Saturday, July 22, 2017
PM Netanyahu: Terrorist is a 'beast incited by wild hatred'
In a Saturday night statement, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu expressed "deep sorrow over Friday night's murder of three family members in the community of Halamish."Victims of Halamish terror attack named
"This was an act of terrorism committed by a beast incited by wild hatred," he wrote."The security forces are doing their utmost to maintain security and, to this end, will take all necessary measures."
Also on Saturday night, Israeli President Reuven Rivlin attempted to comfort the bereaved families and community.
"At this difficult time our hearts go out to the bereaved family in Halamish, and to all the community there, after the incomprehensible loss they endured last night," he said. "The horrifying pictures, and the thought of the children who fled for shelter now dealing with the terrible news – it is truly heartbreaking."
I pray for the wounded's recovery, and wish to express my support for all the security forces working ceaselessly to ensure our safety, especially over the last few days. I am confident we will show no tolerance for those who plot against us, and will fight terrorism single-mindedly and mercilessly."
"This is the time for the whole free world to denounce terror and incitement, and join with the State of Israel in the war against terror and incitement. One who does not denounce terror is a partner to it, and has a hand in the deterioration of the whole region into a needless, bloody war, which no one wants."
The three victims of the Friday night terror attack in Halamish were named on Saturday as Yosef Salomon, 70, his daughter Chaya Salomon, 46, and son Elad Salomon, 36.Mother managed to lock away, save children during onslaught
The names were released once other family members had been notified following the end of Shabbat. Funeral times have not yet been set.
The three were killed on Friday night when a 19-year-old Palestinian, Omar al-Abed, from a nearby village, burst into their home at the Halamish settlement armed with a large knife and began stabbing the family members. There were apparently 10 people in the house, enjoying their Shabbat eve meal, when he entered. The gathering was a festive one, marking the birth of a new grandson.
Yosef Salomon’s wife Tova, 68, was seriously wounded and taken to the Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem where she underwent surgery on Saturday morning. When she came out, she was given the news that her husband and two of their children were dead.
The couple are survived by three other children.
When the terrorist burst into a house in Neve Tzuf (Halamish) and started stabbing those assembled, the wife of one of those killed managed to lock five children into a room and call the Police. Her quick thinking likely stopped the body count from being even higher.
According to reports, as soon as the woman saw the terrorist enter, she shoved five children into a side room, saving them from the terrorist onslaught. Meanwhile, a soldier on leave from the elite Oketz K-9 special forces unit heard what was going on and shot the terrorist through the window, ending the attack in progress.
"I operated instinctively" said A., whose name cannot be revealed due to the sensitive unit in which he serves. "I didn't want to waste time, and fired through the window."
The terrorist, Omer al Abed, had climbed over the fence of Neve Tzuf Friday night, and entered the residents' home, where they had gathered to celebrate the birth of a new grandchild. Al-Abed killed Yosef Tzvi Salomon (70), and his children Haya (46) and Elad (36).
Melanie Phillips: More murder and incitement in the jihad against the Jews
As had been feared, today has seen violent demonstrations in Jerusalem and the disputed neighbouring territories as a result of Arab incitement over the metal detectors installed at Temple Mount a few days ago.Metal Detectors and Palestinian Lies
At least two Arabs have been shot dead in as yet unclear circumstances and dozens have been injured, while hundreds of Arab rioters have been hurling rocks and burning tyres at Israeli police. Protests have also taken place across the Middle East.
Israel erected the metal detectors after the terrorist attack a week ago when three Israeli Arabs burst out of the al Aqsa compound fully armed and murdered two Israeli police officers (who happened to be Israeli Druze) stationed just outside, wounding a third.
Israel police yesterday released video footage from the attack showing how the terrorists were helped by a fourth man to smuggling the guns into the al Aqsa Mosque on the morning of the shooting. You can watch the video here.
While searching the Temple Mount compound after the attack, the authorities say they found a stockpile of weapons. So much for al Aqsa being a holy Islamic site: the mosque was in fact being used here as an arms storage depot in a theatre of war.
Europe, please take note.
The slain police officers were stationed there to ensure the safety of Muslim worshippers. The Palestinian spin doctors are attempting to divert attention from the terror attack by making it look as if the crisis began when Israel installed the metal detectors and not when two police officers were murdered.
