Anti-US protests erupt across Muslim world over Jerusalem

VIOLENT protests erupted in Palestinian territories on Friday against US President Donald Trump’s decision to recognize occupied Jerusalem as the Israeli capital. Enraged Muslims elsewhere in the world also registered their anger at the move which, according to Turkish President Recep Tayyib Erdogan, has turned the Mideast region into a ring of fire.

Claiming that Trump’s decision has thrown the region into "a ring of fire,” Erdogan threatened to sever ties with Israel.

Protest rallies were held across the Muslim World, from Indonesia, Malaysia, Iran, Turkey, Jordan, India Pakistan, Egypt to Somalia.

Palestinians clashed with Israeli troops across the West Bank and Gaza, and Muslim worshipers from poured into the streets after Friday prayers in protest.

Protesters burned Israeli and US flags or stomped on Trump posters in displays of anger.

In the West Bank, demonstrators torched heaps of tires, sending columns of thick black smoke rising over the cities of Ramallah and Bethlehem. Palestinian stone-throwers traded volleys in the streets with soldiers firing tear gas and rubber bullets.

Clashes were also reported on the border between Gaza and Israel.

Three Palestinians, two of them in Gaza, were wounded by live ammunition and 12 were hit by rubber-coated steel pellets, according to Red Crescent paramedics and health officials.

Dozens more suffered from tear gas inhalation, medics said.

Trump's seismic policy shift on Jerusalem has angered Arabs and Muslims who view it as an expression of blatant pro-Israel bias on one of the region's most explosive religious and political disputes.

Palestinian political groups had called for massive demonstrations Friday in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem - the lands captured by Israel in 1967 and sought for a Palestinian state.

Separately, the Gaza-based leader of the Islamic militant Hamas agitated for a third uprising against Israel.

In the Jordanian capital of Amman, hundreds of protesters chanted "Jerusalem is Arab" and "America is the head of the snake."

Demonstrators stomped on a poster that showed Trump alongside a Nazi swastika.

Thousands of worshipers at a traditional flashpoint, Jerusalem's OId City, dispersed quietly after noon prayers.

The preacher at Al-Aqsa told worshipers that the city will "remain Muslim and Arab."

"All we want from the Arab and Muslim leaders is action and not statements of denunciation," Sheikh Yousef Abu Sneineh said to the approximately 27,000 worshipers.

Around 2,000 people later gathered in the plaza around the mosque, chanting: "With our soul and blood, we will defend Al-Aqsa and Jerusalem."

Protesters in Mogadishu, led by Islamic scholars, marched from a mosque after Friday prayers to the bustling K4 junction to show solidarity with Palestinians.

They chanted anti-Israel and anti-Trump slogans including "Down, Trump!"

Thousands of protesters gathered outside a mosque in Istanbul's conservative Fatih district after Friday prayers and marched toward a park, waving Palestinian flags and chanting slogans protesting the United States and Israel.

Similar protests were staged outside mosques in the capital, Ankara, and in the cities of Kocaeli, Bursa and Izmir.

Small crowds also held demonstrations across the street from the heavily protected US Embassy, chanting: "USA take your bloodied hands off Jerusalem."

In Egypt, hundreds of protesters gathered at the famous Al-Azhar mosque in Cairo following Friday prayers amid tightened security.

The protesters chanted "Down with Israel," ''We sacrifice our blood and souls for Palestine."

Hundreds of Muslims protested in Indian-controlled Kashmir. The protesters marched at several places in the main city of Srinagar and other parts of the region chanting slogans such as "Down with America" and "Down with Israel."

In some places, the demonstrators also burned US and Israeli flags.

Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron said he was "launching an appeal for calm and responsibility."

Macron spoke at the opening of an international conference in Paris on settling Lebanon's political crisis. He said tensions around Jerusalem are threatening stability throughout the region and efforts to stabilize Lebanon.

Rallies took place in the port city of Karachi, Pakistan's largest, and also in Multan and Lahore, the capital of eastern Punjab province.

Islamist leaders addressed the crowds and urged Muslim countries to cut diplomatic ties with Washington to pressure Trump to reconsider his decision.