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Al-Aqsa’s women resist

Palestinian women have taken it upon themselves to protect the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound from the trespasses of Israeli extremists.
Israeli policemen prevent Palestinian women from entering the compound which houses al-Aqsa mosque and is known to Muslims as Noble Sanctuary and to Jews as Temple Mount, in Jerusalem's Old City April 16, 2014. Israeli riot police entered one of Jerusalem's most revered and politically sensitive religious compounds on Wednesday to disperse rock-throwing Palestinians opposed to any Jewish attempts to pray there. REUTERS/Ammar Awad (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST RELIGION) - RTR3LHFX

While daily protests in East Jerusalem were triggered by the brutal July 2 burning alive of a Palestinian teenager from Shuafat, Mohammed Abu Khdeir, the emotional trigger for Palestinians has and continues to be the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound. Daily attempts by radical Israeli Jews to enter the Muslim holy place and lay Jewish claims to it continue to produce raw anger and rage.

In their efforts to quell Palestinian protests while adhering to the demands of extremists to further encroach on the mosque site, Israeli soldiers and intelligence officers have run into an unshakable and growing source of resistance.

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