First, the security measures, including the placement of the metal detectors, was not an Israeli initiative but came as a direct and necessary response to a specific terror attack. The Israeli government did not convene and take a decision to install the metal detectors in order to alter the status quo or stop Muslims from praying.
Second, it was the Palestinians who took the decision not to enter into the Temple Mount unless the metal detectors are removed. The Palestinians and the Waqf are lying to the world by telling it that Israel is denying Muslims access to their holy sites.
The Palestinian opposition to the metal detectors at the Temple Mount means one thing only: that the Palestinians are determined to turn the holy site into a weapons cache and use it as a launching pad to carry out terror attacks against Israelis. If the mosque were then actually destroyed in the process, guess who would be blamed? Possibly that is even the real agenda.
Today's Times describes Al Aqsa as"Jerusalem's holiest site". Lazy reporting or something worse? pic.twitter.com/UUEs6ugyvo— lnsightOutsight (@hoyzen) July 22, 2017
Terror at Halamish: When a family’s Shabbat celebration turned into a bloody massacre
The family had gathered for a Friday night Shabbat dinner to celebrate the birth that morning of a grandchild.Soldier who shot Halamish terrorist: ‘I didn’t think, I acted immediately’
The Shabbat table was covered with a bright white tablecloth, laden with snacks, bottles of cola and an unopened bottle of whiskey.
They were waiting for other guests to arrive, the door of their home at the settlement of Halamish apparently open.
Instead, a 19-year old Palestinian, Omar al-Abed, from a nearby village, burst in armed with a large knife and began stabbing the members of the family. There were apparently 10 people in the house when he entered.
He killed the grandfather of the family, Yosef Salomon, 70, his daughter Chaya Salomon, 46, and son Elad Salomon, 36.
His wife Tova, 68, was seriously wounded and taken to the Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem where she underwent surgery on Saturday morning. When she came out, she was given the bitter news — her husband and two of their children were dead.
The couple are survived by three other children; it was the youngest who wife had given birth to the new grandchild that morning.
An off-duty IDF soldier who shot and wounded the Palestinian terrorist behind the deadly stabbing attack in Halamish Friday evening, in which three Israelis were killed, recounted the events Saturday.'It took under 15 minutes for Halamish attacker to jump the fence, carry out attack'
Identified only as Sgt. A., from the IDF’s elite canine special forces unit, the soldier said he heard the screams of the victims at the nearby home, ran to the window of the house and shot and wounded the killer.
“I understood immediately what was happening — I saw the terrorist and shot him through the window,” he said, according to Channel 2 news.
“I understood the situation thoroughly,” he repeated. “I shot into [the house] from outside. I didn’t think a lot, I acted immediately.”
The soldier also described the incident in a interview.
The terrorist, Omar al-Abed, was wounded by the shooting and was evacuated to hospital in moderate condition. Through his actions, the soldier may have prevented further bloodshed.
It took only 15 minutes from the moment Omar Al-Abed jumped the fence of the West Bank settlement of Halamish on Friday to the moment he was neutralized by an off-duty soldier, IDF Spokesman Brigadier General Ronen Manelis said on Saturday.IDF raids Halamish terrorist’s home, arrests his brother
“It was a horrific, murderous, attack. The house was full of blood,” said Manelis, who added that the photographs showing the aftermath of the deadly terror attack in Halamish don’t show the entire picture.
Manelis, who visited Saturday the house that became a horrific scene of bloodshed along with IDf Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Gadi Eisenkot and Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman, said that terrorist Ombar al-Abed (19) admitted to carrying out the attack because of the recent tensions surrounding the Temple Mount.
“He decided in the last two days that he wanted to carry out an attack,” Manelis said, adding that while it seems that he carried it out alone, security forces are still looking to see if he has any accomplices. The terrorist’s brother was arrested on Saturday in order to understand whether there is anyone else who knew of al-Abed’s intentions.
IDF forces early Saturday morning raided the home of the Palestinian terrorist who murdered three members of an Israeli family the previous evening, and arrested his brother.MEMRI: All Palestinian Factions Call For Day Of Rage To Defend Al-Aqsa; Palestinian Authority Mufti: 'The Prayer Of Anyone Entering Al-Aqsa Mosque Via The Metal Detectors Is Null And Void'
Troops were searching the village for weaponry and suspects. They also mapped the family home of the 19-year-old killer in preparation for its likely demolition.
