Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Monday, July 30, 2012

Summer re-runs: PaHamas Pajamas!

From January 2009:

Jordanians discriminating against Palestinians? Perish the thought!

From the NYT:

The Syrian conflict could worsen one of Jordan’s deep domestic schisms, between citizens of Palestinian descent and so-called East Bank Jordanians.

The government seems set on not letting more Palestinians enter.

Jordanian officials strongly deny that they turn back Palestinian refugees. In a report this month, an Interior Ministry official told Human Rights Watch that Jordan had not “sent any Palestinians back, period.” Near the border, though, refugees said they had seen it happen.

A Kurdish woman from Damascus said that when she and her family reached the border a few days ago, they met a Palestinian man and his two children going the other way. The father said Jordanian officers patrolling the frontier had told him he could not enter.

And to think that Jordan was the only Arab country to allow Palestinian Arabs to become citizens in 1948. I guess the honeymoon is over. (Actually, it has been since at least 1967, when Jordan tried to get rid of the Palestinian Arabs who did not want to live under Israeli rule. The Gazans who fled to Jordan then were never given citizenship.)

But don't call this apartheid. That term has a very specific use in the Middle East.

Of course, the NYT is late to notice this. See also here and here.

(h/t Gidon Shaviv)

Monday links

From Ian:

Mitt Romney's speech in Jerusalem:

Transcript

Romney's Remarkable Speech in Jerusalem by Daniel Pipes

"But of the whole speech, it is the final words that most struck me: "May God bless America, and may He bless and protect the Nation of Israel." When last did a politician ask the Lord to protect another country and not his own?"

Romney snubs Abbas, meets with Fayyad
Chief Palestinian negotiator blasts Romney over pro-Israel speech in Jerusalem

“Saeb Erekat says Republican candidate’s declarations come at the expense of the Palestinians and harm US interests in the Middle East”

Netanyahu: Obama's Sanctions Haven't Stopped Iran By “One Iota”

With Romney by his side, the Israeli Prime Minster deals a blow to President Barack Obama, saying sanctions aren't stopping Iran from pursuing a bomb.

PMW PA TV song: "Marry me off to a girl who will raise my children on carrying the rifle"

NGO Monitor: EU-funded NGOs vs. EU-Israel Cooperation

Italian Olympic Team Commemorates Munich Massacre
About 30 Italians, including Minister of Sport, stand in silence at the entrance to Israeli team's quarters.

A Truly Heroic Sportsman by Michael Curtis
“Gino Bartali, the legendary Tuscan Italian cyclist who died in 2000 and is acclaimed in his home country of Italy, but less well known internationally, is a heroic figure, not only in his sport, but even more outside of it, as documented in a recent biography.”

Sinai Jihadi group says responsible for Israel attack in June

CIFWatch (satire)Palestinians call for sanctions against Britain following Olympic opening; Lieberman to consider UK request to establish more Israeli settlements

“Palestinian non-negotiator Saeb (“we will only negotiate after you first agree to our terms”) Erekat pointed out that William Blake was really a Palestinian whose name was “Balak”, and the poem he wrote in 1492 was originally called “Al Kuds”. He wrote it after he invented algebra.”
“On the other hand”, Freedland continued,” if Israel has to try to absorb 60 millions Brits that could imperil the Jewish character of the State of Israel and the original Zionist concept of Manchester as a Jewish homeland.” The Guardian’s editors are still trying to understand his last comment and are wondering if it has anything to do with circumcision, a topic of great concern to its readers.

Also:

Two Australian BDSers found guilty of assault

No BDS for This Intractable Middle East Conflict (CAMERA)

NGO Monitor on EU relations with Israel vs. EU NGO's relations

(h/t Harry, O.)

Unmarried couple in Mali stoned to death by Islamists

From Al Arabiya:

Islamists occupying the northern Mali town of Aguelhok stoned an unmarried couple to death in front of about 200 people on Sunday, two local government officials said.

“I was there. The Islamists took the unmarried couple to the center of Aguelhok. The couple was placed in two holes and the Islamists stoned them to death,” said a local government official on condition of anonymity.

