Friday, November 27, 2015
Melanie Phillips: Time to change the narrative
After Paris, the hope was expressed in Israel that now the west would recognize Israel was suffering from the same war of conquest and extermination. Unfortunately, however, the more obvious this becomes the more viciously the West will seek to defend its delusion.Ben-Dror Yemini: Breaking the truth: The mission to demonize Israel
The need to change the narrative has never been more urgent. In a recent interview with Channel 10, Abbas admitted publicly for the first time that in 2008 he flatly rejected an offer of statehood from Israel that would have given him control of almost all the West Bank and a share of Jerusalem, as well as Gaza. In other words, he wants Israel gone.
For various reasons, however, Israel has chosen not to educate the world in certain basic truths: that this is not a fight over two states but a struggle to prevent the Arab extermination of Israel; that Palestinian identity was created solely to achieve that murderous aim; and that Israel’s ostensible Western allies are complicit in that project by falsely denying the legality of Israel’s actions and sanitizing and incentivizing Palestinian rejectionism.
It is the West’s tragedy that it doesn’t understand it is up against exactly the same Islamic death cult that has attacked the Jews in the Holy Land for almost a century. It will never understand this unless these basic truths now start to be told.
Maj. Amit Deri (res.), manager at a pre-military program, served as a company commander in Hebron. There he came across the activities of Breaking the Silence, an organization made up of ex-IDF soldiers. Deri started to look into exactly what they were doing. The result was an incendiary tape. Deri recorded shocking stories that Avner Gvaryahu, from the organization's leadership, told journalists, diplomats and foreign visitors. Gvaryahu created the impression that the IDF fired machine guns over a "massive radius" as a matter of routine, killing innocent civilians.‘Breaking the Silence’ Regret Use of their Work Against Israel
Where did this happen? When was this mass killing? The organization has published testimonies from Yehuda Shaul, the organization's founder, describing incidents like this. Is this really the case? For years in the West Bank, and particularly in Hebron, there have been five cameras per square meter. How is it that no one has photographed these insane shooting incidents?
Gvaryahu talks about IDF soldiers who enter houses and blindfold the family so that they can watch a soccer match. The organization referred to a soldier's testimony in response to Deri's recording. In the testimony there is no mention of most of the details provided in Gvaryahu's story. In order to add an extra sin to the crime, and in order to dodge the heart of the matter, the organization published a message stating that Deri is a "right-winger." And even if we assume that Deri is on the Right: so what? Can right-wingers not make serious claims? I asked Deri, by the way. He has no idea where they got it from. I asked them too. They didn't respond. It's understandable. Their mission is to turn Israel into a monster. And that won't happen without lies. (h/t Yenta Press)
Breaking the silence, a group dedicated to collecting and disseminating testimonies by IDF soldiers about the terrible things they were made to do during their service, was dumbfounded to discover that there are people out there who would miss the point they try to make, namely that there’s a lot of blame to go around in the Israeli-Arab conflict — and conclude that only Israel is to blame. And point to those BTS testimonies as proof.Breaking the Silence Supporter
Here’s what they published on Facebook on Thursday, in what appears, at least on the face of it, to be a sincere expression of shock:
“We were deeply disappointed to come across this video in which our soldiers’ testimonies were not only misused, but also severely distorted.”
But then they conclude with the familiar mantra:
“In manipulating our testimonies, and thus the truth about the reality in the occupied territories, this type of rhetoric fuels the extreme right-wing’s pro-occupation narrative in Israel.
Hassidic Jews Tackle, Restrain ‘Terrifying’ Antisemitic Assailant Outside Melbourne Synagogue (VIDEO)
A group of Hassidic Jews tackled and held down a man who shouted antisemitic epithets at a passersby and assaulted a congregant outside a synagogue in Melbourne, Australia on Thursday, video footage shows.
The video, posted on Facebook, shows the instigator standing outside the Adass Synagogue and shouting at a group of Hassidic men, “Go back to Israel.” When the assailant grabs hold of the shirt of one of the men, he is tackled and pinned to the ground by the group.
Though he attempts to fight back, he is held down until police arrive.
