Daniel Gordis: Because they were Jews
To observers across the world, Israelis’ reaction to the abduction and murder of three teenagers may seem a bit overwrought. Of course, the deaths of any three children, anywhere, is horrific. And yes, a tightly knit country like Israel will invariably respond with greater emotion than might citizens of other countries.Ari Lesser - Innocent Blood
But still, how does one explain the presence of thousands of weeping people at the funeral, most of whom did not know the families? Why did Israelis across this country light hundreds of candles on sidewalks, hold each other and cry softly? Why were Jews across the world, in France and in Australia, in the U.S. and in South America, so mesmerized for three weeks as thousands upon thousands of Israeli soldiers searched for them? Sad as it undoubtedly is, many people might understandably ask, “What am I missing here?”
It’s a fair question, with a tragically simple answer. What has Israelis so shaken is the simple fact that the three boys were hunted, kidnapped and murdered simply because they were Jews. They were not soldiers. They had not strayed into Arab villages. They were but the latest victims in a long, painful history of millions who preceded them — killed because they were Jews.
Murders of Israelis product of a Palestinian sickness
Despite all this, Israelis continue to be told that they must surrender land to the PA in order to bring about a long term peace settlement. If only a West Bank Palestinian state can be created, they are told, all will be well between the two sides. Fatah (the good guys) need to be separated from Hamas (the bad ones).Us Jews Should Respond With More than Tears
But the media war against the Jews, this terrible and insidious incitement, is promoted by Fatah as much as it is by Hamas. Thus any West Bank state will be founded on the demonisation of its Jewish neighbour, hardly a recipe for long term co-existence or stability. The notion that creating a radicalised Palestinian state will end this conflict is one of the grand follies of our time.
Unless attitudes and perceptions change for the better, the status quo is likely to remain. Israelis cannot and should not make concessions to those who want them dead.
Jews throughout the United States will hold memorial services this week to mourn the murders of the three Israeli teenagers. There will be tears, there will be prayers, there will be words of consolation. And then the mourning needs to be followed by action -- political action.
The murder of the three Israeli boys is not just an Israeli problem. It is an American problem, too -- both because one of the victims was an American and because the U.S. government plays a major role in shaping what happens between Israel and the Palestinians. That's where the American Jewish community comes in. American Jews need to undertake focused political action to urge the Obama administration to help Israel in its fight against the Hamas terrorists.
So far, the administration's response to the crisis has been deeply disappointing. Despite the kidnappings, President Obama continues to recognize and support the Palestinian Authority-Hamas unity regime. The annual U.S. aid package of $500-million to the Palestinian Arabs continues, even though Hamas is now indirectly benefiting from that aid. (h/t Canadian Otter)
New York, Los Angeles bid their own farewells to Shaer, Fraenkel and Yifrah
The Jewish Center on West 86th Street was flooded with people and with emotions on Tuesday night as dignitaries and politicians of all stripes, from Israel and the US, gathered to memorialize the three teenagers who were killed near Hebron on June 12.Jihadist group takes credit for teens’ killings
Deputy Minister for Liaison with the Knesset Ofir Akunis made some of the boldest statements of the night, declaring that the bodies of Eyal Yifrach, 19, Gil-ad Shaer, 16, and Naftali Fraenkel, 16, were found in Judea. “Not the occupied territories.
In Judea,” he said, to applause from the audience.
Pledging allegiance to ISIL, ‘Supporters of the Islamic State in Bayt al-Maqdis’ claims attacks in Hebron, GazaState Department: “Many Indications” Hamas Involved in Murders of Three Teens
Aaron Zelin, a Richard Borow Fellow at the Washington Institute and expert on global jihadist organizations, said he knew nothing of the group.
“It is difficult to assess whether it’s legitimate,” he said.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has held Hamas responsible for the killing of Gil-ad Shaar, Naftali Fraenkel and Eyal Yifrah on June 12. On Wednesday, Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri refuted a report by Sky News Arabia claiming that the movement’s political chief Khaled Mashaal had denied Hamas’s involvement. Abu Zuhri said Hamas “has no information on the subject.”
Israel’s two prime suspects in the killing – Marwan Kawasme, 29, and Amar Abu Aysha, 32 — are both member of Hamas activists in Hebron.
