly sought to stamp a uniformly Jewish identity on to the occupied east of the city, while erasing its Palestinian character. Typically it is workers for the state and municipality at the wheel of the bulldozers, but in the al-Bustan neighbourhood, in the shadow of the 11th-century al-Aqsa mosque, the clamour is from a more recent development. It is the sound of Palestinians demolishing their own family homes.

Jerusalem Day', marked by Jewish Israelis every year to celebrate the 1967 capture and subsequent illegal occupation of the city, has become an opportunity for thousands to be bussed in from across Israel and the occupied West Bank to participate in the Flag March', where they maraud through the Old City and attack Palestinians as well as Jewish peace activists. Palestinians from outside the Old City were not allowed in by police.

According to the Bible, the sacred relic was built by the Israelites shortly after fleeing Egypt around the 13th century BC, with Moses placing the Ten Commandments inside.

The journey begins at the Temple Mount, where Jesus is said to have taught daily and, according to the Book of Matthew 21:12-17, 'cleansed the temple' of merchants and money changers seven days before his death.

A mass ultra-Orthodox Jewish rally against military conscription turned deadly in Jerusalem on Tuesday, when a teenage boy was crushed and killed after a man driving a bus hit the crowd. The Israeli police said they detained the driver and are investigating. Video of the scene shows a bus driving straight into a crowd of ultra-Orthodox men at the demonstration, attended by thousands.

Approximately 200,000 people took part in the protest, bringing West Jerusalem to a standstill, local media reported. Tens of thousands of protesters have marched in Jerusalem to demand that ultra-Orthodox Jewish people remain exempt from Israeli military service. Approximately 200,000 people, mostly men clad in traditional black suits and hats carrying placards denouncing conscription, brought West Jerusalem to a standstill Thursday, clogging roads and setting fire to pieces of tarpaulin, local media reported.

Four people were killed in a shooting incident in the outskirts of Jerusalem, Israel's ambulance service said, while the police said the perpetrators had been killed. It was not immediately clear who carried out the shooting or what was the motive. Israeli police described the shooters as "terrorists" without saying how many had been involved in the incident. The ambulance service said earlier that 15 people were wounded and at least five were in serious condition with gunshot wounds.

The Crusades to the Holy Land were 'wars of liberation' launched to restore Jerusalem to Christian rule, evolving into a struggle for holy sites against Muslim forces.