Tuesday, June 17, 2014
JPost Editorial: Festering terrorism
Once again the nation has been thrown into a collective state of trepidation. Once again terrorism, inspired by an extremist Islamist theology, has struck in the form of kidnapping.Khaled Abu Toameh: How the West Facilitates Hamas's Mission
For a time it seemed as though a relative qualm could be maintained indefinitely. There were, of course, incidents of rock throwing and firebombings. But the general impression was that the Palestinians had learned from the trauma of the second intifada that they could achieve nothing through terrorism. Violence would only be met with more violence.
Unfortunately, that was just an impression. Just under the surface there was a hotbed of terrorist activity. In 2013, according to Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon, there were more than 30 kidnapping attempts foiled by our security forces. So far in 2014, 14 attempts have been prevented. In over 10 incidents, terrorists sitting in prisons helped organize the kidnapping attempts.
The Obama Administration and those EU governments that rushed to welcome the alliance between Fatah and Hamas did not want to pay attention to the Islamist movement's announcements that it would take advantage of the unity government to move terrorism to the West Bank.Chloe Valdary: Mad World
If it turns out that Hamas was indeed behind the kidnapping of the Israeli youths, it shows that the movement has kept its word to use the reconciliation pact with Fatah as a means to move its terror activities to the West Bank. Hamas's ultimate goal is to extend its control to the West Bank, and not merely get new jobs and salaries from Abbas.
The honeymoon between Fatah and Hamas now seems to be nearing its end as the two parties resume their rhetorical attacks on each other in the aftermath of the kidnapping. Abbas may now finally have realized that Hamas's real intention is to get rid of him and turn the West Bank into a battlefield against Israel.
It is obvious that all those who were quick to welcome the partnership between Fatah and Hamas -- the U.S. and Europe -- have emboldened and legitimized the Islamist movement, thus facilitating its mission to carry out terror attacks against Israelis as well as to take over the West Bank.
And, to add insult to injury, the world pays the salaries of the corrupt P.A.-Hamas government all while proclaiming to the Arabs that it would be a great idea if the P.A. and Hamas would continue to rule over them. Civil liberties be damned.Alan Baker: Palestinians and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child
No one ever gives a crap about Palestinian Arabs. We just say we do. Because it sounds good and looks nice to write on our Facebook statuses. Actually, we just hate Israel. Because no one ever gives a crap about Jews. And this is a bit strange since the Jewish state is the freest state in the entire Middle East, with rights for women and other minorities.
But we already established that we don’t really give a crap about women either.
Apathy. Hypocrisy. Selfishness. Mad World.
Will you be the one who brings in the light?
One may wonder how the UN Secretary General, the Swiss government and the 194 states parties to the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Geneva conventions, as well as Abbas and his colleagues in the Palestinian leadership, will now relate to contractual obligations incumbent on the Palestinian pursuant to those agreements in light of the kidnapping and illegal hostage holding of three Israeli youths. Two of those youths fall within the age of children as defined in Article 1 – “under 18” – of the convention on the rights of the child.Knesset Committee on the Rights of the Child Calls on UN to Do More to Help Save Kidnapped Teens
Even more pertinent is how all the parties view the Palestinian abduction and hostage-taking of the Israeli children in light of the obligation pursuant to Article 34 of the Fourth Geneva convention (1949) according to which “The taking of hostages is prohibited.”
In a statement on Saturday, Ki-Boon had condemned the kidnapping, expressing “his solidarity with the families of the abducted” and called “for their immediate release.”
But MK Orly Levi-Abekasis, Chair of the Knesset Committee on the Rights of the Child, asked the UN leader to take active steps to help return the three yeshiva students Eyal Yifrach, 19, Gilad Shaar, 16, and Naftali Frenkel, 16.
Levi-Abekasis wrote: “The abduction constitutes a profound infringement of conventions and a blatant violation of the right of Israeli children to lead a peaceful, unthreatened life. These are not soldiers, nor were they engaged in battle – they are three young adolescents who should have been dividing their time between preparation for their final exams and their family circle.”