State Department Deputy Spokesperson Marie Harf on Tuesday linked Hamas to the murders of three Israeli teenagers whose bodies were discovered Monday. Hamas’s involvement in the murders promises to problematize relations between the terror group and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah faction, which formed a unity government just weeks before the kidnappings.While IDF Hunts Hamas Killers, Kidnapping Mastermind Roams Free in Turkey: Report
Harf told reporters at Tuesday’s briefing that there were indications pointing to Hamas involvement in what she called the “despicable” killings of Naftali Fraenkel, Eyal Yifrach, and Gilad Shaar:
Matthew Levitt, who directs the Stein Program on Counterterrorism and Intelligence at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, told the Daily Beast that Saleh al-Arouri, “makes his home inside the territory of a NATO ally.”Killers heard cheering, singing in full recording of teen’s call
“The Israelis say he was one of the key operational leaders who has been calling for and overseeing these various kidnapping plots over the past two years,” he said, referring to some 64 thwarted attempts to abduct soldiers and civilians, according to Shin Bet and army statistics.
“It’s not that he was necessarily on the phone with these kidnappers, but kidnapping in general has been a key focus for Hamas operatives in the last two years and al-Arouri has been encouraging it,” Levitt said.
In the full recording, which is over two minutes long, the sound of the radio is interrupted by a voice on the phone — a different operator, this time a policewoman — who asks the caller where he is.Fatah to "Sons of Zion": "Blood for blood"
However, this operator, too, receives no answer. Instead, additional loud noises are heard.
When the noises die down, one of the kidnappers shouts “Three!” in Arabic. He and his accomplice can then be heard singing happily in Arabic and cheering, before the recording ends.
The officer called the number eight more times, but received three busy signals and reached voicemail five times.
This text and the call "blood for blood" was posted to "Fatah - The Main Page" on July 1, 2014, after Israel buried the three murdered teens Eyal Yifrach, Gilad Shaar and Naftali Frenkel, and before the discovery of the body of the dead Palestinian boy, Muhammad Abu Khdeir, whom the PA has accused "Israeli settlers" of murdering.#disgustingBBC as #(Im)MoralAccomplice
Another image posted the same day on Fatah's Facebook page showed masked armed fighters holding rifles with Fatah's logo on them and the text: "We will wait no longer..."
Text on the helmet in the image reads:
"The Al-Aqsa Martyrs' [Brigades] (Fatah's military wing)" [Facebook, "Fatah - The Main Page," July 1, 2014
The initial report on BBC’s news website talked about the three Israeli teenagers that ‘went missing’ and were later ‘found dead’; not forgetting to mention that they ‘attended a seminary in ‘Occupied West Bank’.An Apologist for Hamas in the Telegraph
A reader not particularly interested and not following the events would find no clue that this was kidnapping and cold-blooded murder committed by Palestinian terrorists. Perhaps the youngsters ‘went missing’ while hiking and were ‘found dead’ after falling into a ravine?? And if any better informed reader should guess that it’s the Palestinians who did it, the implication is there: the ‘illegal settlers’ had it coming – after all they were in ‘Occupied Palestinian Territories’. An offense which – by Palestinian ‘law’ and BBC implication – is punishable by death.
But why dwell on innocent victims? BBC’s report quickly moved on to Israeli troops arresting hundreds of Palestinians and ‘killing’ several of them. Got it? Arab rioters attacking IDF troops are ‘killed’. As for innocent Jews… well, they just die. And the two categories ‘exist’ together in the same item, in ‘balance’. In the swamp of moral relativism in which the BBC wallows, there is no difference between uninvolved kids killed in cold blood and rioters shot while attacking soldiers.
Writing in the Daily Telegraph, director of the Council for Advancing Arab-British Relations, Chris Doyle engages in the well-worn ploy of describing recent events in Israel as part of a “cycle of violence and revenge.”Palestinians blame Israel for killing of Arab teen
More that that, while he pays lip-service to condemning the murder of the three Israeli teens by Hamas, a closer reading confirms that Doyle is nothing more than an apologist for the terrorist organization.
Even as police said the motive for Abu Khdeir’s killing had yet to be established, Naftali Fraenkel’s uncle joined a chorus of Israeli condemnations.Former chief rabbi: Don’t take the law into your own hands
“If an Arab teen was indeed murdered for nationalist reasons, this is a horrific and shocking act,” Yishai Fraenkel said. “There is no difference when it comes to blood. Murder is murder; there is no justification, forgiveness or atonement for any murder.”
Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat condemned the killing, although he too was careful not to speculate as to the identity and motive of the killers.
