David Horovitz: Not an uprising against occupation. An uprising against Israel
They say that this is the latest uprising against the occupation. It isn’t. It’s the latest uprising against Israel.Farfour’s Curse: Palestinian children learn to hate with their ABC’s and hate they do
Most Israelis don’t want to rule over the Palestinians. Most Israelis want to separate from the Palestinians. If the Palestinians want a state based on the 1967 lines, they have to convince a majority of Israelis that their independence would not threaten our existence. You’d think this would be obvious. Evidently it isn’t.
This latest phase of terrorism and violence — like the conventional wars, and the suicide bomber onslaught, and the relentless campaign of misrepresentation and demonization and denial of Jewish history in the holy land — sends the opposite message to Israel. Much of the rest of the world — so short-sighted in viewing Israel as the Goliath when it’s a tiny, loathed sliver in a region seething with Islamist extremism — refuses to see it. But in bloody, unmistakable capital letters, the perpetrators of this new round of evil mayhem proclaim to Israelis: We don’t want to live alongside you. We want to kill you and force you out of here.
Palestinians have been stabbing random Israelis daily for weeks, and on cue myriad foreign commentators have been trotting out the usual “root causes” arguments to explain their actions: Israeli settlements, Palestinians’ collective despair, the Netanyahu government’s policies.WATCH: ‘I want to stab a Jew,’ young girl tells her teacher father
Then again, we could just as well blame Farfour.
A bellicose and excitable Mickey Mouse clone with a whiny voice, Farfour was a costumed character on a popular Palestinian children’s educational program, “Tomorrow’s Pioneers,” on the Hamas-run Al-Aqsa TV. Not for Farfour some innocent horseplay to entertain the kiddos and teach them their ABC’s. Instead, the creepy rodent taught Palestinian children about the glories of jihad. In one episode he exhorted “tomorrow’s pioneers” (i.e. future jihadists) to liberate “all of Palestine” (i.e. the land of Israel) from the Jewish usurpers. “Beloved Palestine taught us to be soldiers of Allah,” a young boy sang as Farhoud cheered. “Oh Jerusalem it’s the time of death and we will fight a war.”
During a subsequent episode, Farfour, who liked to rhapsodize about the AK-47 assault rifle to Palestinian children, came to an untimely death “at the hands of the criminals, the murderers of innocent children” — Israelis, yes. Farfour was replaced by equally spiteful characters who carried on demonizing Israelis in his stead: Nahoul the bee and Assoud the rabbit. Assoud threatened to “finish off the Jews and eat them” before he, too, wound up murdered by the Jews. On his deathbed he urged Palestinian children to avenge him by “liberating” Haifa and Tel Aviv.
A video posted by a Jordanian-Palestinian teacher on Facebook shows his young daughter holding a large knife and declaring, “I want to stab a Jew,” the watchdog group MEMRI reported, amid an ongoing surge of stabbings and other terror attacks by Palestinians on Israelis.Palestinian-Jordanian Preschool Girl Holds Knife, Says: "I Want to Stab a Jew"
Abdulhaleem Abuesha, a teacher in the Madaba refugee camp in Jordan, posted the clip on Friday. MEMRI translated and highlighted it on Tuesday.
After his daughter Rahf, standing in front of the refrigerator in the kitchen, declares her desire to stab a Jew, Abuesha asks, “Why do you want to stab the Jew?”
“Because he stole our land,” she replies.
Her father confirms approvingly: “They stole our land.” He then asks, “With what do you want to stab them?”
“With a knife,” she says.
Abuesha is then heard encouraging her, saying, “Oh, you’re so strong! Allah willing, my dear.”
A video recently posted on Facebook shows a little girl, called Rahf, holding a large knife and declaring: "I want to stab a Jew." Her father, Abdulhaleem Abuesha, a teacher in the Madaba refugee camp in Jordan, encourages her, saying: "Oh, you're so strong!" The video was posted on Abuesha's Facebook account on October 16. His account also features a picture of a little boy – presumably his son - holding a large knife and smiling at the camera.
Using Jerusalem's holy sites to incite for murders of Jews is nothing new.
In 1929, first Palestinian leader, Jerusalem Mufti Haj Amin al-Husseini, called on the Arabs to fight the infidels and declared a holy war on the Jews. Al-Husseini, who years later was a decorated, high ranking Nazi collaborator, declared that the Jews are planning to destroy the Al-Aqsa mosque on the Temple Mount.
In a series of sermons, al-Husseini declared that Jews are dishonoring Islam and its holy sites and that whoever kill Jews will have a place in paradise. These calls against Jews helped trigger the 1929 Palestine riots, in which dozens of Jewish families were slaughtered throughout the land of Israel. The atrocities included slaughtering children in front of their parents, amputation, burning people alive and rape.
This was almost two decades before the State of Israel was created.
Almost four decades before the 1967 "occupation."
Inciting a religious war, by lying that the Temple Mount is endangered by Jews, was always a way for Palestinian leaders to unite their people against the Jewish population in the land of Israel.