Five days on, EU condemns teenagers’ kidnapping
Speaking to the press Monday evening, Netanyahu chastised the EU for its failure to condemn the kidnapping, albeit without mentioning the union explicitly.Rivlin: We don’t need to be fearful in our country
“I expect all responsible elements in the international community – some of whom rush to condemn us for any construction in this place or for enclosing a balcony in Gilo – to strongly condemn this reprehensible and deplorable act of abducting three youths,” he said after a security consultation at IDF Central Command in Jerusalem. “Whoever opposes terrorism needs to condemn terrorism wherever it is perpetrated. I expect other countries to join in these condemnations and to support the State of Israel’s legitimate and necessary acts of self-defense.”
Israel’s president-elect Reuven Rivlin on Monday visited the religious seminary where two of the three kidnapped Israeli teenagers studied, and he met with their fellow students.The Kidnapping and Palestinian Politics
One of the students of the Mekor Haim Yeshiva in the Gush Etzion settlement bloc questioned Rivlin about the security situation and the potential dangers of hitchhiking.
“Why do we need to be afraid to hitch a ride in our country?” the student asked, according to the Ynet news site.
“We don’t need to be fearful in our country,” Rivlin replied. “But sometimes we must face trials.”
Hamas must surely believe that a repeat of its triumph in both kidnapping Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit and then trading him for over a thousand captured terrorists will put them in a stronger position to not only hold onto the independent Palestinian state in all but name that they have ruled in Gaza but also give them a shot at toppling Abbas in the West Bank. Even worse, they know that if Abbas cooperates with Israel in finding the kidnapped teens, as Prime Minister Netanyahu has rightly demanded, it will undermine him just at the moment when he was basking in praise for rejecting the Jewish state’s peace offers and bringing Hamas back into the PA’s fold.PA official: Unity pact is void if Hamas carried out kidnapping
All this illustrates the utter folly that was the foundation of both Kerry’s peace initiative and the complacence with which the administration accepted the Hamas unity pact. So long as the Palestinian factions believe they stand to gain by practicing terrorism, an end to the conflict is nowhere in sight. Though Washington preferred to believe that Fatah and even Hamas had abandoned violence and were amenable to peace if Israel could be pressured into making even more concessions than those contained in previous rejected peace offers, the kidnapping offers President Obama a lesson in the basics of Palestinian politics that he has so far chosen to ignore. (h/t Norman F)
The official said that the kidnapping would mark a breach of the understandings between Fatah and Hamas, and would render their unity agreement null and void.Israel’s Kidnap Crisis: Shut Up and Scream
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, also said that the assessment in Palestinian intelligence is that Hamas, or a faction within Hamas, was responsible for the kidnappings Thursday night of Eyal Yifrach, Gil-ad Shaar and Naftali Frankel.
This is not the time to ask Israel to tear down that wall. It was relaxed curfews, checkpoints and roadblocks that contributed to the abduction.Terror apologists blame Israel for abduction
This is not the time to bring up the topic about any Palestinian Arab “right of return.” Shut up about this if you know what’s good for you.
This is not the time to say a word about releasing another thousand Arab terrorists from Israeli jails as a “goodwill gesture.” Are you kidding?
This is not the time for Obama to declare that Islam is the most peace loving religion on earth. Jihadists slaughtered 40Christians in Kenya, and it’s only 2 o’clock.
This is not the time for BDS to spell out their grievances against the Jewish People and otherwise prove their cause to be entirely fraudulent, which it is.
They couldn't restrain themselves. Not a day had passed since the kidnapping incident, and experts on Middle Eastern affairs and peace on earth have already informed us that it had actually happened because of us.Did Leftists Try to Divert Army's Attention from Kidnappers?
We were wrong not to agree to make a few more concessions to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. We were wrong not to agree to release thousands of additional prisoners. We were wrong not to welcome the hand extended in peace by Hamas (we never saw such a hand, but that doesn't matter). In short, Israel is to blame for the abduction.
According to these reactions, the terrorists, and the kidnappers in particular, are actually activists for peace and watchdogs of human rights.