Following Friday’s terror attack, IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot had held an emergency meeting of top army brass to discuss events.
Military leadership decided to temporarily enact a closure on terrorist Omar al-Abed’s hometown of Kaubar, north of Ramallah, and to conduct searches in his family’s home.
Footage released by the military showed the early morning raid.
Palestinian elements from all the organizations called for a day of rage for Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa today, July 21, 2017. This call was in protest against the Israeli police's installation of metal detectors at the entrance to the Al-Aqsa mosque compound, following the July 14 shooting attack there that was carried out by three Israeli Arabs, all members of the Jabarin family, from Umm Al-Fahm.Father of Halamish terrorist: The occupation is to blame for the attack
Palestinian Authority (PA) clerics are heading the fight to have the metal detectors removed. They called on the Palestinian public to turn out en masse to pray at the entrance of the Al-Aqsa compound and to protest against the security measures taken by Israel. The PA mufti even stated that "the prayer of anyone entering Al-Aqsa mosque via the metal detectors is null and void."
PA officials warned of an escalation in the situation, and PA President Mahmoud 'Abbas placed the responsibility for "the future outcomes of the measures that Israel adopted in Jerusalem" on Israel. He asked Jared Kushner, top advisor to U.S. President Trump, to intervene urgently and to force Israel to back down from its measures at Al-Aqsa, including removing the metal detectors.
Fatah's Revolutionary Council, which is headed by 'Abbas, declared a day of rage today, and called for a mass turnout at Al-Aqsa and for demonstrations in the outskirts of Jerusalem that would march towards the city.
Abed Aljaleel al Abed, the father of 19-year-old Omar al Abed who murdered three Israelis in the West Bank settlement of Halamish on Friday evening, blamed the "Israeli occupation" on Saturday for the attack his son carried out.West Bank terror A killer's last testament on Facebook
"I have no idea about what happened and I am against any attack," al Abed said in Arabic in a video released to the media.
Absolving his son from the responsibility of having executed the attack, al Abed said that "our children are young and the occupation is responsible [for the attack], not my son."
"The occupation caused this attack after pressing on Al-Aqsa mosque."
Less than two hours prior to the terror attack that claimed the lives of three Israeli citizens and seriously wounded one more, 19-year- old Omar al Abed from the West Bank village of Khobar wrote what he presumed would be his final words on Facebook.Halamish terrorist identified with Hamas
With these final sentences, and expecting to die, he walked the short distance from his village to the West Bank settlement of Halamish and stabbed four people in their home.
"I am writing my last testament and these are my last words," wrote al Abed.
"I am young, not even twenty-years old, I had many dreams and many aspirations. But what life is this in which our women and our young are murdered without any justification? They are desecrating the al-Aksa mosque and we are sleeping, it's an embarrassment that we are idly sitting by.
Omar al-Abed, the terrorist who murdered three Israelis in a stabbing attack in the community of Halamish on Friday evening, identified with the Hamas terrorist organization and was arrested several times by Palestinian security forces, Channel 2 News reported.Hamas welcomes Samaria terrorist attack
Some two hours before the attack, al-Abed published a post on Facebook in which he said he decided to carry it out because of the “harm” done do the Al-Aqsa Mosque.
"I am 20 years old and I have many dreams and I believe they will come true," the terrorist wrote. "I love life and I love to make others happy, but there is no life after what you see in the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the murder of women and young people."
"I only have a knife, where are the other young men who have weapons? I ask my family to forgive me. I know I will not come back, I am on my way to heaven,” he added.
Al-Abed broke into a home in Halamish in the middle of a family Shabbat dinner, stabbing four people. Three people were pronounced dead at the scene, while the fourth was taken for treatment at the Shaare Zedek Hospital in Jerusalem.
Al-Abed was shot by a neighbor and suffered serious injuries.
The Hamas terrorist organization welcomed Friday evening’s terrorist attack in the Shomron community of Halamish, in which three Israelis were murdered in the middle of their Shabbat dinner.Fatah says ‘campaign for Jerusalem has begun’
The organization said in a statement said that "the heroic attack came in the wake of Israel's violation of the rights of our people in Jerusalem and the Al-Aqsa Mosque."