“The woman fainted after the first few blows,” he said, adding that the man had shouted out once and then fallen silent.

A second official confirmed the information, saying the couple had two children, the youngest of which was six months old.

“They were living in the bush, they were brought to town by the Islamists who stoned them to death. People came out to watch, there were witnesses,” he said, also not wishing to be identified.

The small town in the region of Kidal near the Algerian border was one of the first to be captured by Tuareg separatists rebels on January 24.

Some 82 civilians and soldiers were summarily executed, France said earlier this year, accusing the rebels of using al-Qaeda style tactics.

The Tuareg rebellion sparked a coup d’etat in March by angry and overwhelmed soldiers, but the chaos only allowed the desert nomads and Islamists fighting on their flanks to seize the country’s north, an area larger than France.

The Islamist groups, which experts say are acting under the aegis of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) have since chased out the Tuareg separatists and are firmly in control of the region.

India police say Iran behind diplomat attack in February

From the Times of India:

Alleging that an Iranian state agency was involved in the February 13 bomb attack on an Israeli diplomat in the capital, the Delhi Police has concluded that the suspects were members of Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, a branch of the nation's military.

The investigation report, exclusively accessed by TOI, states that the IRGC members had discussed the plan to attack the Israeli diplomats in India and other countries with Indian journalist Syed Mohammad Ahmad Kazmi in January 2011, after Iranian scientists had been attacked allegedly by the Israelis. The cops have also learnt that Kazmi was in touch with these people for almost 10 years.

Details about the suspects have been shared with Iran through a letter rogatory. Delhi Police has sought more details of the five IRGC members, including the main bomber, Houshang Afshar Irani, who mentions his profession in Iran as a builder, Sedaghatzadeh Masoud (sales employee in a commercial company on Baharestan St, Tehran), Syed Ali Mahdiansadr (a mobile shopkeeper in Tehran), Mohammad Reza Abolghasemi (clerk in the finance department of Tehran's water authority) and Ali Akbar Norouzishayan (a retired accountant in Tehran).

According to the sources, Masoud is said to be the operational head and it was he who planned the attacks in Georgia, Bangkok and Delhi.

Apart from these five, police have also come across the role of an Iranian woman, identified as Leila Rohani, in the February 13 attack in New Delhi as well as the attacks in Bangkok and Georgia, and has sought details about her as well from Iran. Rohani had allegedly helped Iranian suspects in Bangkok attack of February 14 in getting a flat, after which she fled to Tehran.

But....Iran denied it!

And Juan Cole knows that the Indian police really don't suspect Iran! In fact, he wrote:

American media that just parrot notorious thug, Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman in this unlikely allegation are allowing themselves to be used for propaganda.

Can a "notorious thug" be right and an esteemed academic with a track record of unvarnished truth be wrong? Is it possible that the wonderful leaders of Iran are not telling the truth?

Too...much...cognitive...dissonance....gahh!

(h/t Yoel)

Drawing, photo of Bulgaria bomber released (graphic)

Here is an image o the Bulgaria bomber pieced together by authorities based on his remains, according to a Romanian news site that says this has been confirmed by Bulgarian police:

The photo of his head were leaked by a Bulgarian site:

As Novite says:

The photos released by Bivol.bg show the distorted face of a young blue-eyed Caucasian male with black hair. The photos have seemingly been computer modified, Bivol.bg notes without specifying the source of the photos.

The report states that the images of the alleged Burgas Bus Bombing perpetrator further questions the version presented to the Bulgarian and international public by Bulgarian Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov that the attack was committed by a suicide bomber as it appears increasingly more likely that the bomber was in fact used as a "mule" by the real organizers of the attack.

According to this version, the young man was blown up from a distance without being aware that he was smuggling explosives into a bus that was supposed to take Israeli tourists from the Burgas Airport in Sarafovo to the Sunny Beach resort.