Residents of a Hevron-area town suspect that radical leftist groups tried to “lend a hand” to the kidnappers of three Israeli teens Saturday, when they entered a town in the southern Hevron Hills and began taking photos and video of homes in the town, forcing IDF soldiers to leave off the search for the missing teens and shoo away the “activists.”IDF Blog: PHOTOS: IDF Exposes Hundreds of Palestinian Weapons in Nablus
The incident occurred in the small town of Avigail, which does not have a fence around it. The leftists and Arabs ventured past a line that they were told not to cross, into the municipal jurisdiction of the town. They took photos of homes and residents, and videotaped the activity in the town. (h/t Canadian Otter)
IDF soldiers conducted an extensive operation last night, uncovering hundreds of weapons and explosives in Nablus. The forces arrested over 40 terrorist suspects and seized several Palestinian weapons caches. The mission continued Operation Brother’s Keeper, Israel’s extensive effort to find three Israeli teens kidnapped by Hamas terrorists.Operation Brother's Keeper: IDF Confronts Terrorism in Judea and Samaria
IDF’s dual mission: Searching for the teens, weakening Hamas
Col. (res) Lior Lotan, a decorated officer who was wounded while leading the charge through gunfire to reach the abducted soldier Nachshon Wachsman in 1994 and later headed Military Intelligence’s missing and hostage department, described the mission as three-tiered. The first tier, he said, is “surgical – the arrests of specific people with information about this thing.”Cooperation with PA on kidnapping ‘professional,’ army official says
He described the second tier, the arrests of Hamas operatives, as a more outdated form of surgery, in which “large sections are raised with forceps.” And the third tier, the encirclement of the cities, the mass arrests of the political echelon, and the flooding of the area with combat troops, as a form of operational pressure that allows the troops in the field to operate.
“Above all that, it is possible that some of the actions are intended to alter the situation vis-à-vis the Palestinians,” he said, adding that there “is certainly a punitive and deterrent element to it.”
The Palestinian public has begun to speak out against the kidnapping, he said, understanding that the IDF’s intensive operations in the West Bank could severely disrupt preparations for the month of Ramadan, only 11 days away.French Parliamentarians Comfort Family of Kidnapped Israeli Teen
“Today, moving an exhaust pipe from Nablus to Jenin takes 40 minutes. In a week it could take seven hours,” the officer said, alluding to the possibility of renewing military roadblocks across the West Bank which have been removed over the past years. “No one wants to collectively punish the population, but we want them to understand the meaning of Hamas having a foothold in the West Bank.”
A delegation of 40 French Members of Parliament has arrived in Israel to commemorate 65 years of diplomatic ties between France and Israel. The delegation, which includes members of the Senate, national committee, mayors and former ministers, is the largest parliamentary group ever to visit Israel.New York: US Jews Hold Prayer Vigil Outside Israeli Consulate
Upon their arrival, and despite their extremely busy schedule, the delegation’s members asked to visit the families Eyal Yifrah, Gil-Ad Shayer and Naftali Frenkel. On Sunday morning, they visited Frenkel’s parents in Nof Ayalon, telling the boy’s parents that their hearts are filled with prayer, appreciation and love for them and the boys. “Your smile strengthens us,” said one parliamentarian to Naftali’s mother, Racheli.
Around 200 Jewish Americans gathered outside the Israeli consulate in New York on Monday to pray for the release of three Israeli teenagers kidnapped in Gush Etzion, in the Judea region south of Jerusalem last week.British MP and Activists Join #BringBackOurBoys Campaign for Israeli Teenagers
The crowd, which included many children of school age, called for the safe release of the teens, of whom 16-year-old Naftali Frenkel has dual American-Israeli citizenship.
The event was supported by the Breitbart London news website, and primarily organised by Managing Editor Raheem Kassam and Conservative Member of Parliament Robert Halfon.Kidnappings prompt new Israeli smartphone SOS system
Robert Halfon MP said: "I thank Breitbart London for bringing to attention the tragic plight of these kidnapped Israeli teenagers. There are clearly sinister forces at play and one can't help but wonder if these actions are a deliberate distraction in order to provoke Israel to deflect attention from what is happening in Iraq.
"It is vital that everyone in the free world sends a message to Hamas and Islamic Jihad that this kind of terrorism will not be tolerated."