In a Facebook report on the incident, the local Australian Jewish News described the scene as “terrifying,” and called on members of the public to alert police in the event of an emergency.
A separate video circulating on Facebook shows the same assailant shouting at another Hassid at the entrance to the synagogue. After he is told to “Talk nicely,” the abuser responds by aggressively slapping the man in the face.
The incident began after the attacker, who was drunk at the time, was walking with three others toward a nearby train station when he allegedly stole a child’s scooter from outside the synagogue, the UK’s Daily Mail reported. He then got into a verbal argument with several Jewish men who came out of the synagogue to question him over the alleged theft.
Another Week of Israeli Victims – One Wedding, Two Funerals, and a Stabbing
Israelis have endured yet another week of nonstop terrorism.JCPA: Who Were the Palestinians Killed in Attacks during October 2015?
As we’ve noted in a number of prior posts, the ongoing attacks are a consequence of a “systematic Palestinian incitement to violence”. Really it’s nothing new. But in recent weeks it’s involved much of the Palestinian political and spiritual leadership preaching a visceral hatred of Jews and the Jewish state.
In recent posts, we also highlighted how virulently anti-Israel, and even anti-Semitic, views permeate Palestinian civil society.
As noted in a report published this week by The Tower, which describes nearly a dozen “outrageous” types of incitement, the reality is that both Palestinian leaders and the public support brutal terror attacks against Israelis, routinely lionize murders, and view Israel as fundamentally illegitimate.
All this means that this latest terror surge is unlikely to end any time soon.
Below I describe how for some Jewish families, the stabbings, shootings, and car rammings in Israel are reopening old wounds—and creating fresh traumas.
One Wedding, Two Funerals and a Stabbing
On Thursday evening Sarah Techiya Litman opened her wedding to the nation and to the world less than two weeks after her father, Rabbi Yaakov Litman, and her 18-year-old brother were murdered by a Palestinian gunman.
The family had been traveling to a celebration in honor of Litman’s upcoming marriage when their car was attacked on Route 60 in the southern part of the West Bank. Litman postponed her wedding until after the funerals and shiva (mourning period).
This week saw the funerals of two more terror victims: a young Israeli woman, Hadar Buchris (21) and an American yeshiva student Ezra Schwartz (18), who was laid to rest this week in Boston.
Buchris, a midrasha/seminary student who grew up in Netanya, had just returned from backpacking in India—a trip that’s popular among Israeli young people when they complete their military or national service. According to her friends and “devastated family”, Buchris dreamed of getting married and having children.
On November 1, 2015, Hamas posted a statement on its English website, quoting the Palestinian health ministry, accusing the Israel Defense Forces of killing 72 Palestinians in October 2015. Left out of the release were the names of the dead.Six soldiers hurt in car-ramming during West Bank protest
Of the dead, 17 were Palestinian residents of the Gaza Strip, 54 from the West Bank and one from pre-1967 Israel.
During the summer of 2015, 25,000 children attended Hamas’ military training camps in Gaza. On August 5, 2015, senior Hamas officials Mahmoud Al-Zahar and Ismail Haniyeh attended a graduation ceremony at the Gaza City Hamas military camp and encouraged youth to reclaim all of Palestine. There is little question that many of these youth stormed the fences with Israel in October 2015.
Hamas’ counting of these attackers and murderers to boost the number of people killed by the “oppressive Zionist regime” is Hamas’ disingenuous way of falsely demonizing Israel and seeking to undermine Israel’s ability to defend itself. It is time to stop the victimization of terrorists.
Six IDF soldiers were wounded in a second car-ramming attack Friday in the West Bank.Two soldiers hurt in car-ramming east of Jerusalem
The attack took place during an altercation between IDF forces and Palestinian demonstrators at the entrance to the village of Beit Ummar in the southern West Bank, north of Hebron.
While soldiers held back the demonstrators to protect Route 60, the main north-south road that passes nearby, they were caught by surprise by a Palestinian vehicle that raced toward them and slammed into them.