Bivol.bg cites as further evidence for this version the testimonies of an Israeli tourists, Gilat Kulangiya, who says she saw how the bomber removed suitcases from the baggage compartment of the bus in order to place there his bag; this led to a scandal between the bomber and Kulangiya's husband and another tourist, which is when the explosion occurred. The report presumes that the actual organizers of the terrorist attack decided to detonate the explosives in the backpack upon seeing the row from a distance.

Bivol.bg reminds the statement of former Chief of Israel's Counter-Terrorism Bureau, Brigadier General Nitzan Nuriel, who snubbed the suicide bomber version of the Bulgarian investigators, saying that the perpetrator was not a suicide bomber because he would have detonated the bomb in a different way to inflict more casualties, and that his task was to place the explosives on the bus.

Bivol's report notes further than on Friday the Bulgarian government members and MPs continued to reiterate the suicide bomber version in order to justify the failure of the Bulgarian security and intelligence services to prevent the July 18 terrorist attack, and reminds the conflicting statements of the Bulgarian leadership, with PM Boyko Borisov saying at one point that the bomber might have entered Bulgaria from the Schengen Area, while Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov said there was no data that the bomber had been present on EU territory.

The site also says that original suspected accomplice is still potentially the person wanted for remotely detonating the bomb:

The former detainee at Guantanamo, Mehdi Ghezali, might in fact be the wanted accomplice involved in the July 18 terrorist attack in Bulgaria's Burgas, judging by his photos and computer-generated images of the potential accomplice.

The days immediately after the Burgas Bus Bombing saw initial media reports that Mehdi Ghezali, a Swedish citizen and former Guantanamo inmate, was a possible suspect to be the actual suicide bomber. This information was quickly repudiated by the police authorities of Bulgaria and Sweden, which, however, made no mention of Ghezali's current location and occupation, and provided no grounds to base their claims on.

A comparison of Ghezali's photo, which can easily be found online, where he has short hair, appears to match the computer-generated image distributed on July 21 by Israeli media of a man, who is believed to have been an accomplice in the Burgas terrorist attack, and might even have been the one who detonated the bomb from a distance once the suspected mule placed it on the bus filled with Israeli tourists. (Please see the photos above).

The computer-generated image of the wanted accomplice or perpetrator (if he was the one who detonated the bomb) in question appears to be based on testimonies of Bulgarian witnesses. Initial media investigations in Bulgaria, however, were based on the statement of the Bulgarian government that the attack was committed by a suicide bomber (which is different from the "mule blown up from a distance" version mentioned above); that is why most reports at first assumed that the description provided by witnesses must match that of a suicide bomber acting alone.

Here's another photo of the dead bomber's head and the reconstructed faces based on it:

VIDEO: Michael Coren on Zionism, the Arab world and the Olympics

Worth watching:

(h/t O)

Objectivity, Palestinian Arab-style (Arafat death edition)

An unintentionally funny story from Ma'an:

The investigation into late President Yasser Arafat's death is ongoing, director of the committee responsible for the inquiry said Sunday.

Tawfiq al-Tirawi told Ma'an that a medical committee headed by Abdullah al-Basheer is undertaking research in coordination with international specialists and will brief officials on the results once investigations reach their final stages.

"We haven't initiated the investigation based on the hypothesis that Arafat was killed by poison, but we agreed to begin an investigation searching directly for the killer regardless of the medical reports which will eventually show the method of killing and name of the toxin," al-Tirawi told Ma'an.

"All Palestinian people know the truth about Arafat’s death," he added, stressing that the committee needs time to get produce results.

See how objective al-Tirawi is? The investigation into Arafat's death is completely unbiased, except that he already knows that Arafat was killed and who did it.

Video of Syrian MP threatening using biological, chemical weapons

From MEMRI:

Following are excerpts from several TV interviews with Syrian MPs and Lebanese sympathizers, which aired on various TV channels in July 2012.

Al-Manar TV, July 20, 2012:

Syrian MP Ahmad Shlash, deputy chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee: These biological and chemical weapons are intended for a confrontation with the country's enemies.

As for those terrorist groups, the defenders of the land can get rid of them...

Interviewer: Yesterday, Ehud Barak toured the area...