Omar al-Abed, a 19-year-old from the Palestinian Arab village of Kaubar, was identified as the terrorist who broke into a home in Halamish, murdering three people and wounding a fourth moderately-to-seriously. He was shot by a neighbor and seriously wounded.
It was revealed after the attack that al-Abed identified with Hamas and had been arrested several times by the Palestinian security forces.
Some two hours before the attack, al-Abed published a post on Facebook in which he said he decided to carry it out because of the “harm” done do the Al-Aqsa Mosque.
The Palestinian Authority’s ruling Fatah party called Saturday for a continued struggle “to take control of the Al-Aqsa mosque.”Islamic Movement official: Israel ‘using chemicals’ to corrode Al-Aqsa Mosque
In a statement sent to supporters, the movement of PA President Mahmoud Abbas said the “campaign for Jerusalem has effectively begun, and will not stop until a Palestinian victory and the release of the holy sites from Israeli occupation,” the Walla news site reported.
Fatah commended Palestinian protesters who rioted in the streets of Jerusalem on Friday against the deployment of metal detectors at the Temple Mount compound, with three reportedly killed by Israeli security forces in the violence and some 200 others wounded.
The party hailed those demonstrators’ “initifada (or armed struggle) against the enemy,” their “acts for the protection of Al-Aqsa and their struggle against the Israeli plans, while sacrificing souls and blood.”
The group called for three days of mourning as well as a general strike in honor of the dead protesters.
The deputy leader of the Islamic Movement in Israel told an Al-Jazeera interviewer this week that Israel uses chemicals to clandestinely harm the infrastructure of Al-Aqsa Mosque.Gazans riot, throw stones at IDF troops along border fence
In the July 16 interview, transcribed by the Middle East Media Research Institute, Sheikh Kamal Khatib said that Israel has been injecting chemical substances into the walls of the mosque in order to cause its corrosion. He explained that the substances he claimed Israel was using have a delayed effect, enabling Israel to claim that the cracks and fissures in the mosque structure are naturally caused by the passage of time.
“Twenty-two years ago, we said that the Aqsa Mosque was in danger. At the time, we said that throughout the excavations, the occupation used chemical substances that have a long-term effect. These substances could eat away at the rocks and pillars, but its effect would not show immediately, and afterwards they would be able to claim that the cracks in Al-Aqsa [walls],” said Khatib.
“It has happened. There are fissures and sinkholes in some places. [The Israelis’ plan was that] they would be able to claim that it was the working of nature. It seems… Actually, I shouldn’t say ‘seems'” he told the Qatari station.
Following a day of protests in and around the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem on Friday, Palestinians in the Gaza Strip staged riots, throwing rocks and other objects at Israeli troops across the Gaza border fence.UN chief condemns West Bank terror attack
Dozens of Gazans also burned tires along the fence in view of security forces stationed on the Israeli side of the border.
The IDF said it was looking into Palestinian reports that some of the protesters were wounded at the scene after soldiers fired at the demonstrators, according to an Army Radio report.
Earlier on Friday, the unrest inspired protests against Israel in Jordan, Turkey and Lebanon.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres released a statement on Friday condemning the stabbing attack in Halamish earlier in the day.UN Ambassador: Security Council must immediately condemn attack
The secretary-general reiterated his call “to refrain from any actions or words that could further escalate an already volatile situation.”
Earlier on Friday, Guterres had expressed concern over violence in the Old City of Jerusalem. Muslims have rioted every day since police installed metal detectors at entrances to the Temple Mount in response to a July 14 terrorist attack.
“The secretary-general reiterates that the sanctity of religious sites should be respected as places for reflection, not violence,” his spokesman said in a statement.
Sweden, France and Egypt have requested an urgent meeting of the United Nations Security Council to discuss ways to address the deadly outbreak of Israeli- Palestinian violence, a Swedish diplomat said on Saturday.
Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon responded to Friday's terror attack, in which a terrorist entered a family's home, killing three Israelis and wounding a fourth.After Arab Muslims kill Arab Druze, U.N. incites more violence
"The hateful incitement and glorification of violence by the Palestinian Authority has led to the murder of innocent Israelis, stabbed to death in their homes," Danon said. "The Security Council must immediately condemn this despicable terror attack."