The use of Allah to incite murder is, unfortunately, nothing new.
Elliott Abrams: Abbas, Hamas, and NIMBY
In Gaza, Hamas tries to prevent Islamic Jihad and other groups from launching attacks into Israel, and restrains its own cadres. But Hamas has glorified the stabbings and killings of recent days and urged its followers to go out and kill Jews.PMW: Blood worship? Palestinians wait to smell Martyr's blood
Why the apparent contradictions? Simple: Both the Palestinian Authority and Hamas are saying "NIMBY" -- "not in my back yard." The PA wants calm where it rules, in the West Bank, and fears that a new intifada could help Hamas. But it sees violence in Israel, and especially in Jerusalem, as potentially helpful politically, and is certainly not going to condemn it. Similarly, Hamas wants more violence everywhere but Gaza, including in the West Bank and Israel, especially Jerusalem. Restraining its young terrorists from action is always a problem for Hamas, as is assigning them to stop Islamic Jihad. These young thugs did not sign up to police the borders of Gaza on behalf of Israel. So Hamas reminds them of its true terrorist vocation by inspiring and assisting violence elsewhere.
The Israelis have a particularly difficult task in east Jerusalem. They do not permit the PA police into that area, but Israeli police and other public services are sparse there. It is reported that Hamas is stronger there than in the West Bank. Once this crisis is over, Israel should give careful thought to how it governs east Jerusalem and size of the "normal" police presence there (and from the Israeli press, it's clear that this debate has already begun).
Meanwhile, Hamas and Abbas each seek to maintain order where they rule, but promote violence where they do not. NIMBY works in the Middle East, too.
An article in the official PA daily described a dead terrorist's blood in romantic and poetic terms, presenting it as something Palestinians cherish. According to the PA daily:Jibril Rajoub Lauds "Heroic" Palestinian Attackers; We Won't Pay Price for the Holocaust
"[Palestinians] insisted on inhaling the scent of the Martyr's blood... The residents of Jerusalem, who waited to inhale the scent of the blood which was still on the ground and in the water which turned slightly red from it, formed a circle, and they recited the [Quranic Sura] Al-Fatiha for the Martyr's [soul]." [Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Oct. 15, 2015]
The paper's description of the almost worship-like attitude to the blood of the "Martyr" resonates PA ideology, which portrays dying as a Martyr as an ideal. As documented by Palestinian Media Watch, Martyrdom-death is regularly glorified by Fatah and the PA.
The idea that the Martyr's blood is fragrant is a concept found in Islam. One Hadith (sayings and practices attributed to Islam's Prophet Muhammad) teaches about the blood of the Martyr on Resurrection Day: "Its color saffron, and its odor musk" [Sunan Abi Dawud 2541, Book 15, Hadith 65]
The PA has reiterated the idea of the Martyr's blood being pure and fragrant. During the PA terror campaign from 2000-2005 (the second Intifada), official PA TV broadcast a video hundreds of times aimed at children, presenting Martyrdom-death as an ideal. It repeated the verse: "How sweet is the fragrance of the Martyrs":
Fatah Central Committee Deputy Secretary Jibril Rajoub recently lauded the Palestinian attackers, saying: "These are individual acts of heroism, of which I am proud." In the interview, which aired on the official TV channel of the Palestinian Authority on October 17, 2015, Rajoub further said: "We refuse to pay the bill for the Holocaust. What is being done to us is exactly the same as what was done to the Jews in Europe."
Hamas Cleric and TV Host Abu Funun: We Will Not Leave a Single Jew, Dead or Alive, on Our Land
Hamas cleric and TV host Sheikh Iyad Abu Funun recently said that he would swear on the Quran "that not a single Jew will remain on this land." He further said: "We will not leave a single one of you, alive or dead, on this land. By Allah, we will dig up your bones from your graves and get them out of this country." He was speaking on Al-Aqsa TV on October 13, 2015.
Dear Arabs
JPost Editorial: Misdirected anger
The truth is we aren’t writing this for you, because you probably aren’t listening. But these things need to be said.
We are not going to lecture you about how the Jewish people are the original inhabitants of the land and you are newcomers, colonialists even. All that is true, but we don’t want to argue theoretically. We want to talk tachlis (you’ve been here long enough to know what that means).
You have been sold a false bill of goods by your leaders, who have grown fat over the years by maintaining the fiction that you are going to throw us out of the Land of Israel. They’ve been handsomely paid by anti-Zionists everywhere, from Hitler to the KGB to the Saudis to the Iranian regime to George Soros to the EU to Barack Obama.
You are not going to throw us out.
What is clear, though, is that the lynching that took place cannot be rationalized by the chaos, frenzy, and fear brought on by having just been in the middle of a terrorist attack. The knee-jerk reaction by those individuals reeked of vigilantism. This kind of Wild West retribution is alarming and is directly connected with the ugly “death to Arabs” mentality which surfaces whenever Jewish thugs gather following a terrorist attack. It cannot and must not be tolerated.Responding constructively to terrorism- the more they kill, the more we build
There is no justification for hot-headed revenge seekers taking the law into their own hands. We support the announcement by the police that it is intent on finding the assailants “who brutally beat a foreigner after he had already been subdued and was lying on the floor and did not pose a danger at all.”
