By Gil Ronen
A tour bus came under a hail of rocks at the Mount of Olives at 8:15 p.m. Monday evening – just as activists were saying that security at the location had improved considerably.
The bus carried 54 people from the Ashkelon branch of the Zionist Council in Israel’s Eshkolot project on a selichottour, to an observation point on the Mount of Olives, when Arab youths began pelting it with rocks. One girl was lightly injured, suffering scratches on her arm from broken glass.
There was some shouting and agitation among the passengers, and the bus driver accelerated the bus to get out of range of the rock throwers.
Passengers called the police, and five police cars arrived a few minutes later to calm people down and escort the bus. Tour participants decided to continue the tour and recite selichot (Jewish penitential poems and prayers said in the period leading up to the High Holidays) at the Kotel (Western Wall) Plaza.
The Committee for Protection of the Mount of Olives said Tuesday that the security situation at the Mount had improved considerably in recent months – but that things were still far from being satisfactory. The Committee demands that the government live up to promises to set up a police station with 24 policemen who will be active 24 hours a day.
