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With Temple Mount as flashpoint, violence rises in Jerusalem

In the midst of increasing violence and harassment against Arabs in Jerusalem and tensions over the Temple Mount, the Jerusalem Municipality announced encouraging news about two building plans in East Jerusalem Arab neighborhoods.
Palestinians carry the coffin of Mohammed Sinokrot during his funeral in front of the Dome of the Rock, on the compound known to Muslims as Noble Sanctuary and to Jews as Temple Mount, in Jerusalem's Old City September 8, 2014. Scores of Palestinians rioted in the East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Wadi al-Joz for a second day after hearing that the youth from their neighbourhood had died of wounds suffered in a clash with Israeli police last week. Sinokrot succumbed to a head wound suffered during a protest a
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Hatred and nationalism have been seething in Jerusalem since three Israeli teens were slain on the outskirts of Hebron, and even more so during their funeral procession and following the killing of Palestinian youth Mohammed Abu Khdeir in East Jerusalem's Shuafat neighborhood.

Even as the United States mobilizes a broad Shiite-Sunni coalition against the fanatical Islamic State, the third most important city to Muslims has become a playing field for religious extremists and nationalists from both sides. One side — with the encouragement of government and right-wing legislators — aspires to deepen Jewish hegemony over the city, while the other responds with fire bombs, fueled by growing despair and distress.

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