The statement added that “the police view the incident with the utmost severity and will not allow civilians to take the law into their own hands.”
Of course, with the “fog of war” defense, it is unclear whether anyone will ever be prosecuted for the actions against Zarhom. But a united front from all facets of Israeli society – police, government, and community leaders – that declares that this kind of behavior is unacceptable even in times of war is imperative.
During the past two weeks Israelis have displayed some of their most admirable characteristics – courage, resilience, compassion, and resolve. It overwhelms the blind hatred and base emotions that a small number of citizens are manifesting in reaction to the terrorist campaign against them. Despite and because of the challenges that daily life is throwing at us, it is incumbent upon us to retain the values that make our society so special and exemplary. That is why, when an aberration like the vicious attack against Habtom Zarhom takes place, it must be condemned wholeheartedly.
As we mourn the death of Sgt. Levy at the hands of a terrorist, we also mourn the death of Zarhom by our own hands. And we yearn for the day when these kinds of atrocities do not befall anyone.
If the Palestinians are made to understand that terrorism will have precisely the opposite result of what they intend, you can be sure that they will move quickly to contain it, if only because it does not serve their own perceived interests.Algemeiner’s Dovid Efune on Fox News: Palestinian Incitement Similar to Nazi Dehumanization of Jews (VIDEO)
An added benefit of such a policy is that the Palestinians will have only themselves to “blame” for continued building in the settlements. Every Palestinian attacker will know that when he pulls the trigger or slashes with a dagger, he is in effect issuing a building permit for another Jewish neighborhood in Itamar, Beit El or Kiryat Arba.
So let’s hit back at terrorism in a constructive fashion, and bolster the Jewish presence in Judea and Samaria in the face of our foes.
The pen that approves new Jewish building may very well prove to be mightier than the unsheathed Palestinian sword.
Commenting on the latest wave of Palestinian and Arab-Israeli stabbing, car-ramming, rock-throwing and shooting attacks in Israel, Efune said, “In order to want to have to go and stab somebody because of who they are, that person first has to be dehumanized. We saw this in 1939. Jews were dehumanized into Untermenschen before they were massacred by the Nazis, and today in Palestinian society, Jews are considered the children of apes and pigs and are accused of a litany of false crimes.”
He added, “The Palestinian Authority-controlled areas are the most antisemitic territories in the world, where, according to the Anti-Defamation League, 93 percent hold antisemitic views.”
Responding to a query about the response from White House officials to the violence, Efune said, “The Obama administration has a morality problem.”
“Here you have a situation where you have moral equivocation — you have references to the cycle of violence, calling on ‘both sides’ the whole time,” he said. “We know, Jeanine, that cops and robbers both shoot, but they are not the same, and to imply they are is simply immoral.”
Asked if this only applied to Israel, or to other countries as well, Efune mentioned the administration’s approach to Iran as another example of a failure to identify “evil.”
Palestinians Resent the Status Quo
After more than a week of studied neutrality about the surge of terrorism against Israel, Secretary of State John Kerry finally said something useful to the cause of restoring calm. Though he and other administration officials have at times blamed the Israelis for provoking the spate of bloody terror attacks by building homes or by shooting terrorists, Kerry got to the core of the problem when he noted that the alleged threats to the al-Aqsa mosque are not real. By noting that Israel was opposed to changing the status quo on the Temple Mount, Kerry implicitly backed the Netanyahu government’s assertion that the violence was the result of incitement by Palestinian leaders who have circulated that false charge. He said what was needed was “clarity” about the situation in Jerusalem that would make it clear to Muslims that there was no truth to the blood libel circulated by Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas about the Temple Mount. Moreover, Kerry noted that the key point was to make sure Palestinians understood that Israel was supportive of the status quo. But the notion that what Palestinians want on the Temple Mount or anywhere else is the status quo is a misnomer. As has been the case with each stage of fighting during the recent history of the region, both the Palestinians and much of the American foreign policy establishment hopes the growing pile of corpses will serve to increase the pressure on Israel to give up more territory.Israeli boy, 13, wounded in Jerusalem stabbing, wakes up
It’s taken what is now being called the “stabbing intifada” for even a staunch supporter of the Obama administration’s foreign policy like the Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg to recognize that disagreements about settlements and territory haven’t caused the violence. Goldberg correctly links Abbas’s incitement about the Temple Mount to the blood libels circulated by Palestinian leaders in the 1920s. The reason why Israel’s maintenance of a status quo on the Temple Mount that actually discriminates against Jews (they are forbidden to pray at what is the holiest site in Judaism), is that Palestinians see all of Israel, including everything inside the 1967 lines, as an illegal settlement populated by foreign colonists. As occasional COMMENTARY contributor Daniel Gordis also noted in an insightful if depressing column in the New York Daily News, even educated Palestinians who engage in daily friendly interaction with Jewish Israelis view them as usurpers who will be thrown out sooner or later.
