Phyllis Chesler: Three Teens, One an American. We are All Israelis
They are: Gil-ad Shaar, Naftali Frenkel, and Eyal Yifrach. It has been confirmed that one of these students is also an American citizen; we have not been told who that might be. Two are students at Makor Chaim yeshiva. The third is a student at Shavey Hevron yeshiva in Hebron. Perhaps the IDF hopes that releasing this information will help witnesses come forward or that humanizing the boys may lead to sympathy for them.Netanyahu: We ‘know for a fact’ Hamas behind abduction
Last night, hundreds prayed for them at the Western Wall. Their fate was discussed at every Sabbath table including my own and in many synagogues around the world.
Since 9/11, truly, we are all Israelis. What used to happen only to Jews or mainly to Israeli Jews (hijackings, suicide/homicide bombings) remained unchecked by the world and now that same style of hatred and violence has increasingly been unleashed against civilians everywhere. We are all at the mercy of merciless, maniacal Jihadists.
When an Israeli civilian—essentially a teenager--is kidnapped, it is always an act of evil, a statement of vulgar anti-Semitism, and a rejection of the entire Western enterprise. Please bear in mind that Israel lives in a neighborhood that has exiled Jews from Arab lands, has denied that this is the case, and wishes to exterminate Jewish Israel. Read the Hamas charter, it is quite chilling.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday afternoon dismissed Hamas’s denial of involvement in the abduction of yeshiva students Eyal Yifrach, Naftali Frenkel, and Gil-ad Shaar, saying Israel knew “for a fact” that Hamas was responsible.
“Hamas denials do not change this fact. And this attack should surprise no one because Hamas makes no secret of its agenda. Hamas is committed to the destruction of Israel and to carrying out terrorist attacks against Israeli civilians – including children,” he said.
Netanyahu had announced Sunday morning that Hamas was behind the kidnapping of the three teenagers in the West Bank on Thursday night, allegations that were swiftly shot down by a spokesman for the Gaza-based organization as “stupid” and “designed to break Hamas.”
IDF: Kidnapped Teens Are Alive and in Hevron Area
A senior IDF official told reporters Sunday afternoon that in the army's estimation, the three kidnapped teenagers taken Thursday night by still-unidentified captors are still alive, and are being held somewhere in the Judean Hills.Kidnapped teen’s parents ‘optimistic’ he will come home
“We are not acting blindly and without guidance,” the official said. “The IDF is thoroughly familiar with Hamas' infrastructure in Hevron. Those involved in the kidnapppings were prisoners in Israeli institutions and were released,” which gave Israeli authorities insights and information on their terror activities.
The parents of one of three Israeli teenagers kidnapped while hitchhiking in the West Bank Thursday expressed optimism Sunday that their son and the two other captives would return home safely.
“We are optimistic, with God’s help, He will see the combined effort of the prayers and solidarity, and we will embrace Naftali, Eyal, and Gil-ad here,” Racheli Frenkel, mother to 16-year-old Naftali Frenkel, said outside her Nof Ayalon home Sunday afternoon.
Bring back our boys. Eyal, Gilad and Naftali in our hearts
Last Monday, an Amber Alert was issued in the Bay Area. Television programing was interrupted. Messages were automatically left on cell phones. Highway signs lit up with the names of the victims. The three children, ages 12, 6 and 2 were eventually found, though for a moment, time stood still as we all examined our surroundings, looking for anything that might help reunite these children with their family. We cherish our children and we've learned from our mistakes regarding childhood abductions.Mohammad Zoabi’s Strong Message About The Kidnappings
Contrast that with the reaction of Palestinians in West Bank upon learning of the kidnapping of 3 Israeli teens, 2 16 years old, and one 19. Appeals were distributed throughout social media admonishing shopkeepers to destroy any surveillance video they had from the last 24 hours, rather than have it used to aid in the recovery of the boys. Sweets were gleefully distributed. The mood was unabashedly celebratory. Those with knowledge of the kidnapping were warned not to share photos or info on Twitter and Facebook. The community joined together- not to ensure the safety of the boys, but to protect the criminals.
In response to the recent kidnapping of 3 Jewish Israeli teens by a terrorist group, Mohammad Zoabi gives his strong message to the terrorists and to Bibi Netanyahu, the Prime Minister of Israel…his message is in English, Hebrew and Arabic.Mohammad Zoabi's Strong Message To The Terrorists Who Kidnapped 3 Jews
It’s easy for me to say his words publicly…it takes guts for an Arab to do the same and live to tell the tale!
No more prisoner swaps, Liberman vows after kidnapping
Liberman, speaking to Army Radio from the Ivory Coast, where he is on a diplomatic trip, said the kidnapping of three teenagers — Eyal Yifrach, 19, Gil-ad Shaar, 16, and Naftali Frenkel, 19 — was partially the consequence of Israel’s policy of releasing batches of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for kidnapped Israelis.US, Canada and Spain express concern over kidnapping
“There will be no more prisoner releases in instances such as this,” Liberman said, adding that “in no way will those who sit in Israeli prisons be freed.”
He said ministers from his Yisrael Beytenu party would not vote to free Palestinian terrorists.