"The international community must demand that Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas and the PA put an end to these heinous attacks and stop their ongoing encouragement of violence."
"I deplore the violence which took place yesterday in Jerusalem and across the West Bank," British Minister for the Middle East Alistair Burt said. "I condemn the horrific attack during a Shabbat (Sabbath) dinner last night, which led to the death of three Israelis in the settlement of Halamish."
A participant in a two-day event organized by a U.N. committee on the "Question of Jerusalem" fanned the flames by claiming Israel is threatening the "Mosque of Al-Aqsa", necessitating Muslims to "defend" it. The statement was made by a former Turkish ambassador, Musa Kulaklıkaya, at a conference organized by the U.N.'s notoriously anti-Israel Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People on July 21, 2017 in Baku, Azerbaijan.U.N. "Human Rights" Council "Expert" launches initiative to kick Israel out of the U.N.
In addition to inciting further violence as Palestinians riot over security measures on the Temple Mount following the murder of two Israeli policemen, Kulaklıkaya repeatedly accused Israel of a policy of "Judaization" of Jerusalem.
In his words:
"The political challenges are reflected in two main issues: (1) The illegal Israeli Settlements; and (2) The Israeli Strategy of Judaization of the City...Judaization of Palestinian land is particularly evident in Al-Quds...
Meanwhile, Israel continues its attempts to change the civilizational and religious image of the city threatening, first and foremost, the Islamic sanctities in Al-Quds Al-Sharif. In particular, it has been observed, during the last few years, that Israeli threats to the Blessed Mosque of Al-Aqsa, the first qibla and third holy mosque in Islam, have been extremely increased. This urges the need for the Muslims to defend the Blessed Mosque of Al-Aqsa, its first qibla, and all other Islamic sanctities in Al-Quds Al-Sharif city through empowering the Palestinian people and institutions of the city of Al-Quds and supporting their steadfastness against the brutal Israeli policies and plans.
A United Nations "expert" suggested that the General Assembly should commission a study into the "status and membership" of Israel at the United Nations. The statement was made on July 21, 2017 by Michael Lynk, the "Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian Territory occupied since 1967," at a conference on the "Question of Jerusalem" held in Baku, Azerbaijan. The conference was organized by the U.N.'s Israel-bashing Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People. Lynk was awarded his position as a special rapporteur in 2016 despite past comments comparing Israel to Nazi Germany.Synagogue targeted at Turkey demonstration against Temple Mount policy
In his words: "Turning to the issue of leveraging, I would like to advance three ideas...
1. The United Nations General Assembly is in a position to commission legal studies designed to bring Israel into compliance with the United Nations' body of resolutions on Jerusalem. These studies should include (i) a legal assessment of the obligations upon the High Contracting Parties to the Geneva Conventions under common Article 1 to ensure respect and compliance by a High Contracting Party that is in persistent breach of its duties and responsibilities under the Fourth Geneva Convention; (ii) a legal and social assessment of the status of Jerusalem as a Holy City to three world religions and how that may be preserved both while occupation continues and under future conditions of s just settlement of the Question of Jerusalem; (iii) a legal study into the status and membership of a UN member that persistently defies the direction of the Security Council and/or the General Assembly; and (iv) a legal study of the different forms that the future political status of Jerusalem may take, and which forms would be broadly compliant with international law and which ones would not."
Demonstrators in Istanbul protesting the installation of metal detectors at entrances to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem kicked a synagogue’s doors and threw objects at it.In Jerusalem, some Muslims warn religious war is imminent, others say it’s begun
Several dozen men gathered around Neve Shalom with anti-Israel signs on Thursday night in what the Turkish Jewish community on Twitter called “intimidation and provocation.” The community called on authorities to make sure it “stops” and see that those responsible are prosecuted for a hate crime.
One demonstrator, who identified himself as Kürsat Mican, told reporters at the synagogue: “The Zionists prevent our brethren’s freedom of worship [on the Temple Mount]. We are here to block you from your freedom of worship. No matter if we are stopped here today, we will come tomorrow. No one can enter here.”
Photographs of the incident show some of the demonstrators tossing the signs they carried at the synagogue doors.