Ahmad Shlash: Let him tour it. He wants to see where he will be buried if he tries to...

He's wondering what hole will be dug for him...

Let me tell you something. I cannot tell a lie. We have biological weapons. What's the problem? We have advanced weapons. Why lie to the people? We have them. That is what's known as the balance of power. You have nuclear weapons, and we have advanced biological weapons.

We counter might with might, but we're keeping this for the end. If you consider using nuclear weapons, we will use something equivalent, or something that causes similar damage.

Nasrallah said that Syria has drastically changed its [military] systems. Syria no longer relies upon artillery, tanks, and airplanes. Syria relies upon missiles. We have all types of missiles. All types of missiles!

Let them bear in mind and take into consideration that Syria has both chemical and biological weapons.

[...]

I would like to convey a message to my beloved Syrian president. Honorable President, enough with the leniency and the tolerance. Enough giving one respite after another. I am against the principle of tolerance. If you want to be tolerant toward someone – save it for later. This is the time to finish it off militarily – throughout the country. For the sake of Allah, oh President, the people want you to finish it off.

Al-Manar TV, July 23, 2012:

Interviewer: We are talking about unconventional weapons. Today, Syrian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Jihad al-Maqdisi said: "We will use these weapons in the event of a foreign attack."

Syrian MP Sharif Shehadeh: So, what's wrong with that?

Interviewer: You're taking precautions for any attack on you?

Sharif Shehadeh: I don't know, but if the Syrian government has weapons of that type – of course they will use them against any attacker. What should we do with them? Make tabouleh or fattoush salads? Of course we will use them against of attackers. That's only natural. When Israel was waging war against Syria and Lebanon, they used cluster bombs, which are banned internationally. Why is Israel allowed to do this while the Arabs must accept being tramped underfoot on a daily basis? Let me tell you, the Syrian public is hoping for a war. The Syrian public is hoping that we will wage a war. Either [they win, or we do].

[...]

Al-Dunya TV, July 24, 2012:

Syrian MP 'Issam Khalil: I'd like to say to those [Israelis]: The missiles of Hizbullah, which defeated you in the 2006 war, were nothing more than extremely simple fireworks compared with the firepower that Syria has in stock, which could burn you to ashes. This is well known. I'm not revealing any secret. The range [of our missiles] far exceeds what you believe. Indeed, Syria possesses weaponry, as is its right, because its facing the danger of the Zionist enemy.

NBN TV, July 10, 2012:

Hizbullah MP Brig.-Gen. [ret.] Walid Sakariya: The coalition between Syria, Iraq, and Iran builds up a power superior to Israel, even without nuclear weapons. They can annihilate Israel in a war, even if it costs them a million martyrs. We should not consider the figure of one million martyrs to be catastrophic. By no means. The USSR sacrificed 26 million martyrs in WWII, yet it became a world superpower. France and Germany suffered 6-7 million casualties in the war. We have a total population of 130 million in these three countries

If 5,000 martyrs are sacrificed out of everyone one million people...

It's like in the 2006 war – this is a price that we can cope with. Even 10,000 martyrs per million... You could easily afford a million martyrs.

Interviewer: Now we are over-simplifying things...

Walid Sakariya: It's true. People need to know this, rather than delude themselves that 100 martyrs is such a big deal. It’s not the end of the world. The living nations are the ones that are prepared to sacrifice blood for the sake of their freedom. Those that are not willing to pay for freedom with their blood will remain subjugated and will live the life of a slave.

Al-Mayadeen TV, July 24, 2012:

General Mustafa Hamdan, Former Head of Lebanese Presidential Guard: If foreign soldiers or forces try to enter Syria, there will be an all-out war – not only with chemical weapons, but with biological weapons as well. Davutoğlu Effendi also declared: We may participate in an operation within Syria. They deployed some surface-to-air missiles, in an attempt to raise the morale of the saboteurs in Syria. The Syrian reaction was quick: Any attempt of foreign intervention will lead to an all-out war, in which all types of weapons will be used, including chemical and biological.