A 13-year-old Israeli boy who was critically wounded in a terror attack last week in Jerusalem’s Pisgat Zeev neighborhood has resumed breathing independently, the capital’s Hadassah Hospital Mount Scopus said Monday.2 Israelis hurt in car-ramming attack in West Bank
The boy has even begun to communicate with medical personnel and family members, according to a statement by the hospital.
The boy was one of two Israeli victims stabbed by Ahmed and Hassan Manasra, 13 and 15, respectively, on October 12.
He was taken to the hospital in life-threatening condition, placed in an induced coma and connected to a respirator.
The child “has a long path of rehabilitation still ahead of him,” Prof. Ahmed Eid, head of the hospital’s Department of General Surgery, who operated on the boy, said in the statement.
Two Israelis, a civilian and a soldier, were lightly wounded Tuesday in an apparent car-ramming terror attack at a bus stop in the Gush Etzion region of the West Bank, south of Jerusalem.Israeli father of 7 run over and killed near Hebron after stoning attack
The Palestinian driver who hit the two men was shot and killed by security forces. His vehicle carried an Israeli license plate, and a knife was found in his possession, the Ynet news site reported.
The IDF said that after hitting the two men, aged 20 and 21, the Palestinian left his car and attempted to stab pedestrians.
Medical teams that arrived at the scene offered initial treatment to the injured men before rushing them to Hadassah Medical Center, Ein Kerem.
“When we arrived at the scene we saw a man standing at the intersection who had been hit by the car,” Magen David Adom paramedic Dror Eini told Ynet.
“He was fully conscious but suffering from light injuries to his extremities. In addition, we saw a 20-year-old who was also fully conscious and walking around, who also had wounds to his arms and legs.”
An Israeli civilian was killed on Tuesday after he was hit by a truck as he inspected the damage to his own car caused when he was pelted with rocks by Palestinians near the West Bank city of Hebron.Passing Arabs Took Photos of Wounded Jew Lying in Road
Channel 2 television later named the victim as Avraham Asher Hasano, aged 54, a father of seven from the settlement of Kiryat Arba, on the outskirts of Hebron.
MDA paramedics attempted to resuscitate Hasano in preparation for evacuation by helicopter, but he died at the scene.
Initial reports indicated Hasano stopped his car after it was hit by rocks as he drove through the Al Fawar junction, near the Palestinian village of the same name, southwest of Hebron.
Hasano got out to inspect the damage.
As he stood at the side of the road, he was hit by a passing truck that continued driving and left the area.
A spokesperson for the Hebron Hills Jewish community said Tuesday that passing Arabs snapped photos but did not help the 50-year-old Jewish man who lay dying after a terror attack near Kiryat Arba.Knesset Debates Rock-Proofing School Buses
“The incident began with rocks … and the victim’s vehicle was damaged by rocks,” said the spokesperson. “The victim left his car because of this. A truck ran him over and fled to Dahariyya (a village near Hebron). It is not clear whether it was intentional, this ‘accident.’
“The victim lay there for quite a while and received no assistance from anyone, naturally, while passing Arabs photographed him lying there on the road.
“The person from whom he received first aid was an IDF paramedic.
The Knesset Subcommittee on Judea and Samaria held a special discussion Tuesday regarding the budget for rock-proofing buses and other vehicles in Judea and Samaria.IDF officer lightly injured in West Bank stabbing
The fleet of rock-proofed buses – which have reinforced windows that can withstand a direct hit by a rock – is almost 20 years old, and the buses need to be replaced.
MK Menahem Eliezer Mozes (UTJ), who took part in the session, told Arutz Sheva that he is worried about the situation, and the dangers that children could be subjected to if a bus malfunctions and 50 children aboard find themselves stuck near a hostile Arab village.
"Rock-proofing the buses has to be the top priority," said Mozes. "This is truly a matter of saving lives, and there is no budget problem today. There are budget surpluses of close to NIS 30 billion, and first and foremost, it needs to go to saving lives. The Jewish children in Judea and Samaria are no less important than those who are located anywhere else in Israel."
An IDF officer sustained light injuries after being stabbed by a Palestinian man in the southern West Bank Tuesday morning, in the first attack in over a day.Khaled Abu Toameh: Zahar: Palestinians should use firearms in fight against Israel
The stabber was shot and killed during the attack, amid what the army said a “violent riot” in the village of Beit Awwa in the Hebron Hills region.
MDA paramedics treated the injured soldier at the scene for a hand wound. The officer, a company commander in the Givati infantry brigade, was expected to be taken to the hospital for further medical treatment.
The Palestinian Authority Health Ministry identified the stabber as Adi Hashem al Masalmeh, 24, from Beit Awwa.