According to the Magen David Adom rescue service, four of the wounded were lightly hurt with wounds to their extremities. One was moderately hurt. A sixth was lightly hurt and refused to be evacuated to hospital, demanding to remain with the troops in the field. Two of the wounded were officers.
Soldiers shot and killed the driver, the IDF said.
Ya’alon: Wave of Palestinian terror won’t end soon
Two soldiers were lightly to moderately hurt in a car-ramming attack, the IDF confirmed Friday morning.
The attack occurred shortly after 7 a.m. Friday morning at the Kfar Adumim Junction, north of the West Bank city of Ma’ale Adumim and east of Jerusalem.
The driver of the Palestinian-registered automobile plowed into the soldiers as they waited for a bus. The assailant was identified by police as 30-year-old Ramallah resident Fadi Hasib. He is the brother of the man who attempted to run over a group of Israelis at the same Kfar Adumim bus stop on Sunday.
“One of the Israelis was sent flying over the guard rail,” Ma’ale Adumim police chief Rafi Cohen said after the attack.
Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon said Friday that the wave of Palestinian terror attacks, which has killed more than 20 Israelis and wounded dozens more over the past two months, is not likely to end soon.Teenage ‘Scissors Terrorist’ Complains ‘I Was Just Defending Myself’
“This wave will accompany us in the coming days, coming weeks, and maybe more than that,” Ya’alon was quoted as saying by Army Radio.
Speaking to the Industrialists’ Union at a conference in Eilat, the defense minister said, “We don’t know if the terror will end soon, or when it might do so. So we must prepare for every eventuality.”
Israel’s efforts to stem the violence are not certain to work and could actually have the opposite effect, he warned. “We cannot promise that things will calm down. They may escalate.”
The terrorist is the victim?New ‘Riot Kits’ Help Protect Soldiers and Police from Terrorists
A 16-year-old girl intends to file a police complaint against a guard who shot her while she was brandishing scissors during a friend’s scissor attack in Jerusalem Monday,
A video clearly shows the girl waving her scissors seconds after her 14-years-old friend attacked a 70-year-old man with scissors and then was shot dead. The terrorist picked the wrong victim. He was an Arab, who suffered light wounds in the attack at the Mahane Yehuda market.
Here is the 16-year-old girl’s version, as reported by Channel 10 television:
She [the 14-year-old] asked me to come with her to Jaffa Road. I did not intend to harm anyone. Suddenly, she pulled out scissors and scratched someone.
I did not understand what she was doing. People began to shout ‘terrorist.’ I was afraid they would attack me, so I took out the scissors to defend myself. Suddenly, I was shot and someone hit me in the head with a chair, causing me to lose consciousness.
The government has bought more than 1,000 new riot-protection kits to help soldiers and police deal with terrorists armed with different kinds of weapons,. Israel Defense reported.Thousands attend memorial for Ezra Schwartz
Lior Textile Company designed the modular kits. They were tested for several months and have been approved by a laboratory in Europe, where standards are very high. Security personnel now are using the kits in “live tests.”
Israel Defense reported:
One of the options offered by the modular design of the kit is the option of using it in different combat situations, as it may be adapted and used in conjunction with bullet and knife proof protective vests supplied by the same company.
The kit includes all of the protective elements for all parts of the user’s body, as well as purpose-designed flame-resistant coveralls (providing protection against Molotov cocktails) made from Nomex fabric by DuPont.
Over 1,000 American yeshiva students currently studying in Israel attended a memorial service for slain student Ezra Schwartz on Thursday, who was killed in a Palestinian terror attack in Gush Etzion a week ago.A wedding in the shadow of terrorism
Among the attendees were former Yesh Atid MK Dov Lipman, a resident of Beit Shemesh who campaigned to have Schwartz's murder recognized at a New England Patriots game this week.
After the event, which was organized by the Orthodox Union in Israel (OU), MASA, Yeshiva University, and the Ashreinu yeshiva where Ezra studied, many of the students left to attend the wedding of Sara-Tehiya Litman and Ariel Beigel. Litman's father and brother were killed in a terror attack in Otniel earlier this month and called for the public to join them on their special day.
