Jerusalem

JERUSALEM -- In their latest dispute over the building of new Jewish settlements, Israel and the United States have focused attention on a border that remains crystal clear in international diplomacy despite Israel's concerted efforts to erase it on the ground.In recent weeks Secretary of State James A. Baker III and Israeli Foreign Minister David Levy have given new importance to the Green Line, the border dividing Israel from the territories itcaptured in the 1967 Six Day War, specifically where it divides the city of Jerusalem.

JERUSALEM -- Rejecting sharp criticism from overseas and within its own ranks, the Israeli government affirmed yesterday its decision to confiscate land in largely Palestinian areas of Jerusalem.But in an attempt to ease a crisis that has overshadowed the peace talks, Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin promised that his government would not seize any more Jerusalem property, at least not for housing, without first getting Palestinian consent.In effect that means no more confiscations since the Palestinians are almost certain to say no, although Mr. Rabin's statement left open the possibility that Jerusalem land might still be taken for roads or other public works.

JERUSALEM - Israeli police clashed yesterday with Muslims at a contested holy site in the Old City here, firing rubber pellets and tossing stun grenades to quell what Israel described as a rock attack on officers. The brief encounter, which Muslim officials said took place after the police officers entered the compound without cause, resulted in minor injuries. It added to the tensions crackling this week, which began with a Palestinian suicide bombing on a Jerusalem bus and also saw violence-marred protests over the barrier that Israel is building in and around the West Bank.

"Jerusalem: The Disputed Holy City - What Christians, Jews and Muslims say about the world's most contested property" will be the focus of a panel discussion at 3:30 p.m. May 22 at Congregation Kol Ami in Annapolis. The event, which will feature religious leaders from all three faiths, is free and open to the public. The panel will be made up of Imam Mohammad Bashar Arafat of the Islamic Affairs Council of Maryland in Baltimore; the Rev. Elizabeth D. McLean of Woods Memorial Presbyterian Church in Severna Park; and Rabbi Charni Flame Selch of Congregation Kol Ami. The panel will be moderated by Ira Rifkin, a Kol Ami congregant and a Washington correspondent for The Jerusalem Report and columnist for the Baltimore Jewish Times.

JERUSALEM -- At the roadblock in the neighborhood called French Hill, the young men of Israel's Civil Guard were on patrol and briskly waving through every car, until a small white Fiat appeared and the atmosphere suddenly changed.Chaim, the policeman in charge, would explain later that the Fiat was different because he suspected the driver wasn't going to stop in the evening gloom. But the driver stopped exactly where Chaim pointed with his flashlight.Everyone had seen the number and color of the license plate, the giveaways that the car belonged to a Palestinian from East Jerusalem.

JERUSALEM -- The travel posters call this a city of faiths. Yesterday, disputes between the faiths caused Israeli authorities to close the Al-Aqsa Mosque and Temple Mount religious site to both Jews and Muslims.The order came after scuffles between police and Jewish protesters who demanded the right to pray in the mosque area, long reserved for Muslims.The closure led to other scuffles with Arabs trying to enter the mosque to pray."We had to close the gates," said Police Commissioner Assaf Hefetz.

JERUSALEM -- In the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan, every newcomer is furnishing his house in much the same way. An Israeli flag goes on the roof. Walkie-talkies go into the living room. Israeli soldiers establish a small camp in sight of the front door."It's beautiful," said Tehiya Azao, one of the two dozen Jewish settlers who have moved into Silwan since October, the beginning of a forced experiment in coexistence with Silwan's 15,000 Palestinians. "It's better than we expected.

JERUSALEM -- The man selling zucchini noticed her walk in yesterday. She wore a blue sweat suit as she entered the public restroom at Jerusalem's main vegetable market. She carried a package.Minutes later, an explosion roared out of the restroom, leaving a signature of blood and shattered glass and the limp body of the woman.Police say the Arab woman was killed as she was preparing to set a pipe bomb. It was to have been another act of terrorism, another ratchet-turn of violence and tension in an area already pulled taut by worries of war.Rarely a day passes without some new killing, often tucked out of sight in a Palestinian village, but frequently now in Israel's cities.

JERUSALEM -- After midnight at Shushan, the only gay bar in Jerusalem, Tallulah Bonnet, a local drag queen, was on stage, lip-synching another number before an enthusiastic crowd. Spirits were high, but there was an undercurrent of apprehension after plans for a gay pride parade today set off violent street protests in Jerusalem's ultra-Orthodox Jewish neighborhoods and raised fears that the marchers might be attacked. "Who's afraid here?" an announcer asked from the stage. "Who's going to march even though they're afraid?"