Israeli Police Stop Muslim Protesters Headed to Consulate

Israeli police used stun grenades to stop about 500 Muslims trying to make their way to the U.S. Consulate in Jerusalem after prayers on the Temple Mount.

Four people were arrested and the crowd has been dispersed, police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said in a telephone interview. The Israeli police increased forces in and around Jerusalem’s Old City before today’s Muslim prayers to prevent disturbances such as those elsewhere in the region, Rosenfeld said.

Protests at U.S. missions sparked by about a film about the Prophet Muhammad have spread to several Islamic countries, and the U.S. ambassador to Libya and three colleagues were killed in an attack in Benghazi. The U.S. Embassy in Israel issued a travel warning yesterday, cautioning American citizens about the possibility of demonstrations in Jerusalem and the West Bank.

In Gaza, thousands of Palestinians demonstrated against the film. Ismail Haniyeh, the Hamas leader in the Gaza Strip, told worshippers at a mosque that the movie “is an assault on Islam and Muslims all over the world.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Alisa Odenheimer in Jerusalem at aodenheimer@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Andrew J. Barden at barden@bloomberg.net