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Tuesday, November 11, 2014

11/11 Links Pt1: What they didn’t tell you about Dahlia; IDF: Hamas Is Planning a Very Large Attack

From Ian:

Gush Etzion terror attack victim Dalia Lamkus laid to rest in Tekoa
The victim killed in Monday's terror attack in Gush Etzion was laid to rest in Tekoa on Tuesday.
Dalia Lamkus, 26, was stabbed to death on Monday evening, a short distance away from where she survived a similar attack almost nine years earlier.
At the time, in February 2006, she described her experience in a talkback published on the NRG website.
“On February 28, 2006, I stood at the Gush Etzion junction, when suddenly a terrorist appeared and started stabbing people who stood at the hitch-hiking post. I was one of two people, who were stabbed. It was a miracle that I was not seriously wounded. The other victim is recovering, with God’s help,” she wrote.
'The Terrorist Will Not Break Us,' Vows Terror Victim's Father
The funeral of Dalia Lemkos, 26, was held Tuesday morning in Tekoa, in the Etzion Bloc (Gush Etzion), a day after she was murdered by a knife-wielding Islamist at a bus stop outside the town of Alon Shvut.
Her father, Nahum Lemkos, eulogized her and said: “The terrorist murdered her because she was Jewish, because she is carrying on the tradition of the nation of Israel. The terrorist did not understand that through the murder, he will not succeed in breaking us and our bond to the Land of Israel.
"With your radiant face, your beauty and kindness of heart, you followed the path of Sarah the Matriarch. You helped us and the entire nation of Israel. You have merited to die for the sanctity of G-d and for the sanctity of the land. Beloved Dalia, you join our holy foremothers. May you sit in the shadow of the Shechina (God's Spirit).”
 At funeral of slain woman, sister urges hitchhikers not to stop
Hundreds of people gathered Tuesday to pay their last respects to terror victim Dalia Lemkus as the 26-year-old was laid to rest in her hometown of Tekoa, a settlement in the West Bank.
Speaking at the funeral, Lemkus’s sister Michal urged Israelis to continue hitchhiking undeterred in defiance of terror.
“I want to scream at everyone, at my nation, and mostly at myself: Don’t stop hitchhiking. Don’t stop driving on the roads. Don’t give them the satisfaction, the satisfaction that they managed to stop and prevent us from living our lives.”
Dalia Lemkus, the daughter of immigrants from South Africa, was stabbed to death by a Palestinian assailant Monday evening while hitchhiking from a bus stop outside the settlement of Alon Shvut, south of Jerusalem.
 What they didn’t tell you about Dahlia
Funny how none of the articles about the murder of Dahlia Lemkus who was stabbed near Alon Shvut last night speak about Dahlia or her family, how no reporter had the curiosity to find out about her. She was killed in the afternoon so the reporters had all evening to question their contacts in Tekoa.
Instead, they practice a kind of obscurantism, restricting our knowledge of the victim. (Curious that the word obscurantism is derived from a dispute between intellectuals and the German monks who wanted to burn Jewish books, like the Talmud, in the 16th century to obscure Jewish culture and learning.) In the New York Times, the reporter tells you about the terrorist who is from Hebron, how he was in an Israeli jail for five years for a firebombing. The reporter quotes his Facebook page: “I’ll be a thorn in the gullet of the Zionist project to Judaize Jerusalem.” We learn nothing about 26 year old Dahlia, who was just getting started in life after finishing college, studying occupational therapy so that she could have a job where she could help people who were sick or infirm or disabled to live in a fuller way.
They don’t tell you how she loved to bake with her mother, the two of them bringing rich, luscious cakes to parties and the way she spoke English with an accent — but not a Hebrew accent — a South African accent because her parents made aliyah from there thirty years ago. They don’t tell you how she went to synagogue every Sabbath and smiled at the people in her row before she prayed. And they don’t tell you how she had to hitchhike to get to her job working with children in Kiryat Gat or that she was the main volunteer at Yad Sarah in Tekoa which lends medical equipment like wheelchairs to those who are sick or injured. They don’t tell you how she liked to help brides look beautiful by doing their makeup for them before their weddings.
