Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News: Times of Israel

Showing posts with label Times of Israel. Show all posts

Thursday, February 10, 2022

Real apartheid: Jews who build illegally in the Negev get expelled in 24 hours, Bedouin build with impunity (with 2013 EoZNews video)

In the Negev, a few dozen right-wing activists, reportedly residents of the south and students at yeshivas in the area, set up a new outpost overnight Tuesday on state land close to the Bedouin city of Rahat.

Two prefab structures were brought to the location, which the activists declared as a “new community” named Ma’ale Paula in memory of the wife of Israel’s first prime minister, David Ben Gurion. Ben Gurion had advocated for Jewish communities to be established in the Negev during the early years of the state.

Activists said that Ma’ale Paula was set up because of “the conduct of the government and the abandonment of the Negev to a Bedouin takeover,” a reference to illegal Arab construction in the region.

Two people were arrested, the Kan public broadcaster reported.

A complaint against the outpost was filed by the Israel Land Authority, the Israel Police said in a statement.

The outpost was demolished.

But:

The right-wing, pro-settlement Regavim group said in a statement that some 3,500 illegal buildings are constructed each year by the Bedouin community.

“Worse than the lack of law enforcement is the selective enforcement,” the group said, according to Kan.

In 2013, I went on a tour of the Negev with Regavim. The group is not a bunch of anti-Arab, right-wing fanatics as they are often portrayed in the media. They want to find a humane and legal solution to the problem of the Bedouin in the Negev, and they admit that the Israeli government has not treated the Arabs fairly over the decades. But still, the Bedouin build thousands of illegal structures and villages in the Negev every year, and besides my own video, I have not seen any English language news reports that describe the issue accurately at all.

This is not the most professional video I've ever done, but it is still the best description of the complexities of the intersecting problems of Bedouin ignoring the laws of the state that they are citizens in, Israel trying to find solutions - including giving them land for free, the criminal acts of destroying infrastructure meant for Arabs, and even polygamy. The sheer amount of illegal building in the Negev is mind-boggling and the news media rarely reports it.

Today, the problems is much worse than it was when this was made nine years ago.

You will not regret spending.the 12 minutes to watch this video.

Jewish pilgrims shot outside holy site.

Every year there is a pilgrimage of thousands of Jews to Hebron, to mark the Torah portion that describes how Abraham purchased the Tomb of the Patriarchs from Ephron the Hittite.

Many of the pilgrims sleep in tents because there aren't enough houses for them to stay.

This year, despite the danger, thousands more were set to come:

Defying the threat of terror and the stormy weather, thousands of Jews are planning to take part in the annual Shabbat Chayei Sarah festivities in Hebron, a celebration of the purchase of the Cave of the Patriarchs (Me’arat Ha’Machpela) by Abraham which is recounted in the weekly Torah portion named after Abraham’s wife who was buried there 3,691 years ago, according to Jewish tradition.

This Shabbat, November 6-7, the Jewish community of Hebron and neighboring Kiryat Arba will open their homes to guests from throughout Israel and around the world who will come to Hebron to read the Torah portion recalling the passing of the Biblical matriarch Sarah and her husband Abraham’s purchase of the Cave of the Patriarchs as a burial plot. The cave subsequently became the final resting place of Abraham himself, as well as his son Isaac and his wife Rivkah, and their son Jacob and his wife Leah.

“The city of Hebron is proud and eager to host the myriad guests who will be joining us in celebration this Shabbat,” Yishai Fleisher, International Spokesman for the City of Hebron, said in a statement. “Israel has been hit by a plague of jihad, yet it continues to operate everyday with optimism and resilience. We look forward to a fun and festive experience for all the good people, government ministers, rabbis and educators, Jews and non-Jews who will come to pay tribute and join us in solidarity.”

Apparently, the idea of thousands of Jews on a religious pilgrimage was too much for some Arabs. From TOI:

Two Israeli teens were hurt Friday evening in a shooting attack near the Tomb of the Patriarchs in the West Bank city of Hebron.

One of the two, a 16-year-old, was seriously hurt and the other, aged 18, sustained light injuries. The younger teen was hit by gunfire in the upper body. He was taken to Shaare Zedek hospital in Jerusalem, Channel 2 reported.

Maariv said both of the victims were conscious at the scene of the attack.

The gunfire apparently came from the direction of the Abu Sneina neighborhood of the divided city, targeting worshipers as they emerged from the tomb.

Large numbers of IDF troops were deployed to the Palestinian neighborhoods surrounding the Jewish settlement in Hebron to search for the cell behind the attack, the Ynet news website reported.

Imagine the world outcry if teenage Christians were shot by snipers leaving the cathedral in Notre Dame. That's pretty much the equivalent to what happened here. But since the victims are only Jews, and it happened in the territories that the world believes should be Jew-free even though Jews have been there for thousands of years. In other words, the lack of media outrage is because too many believe that the Jews deserve it.

There is a rich irony here. Abraham purchased the burial site, publicly, for an exorbitant price, specifically so that later generations would know that this land undoubtedly belonged to him and his designated descendants. David did the same with the Temple Mount, and Jacob did the same with a section of Shechem (Nablus.) And these areas is the very areas that the world insists that Jews have no right to.

AP reports that the Tomb of the Patriarchs is in the "center" of Hebron. No, it's on the edge, and Kiryat Arba is adjacent to H2. Hebron is a huge Arab city and there are no IDF restrictions for the vast majority of Arabs who live there. Not that you would know that from reading the mainstream media.

A third teen was shot near Hebron.

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.

Jordan tells Syrian Palestinians to drop dead. No one cares.

From Times of Israel earlier this week:

Jordan has turned away dozens of Palestinian refugees on the Syrian border fleeing regime bombardment of the Yarmouk refugee camp south of Damascus.

Palestinian refugees living in the Yarmouk refugee camp south of Damascus have tried to enter Jordan through the Jaber border crossing after their camp was bombarded by Assad regime forces in previous weeks. They told Al-Jazeera earlier this week that while Palestinian refugees carrying Jordanian IDs were allowed to enter Jordan, children of Jordanian women who were not citizens are being refused.

Jordan has absorbed some 126,000 Syrian refugees, but Palestinians fleeing Syria are placed in a separate refugee camp at the Cyber City compound, under stricter conditions, and are banned from entering Jordanian cities. The Jordanian government fears that an influx of Palestinian refugees may tilt the demographic balance in Jordan even more towards the Palestinians, who are already believed to comprise a large majority of the population.

“Jordan is not obligated to pay a political price for the Syrian crisis,” Jordanian government spokesman Samih Maaytah told Al-Jazeera when asked why the Palestinians were not being let in.