Jewish prayers held discreetly at contested Jerusalem shrine

By ILAN BEN ZION
Associated Press

JERUSALEM (AP) — Jewish prayers at Jerusalem’s most sensitive holy site, known to Jews as the Temple Mount and to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary, were once unthinkable. But they have quietly become the norm in recent years. That defies longstanding convention, strains a delicate status quo and raises fears that they could trigger a new wave of violence in the Middle East. For decades, Jews avoided worship there on religious grounds. But with police protection, small groups of Jewish worshippers have ascended to the site almost daily to pray quietly and discreetly, despite the protestations of the Islamic trust that runs daily affairs there.