The fake Tunisian Olympic hero

A Facebook page has popped up saluting Tunisian swimmer Taqi Murabit for refusing to compete against Israeli swimmer Gal Nevo, featuring this photo that is being copied all over the place in the Arab blogosphere:

It would have been a great story, but it is a lie. Mrabet did compete against the Israeli and was in the pool at time - but he was disqualified.

From Tunisia Live:

Tunisia’s quest for Olympic glory is off to a rocky start as Taki Mrabet has been disqualified in the first heat of the 400m Individual Medley.

Violations punishable by disqualification include not observing the required strokes during the medley (butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, and freestyle) and exceeding the underwater distance limit in the freestyle section, among other violations.

According to the news agency TAP, Mrabet was disqualified by a judge for a technical foul.

But perhaps he purposefully drew a foul so as not to enter the same disgusting waters as the Israeli?

Well, no. Here is the video of the heat, showing all eight swimmers in the pool, that I grabbed from Israel's "One" website (UPDATE - video taken down for copyright violation but you can see it on the Israeli site..)

Israeli swimmer Gal Nevo is in lane 1, Mrabet is in lane 8, as the NBC Olympics site shows:

So in reality, the Tunisian was disqualified for a technical foul, but he did try to compete against Israel. And now fans are trying to cover up for his ignominious outing by pretending that he disqualified himself on principle.

(h/t MJ)

Oh, by the way, terrorists are still shooting rockets at Israel

YNet reports two Qassams being fired on Friday night, and four rockets being shot on Saturday. GANSO says on of the Saturday rockets was a Grad. Arutz 7 counted two rockets Saturday night, for a total of eight over the weekend.

But having terrorists shooting rockets aiming at women and children into your country is considered acceptable behavior by the world (when your country is Israel.) So this is hardly even worth mentioning.

Muslims don't like loud calls to prayer either

From The Algemeiner, July 16:

Residents of the French Hill neighborhood in Jerusalem plan to combat Arab prayer-calls by blasting music from loudspeakers, in defiance of Arab religious conventions. According to Israeli newspaper Yediot Aharonot, Israelis plan to broadcast music from loudspeakers positioned toward a mosque in the Arab village Al Issawiya, located in Jerusalem on Mount Scopus near Hadassah Hospital.

A widespread practice among Muslims, the adhan is a call for Muslims to attend voluntary prayers that are broadcast from a Mosque’s large towers called minarets, like the one standing over the western wall in Jerusalem. In previous centuries, the muezzin, leader of the adhan, would stand atop the minaret and project his voice, but technological advances have yielded microphones and loudspeakers, which are now utilized to project the adhan remotely at volumes of up to 100 decibels. Jerusalem residents are often bothered by the noise because adhans occur before each of the five daily Muslims prayers, the first of which begins before sunrise, and feature Arabic versions of the basic Muslim creed, to persuade Muslims to attend mandatory prayer service.

In an effort to convey their displeasure, residents of Jerusalem’s Givah Tsarfatit, or French Hill neighborhood, have approached an amplification company with intentions of buying four giant loudspeakers, from which rock and roll music will be played to clash with the Muslim prayer songs. The music, specifically chosen from the hard rock musical genre rather than mellower styles like classical or Mediterranean music, will be played when the Muslim broadcasts begin.

The campaign to limit the Muslim broadcast has until now taken place at Jerusalem’s city hall, where attempted negotiations between the village of Al-Issawiya and the French Hill have taken place. The agreements yielded a promise by Al Issawiya to lower the noise level of their adhans, but French Hill inhabitants claim that no such change has been instituted, leading to the launch of their more drastic rock and roll campaign.

If the campaign is successful, other neighborhoods have pledged to follow suit.

There go those Jews again, disrespecting the rights of Muslims to blast their prayer calls as loud as they want at any hour of the day.

But the loudspeakers seem to bother some Muslims, too:

In Saudi Arabia, the Ministry of Islamic Affairs banned small mosques from using loudspeakers for the nightly tarawih prayer in Ramadan. The sounds of prayers coming from different mosques at the same time can be confusing, the ministry said explaining the rationale behind their decision.