Israel’s NowForce, which develops apps to help rescue personnel deal with emergencies, is setting up a national emergency alert system that will allow any Israeli to register and use its “SOS app” to call for help when they are in trouble. The system is a response to the kidnapping of three Israeli teenagers last week.Youtube Artist, Eppic, Releases Video Filmed in Israel "Home" on June 16
According to a top police official, the system could help save lives by making sure that police and rescue workers know that the emergency is a real one that they need to act on immediately. “The app represents the kind of simple and cheap technology, available right now, that can be easily deployed to prevent situations like last week’s kidnappings,” according to Arik Yekuel, the former head of technology for the Israel Police.
Eppic, hip-hop artist and YouTube sensation, spent a week in Israel and filmed a music video together with Israel's "The Voice" stars Rudy Beinsin and Daniella Milo. Eppic released the heart-felt “Home” on June 16, 2014. It can be viewed here.Home - Eppic (feat. Daniella Millo & Rudi Baynesay) in Israel (Originally by Phillips Phillips)
The music video and Eppic's tour (iMIX) are the initiative of students from Bar Ilan University who are part of the Israel Fellowship program run by StandWithUs, a thirteen year-old, international Israel education organization dedicated to educating people around the world about Israel.
StandWithUs is dedicating its participation in the video "Home" -- with its meaningful lyrics -- to the 3 missing boys, Gilad, Naftali and Eyal in the hope that they will return home soon.
Where Did the [American] Mainstream Media Disappear To (Except the NY Times)?
Israel has one of the highest concentration of foreign reporters in the world, yet this event is simply not being reported in nearly all the foreign mainstream media outlets.Three Teens Kidnapped, Professional Reporting Goes “Missing”
It’s as if every foreign reporter in Israel was also suddenly kidnapped last week.
I only see one explanation. I think the mainstream media has a major dilemma.
Jewish children were kidnapped by Hamas, a member of the Palestinian Unity Government.
This shows how depraved these “Palestinians” are. It shows how right Israel has been all along. It shows how wrong Obama and Kerry are.
How about this for some chronological inversion courtesy of NBC News?The HuffPost's Biased Coverage of Abduction Story
"Israel on Sunday accused Hamas of kidnapping three Israeli teens in the West Bank, hours after the country’s security forces detained dozens of Palestinians amid a stepped up military effort to find the boys."
So which came first, the kidnapping or the Israeli response? Someone at NBC might want to do some quick editing.
The Huffington Post's pattern of bias hasn't changed much over the past few years. The headline choice and picture selection remain as skewed as ever, as we can see in the one article about three Israeli children (including an American) who were kidnapped by what looks like a Palestinian terrorist group. First up, the generic outside headline picture:HRC Prompts CBC Correction: Kidnapped Israeli Teens Were Not Heading “Home to Their Settlements”
Finding pictures of the victims is reserved exclusively for non-Israelis, as we have determined. Still, at least this has a picture. Check out the inside headline:
Now the Huffington Post isn't sure if there was a kidnapping, or even if there were three teenagers at all. Israel just said something, it might not be true.
However, one of the teens, Eyal Yifrach, hails from Elad near Petach Tikvah, and another, Naftali Frenkel, lives in Nof Ayalon near Modi’in. Neither of these towns are settlements. Only Gilad Shaar lives in the settlement of Talmon.Still no BBC reporting on Palestinian celebrations of kidnappings
HRC contacted CBC which promptly issued the following correction:
All six versions of this latest report on the subject continued to conceal from BBC audiences the celebrations of the kidnappings on the Palestinian street and the plethora of inflammatory statements and imagery published by Hamas, the PA and Fatah.Sky News: It All Started When Israel Went Looking for its Boys
So according to this logic, it isn’t the kidnapping of Eyal Yifrach, Gil-ad Shaar and Naftali Frenkel that has sparked this crisis but Israel’s response. It all started when Israel went looking for its boys.More Evidence of Anti-Israel Editorial Agenda at The Independent
But this is only the beginning. The rest of Tom Rayner’s article cynically accuses the government of Benjamin Netanyahu of using the kidnapping to further its own political ends vis-a-vis Hamas and the Palestinian Authority. Of course the kidnapping cannot be separated from the wider political situation. Rayner, however, appears to whitewash the nature of Hamas.