Soldier Murdered in Tel Aviv 'Was a True God-Fearer'
First Sergeant Almog Shiloni hy”d, who was murdered Monday by a terrorist in Tel Aviv, had always wanted to be a combat soldier.
In an interview for the IAF website upon his induction to the military, Shiloni said: “I always wanted to be a fighter. I trained ahead of the enlistment, and ran for fitness. I prepared for it a lot.”
Shiloni is a graduate of the first Platoon Commanders' Course of the Nahal Hareidi battalion and served in the Negev Defenders' section.
Almog's twin brother, Sahar, said Monday that his brother “only wanted to return to his base and was simply stabbed and wounded. This simply cannot go on. There are soldiers and people who are injured, who are stabbed in the street, you can't walk alone in this country, you can't walk quietly. This is our country, we fought for it, my twin brother fought for it.”



Prayer and Solidarity at the Scene of Tel Aviv Terror Attack
Monday's deadly stabbing attack in Tel Aviv - the first of two such attacks in a single day - in many ways marked an escalation in the recent campaign of Arab violence that has been simmering since the summer.
Though all previous such attacks in recent months had taken place either in Jerusalem or the Gush Etzion region south of the capital, where Monday's second deadly attack occurred, this one saw a soldier stabbed to death outside Tel Aviv train station in the heart of central Israel.
In a show of solidarity, just hours after the attack a group of religious-Zionist activists from the Eretz Tzvi held a vigil at the site of the stabbing, which claimed the life of First Sergeant Almog Shiloni.
Founded one year ago in the rocket-embattled town of Sderot in southern Israel, the group organizes "flash demonstrations" to deliver "a rapid response to events of national importance." The group has held demonstrations at the site of previous terrorist attacks, and held coordinated rallies at 50 major intersections to protest American pressure on Israel during one of US Secretary of State John Kerry's visits earlier this year.
Good Samaritan in Tel Aviv attack rebuffs hero talk
A passerby who tried to prevent a terrorist from stabbing a soldier in Tel Aviv Monday afternoon said he did not hesitate to act, even after being injured while trying to stop the attacker.
Gilad Goldman, 59, said he sprang into action after seeing a man assault Almog Shimoni near the Hahagana train station in South Tel Aviv Monday afternoon, he told Channel 2 in an interview from a hospital bed Monday evening.
“It all happened so fast. We were driving by when I saw him trying to stab the soldier and grab his gun, so I got out of the car and punched him. He dropped the knife and ran away,” Goldman said.
Etzion Stabbing Victim Recounts Harrowing Details of Attack
Yishai Katz, the 50-year-old man lightly injured in the stabbing attack in Gush Etzion Monday spoke to press several hours later about his ordeal.
"I realized I was in mortal danger, and I realized that I should run. I defended myself with my bare hands," Katz, a resident of Alon Shvut told Walla! News Monday.
Katz was lightly injured in the stabbing spree at the Alon Shvut Junction, in which 26-year-old Tekoa resident, Dalia Lemkos, was murdered, and another young man, 26, was moderately injured and hospitalized at Hadassah Ein Kerem Medical Center.
Documentation from security cameras at the junction show the terrorist, Maher Hamdi al-Hashalmoun, speeding toward a hitchhiking station in Mazda van with Israeli license plates. He ran over Lemkos, then got out of the vehicle, ran toward the station and started stabbing her.
From there, the perpetrator tried to attack a man getting out of his car - this was apparently Katz. He chased him toward the entrance to Alon Shvut and fought with him. After stabbing Katz, the security guard to Alon Shvut arrived, and fired at the terrorist, or in the air, at close range.
Terror at the wheel
Predictably, Hamas applauded Wednesday’s Jerusalem attack, for inflicting carnage is a key part of their endless war against Israel.
“We praise this heroic operation,” said Fawzi Barhoum, a spokesman for the terror group, which is now a formal partner in the Palestinians’ governing coalition. “We call for more such . . . operations.”
While Hamas barbarism is to be expected, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has also taken to nakedly inciting his people to anti-Israel violence.