Mahmoud Zahar, a senior Hamas official in the Gaza Strip, on Monday voiced support for the “militarization” of the current “intifada” against Israel.WATCH: IDF troops arrest Hamas co-founder Hassan Yousef before dawn
Commenting on Sunday night’s terror attacks in Beersheba, Zahar criticized Palestinians who are opposed to the use of firearms in the ongoing wave of terror attacks against Israel.
Zahar said that the Beersheba terror attack was a “small scenario of how to liberate Palestine.” He was referring to the fact that the terrorist had used a pistol and a rifle in his attack.
Zahar said that the terrorist had to snatch the weapons from an IDF soldier because he did not have such firearms or ammunition in the first place.
The Israel Defense Forces released a 67-second video clip showing soldiers arrest Hamas co-founder Hassan Yousef in the West Bank village of Beitunia before dawn on Tuesday.Hassan Yousef is not the problem, and Israel knows it
In the video, troops from the Artillery Corps Ra'am battalion as well as units from the Binyamin territorial brigade are seen entering Yousef's home and escorting him into custody.
The arrest was a joint IDF-Shin Bet operation. Yousef, 60, is involved in intensive activities aimed at inciting Palestinians to commit acts of terrorism, according to the army.
The sheikh has been arrested and jailed in Israel on several past occasions. Israeli authorities accuse him of "[fomenting] violence and conflict against Israel among the Palestinian public."
Every year or so a familiar ceremony take place. Sheikh Hassan Yousef, one of the top Hamas political leaders in the West Bank, is arrested by Israeli security forces and held for six months in administrative detention. Then he’s released and, after some time passes, rearrested.Fatah: Suicide Bombings 'The Top of Our Priorities'
The reason given this time for Monday’s arrest of Yousef is “incitement to violence.”
Yousef’s incitement in the past few days consisted of warnings that if the Palestinian Authority continues to suppress the “intifada,” it will lead to an internal Palestinian clash.
If you compare the words of this senior Hamas official to recent Fatah statements, the latter come across as rather more extreme. When senior Fatah officials describe the attacks time after time as “heroic actions,” it’s hard to say that they are less inciteful than Yousef.
The Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, the "terrorism arm" of the Fatah movement behind the government of Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, welcomed the shooting attack on the Be'er Sheva Central Bus Station Sunday, calling it a "heroic operation."Afula terrorist admits she intended to commit murder
"We call upon the Arab and Islamic nation to shoulder its responsibility towards Al-Aqsa Mosque," the Brigades added in a statement, promising to "respond quickly" to "the enemy."
"We urge all our people to back the popular struggle and [terror] outbreak to protect the holy places," it added.
"The Zionist enemy knows very well that suicide bombings stood at the top of our priorities, and in the depths of Zion using our own bodies to blow up your soldiers and settlers," it taunted.
The Nazareth Magistrates' Court was scheduled on Tuesday to discuss the case of Asra Abid, 29, who threatened to stab passersby at the Afula Central Bus Station two and a half weeks ago. The police will ask that her remand be extended for a second time.Israeli Policewoman Treats Jerusalem Terrorist 30 Days after Her Father Was Killed by Palestinian Stone-Throwers
An initial investigation into Abid's case reveals that a breakup prompted her to try to stab Jews, then commit suicide.
"When questioned, the woman admitted that she had intended to attack and stab Jews. Luckily, she didn't succeed, and was shot and taken down before she could carry out her plan," said the head of the Central Investigative Unit in the Northern District Police, Cmdr. Moshe Cohen.
Abid was shot in the leg after she was spotted waving a knife and threatening soldiers, calling them "terrorists." She is currently hospitalized under heavy security at Poriya Hospital near Tiberias, where she is listed in moderate condition. Due to her wound, she will not appear in court.
Israel Police Captain Maya Stolero, daughter of Alexander Levlovich – killed on the eve of Rosh Hashanah last month, when his car was pummeled by rock-throwing Palestinians – administered first aid to a terrorist mere weeks after burying her father, Israeli news website Walla reported on Monday.IDF razes Hebron home of terrorist in fatal 2014 West Bank attack
The 38-year-old police officer was faced with having to treat a 15-year-old Arab girl who was shot in the leg by Israeli security services after stabbing a Border Police officer. Stolero, a 20-year veteran of the Israel Police, arrived on the scene of the attack almost immediately, because it took place across from the Jerusalem police headquarters, near the Ammunition Hill light-rail stop.
According to Walla, Stolero told members of the foreign press that she waited until the Border Police officer was evacuated to the hospital before turning her medical attention to the terrorist.
“I saw that she needed medical assistance, and I did everything I could,” Stolero told reporters. “At that moment, I set aside my personal pain.”
Israeli forces overnight razed the Hebron home of a Palestinian terrorist who ran over and stabbed to death an Israeli civilian during a wave of violence nearly a year ago, the army said Tuesday morning.Netanyahu Cancels Demolition of Illegal Arab Homes Due to Tensions
The military said it demolished the home of Maher Hamdi el-Hashlamoun, who killed 26-year-old Dalia Lemkus in order to send a warning to other would-be terrorists, as the country struggles to stamp out a fresh wave of terror.