“Raising the sound of loudspeakers above the accepted level is not permissible,” said Sheikh Tawfiq al-Sayegh, imam of a mosque in the coastal city of Jeddah, to Okaz daily. “There are ill and elderly people in the neighboring houses who need rest and quietness.”

However, the ministry is struggling to enforce their decision. Writing for the same paper, columnist Humoud Abu Talib said very few mosques have actually respected the ministry’s instructions to control the noise levels.

And in Indonesia:

In a move few could have predicted, Indonesia’s hard-line Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) threw their support on Wednesday behind calls to curb the excessive use of loud speakers by mosques during Ramadan.

“It is indeed better that mosques adjust their loud speakers when reciting the Koran, so as not to disturb other people, especially if the reciters can’t recite fluently or don’t understand what they are reading, lest there be negative comments from others,” the head of the Jakarta office of the FPI, Habib Salim bin Umar Alatas, told beritasatu.com on Wednesday.

Central Kalimantan’s deputy governor Achmad Diran asked local mosques on Wednesday to refrain from blasting their speakers sporadically throughout the day.

“Don’t use loud speakers when reciting the Koran. Take pity on people of different faiths who want to rest,” Achmad said during an event in Palangkaraya on Wednesday.

The Jakarta branch of the FPI — usually known for inciting angry protests against “immoral” culture — surprisingly agreed.

“If they recite well and understand what they read, then [using loud speakers] should be okay; it might even inspire remorse to those who hear it. But please don’t be too loud, and do it only during the day not at night,” Salim said.

The difference, of course, is when Muslims complain about loud calls to prayer, it is an internal matter; when Jews complain, it is Islamophobia.

Links

From Ian:

An Olympic insult to Israel’s murdered athletes

A 12 word exchange tells you all you need to know about the international community and Israel
“You didn't hear the voice of the world,“ the two ladies exclaimed. “'Yes, I did," he replied. That, according to the Jewish Chronicle, was the exchange of words at a meeting earlier this week between two Munich massacre widows and the president of the International Olympic Committee, Jacques Rogge, who refused their request for a minute’s silence at the opening of the London games."

Memorial for 1972 Israeli Athletes Held at Trafalgar Square Ahead of Opening Ceremonies

New York Jews lambast IOC over silence

Rudy Giuliani: Obama as Friend of Israel Is “Biggest Joke I’ve Ever Heard” (VIDEO)

'U.N. Me' is a must see

“Filmmaker Ami Horowitz joins Brian Lilley to discuss his new documentary which exposes the truly useless nature of the United Nations.”

Bulgaria Attack: The Victims’ Stories

Man in CCTV footage not the Burgas bomber, investigator claims
Doctor who carried out autopsy says evidence doesn’t match suspect from airport video

MK blames Israel for Burgas bombing

‘Israel is not a victim, and even when civilians are killed, the occupying Israeli policy is to blame,’ says Haneen Zoabi

The Attacks on Israelis You Won’t Read About Anywhere Else, July 24-26

Infographic: Last week, 39,795 Tons of Goods Entered Gaza From Israel

David Singer On The Palestine Mandate As Israel's Entitlement To Claim West Bank Sovereignty

'The Levy Commission’s resurrection of the Mandate for Palestine as the legal title deed establishing Israel’s entitlement to claim sovereignty in the West Bank has come 48 years after the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) first tried to bury it.”

Why is EU refusing to label Hezbollah as terrorists?

Analysis: Dutch appear ready for ban on Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps, while Germany, France have showed no appetite for one.

Police bar Jews from Tisha B’Av visits to Temple Mount, fearing disturbances

“Activist says it’s ‘shameful’ Jews can’t ascend to site where Temples once stood”

PM tells Romney: We need ‘strong and credible military threat’ against Iran

Romney: I listen to your views with ‘great seriousness.’ Republican presidential candidate says he’s honored to visit Jerusalem on Tisha B’Av and to ‘recognize the solemnity of the day and also the suffering of the Jewish people’

Netanyahu flatly denies AP story on Israelis spying on CIA

‘This is a false report,’ says Prime Minister’s Office, rejecting Associated Press article that claims US national security officials consider Israel to be ‘a genuine counterintelligence threat’

Gaza terrorists fire 4 rockets on southern Israel
Missiles explode in unpopulated areas near Sderot and in Eshkol region

Jihadi Group Releases Video Documenting Its Attacks Against Egyptian Gas Pipeline To Israel

‘Prisoners of War,’ inspiration for TV drama ‘Homeland,’ now airing on Hulu
US online streaming site airing new episodes every Saturday

Archaeology news part 2: Stone seal depicting Samson?

