But for those familiar with the situation in east Jerusalem, the riots, during which six officers were injured, did not come as a surprise.
As soon as the police announced that al-Sharif’s body would be handed over to his family for burial, Palestinian activists began calling on residents to participate in the funeral of the “martyr.”
The calls, which were mainly organized through social media, saw thousands of east Jerusalem men converge on Al-Makassed Hospital, where the body was resting before the funeral, and later at the Aqsa Mosque, where the funeral began and ended at the Muslim cemetery on Salah Eddin Street, just outside the Old City.
Hamas and other Palestinian groups joined the bandwagon, publicly urging wide participation in the funeral. READ MORE