As of Saturday night, a handful of governments in America and Europe had expressed concern over the kidnapping of three Israeli teenagers Thursday night, and called for their prompt release.UN Chief Ban Ki-moon Equates Kidnapping to Israeli Defense
“Canada is deeply concerned by reports that three Israeli teenagers may have been kidnapped in the West Bank, and condemns those aiming to instigate conflict,” Foreign Minister John Baird said in a statement Saturday. “We urge the Palestinian security authorities, who have been trained through Canadian and US leadership, to make every effort to investigate this incident and work diligently to ensure the safe return of these children to their families."
On Friday, US State Department Deputy Spokesperson Marie Harf said that Washington was “very concerned” about the well-being of the kidnapped teenagers: Gil-ad Shaar, 16, from the settlement of Talmon; Naftali Frenkel, 16, from Nof Ayalon near Modi’in; and Eyal Yifrach, 19, from Elad near Petah Tikva.
Israel said Frenkel was a dual US-Israeli citizen, but Harf said she could not confirm that fact. She also said that Secretary of State John Kerry had spoken with Israeli Justice Minister Tzipi Livni and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas about the issue.
UN Chief Ban Ki-moon compared the Israeli air strike against an active Hamas/Salafi Jihad terrorist to the kidnapping of 3 Israeli children.Israel clamps down on Palestinians in search for teens
Unlike Ban Ki-moon’s unequivocal condemnation of the kidnapping of Turkish diplomats in Iraq last week where he said, “this is totally unacceptable” and he was “shocked” to learn of the kidnapping by “terrorists”, Ki-moon felt, in the case of Israel, the need to compare, in his boilerplate statement, the deliberate kidnapping of three Israeli children, to the strike against an active terrorist, which also killed a human shield the terrorist thought would protect him from an Israeli strike, as he continues his terror attacks.
As the hunt for three teens kidnapped in the West Bank continued for a third day Sunday, Israeli initiated a series of security measures designed to simultaneously aid the search and put pressure on the Palestinians.IDF calls up reserves, deploys Iron Dome in South
In Hebron, south of where Eyal Yifrach, 19, Gil-ad Shaar, 16, and Naftali Frenkel, 16, were kidnapped late Thursday night, Israeli forces initiated a full closure of the area.
A Palestinian source told Ynet News that the city was “surrounded” by Israeli forces, and no one was able to enter or exit.
The crossings between the Gaza Strip and Israel were also closed, and the government issued a general cancellation of visits to Palestinian prisoners who are serving in Israeli jails.
The IDF has called up a limited number of reserves as the military operation to rescue three kidnapped Israelis in the West Bank continues to grow. The call up is small in scope at this stage.PMW: PA supports "kidnap-for-hostage" strategy
Also on Sunday, the air force deployed a number of Iron Dome anti-rocket batteries in southern Israel.
The IDF arrested 80 Hamas members - including members of the Palestinian Legislative Council - in a massive wave of raids throughout the West Bank early on Sunday, as part of Israel's response to the kidnapping of three Israeli youths on Thursday.
Two days ago, three Israeli youths were kidnapped by a terror organization when they were catching a ride. At the moment of writing, the boys have still not been found.Honest Reporting: Kidnapping Teens or Building Homes: Which Hurts Peace?
Despite the Palestinian Authority's alleged commitment to distance itself from terror, the PA continues to glorify terrorism and promote kidnapping Israelis as hostages. Palestinian Media Watch has documented the PA leadership's support for kidnapping Israelis expressed as recently as January 2014. The following are some examples:
PA leader Mahmoud Abbas, following the release of over 1,000 terrorist prisoners in 2011 in exchange for Hamas' hostage Gilad Shalit, called the kidnapping a "good thing":
The article "Israeli PM Netanyahu says Hamas abducted 3 teenagers" is straightforward in its coverage of the abduction of the three youths, Prime Minister Netanyahu's declaration that Hamas is responsible, and the efforts of the IDF to find and rescue the boys.Honest Reporting: Kidnapped Israeli Teens: The Worst Coverage
And then CNN just couldn't help themselves.
Here are the last three paragraphs of the article:
The expansion of Jewish settlements in the West Bank has been a lasting point of contention in the region.
It has altered the map of the Palestinian territories, making it more difficult to draw a contiguous Palestinian state as part of any peace agreement, according to critics.
The highly contentious issue of Israeli construction in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, which the Palestinians seek for a future state, has hurt peace efforts.
The terrorist kidnapping of Eyal Yifrach, 19, Gilad Shaar, 16, and Naftali Frenkel, 16, a dual Israeli-American citizen has led to some problematic reporting. Here, we roundup some of the worst cases so far.Guardian refers to Israelis kidnapped by terrorists as “teenage settlers”
Here’s the opening passage:US To Maintain Ties With Hamas-Backed Gov’t: ‘Because Jews Are Expendable’ (satire)
Israeli security forces have launched a mass search of the Hebron hills after three teenage settlers, one believed to be a US citizen, were reported missing amid fears they may have been kidnapped by a Palestinian group.First, the Guardian got it wrong, as two of the three teens do no in fact live in Israeli ‘settlements‘.