All Muslims worshipers interviewed by this author on Friday asserted that the metal detectors are not there for anyone’s safety, but are rather mark an opportunistic power grab by the Israeli government.Mosques in Israel Shut Down to Encourage Muslims to Throng Temple Mount
When asked why he could not believe that the metal detectors were there for the safety of police and the worshipers, especially after a deadly shooting attack just a week earlier, in which the murder weapons had been smuggled into the holy site, Hisham responded, “We are occupied and you are the occupiers. So there is no trust.”
“[Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu is as dumb as a rock, and the biggest liar I have seen in my whole life,” said Mahmoud, a worshiper who said he has been working in Israel for the past 35 years, has tried to stay far away from politics, and has many Israeli friends.
He said it was “obvious” to the world that Israel has more than security in mind with the metal detectors, and warned Muslims were prepared to fight to death over the issue.
“It’s easy for all the Muslims to die here, but we won’t leave this home,” he said, referring to the Al-Aqsa Mosque. “Our lives are cheap compared to Al-Aqsa,” he added.
Friday prayers normally held at hundreds of mosques in Arab towns in Israel were canceled in dozens of locations following pressure from local Muslim leaders to encourage thousands to throng the Temple Mount.Israel said set to replace Temple Mount metal detectors with fenced access paths
For five consecutive days, Muslim rioters have engaged in violent clashes targeting Israeli security forces in Jerusalem’s Old City near a main entrance to the Temple Mount.
Only three out of six mosques held Friday prayers here in Jaffa. The other three were closed and worshipers were sent to Jerusalem. But Israeli police organized beforehand and reportedly did not allow buses to reach Jerusalem. In protest, the Islamic Movement decided to hold a mass prayer in the main public park in Jaffa.
Islamic Movement members claimed that representatives of the police and the Shin Bet gave bus drivers an order forbidding them to continue driving towards Jerusalem.
Israel is set to remove the metal detector gates it deployed at the entrances to the Temple Mount compound in Jerusalem’s Old City, and instead will on Sunday introduce different security measures, involving access for Muslim worshipers via narrow, fenced-off routes, an Israeli TV report said Saturday night.IsraellyCool: Know Your History: Muslim Snipers From Temple Mount (NY Times Oct 20, 1938)
The metal detector gates, installed after three Arab Israelis shot dead two Israeli police officers outside the compound on July 14 using guns they had smuggled into the holy site, have prompted escalating Muslim protests. Worshipers have refused to go through them, and clashes with police in and around Jerusalem have been escalating daily, with three Palestinians killed on Friday. Later Friday, a Palestinian terrorist stabbed to death three Israelis at their Shabbat dinner table in the West Bank settlement of Halamish.
The TV report said that overnight Saturday-Sunday, or early Sunday morning, Jerusalem city workers, directed by police, would set up fenced-off “sleeves” at the entrances to the Temple Mount. Muslim worshipers would be required to file through these channels. Anyone seen as suspicious, on cameras already installed at the entrances, would be checked with a hand-held metal detector.
It was also possible that Israel would bar worshipers from carrying bags onto the Mount, the TV report said.
A series where I bring to you news from the archives and historical documents to debunk common misconceptions about the Middle East conflict.After 2,000 Years, Something Unbelievable Happened In Jerusalem
The tensions we are seeing with the Temple Mount are not new. One such example of an earlier example is from 1938, where Muslim snipers used the so-called sanctity of “Haram esh-Sharif” to shoot at Jews.
The New York Times covered it, and as usual a look at their reporting of the time is illuminating.
Note: I cannot provide a link to the full article since it is only available to those who have purchased a NY Times subscription. But I have provided screenshots below. As usual, click on the screenshots to enlarge.
Note in particular the admission this site was ours from King David’s time, and the exploitation of it by the Muslims
On Wednesday, something extraordinary happened in Jerusalem: for the first time in millennia, Jews were allowed to actually pray on the Temple Mount, the site where the ancient Temples of Israel stood.Canadian University Condemned for Alleged Role in Assisting Anti-Israel UN Mandate
Jews have been forbidden to pray there in recent decades because the Mount is controlled by the Islamic Waqf, a Jordanian trust site, but after the murder of two Druze Israeli policemen at the Mount by two Muslim terrorists, the Israeli government closed the Temple Mount to Muslims for the first time in decades. Jewish visitors were also banned.
