Ramadan: Morsi banner at Temple Mount
A huge banner bearing the image of ousted Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi juxtaposed with the Egyptian and Hamas flags greeted the tens of thousands of Muslim worshippers who arrived at the Temple Mount for prayers marking the first Friday of Ramadan. Palestinians from the West Bank, as well as Arab Israelis began to pour into the Al-Aqsa Mosque's plaza in the Old City since the early morning hours. Large police and IDF forces were deployed throughout the capital to maintain order. By 11 am, some 53,000 Palestinians from the West Bank had passed through the border crossings and entered Jerusalem. The movement of the tens of thousands of Palestinian worshippers passed without incident. Palestinian police were also deployed near the crossings. Israel granted special authorization to Palestinian police to deploy in areas under Israeli security control in order to direct the worshippers on their way to the Al-Aqsa Mosque. Unknown worshippers hung a huge banner bearing Morsi's image from one of the external walls at the Al-Aqsa plaza. The banner read, "Jerusalem – supports legitimacy – against the coup," a reference to the former Egyptian president's recent overthrow by the military.