Ma'ariv reports on the discovery of a stone seal that seems to depict an image of a man holding onto a lion-like animal with a large head and tail.

The seal was excavated in Tel Bet Shemesh, and comes from around the 11th century BCE, the same time period that the biblical Samson was said to have lived, according to the archaeologists who discovered it, Prof. Shlomo Bunimovitz and Dr. Zvi Lederman from Tel Aviv University.

In the Biblical story from Judges 14, Samson killed a lion with his bare hands, and used it as a source for a riddle that ended up starting a feud with the Philistines.

The archaeologists also discovered an early pre-Kingdom temple in the area, which had thousands of animal bones that seemed to be of Israelite origin.

(h/t Yoel)

Archaeology news part 1: "Mass grave from Temple destruction"

From Israel HaYom:

Remains of thousands of Jews massacred by the Romans on the Temple Mount at the time of the destruction of the Second Temple may have been uncovered in Jerusalem, according to a veteran archaeological journalist.

During a conference on Thursday at Megalim – the City of David Institute for Jerusalem Studies, journalist Benny Liss screened a movie recorded a few years ago that clearly shows thousands of skeletons and human bones in what appears to be a mass grave.

Liss, veteran archaeological correspondent for Israel's Channel 1, told the amazed audience that the film had been shot in a spacious, underground cavern in the area of the Mercy Gate, near the eastern wall of the Temple Mount, but just outside it. Liss raised the possibility that the skeletons were the remains of 6,000 Jews, mostly women and children, killed on the Temple Mount when the Romans destroyed the Second Temple, as described in the writings of Flavius Josephus, who witnessed the destruction.

The movie shows a group of people accessing the cavern with construction tools. Liss goes in first, followed by a lighting technician and cameraman. The three first pass through a narrow passage and then enter the cave with the skeletal remains. Liss says he tried to work out the size of the pile of remains by putting his hand in as far as he could, but he could not reach the bottom. The movie shows Liss crumbling some of the carbonized materials near the skeletons. As soon as Liss left the cave, Antiquities Authority staff resealed the cave, he says.

During the lecture, Liss also cites historical sources that show that in the area of the Old City where the Muslim cemetery now stands, there was once a Jewish neighborhood and cemetery, which was moved to the Valley of Josaphat. He basis his theory that the skeletons are the remains of the people killed on the Temple Mount on the site of the mass grave, the soot in the cave and the written history.

"The Romans stayed on the Temple Mount for a month after the destruction of the temple until going on to conquer the upper city [today's Jewish Quarter],” says Liss. “They had to get rid of the thousands of decomposing bodies and the most obvious place to do this would have been the natural caves on the upper slope of the mount, around Mercy Gate."

The veteran journalist emphasized that this was just a theory. "Now, after publishing this information, the experts should go into the field and examine what we found back then, evaluate it and publish their own findings," he says.

A host of senior archaeologists approached by Israel Hayom said that photographs were not enough to determine the history of the cave and that samples need to be taken from the site and dated.

The chances of the site being reopened are very slim as it is located in a particularly sensitive area, where the Jerusalem Islamic Waqf keeps a close watch and interprets every movement by Jews or Israeli authorities on the mount.

The Antiquities Authority said in response that it was unaware of the findings presented in Liss' movie, and it would be happy to receive the materials. One official told Israel Hayom that he was aware of unsubstantiated reports of a cave with a large amount of human remains in the area, but because of the extreme sensitivity of the location and its close proximity to the Muslim cemetery, the cave had never been explored.