"Ezra was a very special student who recently delved into the study of the Tanach; it fascinated him," Rabbi Netanel Yuden, Rosh yeshiva (dean) of Ashreinu, stated at the memorial ceremony. "Ezra really loved to laugh, loved to learn and was greatly liked by his classmates."
Tears were mixed with joy when Sarah Tehiya Litman, whose father and brother were killed by terrorists two weeks ago, stood beneath the chuppah with her betrothed, Ariel Beigel, at the Jerusalem International Convention Center on Thursday.'We wanted to ignite the light of joy,' says terror victim's daughter on wedding day
Rabbi Yaakov Litman and his son Netanel were killed on Nov. 13 in a shooting attack near Hebron as they were on their way to celebrate the Shabbat Kallah, the bridal Sabbath held before a wedding.
After the killing, the wedding was postponed by a week and the couple issued an open invitation to the general public to attend. Israelis responded en masse, with hundreds of people gathering outside the wedding venue. Another hall was eventually opened to accommodate all the guests, among them some 200 Magen David Adom emergency medical services volunteers who worked with the bride's slain brother, Netanel, as medics.
"Two weeks ago, no one knew who I was," Sarah Tehiya wrote in the open letter. "Ariel and I were of no interest to anyone. But then, in one fell swoop on a Friday, at the height of the wedding preparations, my father and brother were killed by a vicious terrorist. Not a moment goes by without me thinking about Netanel's smile or about my dad's humility.
Before his death in a terrorist attack two weeks ago, Rabbi Ya’akov Litman wrote out the blessing he intended to say at his daughter Sarah-Tehiya’s upcoming wedding.Sarah Netanyahu participates in bereaved couple's wedding
On Thursday night the wedding’s officiating rabbi, Rabbi Ya’akov Shapira, dean of Mercaz Harav Yeshiva, read out the blessing as Sarah-Tehiya, 21, and her groom, Ariel Beigel, stood under the white wedding canopy at Jerusalem’s International Convention Center, in an event that was streamed live and to which a public invitation was issued.
“At this moment of holiness we want to remember the family members who cannot be here with us to share this celebration,” he had written in reference to grandparents who had died. “We are certain that they are sharing in our happiness.”
Shapira said that under “this canopy is a cry from the depth of the heart and with full faith: Ya’akov is not dead, he lives [in his children].”
He added that he is certain that Ya’akov, 40, and Sarah-Tehiya’s younger brother, Netanel, 18, who was also killed in the attack, were watching their wedding from heaven.
The Prime Minister's wife, Sarah Netanyahu, participated on Thursday evening in the wedding of Sarah-Tehiya Litman, whose father and brother were murdered in a drive-by shooting near Hevron, and Ariel Beigel, at the International Convention Center in Jerusalem.Israel Discusses Collapse of Palestinian Authority
"Congratulations to Sarah-Tehiya, to Ariel and to Sarah-Tehiya’s mother Noa," said Netanyahu at the wedding. "You collected your strength in order to stand on this day of joy, which is mixed with such great sadness and pain over the loss of the father and brother."
"I embrace you on behalf of myself, the Prime Minister and entire Nation of Israel, you and your younger brothers and wish for you to build a beautiful home in the Nation of Israel," added the Prime Minister's wife.
The Security Cabinet this week discussed at length the prospect of the collapse of the Palestinian Authority, and ministers are divided over the consequences for Israel, Haaretz reported.PA: No to calm in exchange for economic relief
The discussions lasted for several hours over a period of two days and followed the visit by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, who finally has admitted he has “run out of ideas” to achieve his dream-nightmare of a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.
Mahmoud Abbas reportedly is going to continue with his diplomatic suicide mission of seeking help from the United Nations to censure Israel and to promote the PA becoming a country within Israel’s current borders.
Abbas apparently is not concerned that Russian presence in Syria and the panic in Western Europe over the Islamic State (ISIS) have pushed his agenda to the bottom of the list of real concerns. He also is not aware that the blatant lies and incitement by his regime have dampened Western enthusiasm for his campaign.
His increasing loss of legitimacy in the West makes him even more illegitimate among Palestinian Authority Arabs.
