Around 120,000 Palestinians were at the mosque to hear the grand mufti of Jerusalem condemn the recent opening of the US embassy in the city. Unlike Palestinians in the Occupied Territories, Palestinians living in Israel ordinarily have no direct restrictions on their travel to East Jerusalem. AMMAN, Jordan: Worshippers at the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem were in circumspect mood as they attended the first Friday prayers of Ramadan at the end of a tumultuous week in the Occupied Territories. Around 120,000 Palestinians were at the mosque — the third most important in Islam — to hear the grand mufti of Jerusalem, Sheikh Mohammed Ahmed Hussein, condemn the recent opening of the US embassy in the city and call on Arab states to withdraw their ambassadors from countries that supported the move. But among worshippers at Al-Aqsa there was little visible anger over the embassy’s relocation from Tel Aviv or the killing of at least 60 Palestinians in Gaza that occurred on the same day, Monday, May 14. Instead, people seemed determined to take the chance to find a few moments of inner peace amid the instability and bloodshed that has been unfolding around them. Khadejeh Khweis, a female activist, told Arab News: “The atmosphere was more spiritual than political” and estimated that about 40 percent of the worshippers were women from Jerusalem and major West Bank cities. Unlike Palestinians in the Occupied Territories, Palestinians living in Israel ordinarily have no direct restrictions on their travel to East Jerusalem. However, it is common for the Israeli authorities to limit access to Al-Aqsa on Fridays and yesterday 1,500 police officers were deployed to Jerusalem in case of potential civil unrest, according to Israeli media. While Palestinian women of all ages were allowed to enter East Jerusalem for the occasion, access for Palestinian men under the age of 40 was restricted. By early evening there were no signs of any unrest developing. Some Palestinians told Arab News that they had stayed away out of choice. Khalil Abu Arafeh, an engineer from the city, said that he had been left disillusioned by the events of the past week. “I stayed home all day today and my feeling is that many people are apathetic. Those who are not apathetic are very frustrated and upset,” he said. As well as speaking out against the US embassy’s opening, Sheikh Hussein led a prayer for the Palestinians killed in Gaza. Before Monday’s bloodshed, he called on Palestinians to protest peacefully against the occupation. Emtiaz Moghrabi, a Palestinian filmmaker, told Arab News that Palestinians were feeling sad and frustrated, rather than angry. Instead of celebrating Ramadan in a traditional manner, she said that people had withdrawn into themselves in reaction to this week’s turmoil. “People don’t want to put up lights for Ramadan and they insist on praying in Al-Aqsa without getting too much into politics,” she said.