Additionally, we’d like to know where precisely the Guardian is prepared to draw the line in their use of such a loaded term. Would they refer to even young children (including infants) killed by Palestinian terrorists – such as the family members murdered by terrorists during the 2011 massacre in Itamar, including 11-year-old Yoav, 4-year-old Elad, and three-month-old Hadas – as “settlers”?
Let’s be clear: The Guardian’s use of the term “settler” – as an adjective to modify an otherwise factual description of an Israeli who’s been kidnapped, injured or killed by a Palestinian terrorist – represents a political decision which dehumanizes the victim, and serves as a potent reminder of the media group’s egregious bias even when publishing putatively straight news stories about the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict.
Officials at the State Department restated their intention to recognize and maintain dealings with the Palestinian unity government despite the kidnapping yesterday morning of three Israeli teenagers by Palestinians, explaining that by nature, the lives of Israelis carry less weight than those of other nationalities.The Hate Of The BDS Movement (VERY STRONG LANGUAGE)
Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters today that at this early stage of its existence the Palestinian government could not be expected to exert total control over its constituent elements, which include Hamas, an organization the US itself designates as a terrorist group. Moreover, she declared, the threats to Israelis are an unfortunate consequence of the unity deal, which does not call for Hamas to cease its efforts to harm them, but a tolerable one, since the diplomatic niceties of relations with that government trump such petty concerns as whether or not Jews are safe in their own land.
A potentially complicating factor has been that one of the sixteen-year-olds taken hostage also holds American citizenship, but Secretary of State John Kerry dismissed any difficulties this morning by pointing out that after Israelis, US citizens are next on the list to be sacrificed for the Obama administration’s vision for the Middle East. “Why should soldiers be the only ones whose lives the government risks in its pursuit of policy?” he asked. “Especially if we’re talking about Jews.”
Shooting Attack at Paris Synagogue Thwarted at Last Moment
As France continues to grapple with growing violent anti-Semitism alarming reports suggest a potentially deadly terrorist attack on a Paris synagogue in broad daylight was thwarted at the very last minute on Saturday.Palestinian professor: no regrets over taking students to Auschwitz
According to French-language JSS News, a pair of unidentified attackers approached the synagogue, located in the French capital's 20th District, armed with an AK-47 assault rifle and a handgun. According to reports they began aiming their guns at bystanders and the building itself and pretended to open fire, but fled the scene when they saw armed French police officers guarding the synagogue.
Mohammed Dajani knew he was on sensitive ground when he took a group of students to visit the site of the Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland in March. But it took the furore that followed to make the Palestinian academic realise that he had entered a political and psychological minefield.Mahmud Abbas’s wife hospitalized in Tel Aviv
Dajani resigned from his post at Jerusalem's Al-Quds University this week after failing to win the unequivocal support of his employers in a row which highlighted the darkest taboos of the conflict with Israel and each side's enduring sense of victimhood.
The visit to the concentration camp was part of a project to study the Holocaust and teach tolerance and empathy. "It is about understanding the other," Dajani told the Guardian during a conference in the Qatari capital, Doha. "You need to understand the other because reconciliation is the only option we have. And the sooner we do it the better. Empathising with your enemy does not mean you sanction what your enemy is doing to you."
Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas’s wife, Umm Mazen, was discharged from the Assuta hospital in Tel Aviv today (June 15) after a successful leg operation on Friday, according to a report by Ynet. Her surgery took place at the same time three Israeli teens went missing and were apparently kidnapped by Palestinian terrorists.Tel Aviv Shabbat meal sets record
According to the report, Umm Mazen checked into the private hospital on Thursday night. She had round the clock security guards posted outside her room.
Israeli doctors regularly treat Palestinian patients. Hamas leader Ismael Haniyeh’s granddaughter was treated at Schneider Children’s Medical Center in Petah Tikva this past November.
At an event Friday evening hosted by Chabad-Lubavitch and White City Shabbat, a Tel Aviv organization that hosts and coordinates Shabbat meals, 2,226 people gathered for what was billed as the largest Shabbat dinner ever. An official representative of Guinness World Records present at the event certified that the dinner had set the record.150k March in Tel Aviv Pride, a Sharp Rebuttal to UN Anti-Gay Presidential Pick
The dinner took place in a large atrium at the Tel Aviv Port, and organizers purchased 800 bottles of wine, 80 bottles of vodka, 50 bottles of whiskey, 2,000 challah rolls, 1,800 pieces of chicken, 1,000 pieces of beef and 250 vegetarian meals for the dinner. Attendees also ate rice, peas, a range of Israel appetizers and cake.
Some 150,000 Israelis and foreigners took part in the 16th annual gay pride march through the streets of Tel Aviv on June 13, according to a statement from city hall. This stands in dramatic contrast to the decision by the United Nations General Assembly to choose Ugandan Foreign Minister Sam Kutesa as its next president. Kutesa has defended the Ugandan president’s harsh anti-gay policies and said that being gay is “wrong for our young people.”
The Tel Aviv pride party week is one of the largest of its kind in the world. Among those joining in the celebration was the U.S. Embassy in the city.