The Palestinian Authority’s (PA) Foreign Ministry on Wednesday issued a warning to the international community against what it called Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s “plan to change the basis of the peace process from a political settlement to a security calm”.Erdogan praises terror wave as Palestinian 'noble fight'
In a statement, the Palestinian Foreign Ministry condemned the views expressed by Netanyahu during his meeting this week with Secretary of State John Kerry, in which he said that Israel will not freeze construction in Judea, Samaria and Jerusalem and asks the United States to recognize the settlement blocs in Judea and Samaria in exchange for a series of economic “gestures” to the PA, a demand which Kerry reportedly rejected.
According to the PA, such a move is an attempt “to obtain legitimacy for the settlements and undermine the international authority of the peace process.”
The PA Foreign Ministry warned the international community that Netanyahu is trying to impose new rules that would allow Israel to deepen the "occupation" and the “settlements” and turn the conflict from a political one into a religious state.
Amid his diplomatic row with Russia this week, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan found time to express support for the latest Palestinian Arab terror wave against Israel.Arab Reporters Call Out Palestinian Media Incitement: Enough!
Speaking at a meeting on Wednesday of finance ministers of the Islamic Cooperation Organization, Erdogan expressed his full solidarity with the Palestinian Arab people in their struggle against Israel, including the current “Al-Quds Intifada”, as Hamas calls it, and which has killed 22 Israelis since the beginning of October.
Erdogan described the terror wave as a Palestinian "noble fight" in defense of the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the holy places.
He blasted Israel for imposing a “siege” on Gaza, saying that "the Gaza Strip has become an open prison because of the continuing siege and this situation must not continue."
It should be noted that Turkey gives full support to Hamas, which is expressed through economic aid delivered through charities, and permits Hamas’s Al-Qassam Brigades to operate on Turkish territory. Israel has in the past claimed that Hamas officials living in Turkey are responsible for planning terror attacks against Israel.
Arab reporters based in the Middle East have taken to Facebook in order to criticize Palestinian media outlets for inciting untrained youngsters to risk their lives by carrying out anti-Israel terrorist attacks.PreOccupiedTerritory: Training Kids To Stab Opponents Is Key To Building A Stable Society By Nabil Shaath, Palestinian Official (satire)
The tipping point came on Tuesday when two teenage Palestinian girls were shot after they stabbed a 70-year-old Palestinian man outside a central Jerusalem market. The man was apparently mistaken for an Israeli.
The girls, likely incited by a constant stream of Palestinian propaganda, clearly believed they could successfully carry out an attack using nothing but a pair of scissors.
After seeing the images of the two young, scissor-wielding Palestinian girls, Arab journalists expressed their outrage, largely blaming the media outlets associated with the Hamas and the Islamic Jihad terrorist organizations, although Palestinian Authority television has also been leading an anti-Israel incitement campaign.
The Palestinian radio journalist Alla Adin Tawil posted on Facebook: “To the Channels ‘Palestine Today,’ ‘Al Quds,’ and ‘Al Aqsa’ and all those who were around them, be afraid of Allah. Enough.”
Mohammad Adam, a reporter for Al Quds newspaper, commented on his Facebook account: “You, the media of the resistance, be afraid of Allah when you deal with our sons and our daughters.”
Our conduct of the Resistance will serve us well when we begin in earnest the work of consolidating and stabilizing our state. We have educated our children for more than a generation that political achievements can only be attained through violence, and that compromise is almost as dirty a word as “Jew.” With such mores firmly instilled in millions of citizens, our society will be poised to achieve greatness.Outrage as Red Ken says the 7/7 bombers 'gave their lives' for the cause: Former London mayor attacked for 'shameful' comments blaming the atrocity on Tony Blair's invasion of Iraq
Compromise means weakness. If we cannot attain our aims in their entirety, we simply keep fighting, and anyone or anything standing between us and that attainment deserves not only death, but the dread that said death will arrive unannounced, and in painful, barbaric fashion. These are the political tools we are bequeathing to the next generation of Palestinians, so that they may follow in the footsteps and maintain our record of achievements.