Last Sunday, Abbas sent a letter to the family of Muataz Hijazi, who had attempted to assassinate an activist rabbi named Yehuda Glick. An Israeli counterterrorism unit killed Hijazi after he had wounded Glick.
In the letter, Abbas called the would-be murderer as a “martyr who defended the rights of our Palestinian people” and branded the Israelis who killed Hijazi as “terrorist gangs.”
Abbas added more fuel to the fire by calling on Palestinians to defend their holy sites — to prevent Israeli settlers from entering them — “by all means.”
Count it as proof that Palestinian leadership no longer makes even a pretense of being a future partner for peace.
Palestinian song encourages more terror‎
A song that urges Palestinians to use cars to commit terror attacks against Israelis has ‎become a big hit on social media. One video version of the song “Run over [the settler]!”‎ ‎ by singers Muhammad Abu Al-Kayed and Anas Jaradat has more than ‎‎385,000 viewings on the “Quds News Network” Facebook page. On one of the singers’ ‎YouTube channel the song has more than 71,000 viewings.‎
The song calls for murder: “Run [them] over, destroy, annihilate, blow them up.” ‎Palestinians are urged to “lay an ambush on the road and run them over.”‎
‎The song promotes the libel that the PA leaders are disseminating and which ‎Palestinian Media Watch has documented, that Israel is trying to destroy the Al-Aqsa Mosque, which is “in danger” and in need of “defenders”:‎
Song with visuals encourages terror against Israelis: "Run [them] over, destroy... blow them up"


Liberman: Abbas is more dangerous than Arafat
Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman issued harsh criticism of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday, saying that he was more dangerous than former PLO leader Yasser Arafat.
Liberman's comments came after Abbas spoke at a memorial marking ten years since Arafat's death.
"On the ten year anniversary of Arafat's death, we see that there is no difference between Arafat and Abu-Mazen (Abbas): They are both Jew-haters that believe in terror and promote terror. The only difference is that Abu Mazen is more dangerous, because he knows how to hide his true face better.
Abbas: We won’t let Israeli extremists ‘contaminate’ Temple Mount; warns of global ‘religious war’
The PA leader also maintained that the rioters at the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the disputed holy site had the right to defend themselves against Israeli police and Jewish visitors, and said Muslims and Christians would never recognize East Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
Abbas’s remarks came in an address to thousands who gathered in Ramallah in honor of the 10th anniversary of the death of PLO leader Yasser Arafat, during which he cautioned the Israeli government against changing the status quo at the Temple Mount.
“We will not let our holy places be contaminated,” he said.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeated several times in recent days that he does not intend to change the status quo at the site — the holiest in Judaism, and the third-holiest in Islam. Jews are allowed to visit but forbidden from praying at the contested site, which Israel captured from Jordan in the 1967 war, but where it allowed the Muslim Waqf authorities to remain in administrative charge.
Shot Temple Mount activist awake, asking for chocolate mousse
Rabbi Yehudah Glick, a right-wing activist who was shot in an attempted assassination two weeks ago, is awake and communicating with people around him in writing, his father said Tuesday.
“He is alert now… He’s awake, writing. He wrote that he wants chocolate mousse,” Shimon Glick told Army Radio on Tuesday. “There is light at the end of the tunnel… The doctors are optimistic” that he’ll fully recover.
Yehudah Glick was shot four times by a Palestinian gunman outside the Menachem Begin Heritage Center in central Jerusalem on the night of October 29.
Armed Palestinian killed by IDF fire during West Bank riots
One Palestinian was killed and another was seriously injured by Israeli fire as riots broke out near Hebron Tuesday afternoon.
The army shot and killed Imad Jawabreh, 22, near the Palestinian refugee camp of al-Arroub north of Hebron.
The army said soldiers opened fire at Jawabreh when he “aimed at them with an improvised weapon.”
The incident took place on a main road from Jerusalem to Hebron as some 200 Palestinians clashed with troops, the army said.
IDF mobilizing reinforcement battalions to West Bank
A number of IDF battalions have been sent to the West Bank to reinforce security measures there.
One of the battalions sent to the area is from the Golani infantry brigade, which was training in the North prior to being mobilized to the West Bank.