“Last night’s activity sends a clear message that there is a personal price to pay when you are involved in terror. We will utilize all the necessary means in order to protect innocent civilians from the atrocities of those engaged in stabbing, shooting and the killing of innocent Israelis,” IDF spokesman Lt. Col. Peter Lerner said in a statement.
Pictures in Palestinian media showed the apartment gutted.
Prime Minister Netanyahu has been urging the Jerusalem municipality to speed up the demolition of houses belonging terrorists’ families in response to the wave of Arab violence, but according to an Army Radio report Tuesday, since the wave of terror began, the PM’s office has been ordering the cancellation of demolitions of illegal construction in east Jerusalem. Some call it awarding terrorism, others an attempt to avoid an even greater escalation.Israeli Police Evacuates Arab Squatters from Historic Silwan Yemenite Synagogue
In the heart of Beit Hanina, a predominantly Palestinian neighborhood five miles north of central Jerusalem, on the road to Ramallah, stands a large apartment building that was built illegally and has been slated for demolition for 10 years. On Monday it was scheduled to finally come down, when, at the last moment, it received the municipal equivalent of a reprieve from the governor: the Jerusalem municipality received a call from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s staff, spelling out: “Because of the security tensions you do not have authorization to demolish the building.”
MK Moti Yogev (Bayit Yehudi) told Army Radio that this constitutes a surrender to terrorism: “These are very serious elements of the loss of sovereignty, and this loss brings with it the loss of security — they’re links in a chain.” Yogev added: “When there is no law enforcement in simple areas like construction, trade, parking and transportation, it gives rise to nationalistic and security crime.”
Against the background of the deteriorating security in Jerusalem, Arab families living in the synagogue in Kfar Shiloah (Silwan neighborhood) east of the city were evacuated Monday morning, NRG reported. The decision to evacuate the building was reached only after a petition by representatives of the Ateret Cohanim NGO had been accepted by the District Court.Ban Ki-moon making surprise Israel trip to calm tensions
Last May, members of Ateret Cohanim, a Jewish Israeli organization that also runs a yeshiva located in the Muslim Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem, entered the ancient Ohel Shlomo synagogue, built by Yemenites in the 19th century, and located about a hundred yards from Beit Yonatan, an apartment building named after Jonathan Pollard and owned by Ateret Cohanim. Beit Yonatan has been sealed back in 2011, on the orders of Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein, despite Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat’s objections.
At the time, Mayor Barkat conditioned the sealing of Beit Yonatan on the evacuation of the Abu Nab family, who lived in the synagogue—in the context of the City’s uniform enforcement of demolition orders that does not discriminate between sectors.
In recent years, the Abu Nabs fought a legal battle against the Synagogue Sanctuary over their home ownership, until, earlier this year, the District Court in Jerusalem ruled that the Abu Nabs had to vacate the building.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon will arrive in Israel Tuesday for a surprise visit in an attempt to address ongoing violence that has rocked the country for over a month.Israel's 'harsh responses' to Palestinian violence won't bring peace, Ban says
During the visit Ban will meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as well as Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.
Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon will also fly to Israel Tuesday in order to accompany the secretary general during his meeting with the Netanyahu.
Danon called on Ban to speak out against Palestinian leaders for encouraging violence.
“I expect the secretary general to come out with a clear call against the incitement to violence of the Palestinian Authority,” Danon said before taking off for the flight to Israel.
“Enough is enough,” UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in a video message to Israeli and Palestinian people recorded from Bratislava in Slovakia, where he traveled this week to open an exhibition for the commemoration of the 70th anniversary of the United Nations.UN Human Rights Council to host Abbas in Geneva next week
“I am dismayed, as we all should be, when I see young people, children, picking up weapons and seeking to kill,” he said.
In the video, Ban first addressed Palestinian youth. “I understand your frustration. I know your hopes for peace have been dashed countless times,” he said.
“You are angry at the continued occupation and expansion of settlements. Many of you are disappointed in your leaders and in us, the international community, because of our inability to end this occupation.”
“I am not asking you to be passive, but you must put down the weapons of despair,” he added.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas will address the United Nations’ top human rights body next week, the UN said Tuesday, as a wave of violence in Israel continues despite international calls for calm.PreOccupiedTerritory: Meretz Bill Would OK Shouting ‘Fire’ In Crowded Theater Of Jews (satire)
“We expect that on October 28, here is Geneva, the Human Rights Council will hold a special meeting, [which] will feature an intervention by president Mahmoud Abbas from Palestine on the situation in the region,” UN spokesman Michele Zaccheo told reporters.
He stressed that the event would not be a special session of the council, but rather a “meeting” lasting about one hour, including a speech by Abbas, but with no room for subsequent questions or debate.
Such a special meeting has been called only once before by the UN’s top rights body, when Chilean President Michelle Bachelet spoke to the council in 2007, Zaccheo said.
The announcement came as UN chief Ban Ki-moon made an unannounced visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories Tuesday, in an effort try to calm the weeks of escalating violence.