The Zionists obviously do not understand that principle, which is why they will lose, and why they do not enjoy stability. The laughable Western notion that elections should be held regularly has resulted in fourteen different Israeli prime ministers in the time that the PLO has had only two – and then only because the first one died! We Palestinians know exactly what it takes to have stability, unlike those effeminate Zionists. Who are brutal and monstrous, of course, but effeminate and weak.
All the Palestinian factions understand this. That is why each in its own way trains its youth never to surrender, never to stray from the path of intimidating, then killing one’s opponents until the goal is achieved.
I cannot wait to see the day that this comes to fruition.
Former London mayor Ken Livingstone sparked outrage last night after claiming the 7/7 suicide bombers who killed 52 people in the capital ‘gave their lives’ in protest at Britain’s invasion of Iraq.Jihadists Are Crippling the West From Within
The veteran politician, who is now running Labour’s defence review, was debating the proposed bombing of Islamic State terrorists in Syria as a panel member on BBC’s Question Time.
After blaming former prime minister Tony Blair for the 2005 atrocity, Mr Livingstone – who was mayor at the time – told the audience: ‘They did those killings because of our invasion of Iraq.
‘They gave their lives, they said what they believed. They took Londoners’ lives in protest at our invasion of Iraq.’
Mr Livingstone, a staunch ally of Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, faced a storm of criticism from fellow panel members.
The success of a small group of terrorists in essentially taking down the third most powerful military in the world on November 13 is a milestone in the history of Islamic terrorism being celebrated by jihadists around the world.France pays tribute to victims of Paris attacks
More than 14 years ago, they succeeded in killing nearly 3,000 Americans in a plot carried out right under our noses. In those intervening years, billions of dollars were spent on creating and connecting massive databases between countries to share intelligence, new counterterrorism intelligence units were formed, tens of thousands of jihadists around the world were placed under surveillance, entire militaries were transformed to fight the new type of asymmetrical war, and government leaders vowed to wipe out the nest of terrorist vipers wherever they were.
Yet, the jihadists still succeeded in carrying out the single largest attack in Europe since World War II, slaughtering more than 120 innocent men, women and children. If there is any lesson that can be drawn, it is that the jihadists are now coming for us.
France paid tribute on Friday to the 130 mostly young people killed while they were enjoying themselves in Paris two weeks ago by Islamist gunmen and suicide bombers in the most deadly attacks the nation has seen since World War Two.Hollande vows to destroy Islamic State ‘army of fanatics’ as France honors dead
Blue-white-and-red French flags hung from the windows of public buildings and private homes as hundreds of survivors and relatives of the dead joined political leaders for a remembrance ceremony at the military museum Les Invalides in the capital.
The militant group Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the Nov. 13 attacks, which targeted cafes, restaurants, a sports stadium and a rock concert. More than 350 people were wounded and nearly 100 of them remain in hospital.
Under a wintry sky, the names and ages of the 130 victims were read out. A majority were under 35 and they came from all over France and from 17 other countries.
President Francois Hollande vowed Friday that France would respond to the “army of fanatics” which carried out the Paris attacks with more songs, concerts and shows, as the nation paused to pay homage to the victims.Longtime Belgian Mayor: A Godfather of Jihad?
“We will not give in either to fear or to hate,” said Hollande on a cold and misty day in the courtyard of the historic Invalides, the 17th-century complex housing Napoleon’s tomb.
“To all of you, I solemnly promise that France will do everything to destroy the army of fanatics that committed these crimes,” he said before a crowd of 2,600 dignitaries and some of those injured in the violence.
Some sat in wheelchairs, while firefighters and ambulance personnel in uniform stood silently in rows, two weeks to the day since gunmen opened fire on bars, restaurants and a concert hall and detonated suicide vests at the Stade de France national stadium.
"Instead of bombing Raqqah, France should be bombing Molenbeek." — Eric Zemmour, French journalist.IDF chief visited Brussels to establish unprecedented security ties
No one, at least outside Belgium, is talking about Molenbeek's long-time anti-Semitic mayor and the alliance with radical Islamists that secured his power.