Security sources stressed that the reinforcement is not a sign of an imminent escalation in the security situation in Judea and Samaria.
The IDF's Central Command has also increased patrols along roads in the West Bank.
The move came a day after two Israelis were killed in separate terror attacks in Tel Aviv and the West Bank's Gush Etzion bloc.
IDF arrests family members of suspects behind Monday's terrorist attacks
The IDF has arrested several family members of two Palestinian terrorists who carried out separate attacks on Monday that led to the deaths of two Israelis and left several others badly wounded, according to Palestinian media reports on Tuesday.
In the Askar refugee camp near Nablus, security forces detained the father and three brothers of Noor Aladin Abu Hashiya, the terrorist who committed the stabbing attack in Tel Aviv that led to the death of IDF soldier Almog Shiloni.
According to the report, IDF forces also conducted searches in the family's house. Various members of the family reportedly evacuated the house in fear that it would later be demolished by Israeli forces.
In addition, a security source confirmed that relatives of Mahar Hamadi Hashalamun, the Hebron resident who murdered an Israeli woman and injured two Israelis in a terror attack in Gush Etzion on Monday, have been arrested. Palestinian media reported that the IDF arrested the brother and brother-in-law of Hashalamun. Searches of Hashalamun's residence were also reportedly conducted.
Both suspected terrorists were being treated in Israeli hospitals following their arrests.
Father of suspect in Tel Aviv stabbing surprised son involved in terror
Khaled Abu Hashia said that his 18-year-old son left home, a refugee camp east of Nablus on Sunday, to search for work inside Israel, he told Palestinian news agency Ma'an.
"He left home normally and there were no strange signs over the past few days," the suspect's father said. He also told Ma'an that he was concerned over his son's fate.
Ma'an reported that the suspect's family is affiliated with Fatah, although photos of him on social media show him carrying Hamas signs and flags.
Hamas has not claimed responsibility for the attack.
The Islamic Jihad organization in Gaza issued a statement on Monday praising the stabbing attack, saying that it was, "the most appropriate response to Israeli crimes against Jerusalem and the al-Aksa Mosque."
WATCH: Hamas music video in Hebrew calls to destroy IDF battalion-by-battalion
The expertly-edited clip, however, seems to be more directed at an Israeli audience than a Palestinian one. It's in Hebrew and the text of this particular bit of psychological warfare is set to the tune of music.
"Zionists wait the day will come, that your head will be in a noose. It's a destiny that you have already chosen, don't blame anyone else," the lyrics of the song state.
"It's a foreign sapling planted in our ground that we are obligated to pull out. To kick you out from among us for eternity."
The song then calls on Palestinians from Gaza, the West Bank and Jerusalem to destroy each battalion of the IDF.
BBC’s Knell tells WS audiences violence in Jerusalem caused by Jews trying to enter Al Aqsa Mosque
Once again, this backgrounder makes no mention of the continuing incitement by both the PA and Hamas which frequently includes promotion of the notion of a fabricated ‘threat’ to the Al Aqsa Mosque to encourage violent – and paid - rioting.
Yolande Knell has been covering the Middle East for over four years. She knows very well that Palestinian residents of Jerusalem are entitled to apply for Israeli citizenship and that Jews do not visit Temple Mount in order to enter the Al Aqsa Mosque. Had she adhered more closely to BBC editorial guidelines on accuracy and impartiality rather than busying herself with amplification of the Palestinian Authority’s propaganda, millions of listeners to the BBC World Service might have gained some insight into why tensions have escalated in Jerusalem in recent weeks. Despite the BBC’s public purpose remit, they were instead fed a bunch of inflammatory falsehoods and whitewashing which can only further cloud audience understanding of the issue.
Media Bias of The Day: Daily Mail Digs The Knife In
As you already know, yesterday we experienced two stabbing attacks, resulting in the murder of two Israelis.
We have already seen the US State Department spokesperson’s reaction. But they are not the only ones to kick us while we’re down.
The Daily Mail decided to respond to the terrorist attacks by moving Israel’s capital from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv.