In one of the first responses from Israel’s Jewish religious leadership to the violent aftermath of the deaths of Naftali Fraenkel, Gil-ad Shaar and Eyal Yifrach, former Sephardi chief rabbi Shlomo Amar on Thursday issued a fervent plea to Jewish youths to trust in God and the country’s political leadership and avoid taking the law into their own hands.IDF vows to punish soldiers’ racist online incitement
Reaching out to “all our brothers, the people of Israel, the young among us,” Amar said, “I feel their pain. I feel the frustration. But we can’t lose our heads. There are soldiers, and policemen, and security forces, praise God. And we can rest assured that by the grace of God, they will take the correct and necessary steps” in response to the killing of the three Israeli students.
Soldiers who posted racist slogans and calls for vengeance on social networks will be severely punished, the spokesperson of the Israel Defense Forces said Wednesday.Murdered Arab Youth's Parents 'Gave Contradicting Statements'
After the bodies of Eyal Yifrach, Gil-ad Shaar and Naftali Frankel were found Monday, thousands of Israelis, including many soldiers in uniform, took to social media sites to post dozens of photos and messages pledging revenge for the three teenagers’ killing, often using racist language. Such actions are inconsistent with army’s worldview, which views such calls with “the utmost severity,” IDF Spokesman Brig. Gen. Motti Almoz said in a statement.
In a little-noticed report on Channel Two Wednesday night, analyst and reporter Moshe Nussbaum presented information which could upend the police inquiry into the murder of Muhammad Abu Khadr, the Beit Hanina youth whose burned body was found in the Jerusalem Forest early Wednesday.Israeli official slams Kerry after condemnation of Arab teen’s death
In the report, Nussbaum cites contradictory statements by the youth's parents, who both told police different stories about another attempted kidnapping – that of Muhammad's nine year old brother – that may or may not have taken place.
Speaking on Israel Radio Thursday, Mohammed's father said he had called police at about 4 a.m. Wednesday to tell them that his son was being kidnapped, and said that they could trace his cellphone, which was still active. Police have not commented on the content of the call Mohammed's father said he made.
However, Nussbaum said, police were quite definitive that another call the family made to police on Tuesday turned out not to be the emergency the Abu Khadrs claimed it was. On Tuesday, police said, the mother called police to say that “settlers” had tried to kidnap her younger son. She said that individuals had stopped a car in front of her house where she was sitting with her son, and that they tried to grab him. She managed to hold onto him, she said, and they left, at which point she called police.
Officers arrived a few minutes later to take her statement, in which she said “settlers” had tried to kidnap her son, but could give no details. However, a few minutes later the father arrived, and he disputed his wife, saying that it was Arabs who tried to kidnap the son.
An Israeli official told The Times of Israel that Kerry’s remarks seemed premature, considering the wait-and-see approach the US government had initially displayed last month regarding the abduction and killing of the three Israeli teens.Times of London Adds Fuel to the Fire
“How does he [Kerry] know it is an act of vengeance? If it is, obviously the strong condemnation is more than justified. But, apparently, waiting for information, waiting for evidence from intelligence or police investigation, is only required when the victim is Israeli,” said the official.
With Arab rioting in eastern Jerusalem, rockets flying from Gaza, and international scrutiny, Israel doesn’t have any room for a misstep.Hamas warns Israel will ‘pay price’ over death of Arab teen
It may well be that Khdeir was killed by Jews. That’s harrowing to contemplate. But until more info’s available, premature coverage only adds fuel to the fire. The Times of London‘s a case in point:
"Palestinian youth lynched by settlers in revenge killing"
Hamas warned Wednesday that Israel would pay for the suspected kidnap and murder of a Palestinian teenager in Jerusalem, in possible revenge for the murder of three Israeli teens.Hundreds Injured Jumping To Conclusions About Murder Of Arab Teen (satire)
“We send our message to the Zionist entity and its leaders, which hold direct responsibility (for the murder), that our people will not let this crime pass, nor all the killings and destruction by your settlers,” the Islamist movement said.
More than 800 commentators, politicians, and other public figures needed medical treatment yesterday when they suffered various injuries incurred while jumping to conclusions over the abduction and murder of Muhammad Abu Khdeir, 16, whose body was found in the Jerusalem forest Wednesday morning.IDF bolsters forces on Gaza border
Hospitals reported admitting hundreds of patients for jumping-related injuries yesterday and today, with the most common conclusion that Muhammad had been kidnapped and murdered in revenge for the kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teens nearly three weeks ago. Their bodies were found on Monday, and buried side-by-side Tuesday.