Putting these issues aside, why does The Independent consider a Facebook page liked by 17,000 people aimed specifically at terrorists to be newsworthy other than to take an opportunity to present Israel in a negative light? After all, the likelihood of any of these 17,000 Israelis actually acting upon their understandable anger is virtually non-existent.Threats against Israeli Arab teen who slammed kidnapping
Compare this to the incitement in the Palestinian media and the terror organizations that positively encourage acts of violence against Jews and Israelis. There is no comparison.
If The Independent wished to report on how two different societies are reacting to this latest crisis, perhaps it could have highlighted the disgusting online cartoons being promoted on a Fatah website, the very organization of PA President Abbas or any number of other equally nasty images.
Police arrested three men Tuesday for threatening their relative, an Arab Israeli teen who, in a strikingly pro-Israel video posted online, wraps himself in an Israeli flag and expresses solidarity with three kidnapped Israeli youths.MK Hanin Zoabi Justifies Yeshiva Students' Abduction
In the video, uploaded to YouTube earlier this week, 17-year-old Mohammad Zoabi of Nazareth called for the release of the three teens, affirmed his own identity as an Israeli, and urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to stop negotiating with Palestinian terrorists.
Another relative, the controversial MK Hanin Zoabi (Balad), distanced herself from his comments Tuesday and said that, contrary to his assertion, the kidnappers were “not terrorists.”
MK Zoabi initially denied that she knew the brave teenager well during Tuesday's radio interview, but then proceeded to insult him based on what she did know.Lieberman: Zoabi is a terrorist and should share kidnappers' fate
"He's from a divorced family," she sniffed. "His mother now lives in Nazareth Illit, where he studies at a Jewish school."
"He's sleazy," she continued. "He's distorted his identity."
Zoabi then claimed that, in her "humble opinion," the kidnappers are not terrorists.
"It is strange that people who are under the Occupation and living the high life ignore the reality that Israel kidnaps Palestinian Arabs and jails them every day," she fired.
Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman took to his Facebook page on Tuesday morning to condemn remarks by Balad MK Hanin Zoabi, who said that the kidnappers who abducted three teenaged yeshiva students on Thursday night "aren't terrorists."MKs Seek Legal Action Against Hanin Zoabi
"Not only are the kidnappers terrorists, Zoabi herself is a terrorist," Lieberman posted in response.
"The kidnappers and Zoabi, who is inciting kidnappings, should meet exactly the same fate." Lieberman's post garnered thousands of "likes."
Culture Minister Limor Livnat (Likud) announced that she intends to turn today to the Attorney General demanding an investigation into MK Hanin Zoabi, a spokesperson for Livnat stated, and whether her remarks justifying the kidnapping of three yeshiva students can be classified as an offense under Section 144 of the Penal Code against "incitement to violence of terror."Minister urges Knesset speaker to remove Zoabi's diplomatic immunity
Article 144 of the Law states, inter alia, that "calls to violence or terrorism, or praise, sympathy or encouragement act of violence or terrorism, supporting [terrorism] or identifying with [terrorism]," are violations of Israeli law.
Livnat called on the Attorney General to uphold the law Tuesday.
Deputy Interior Minister Faina Kirschenbaum wrote on Tuesday to Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein, asking that he remove Balad MK Hanin Zoabi's diplomatic immunity, so she can stand trial for incitement and supporting terror after she said that the kidnappers of three yeshiva students last Thursday were not terrorists.Should I Also Compare The Kidnapped Teens To Hitler? By MK Hanin Zoabi (satire)
I know I’ve done part of my job by denying that the kidnappers of the three missing Israeli boys should be called terrorists. The question is whether that goes far enough: should I only make excuses for the kidnappers, or should I actually demonize the victims by calling them a bunch of little Hitlers?
The question is one of balance. My tendency has been to advocate for my Palestinian brethren in the most provocative way possible from within the walls of Israel’s parliament as an elected representative, using my position, arrived at through democratic processes, to undermine the very country whose democratic rights I enjoy. Calling these boys Hitler would certainly be in keeping with my past remarks, but it could backfire: it might contribute to a continued focus on them as victims when my aim should be to highlight the misery of my brethren under occupation whose life expectancy, overall health, per capita income, freedom of expression, education, and access to quality medical care became better than anywhere else in the Arab world since shortly after that occupation began.