Canadian FM Condemns Palestinian Attacks, Incitement
Canada's foreign minister condemned Monday's deadly attacks by Palestinian terrorists in which two Israelis were murdered and several others wounded.
"Canada condemns today’s brazen attacks that have claimed the lives of an Israeli woman and a member of the Israel Defense Forces," said Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird in a statement Monday.
"These terrorist attacks come after last week’s deplorable violence where vehicles were intentionally driven into innocent bystanders," he continued, referring to a spate of Palestinian attacks on Israeli civilians.
"Perpetrators of these acts of violence are responsible for further aggravating an already volatile situation."
State Department Condemns Stabbing Attacks
The United States on Monday condemned the two stabbing attacks in Tel Aviv and in Gush Etzion, while urging both Israelis and Palestinian Arabs to ease rising tensions.
"We strongly condemn the stabbing today in the West Bank, and we deeply regret the loss of life," State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said, in a statement made before soldier Almog Shiloni, who was critically wounded in the Tel Aviv attack, died of his wounds.
"Our condolences go out to the victim's family. It is absolutely critical that parties take every possible measure to protect civilians and de-escalate tensions," added Psaki.
After attacks, EU ‘extremely worried’ about unrest
The European Union on Tuesday condemned the “terrible” terror attacks a day earlier in which two Israelis were killed, expressed deep concern for the recent unrest, and called on leaders from both sides to calm the tensions.
The statement from the 28-nation bloc came a day after 20-year-old IDF soldier Almog Shiloni was stabbed to death at a Tel Aviv train stop, and 26-year-old Dalia Lemkus was killed at a bus stop in the Gush Etzion bloc in the West Bank.
“Today’s terrible acts of terror in Israel and the West Bank deserve strong condemnation,” the statement said. It went on to offer condolences to the victims’ families and well wishes to those injured.
The EU is “extremely worried by the current situation that – in the absence of political perspective – can further deteriorate. We urge political leaders to act responsibly and to work for a quick de-escalation of tensions,” it said.
PreOccupied Territory: Palestinian Man Fails Road Test After Missing Jewish Pedestrian (satire)
A local man narrowly missed earning his driver’s license this afternoon when he failed to run down a simulated Jew crossing the street, the man reported.
Ahmad Rashid, 20, had completed the requisite classroom time and driving instruction, and was aiming to secure full driving privileges by demonstrating his prowess behind the wheel for an official of the Palestinian Licensing Bureau. He successfully completed a three-point turn, signaled at all the appropriate junctures, applied the brakes properly at stoplights and signs, and yielded right-of-way where necessary. The final segment of the test called for Rashid to accelerate and run over a figure representing a Jew waiting at a bus stop, but Rashid lost concentration and missed the Jew.
The instructor informed Rashid that he had come very close to passing, but the failure to run over the Jew was too egregious a shortcoming to earn him a license. Rashid will be eligible for another attempt after ten more hours of instruction behind the wheel.
PreOccupied Territory: Palestinian Accidentally Stabs Israeli, Accidentally Tries To Snatch Gun (satire)
Earlier, a third Palestinian accidentally shot a Jewish activist in the chest four times. Pursued by police, the suspect accidentally fired at them, as well, and was killed in the ensuing firefight.
The deadly incidents come against the backdrop of heightened tensions between Jews and Arabs in Jerusalem and around Israel. The Jerusalem accidents occurred while Palestinians have been accidentally attacking Jews for attempting to gain access to the Temple Mount, Judaism’s holiest site. Increasing the unrest, Israeli police shot an Arab youth who was accidentally wielding a knife and accidentally threatening them with it. The youth died of his injuries, and many Arab communities accidentally erupted in protest over the shooting.
In the meantime, Palestinian leaders have been accidentally calling for more such accidental attacks against Jews. In the Israeli Arab town of Taybeh last night, a Jew was accidentally set upon by an angry mob and his car accidentally torched; several bystanders managed to accidentally rescue him from near-certain injury.
Some media outlets accidentally reported these events as terrorist attacks.
Qaradawi Calls Muslims to Arms Against Israel and the Jews
In an Arabic message posted on his website and translated by the Investigative Project on Terrorism, Qaradawi called on Muslims to rise up and defend Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque – Islam's third holiest shrine – against Israel. His comments come amid heightened tension between Israel and the Palestinians.