The majority of the terrorists who have appeared in Europe in recent times originated from a single neighborhood, six square-kilometers in size -- an astounding concentration.
"[T]here are more veiled women here in Molenbeek than in Casablanca." — Resident interviewed by investigative reporter Gilles Gaetner.
The many shops run by Jews suddenly disappeared in 2008 after harassment and threats by local "youths." How did Mayor Moureaux react? By accusing Belgian Jews of wanting to deny Muslims the "right to diversity."
It is supposed to be Israel's fault when the Arabs of Belgium -- and especially those of Molenbeek -- have a bad reputation? This type of anti-Semitic resentment is unfortunately not only typical for Moureaux, but for his entire party.
IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Gadi Eisenkot traveled to Brussels earlier this week, holding clandestine meetings with Belgian security officials less than one month after the Paris terror attacks, according to The Jerusalem Post's Hebrew language sister publication Maariv Friday.Despite security concerns, new kosher store opens in Berlin
The purpose of the trip was designed to help establish unprecedented security ties involving Belgium and Israel prompted by security fears throughout Europe.
During his one-day trip to Europe, the IDF chief of staff also held meetings with high ranking military officials from the United States.
Israel has already established a precedent coordinating with other European countries who are seeking to improve security protocols.
Earlier this week, it was revealed that Germany received from Israeli intel services less than two weeks ago key intelligence regarding an imminent terror attack against a packed soccer stadium, German magazine Stern reported Wednesday.
Despite Jewish security concerns throughout Europe, Berlin is about to get a new kosher supermarket, this one serving customers located in the former West Berlin.Star refuses to postpone Paris concert
The “Daily Markt” kosher supermarket in the Charlottenburg district adds a new option to those already existing in Berlin, including the Kosher Life supermarket, which opened in 2008 in the former East Berlin, as well as a few smaller shops and bakeries.
They are designed to meet the needs of small but growing communities of observant Jews in the German capital, but draw non-Jewish customers as well, owners say.
The newest addition is the result of a cooperation between the non-Jewish businessman Asan Mytev and entrepreneurs within the local Jewish community, assisted by Rabbi Yehuda Teichtal, head of Chabad Lubavitch and an official rabbi of the Jewish community in Berlin.
Israeli Eurovision star Harel Skaat has refused to cancel a concert in Paris following the terror attacks in which 132 people were killed.Eagles of Death Metal, Thankful for Survival, Vow to Return
The singer, who took part in the 2010 Eurovision Song Contest and came second on the Israeli equivalent of X Factor, said he wanted to show solidarity with Parisians. He said: "I had the choice to stay in Israel and postpone everything, but I decided we should live our lives and not let anyone break our soul.
"We are used to having incidents like that here in Israel and I can understand what they're going through now."
The show will take place on December 8 at a venue close to the Bataclan concert hall where 89 people died.
This Sunday Mr Skaat will be performing in London to raise money for a JNF leadership programme for Bedouin children.
Eagles of Death Metal, the California band onstage at the Bataclan in Paris when terrorists began their attack two weeks ago, have broken their silence about what happened that night.VICE: Eagles of Death Metal Discuss Paris Terror Attacks
The band members spoke to Shane Smith, founder and CEO of Vice, which has a long relationship with the band.
The musicians and crew spoke about the chaos that erupted, about running for cover and hiding, seizing anything they could to use as a weapon in case the gunmen caught up to them–including a champagne bottle.
Julian Dorio, the drummer of the band, seen clearly in amateur video of the beginning of the attack, said that he smelled the gunpowder immediately, and saw two gunmen shooting “relentlessly” into the audience.
Sound engineer Shawn London told Smith that the concert had gone well before the attack–and then he heard shots behind him.
“People started dropping to the ground–injuries, death…. There was nowhere to go.” People started hiding under his sound console, he recalled: “I could see the gunman, and he looked right at me, and he shot at me and missed.” The gunman “stayed there, and continued to shoot, and shoot, and slaughter, and scream, at the top of his lungs, ‘Allah Akbar,’ and that’s when I instantly knew what was going on,” he recalled.