But two days later, metal detectors were installed for Muslims who wanted to enter, prompting a Muslim boycott of the site. Ironically, Jewish visitors have always had to enter through metal detectors.
Because the Muslims boycotted the site, Christians and Jews were able to pray on the Mount.
Knesset member Yehudah Glick, who believes Jews and Christians should be allowed to pray on the Mount as well as Muslims, told Breaking Israel News:
This was an enormous game-changer. Everything is part of the geula (redemption) process, but the things that happen on the Temple Mount are especially so. If we want to bring world peace, we have to start there.
The University of Western Ontario was slammed on Friday by multiple Jewish rights groups for its alleged role in assisting the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in its ongoing investigation into supposed Israeli violations of international law."When They Say Zionists They Mean Jews": Vox Pop outside PalExpo (videos)
The criticism followed revelations by monitor group UN Watch that, for the past 14 months, the school has allegedly extended “support in kind” to Michael Lynk, the UN’s “special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian Territory occupied since 1967” and a Western law professor. The university’s reported contributions to Lynk’s UNHRC work — which UN Watch called a “permanent, politicized, and prejudicial investigation” into Israel — have included the provision of “research assistants, office space and admin assistance.” UN Watch estimated the worth of these services to be $100,000.
Judy Zelikovitz — the vice president of university and local partner services at the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs — said that her group had spoken with “senior administrators at Western University seeking answers” and that the school “has confirmed that they are investigating whether the resources [Lynk] is using are those that he has always been entitled to as a member of faculty (and that the University cannot withdraw from him) or if they are additional resources for his UNHRC role.”
According to Aidan Fishman, the campus advocacy coordinator for B’nai Brith Canada, the university “may not have the capacity to prevent Lynk from fulfilling his widely-condemned mandate,” but he maintained that the administration “does have an obligation to the Canadian public and members of the Western community to ensure that taxpayer dollars are not abused by materially supporting this hateful and counterproductive anti-Israel campaign.”
Outside PalExpo in London not long ago, pro- and anti-Israel (members of Friends of Al-Aqsa, according to the uploader) proponents clash, in verbal jousting that sometimes gets hot and heavy, with the markedly outnumbered "Zionists," at least one of whom – Jonathan Hoffman in the lilac-coloured shirt – was refused a ticket to the Expo, valiantly standing their ground..Two Scottish Palestine activists convicted over Israeli store protest
One of the Israel-demonisers betrays his stereotypes about Jews with a crack about spending their money on Rolex watches... He seems reluctant or unable to reply to the question "Why are there no Jews in Pakistan?"
The avowed ex-policeman in the rather startling tee-shirt (X-rated at first glance?) carries out a goody bag of Palestinian purchases, and declares "I'm British ... I'm objective" ...
"When they say Zionists they mean Jews"observes the stalwart Mr Hoffman:
The three-year trial of two Palestinian activists in Scotland has ended in a convictions, after a protest against an Israeli cosmetics store in 2014.PreOccupiedTerritory: Neighbors Accuse Israel Of Pinkwashing, Greenwashing, Democracywashing, Techwashing, Humanitarianwashing, Religiousfreedomwashing (satire)
Mick Napier and Jim Watson from the Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign (SPSC) were part of a demonstration at the Braehead shopping complex outside Glasgow in September 2014, just weeks after Israel’s military action in Gaza.
Napier was convicted of aggravated trespass and of failing to follow police orders to leave the Jericho Skin Care cosmetics store, while Watson was also convicted of failing to leave when directed.
A spokesman for Jewish Human Rights Watch, which supported the prosecution, said it “welcomed” the ruling, whilst Glasgow Friends of Israel chairman Sammy Stein said: “The conviction has opened a window onto the hateful and intimidatory tactics used routinely in Scotland by so-called pro-Palestinian campaigners”. He added: “The guilty verdict is also most welcome and sets an extremely helpful precedent for the police as they seek to protect people from intimidation.”
The verdict on Friday brought the three-year process to an end, concluding four days of witness testimony and cross-examination.
But, despite their convictions, which they will appeal, Napier heralded Friday’s ruling as a win, because an additional charge of ‘racial aggravation’ was dismissed by Sheriff Barry Divers.