Israel closed the Temple Mount, where the mosque is located, to all worshippers Oct. 30 following an assassination attempt against an Israeli activist. Jewish radicals have recently demanded the right to pray in the Al-Aqsa mosque, built on the holiest site to Jews, something Israel has forbidden them to do. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas denounced the closure, calling it a "declaration of war." Israel reopened the site Oct. 31 amid heavy security. Tensions remain high, and incitement to violence has increased.
Qaradawi's article protests against Israel's planned archaeological tunnels under the Temple Mount and what he calls "attempts to Judaize the city of Jerusalem." He warns of attacks against Muslim and Christian holy sites.
"What is happening to Al-Aqsa at this time is a major disaster," Qaradawi wrote. "The [nation] of the Arabs and the [nation] of the Muslims may not keep silent about it.
"For the sake of Al-Aqsa mosque, blood will flow, and Muslims will expend lives and money, and sons."
His diatribe also calls on Muslim clerics to urge followers to defend Al-Aqsa, and for Muslim leaders and rulers to rally to the cause.
Israeli Man Escapes Attack After Firing Warning Shots
Police and the IDF have beefed up their presence in Judea, Samaria and the rest of Israel Tuesday, following two stabbing attacks Monday that have left two Jews dead and others wounded.
On Tuesday morning, a Jewish man was lightly hurt when Arabs ambushed him as he drove his car on Highway 60 past Beit Hanoun, near Bethlehem. He fired warning shots in the air in response.
Jews are extremely hesitant about firing their weapons, even in clear cases of self defense, since leftists in the police and judicial system tend to prosecute such Jews harshly and take away their weapons, goaded by the media.
IDF Thinks Hamas Is Planning 'a Very Large Attack'
Large IDF and police forces are fanning out in Israel's large cities to head off “a very large terror attack” that the genocidal Islamist Hamas organization is believed to be planning against Israel. The Israel Security Agency (ISA, or Shin Bet) is also trying to prevent it by locating possible terrorists.
Minister of Public Security, Yitzchak Aharonovich, instructed Police Commissioner Yohanan Danino Monday night to call up several reserve battalions of the Border Police, in the wake of the latest terror wave and the concern that further attacks are imminent throughout Israel.
In addition, a full closure may be imposed on Judea and Samarias, meaning that Arabs will not be allowed into Israeli towns and communities.
A nationwide operation to round up Arabs staying in Israel illegally has also been launched.
Palestinian killed in blast at Gaza-Israel crossing
One Palestinian was killed and two others were injured Tuesday in a blast at a crossing with Israel in southern Gaza, medics said.
There were conflicting reports on the source of the explosion.
AFP and Israel Radio reporting that a fuel truck had exploded.
However, the Palestinian Ma’an News Agency said a gas pipeline had been blown up.
Emergency services spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra said a 20-year-old man had been killed on the Palestinian side of the Kerem Shalom commercial crossing.
Officials were not immediately able to say whether it was the result of an accident or a deliberate attack, but Israel Radio reported that the detonation was due to a technical malfunction, and was not security-related.
PA adopts Hamas' religious belief - prohibits peace with Israel
At least three times in recent weeks, Mahmoud Abbas' advisor on Religious and Islamic Affairs and the Palestinian Authority's Supreme Shari'ah Judge, Mahmoud Al-Habbash, has made statements showing that the PA agrees with Hamas' religious belief claiming Islamic sanctity over all of the State of Israel. In one of his statements, Al-Habbash used the same language as Hamas does in its charter:
Mahmoud Al-Habbash: "The entire land of Palestine is waqf (i.e., an inalienable religious endowment in Islamic law) and is blessed land."
[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Oct. 22, 2014]

When PA leaders use the term "entire land of Palestine," they refer to both the PA areas and all of the area of the State of Israel, as documented by Palestinian Media Watch.
This designation of all of Israel as "waqf" has far-reaching political ramifications as it prohibits and precludes any authentic PA peace treaty with Israel. These political implications are evident in Abbas' advisor's statement: