The recent violence in the al-Aqsa Mosque/Tombs Mount and in the Old City of Jerusalem has escalated into something much more serious. Clashes between Israeli police forces and several hundred violent Arab protesters on the Saturday ended with the bodies of three police officers reportedly burnt to death. This was a highly dramatic and frightening scene, particularly considering that the funeral for one of the victims showed pictures of the burned body lying on the ground with apparent crucifixion. The Jerusalem Post reports that the clashes began after three Israeli teenagers were arrested after allegedly vandalizing cars and attacking passersby. The police were forced to surround and arrest the suspects after a large number of violent Arab protesters tried to storm the police stations in East Jerusalem.

It seems that the instigators of this latest in a series of violent outbreaks in Jerusalem and the occupied territories are from the Islamic radical groups known as Islamic mosques that represent the most vocal and least compliant element of the Israeli occupation. These groups have called for the boycott of Israel and called for all Jews to migrate to the Islamic State (ISIL) or die. These actions seem to be coordinated from cells within the greater Arab community in Israel. The response from the Israeli authorities has been heavy-handed with too many arrests and the bulldozing of entire neighborhoods in occupied Jerusalem.

In the midst of all the chaos that is taking place right now in Jerusalem the world has shown little interest in condemning the violence that is taking place. Only the United Nations and the United States have been able to do anything to stop the escalating crisis. Secretary of State Hilary Clinton expressed her outrage and condemnation of the “terrible” attack on the holy places in the holy city of Jerusalem. The US government has issued a statement calling for the immediate release of the three Jerusalem settlers who were abducted last week. We call on the Israeli government and the international community to do more to help restore peace and calm the troubled waters in the Holy Land.