West Bank, Gaza Arabs Barred From Jerusalem : Israel: Politicians call for stiff security measures after stabbings. More police are patrolling streets.

A day after a Palestinian youth stabbed and killed three Jerusalem residents, police took steps Monday to keep Palestinians out of the city for their own protection by blocking the entry of Arabs from the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Another stabbing was reported Monday when a Palestinian delivery boy at a grocery store attacked a meat truck driver, slightly injuring him. Police were searching for the assailant, believed to have fled on foot to his nearby village on the outskirts of the city.

Additional police patrols were out in the streets, especially in neighborhoods bordering on Palestinian districts. Some observers said that for a city that Israelis believe is united physically if not psychologically, the dual approach of barring Palestinians from outside--many of whom work in Jewish neighborhoods--and keeping close watch on those who live within has given the town a distinctively split appearance.

Justice Minister Dan Meridor called for tighter security so residents can move freely from one side of the city to the other.

“We have to make an effort to increase the security even more, to overcome this crazy terrorism in order to avoid a situation in which they win,” Meridor said. “A victory for them is that Jews won’t go to East Jerusalem and Arabs won’t come to West.”

The daily Maariv urged the government to permanently ban Palestinians from entering Israel for fear of further anti-Jewish violence.

“A substantial problem exists,” the newspaper said.

Politicians called for a variety of security measures, including stepped-up searches of Palestinians in the streets and authority for police to fire at Arabs believed to be about to do harm. Several commentators suggested that one of the victims of Sunday’s stabbings, an armed off-duty policeman, could have saved himself had he shot to kill instead of firing at the legs of his assailant.

Omar Salah abu Sirhan, a suspect in Sunday’s stabbings, came from Abbadiyeh, near Bethlehem, and worked on a construction site in Baka, the Jerusalem neighborhood where the victims lived. The army sealed up Abu Sirhan’s family house as a first step in punishing him.

Despite claims of responsibility for Abu Sirhan’s action from a variety of Palestinian groups, police suspect that Abu Sirhan, 19, acted alone out of passion to avenge the death of 21 Palestinians killed by police gunfire Oct. 8 in rioting on the Temple Mount. Abu Sirhan had no police record of rebel activity in the three years of the Palestinian uprising. Investigators said he claimed to have been beaten by three Israelis a year ago and wanted revenge.

Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir, in an appearance before a parliamentary committee, charged that the Jerusalem violence is part of a plan by the Palestine Liberation Organization to divert attention from the Persian Gulf crisis.

“We don’t want to get used to it,” Shamir said. “Most unfortunately, it is the reality.”

Shamir, who has criticized the U.N. Security Council’s condemnation of the way Israel dealt with the Temple Mount incident, called the Security Council a tool of the PLO, according to Israel Radio.

For the moment, Palestinians are being barred from Jerusalem on the grounds they could be targeted for revenge attacks. Palestinians in cars identified by blue license plates were turned back at army checkpoints on Jerusalem’s outskirts. Gangs shouting “Death to Arabs!” chased Palestinian construction workers Sunday.

The stabbings had at least one immediate impact on the daily lives of Jerusalem’s residents--parents drove their children to school instead of letting them walk.

The grim mood in the neighborhood where Sunday’s stabbings occurred was deepened when residents awoke to word that someone had slashed tires on 35 cars nearby. Police had no motive and no suspect. Some residents said it seemed unlikely that a Palestinian would return to the neighborhood, which was under tight police vigilance.

A CITY OF CLASHES

In Jerusalem, tensions between Jews and Arabs have increased. Some major incidents this year: April 11

About 150 Jewish settlers refuse to move out of a Christian-owned complex in the Old City, sparking riots.

May 28

A bomb explodes in the crowded Mahane Yehuda market, killing an Israeli and injuring nine others.

August 6

Police find the bludgeoned bodies of two Jewish teen-agers, sparking anti-Arab riots.

October 8

Israeli police open fire on Palestinians at the Temple Mount after stones were thrown at Jews at the nearby Western Wall; 21 Arabs were killed and 22 Jews were hurt.

October 21

An Arab laborer stabs three Israelis to death in what may have been retaliation for the Temple Mount killings.