Just a few dozen kilometers to the southwest of the Syrian capital, Israeli soldiers have been delivering food, medicine, and other essentials to beleaguered Syrian civilians caught in a war zone, while others have evacuated wounded for treatment in Israeli hospitals, in a routine that has persisted for several years. The humanitarian relief measures cast a positive light on the Jewish State, a development that sets off alarm bells among those who know for a fact that if something can be made to make Israel look good, it must be a calculated policy to distract from Israel’s brutal treatment of Palestinians.New Study: Pupils of Hardline Islamic Background Behind Rise in Antisemitism at Berlin’s School
Further to the southwest, in Tel Aviv, homosexuals from autonomous Palestinian areas find refuge from their homophobic society and clans, and revelers from around the world gather each year for the largest pride parade in the Middle East. Tel Aviv has become a gay Mecca, a turn of phrase that both disgusts Israel’s neighbors and showcases the contrasts between the country and its illiberal surroundings. By facilitating such a stark demonstration of Israel’s liberal ethos compared to the rest of the region, Israel must be pursuing such a tolerant culture not because it embraces tolerance, but because it pretends to be liberal as a way to deflect or mitigate criticism over treatment of Palestinians.
Similarly, Israeli innovations in eco-friendly technology and methods must perforce be attributed not to Israeli aims of improving the world and the environment, but of leveraging Israeli technology against any possible economic or diplomatic backlash over its treatment of Palestinians.
The results of a survey released this week in Berlin asserted that the city’s schools have seen the rise of widespread antisemitism, often instigated by students following an ultra-conservative form of Islam, the German news site Deutsche Welle (DW) reported.The reinvention of Jewish space - Israel News - Jerusalem Post.html
The small-scale study claimed that pupils of Turkish and Arabic migrant background who adhere to Salafism frequently take to hurling insults at female, homosexual and secular Muslim students, particularly by using the word “Jew” as an insult.
The study was conducted by the American Jewish Committee (AJC) and based on responses to a questionnaire from 27 teachers at 21 Berlin schools collected in fall 2015 and spring 2016.
While researchers reportedly recognized that the survey was not comprehensive, they maintained that it indicated a worrying trend that schools needed to take notice of.
On Wednesday, Germany’s RBB 24 broadcast an interview about the report with Deidre Berger, director of the AJC’s Berlin office, in which she explained that the schoolyard incidents had to be understood as “not just isolated cases.”
Berger added that many teachers have been avoiding having the classroom discussions necessary to stop students from perpetuating antisemitic conspiracy theories and using anti-Jewish language.
Israel’s imminent emergence as the Jewish nation’s demographic center will revolutionize Jewish history.
EVEN IF it takes longer for the Israeli majority to grow that big, its very emergence next decade will be for Jewish history what the Reformation, the fall of communism and the disappearance of the American frontier have been for the histories of Christianity, Russia and the US.
The nation that has been so famous for its dispersal will still have a large Diaspora, but it will now be a people solidly anchored in its ancestral land – a landed nation whose offshore islands will be inhabited by a minority of the Jewish people, while the majority inhabits what will become the Jewish mainland.
For the first time, not since the days of Jesus and Titus but since the days of Jeremiah and Nebuchadnezzar, the Jews will cease to be what the biblical Haman described contemptuously as “a certain people scattered and dispersed among the other peoples.”
St. Augustine’s triumphalist description of the Jews as a people “torn from their abode and dispersed and scattered throughout almost the whole world” will become obsolete. Historian Arnold Toynbee’s scornful dismissal of the Zionist enterprise as a “child, protégé, pensioner” and “by-product of the Diaspora” – will be an anachronism.
The People of the World, as historian Simon Dubnow celebrated the landless Jewish nation in its sojourns, will be back in its land. And the wandering knight, who is “more faithful to his country when he roams abroad,” as philosopher Franz Rosenzweig glorified the Wandering Jew, will at last end his galloping and let loose his horse in Israel’s realm.
In its first six centuries, the Diaspora was spiritually inferior to the majestic Jerusalem that was a splintered Jewish nation’s spiritual heartbeat, judicial lighthouse, scholastic wellspring and ritual shrine. (h/t Elder of Lobby)
