It all might lead nowhere, as so many flare-ups have, but as the week dawns it’s worth taking stock of unrest in and over the West Bank and Jerusalem. It started Friday, when (false) reports on right-wing Israeli sites of plans to push Muslims from the Temple Mount prompted Palestinian rioting at the holy site in Jerusalem’s Old City and a subsequent confrontation in Ramallah, in the West Bank, that led to the death of one Palestinian man.

On Saturday, riots following the man’s funeral led to a crackdown, several injuries, and an uncharacteristically fiery speech from Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, perhaps looking to bolster his credibility amid reports that President Abbas will also be interim prime minister of a forthcoming unity government with Hamas. “While the international community and the Quartet issues statements only,” Fayyad said, “the killing of Palestinians, settlement expansion, land confiscation, house demolitions and settler terrorism among other violations of international law seem to continue.” (Again, it’s rare for Fayyad to do things like this.) Then, in a speech Sunday in Qatar, Abbas accused Israel of trying to erase evidence of Palestinian connections to Jerusalem and implied that there is doubt about the existence of the Jewish Temples. (Arafat used to say the same thing; still, one wonders if Abbas isn’t trying to smooth the reconciliation with Hamas.) Prime Minister Netanyahu dubbed the speech “severe incitement” and insisted, “Under Israeli sovereignty, Jerusalem will continue to be open to members of all faiths.”

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