The IDF beefed up its ground forces around the Gaza Strip on Thursday as tensions continued to rise along the southern border region and in East Jerusalem, where the recent killing of a Muslim teenager triggered widespread riots on Wednesday.Report: Gaza Terrorists Launched Missile at Israeli Helicopter
But the move came in conjunction with unusually soothing messages from the army. “We want to deescalate the situation and restore calm,” said Lt. Col. Peter Lerner, who described the deployment as defensive in nature.
Palestinian sources in the Gaza Strip reported Tuesday that they fired a ground-to-air missile at an Israel Air Force helicopter over the coastal enclave.Rocket fire from Gaza continues as Sderot homes hit
The shoulder-fired weapon missed its intended target, an Apache flying over the northern end of the area in the early-morning hours, the sources said, according to Israel’s Ma’ariv daily.
One of the rockets hit the side of a building that contains a preschool, but did not explode. The area was closed off to passersby, police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld tweeted on Thursday morning, and police sappers were working to remove the unexploded warhead.Personal encounters with a ‘ball of fire’ in Sderot
Israel’s Iron Dome system shot down two rockets fired from Gaza fired in the direction of the southern town of Netivot early Thursday morning.
Since the end of the IDF’s Operation Pillar of Defense, through June 30, 2014, 300 aerial attacks have been launched from Hamas-ruled Gaza toward southern Israel.IDF Blog: 15 Seconds: Not Enough Time
The fact that many terrorist organizations based in Gaza proudly take responsibility for firing rockets and missiles toward the Israeli civilian population, and not necessarily the ruling terrorist group, Hamas – as the media and Israeli officials continue to emphasize – makes no difference to the families and children of one million Israelis.
Once the siren goes off and they run for shelter and for their lives, they have between 15 and 45 seconds to ask which terrorist organization is firing at them. Instead, they wonder where the rocket will explode: inside or outside their town.
Jewish family escapes from Syria, arrives safely in Israel
The mixed Jewish-Muslim family fled the battlefields of Syria a few weeks ago, with two family members leading the way and the rest following later on. They made their way through several dangerous road blocks manned by Assad's Syrian military and various militias of the opposition. Eventually they managed to leave Syria and fly to Israel.Peace Now – Let Those Arabs Go!
Once a flourishing community of thousands, the remaining Jewish population in Syria numbers around 20, all of whom live in Damascus. Though they are allowed leave the country, they have seemingly decided to ride out the conflict.
The rescue operation was facilitated by Moti Kahana, an Israeli-American businessman who has been involved in recent years in humanitarian efforts for Syrian refugees.
A Palestinian Authority polling institute survey of Arabs living in Judea, Samaria, Gaza and eastern Jerusalem indicate that most want to leave the Land of Israel and emigrate to other countries, according to a Ynet report.Palestinians Among the Highest Supporters of Terrorism in Muslim World
68% of the Arabs surveys are concerned for their economic well-being.
70% of the Arabs surveyed would emigrate to the West if they could. 70 percent.
Among their primary concerns are the increased likelihood of war with Israel, and their worsening financial situation.
Palestinians were among the highest supporters of suicide bombing as well as terror groups—al-Qaeda, Hezbollah, and Hamas—in the Muslim world, according to a new survey by the Pew Research Center on concerns about Islamic extremism in the Middle East.Hamas Summer Camps: Liberating Palestine With Rockets, Rifles, And Pistols
At the same time, while support for al-Qaeda is relatively low in the Middle East and has high negative ratings, the Palestinian territories—the West Bank and Gaza—had the highest favorable rating of al-Qaeda at 25 percent, compared to only 2 percent in Lebanon, 5 percent in Turkey, 11 percent in Jordan, and 15 percent in Egypt.
This year, as in previous ones, Hamas has been operating summer camps throughout the Gaza Strip; the camps are attended by over 100,000 boys and girls from fifth grade to high school age. This year's name for the camps – "Beacons of Liberation" – was, according to camps coordinator Mussa Al-Samak, aimed at enhancing the campers' awareness of the liberation of "all of Palestine."Arab Rioters Beat One of Their Own in Jerusalem
Al-Quds reports that a crowd of angry rioters descended on a Palestinian Arab man during anti-Israel riots on Wednesday, beating him with their hands and with sticks until IDF forces physically rescued him from his compatriots.
According to the news outlet, the rioters were convinced that their victim - fellow rioter 40 year-old Yousef Abu Badria - was an undercover police officer.