The current spate of violence has prompted the government to impose certain limits on basic freedoms and rights, including freedom of speech, but Opposition lawmakers claim now is the time to expand, not restrict, those freedoms, and Meretz has submitted a legislative proposal that would broaden permitted speech to include even shouting, “Fire!” in a crowded theater, provided the theater is full of Jews.New York Post Accuses Obama Administration of ‘Winking’ at Incitement Against Israelis
Meretz MK Tamar Zandberg authored the bill, which seeks to combat the bunker mentality of the current situation by injecting a dose of liberty into the discourse. “A heightened security dilemma is no excuse for a removal of basic human and civil rights,” Zandberg told reporters. “This is the time to increase, not cut, civil rights, given the discrimination at the root is the current violence. This law will make Israel the first country with such a broad definition of freedom of expression.”
Other Opposition figures hailed the proposal, which they said would address the glaring erosion of personal freedoms that the last several governments has facilitated. “The successive Netanyahu governments have curtailed freedom of expression, especially with the passage of the NGO Law,” said Balad MK Haneen Zoabi, referring to a law that requires NGOs operating in Israel to disclose all foreign funding. “The non-governmental sector has seen it become more and more difficult to directly call for the death of Jews, which is a serious infringement of freedom of speech.” Zoabi noted that none of the other countries in the region have laws prohibiting calling for harm to Jews, leaving Israel in the unenviable position of being less free in that respect than all of the surrounding countries – none of which are democracies.
In an editorial published on Wednesday, the New York Post accused the Obama administration of “winking” at the Palestinian Authority’s incitement to terrorism and violence against Israelis, and took Secretary of State John Kerry to task for his recent comments on the upsurge in violence.Honest Reporting: Bull$h!t on the Pages of the New York Times
The piece begins by asking, “Does Team Obama want more Palestinian attacks on Israelis?”
It then goes on to say, “Secretary of State John Kerry sure gives that impression.”
“What’s fueled the terror is no secret,” it continues. “Palestinian groups have spread inflammatory lies claiming Israel is set to take over the Temple Mount, a site holy to both Muslims and Jews.”
The editorial then details incitement to violence that came directly from Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, including his calls for Muslims to harass Israelis on the Temple Mount and block them from “desecrating” the site “with their filthy feet,” as well as saying that blood spilled in Jerusalem “is pure, as long as it is for the sake of Allah,” while those killed by Israeli security forces would be “martyrs” and go to heaven.
The editorial says the “obvious response” by Washington should have been to bear down on the Palestinian Authority to curb the incitement and bring an end to the violence, instead of taking the official position that “both sides” must restore calm.
Nathan Thrall’s recent New York Times column is an error-filled diatribe that has no place on the pages of any legitimate newspaper. Worse than simply misleading readers, his bottom line is frightening. He claims that efforts to restore calm and prevent violence are actually not constructive:Why does Times of London think Arab terrorists are just targeting “settlers”?
But what does seem guaranteed is that most Palestinians will continue to believe that if the occupation is cost-free, there will be little incentive to end it.
In other words, the path to peace lies in making the conflict more “costly” to Israelis rather than negotiating for peace. It is clear from the column (in which he cites the “success” of the previous Intifadas) that what Thrall means by “cost” is deadly violence against Israelis.
But let’s first count the lies which he uses to come to his poisonous conclusion
The caption reads:NBC Corrects: Netanyahu Didn't Spread False Information on Pisgat Zeev Victim
“Anger throughout Palestinian east Jerusalem as Israeli forces approved new stop and frisk powers in response to stabbing attacks on Jewish settlers“.
Sky News made a similar claim, in an article on their website by their foreign editor Sam Kiley. Here’s the relevant passage:
Palestinians, especially in east Jerusalem, which is considered territory occupied by Israel since 1967, have been stabbing Jews.
They appear to be targeting settlers, the residents of Jewish colonies on the West Bank and in east Jerusalem whose camps and suburbs are considered illegal under international law.
Of course, the claim that Arabs have been stabbing ‘merely’ settlers is a lie.
NBC News has backtracked on a central allegation in an article last week which posited that both sides – but more so the Israeli side – is guilty of spreading misinformation concerning the Oct. 12 Pisgat Ze'ev terror attack, in which two Palestinian youths critically wounded two Israeli civilians, including a 13-year-old ("Dispute Over Viral Video of Shot Ahmed Manasrah Sums Up Israel-Palestinian Conflict")NPR Correspondent Emily Harris Humanizes Attackers, Ignores Victims
As CAMERA noted earlier this week ("NBC Can't Be Sure, Assailant Ahmed Manasrah, 13, Could Be Innocent"), reporters Cassandra Vinograd, Lawazej Jabari and Paul Goldman reported on "the sea of conflicting information" allegedly disseminated by both sides, but more so the Israeli side. They identify the alleged misinformation of Israeli "President Benjamin Netanyahu" [sic], Israeli police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld, and the Israeli press, on the one hand, versus the Arab media, on the other hand.
