Muslims Protest Invasion of Mosque by Israel Police

About 400 Muslims and Muslim sympathizers gathered in front of the federal building in Westwood Friday to protest last week’s invasion of the Al Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem by Israeli police.

A similar, smaller demonstration took place at the same time at the state Capitol in Sacramento, and there was a related protest in Washington.

“We are here to denounce the violence and aggression of the Israeli government,” Abdul Hamid Youness, chairman of the Muslim Political Action Committee, told the gathering in Westwood. “May Allah help us to defend the truth for all our lives.”

‘Aid for Oppression’

“I insist that America, my country, halt its $4 billion in aid for oppression,” Amal Alkalla, a student of Palestinian origin at California State University, Northridge, said to the crowd. “All I ask is for peace and justice for my people.”

The Westwood demonstration was in response to a Jan. 15 incident during which Israeli police were said by witnesses to have fired tear gas into the mosque in Jerusalem and to have attacked some Muslim holy day worshipers after they assaulted a policeman.

Israeli police said they entered the mosque but denied firing tear gas into it or beating worshipers.

Several of the demonstrators in Westwood displayed placards to passing motorists that bore such messages as “End Oppression in the Holy Land” and “Moses Would Condemn This.”

The hourlong demonstration ended with traditional Muslim prayers, after which the crowd dispersed quickly and quietly, as requested by the demonstration’s leaders.

Irv Rubin, head of the militant, Los Angeles-based Jewish Defense League, baited several of the Muslim leaders with taunts, but security officers stepped in quickly and there were no incidents of violence.

In Sacramento, about 100 members of the local Islamic community gathered at the Capitol steps Friday to call for an international conference to resolve Arab-Israeli differences.

“There should be two countries, one for Palestinians and one for Israelis,” Salah Yousif, an Arab-American spokesman, said. “Then they can live peacefully under international law.”

In Washington, police arrested four men and a woman attempting to leave food at the gate of the Israeli embassy Friday to protest Israel’s reported blockade of food shipments to Palestine refugee camps on the West Bank and in the Gaza Strip.