As Cassandra Vinograd put it on her Facebook page, the "misinformation [is] from both sides." In a gross omission, however, the piece, however, does not mention Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' outrageous charge that Israeli police executed the allegedly innocent Ahmed Manasrah in cold blood. Manasrah is recovering in a Jerusalem hospital from his injuries after being hit by a vehicle as he fled the scene of his stabbing attacks.
Listeners who rely on National Public Radio's All Things Considered for information about the Arab-Israeli conflict are hearing biased narrative about the onslaught of knife attacks and shootings against Israeli Jews in Israel and the West Bank that began in early October.Yolande Knell’s BBC backgrounder on Temple Mount fails to cut the mustard
The show's listeners have heard more testimony from the relatives of the accused attackers (who say their children would never do such a thing, but argue that if they did do the attacks, they were driven to it by the Israelis) than from the victims or their families.
They have also heard about Israeli efforts to curb anti-Arab racism at soccer games in Jerusalem, but have not heard about antisemitic incitement broadcast by Palestinian leaders before and after the knife attacks began. Nor have they heard about the incendiary statements made by Mahmoud Abbas that have legitimized stabbing spree that has resulted in the deaths of eight Israelis and which has prompted confrontations in the West Bank that has left a number of attackers dead.
The information NPR listeners have been given about the attacks is so distorted it is hard not to conclude that the publicly funded radio network is intentionally skewing its coverage to feed into the notion that Palestinians are not responsible for the violence they have directed at Israeli civilians and that Israel is the singularly culpable party. In the story told by NPR about these attacks, Israel's efforts to stop the violence are more offensive than the violence itself.
Obviously it is highly important for audiences to understand that topic if they are to be able to put the Palestinian incitement relating to that site – which has most recently fueled the current wave of terrorism against Israelis and yet remains vastly under-reported by the BBC – into its correct context. However, Knell’s explanatory backgrounder is not fit for that purpose.Michael Sukkar MP - Member for Deakin [Australia] GETS IT!!
“This site in Jerusalem’s Old City is sacred to two religions. Muslims believe it’s where the Prophet Muhammed ascended to heaven. Jews revere it as the site of two biblical temples. It’s known as Haram al Sharif – the Noble Sanctuary – and Temple Mount.”
The site is also of religious significance to Christians, of course, but Knell fails to mention that. Following the usual BBC policy of ignoring history before 1967, she continues:
“For decades it’s been a flash point between Israelis and Palestinians. After the Six Day War in 1967, Israel occupied the Old City and East Jerusalem. But the holy site itself has stayed administered by a Jordanian Waqf – an Islamic trust.”
Tensions relating to Temple Mount were of course evident long before Israel’s creation and incitement based on rumours concerning the site has been a backdrop to anti-Jewish violence for almost a century.
In times of trauma and crisis such as this, it is imperative that opinion makers, be they journalists or politicians, speak the truth and demonstrate moral clarity.And I Wouldn’t Want to Be Anyone Else [WATCH]
Those who seek to justify the deaths of innocent Israelis by blaming them on settlements or events in Gaza should be utterly ashamed of themselves.
Muhammad Salah, standing at the pulpit with his knife in Gaza, is a disgrace to men and women of the cloth everywhere, a disgrace to religion and a disgrace to humanity. His motivations are clear. He does not speak of settlements or blockades. No political outcome or policy change or concession by the Israelis will satisfy him. The issue is religious supremacism—the perverse, violent and lethal ideology which men like Salah espouse and boys like Farhad Jabar in Parramatta and the young men in Jerusalem take as their creed.
Given these terrible atrocities, I want to take this opportunity to convey my sincerest condolences to the people of Israel and their grieving families in the Australian Jewish community. They can certainly count on the compassion and understanding of this government at such a difficult time.
Is this really what we’ve come to?Im That Jew
That depressing conversation I had was the inspiration for something I wrote and published that night. It came straight from my gut. I wrote it as a message of solidarity, hope and as a hand reaching out to any Jew anywhere to show them they’re not alone.
Whether near or far, we’re all in this together. And lest any Jew forgets — because of the violence directed at us, the hatred, the incitement to kill, the vile words, the missiles, the rockets, the knives, the rocks, the deafening silence of the world that we all feel right now — we should be proud of our heritage, accomplishments and spirit. Just like anyone else on this planet. And we shouldn’t be shy about it.
So I’m writing this to all my Jewish brothers and sisters. Rise up, speak up and keep your chins up. We’ll get through this because we love life and we’re strong and smart and funny and beautiful and talented and resilient and educated and hard-working and positive and so much more.
We’re okay. In fact, we’re more than okay.
We rock. This video is a little reminder.
Love and peace to all, (h/t Effect)
This blog may be a labor of love for me, but it takes a lot of effort, time and money. For over 11 years and over 22,000 articles I have been providing accurate, original news that would have remained unnoticed. I've written hundreds of scoops and sometimes my reporting ends up making a real difference. I appreciate any donations you can give to keep this blog going.