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1. Samaria Dilemma: Relating to IDF that Expels Jews
by Maayana Miskin
IDF's Yehuda and Shomron (Judea and Samaria) commander Noam Tibon's recent departure from his post to a position in the Command and Staff College has led to a debate among public figures in Shomron Jewish communities. The question: how should Samaria Jews treat IDF officials who support the expulsion of Jews from the region?
'Thank G-d he's Gone'
The Council of Shomron Jews gave a clear answer last week by releasing a statement referring to Tibon's absence as a blessing. “We wish him luck in one of the political parties on the extreme Left, and extend our sympathies to the commanders at the Command and Staff College who will be serving under him,” council members stated.
The council accused Tibon of deliberately choosing Sabbaths as days for expelling Jews from outpost communities, of acting arrogantly toward Yehuda and Shomron Jews and “obsessively harassing” them, and of “acting as an agent of the extreme Left.”
Wallerstein: We Must Show Gratitude
In response, Yehuda and Shomron (Yesha) Council head Pinchas Wallerstein expressed concern that Jews in Shomron were insufficiently grateful for IDF protection. “I have criticized Tibon as well, and there are things he could have done differently, but to say a blessing upon his departure? It's a disgrace that members of our community act that way,” Wallerstein said Sunday in an interview with the Hebrew-language Arutz Sheva.
"The IDF is responsible for the safety and security of residents of Israel and of Yehuda and Shomron, and we must recognize and give thanks for the good it does,” Wallerstein continued. “We have forgotten that we have had very quiet years, thank G-d, and every day the IDF arrests more wanted terrorists.”
The problem of ingratitude can be seen in various places throughout Yehuda and Shomron, Wallerstein said. Soldiers at certain checkpoints have told him that they are regularly insulted by passing Jews, he reported.
Wallerstein added that in some cases IDF commanders must be criticized. “I openly criticized [Tibo on occasion,” he said. However, he said, such criticism should be voiced “at home” and not in the media.
2. With Checkpoints Down, Weapons Flow Freely
by Maayana Miskin
Weapons are flowing freely into Shechem and other Palestinian Authority-controlled towns in Samaria thanks to the recent removal of IDF checkpoints. So reports a senior IDF source who spoke to the Hebrew-language Arutz Sheva this week on condition of anonymity.
The weapons come to Shechem from the south, the source explained. Weapons are smuggled from the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt to Israel's Negev desert. From there, they are smuggled to the Hevron region, where the Judea and Samaria security barrier remains incomplete.
Once the weapons reach Hevron, they can easily be moved north to Ramallah or Shechem, where many checkpoints have been removed over the past year as a “good-will gesture” to the Palestinian Authority.
The eased security restrictions in the Shechem area have had other negative affects as well, he said. As IDF troops have increasingly stayed out of Shechem, allowing PA troops to exert their control over the city, open hostility to the IDF has increased, he reported.
When soldiers entered Shechem frequently, their presence was met with indifference by most residents of the city, he explained. However, now that the presence of soldiers in the city is a rarer event, those troops that enter Shechem are subject to frequent attacks by openly hostile residents.
Hike in Judea and Samaria Terror
Statistics released Sunday by the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) revealed a sharp rise in terrorist attacks in the month of September. While much of the increase was noted in Gaza, terrorism was up in Judea and Samaria as well.
Dozens of rock and firebomb attacks have been reported throughout Judea and Samaria in the month of October. Two women have been injured in rock attacks in the region, one seriously.
3. IDF Tells Soldiers: Don't Kill Firebombers
by Gil Ronen
The IDF has changed its standing instructions for soldiers regarding opening fire at terrorists who throw firebombs, Arutz Sheva's Hebrew service reported. According to military sources, the new instructions are part of an attempt to “change the atmosphere” in Yehuda and Shomron (Judea and Samaria) and to make Arabs' lives easier.
Fire bomb explodes near IDF soldiers, 2002 / Israel news photo: Flash 90
Whereas for decades, fire bombs have been treated as a lethal weapon and IDF soldiers were instructed to shoot to kill whoever throws them, the new instructions only permit soldiers to shoot at the fire bomber's legs, and even then – only up to knee level.
If the firebomb has already been thrown and the bomber has turned his back on the soldier – the soldier may not fire at all.
The IDF Spokesman's Unit said in response that “firing at firebombers is carried out in accordance with the regular procedures and only in cases where there is danger to life. These procedures have recently been clarified and do not constitute a change in the policy for opening fire.”
Dov Kalmanovich, who was permanently disfigured in a fire bomb attack in the "first Intifada." / Israel news photo: Creative Commons
4. MK: Don't Freeze Lives of 'Settler' Children
by Gil Ronen
MK Orly Levy-Abukasis (Yisrael Beiteinu) said Monday that she intends to make sure, in the Knesset's winter session, that children in Yehuda and Shomron (Judea and Samaria) receive the same educational conditions as the children in other parts of Israel. “As far as I am concerned, whether there is a freeze, a construction stoppage , a recession or whatever you want to call it – the children in Yehuda and Shomron should not pay the price,” she stated. “We cannot punish them.”
"The children in Yehuda and Shomron need the basic conditions and there cannot be a situation where there is a shortage in protected vehicles,” she elaborated. “It cannot be that they will have to make several rounds with the same vehicle to take all of the children to school, and some of the children will be late for school because of this. This shameful situation must stop.”
The rookie MK added that the infamous report compiled former prosecutor Talia Sasson regarding the “illegal communities” in Yehuda and Shomron has had a detrimental effect on the lives of Jewish children in Israel's mountainous heartland. “Since the Sasson report was accepted by previous governments, the effect on the ground has been that any request for expanding classrooms in Yehuda and Shomron requires six stamps of approval from the Ministry of Defense. The processes stretch out for a long time and meanwhile the classes become unbearably crowded.”
Sasson was a senior member of the state prosecution when she compiled the report, but later left the Prosecution and ran for the Knesset on the Meretz ticket.
5. Goldstone Effect: PA in Turmoil over UN Delay
by Maayana Miskin
The Goldstone Report on the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza has led to political turmoil in the Palestinian Authority.
On Sunday, PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas reversed his earlier policy on the Goldstone Report and called for an immediate meeting of the UNHRC “to vote on the resolution, in order to punish all those who committed the most brutal crimes against our children and women in Gaza.” PA officials said their current goal is to call a UNHCR meeting before the end of the week.
Abbas came under harsh criticism earlier this month for asking to postpone a United Nations session on the matter and agreeing to defer a UN Human Rights Council vote on the report until March 2010.
This decision was met with criticism from Hamas and other rival terrorist groups, as well as from within his own Fatah faction. Former Fatah delegate to Egypt Nabil Amr, who criticized Abbas, later accused the PA chairman of seeking to harm him by canceling his security detail.
Abbas was also castigated by the wider Arab world. Some Arab journalists and bloggers went so far as to accuse Abbas of playing an active role in the Israeli counterterror operation in Gaza, and of encouraging Israeli leaders to keep up the offensive.
Hamas Blames PA
The Gaza heads of Hamas indicated this week that Abbas's decision would mean a delay to a planned Fatah-Hamas reconciliation mediated by Egypt, and some went so far as to say that they no longer consider Abbas a Palestinian.
Hamas is unable to reconcile with Fatah at the present time due to an “atmosphere of outrage and anger,” senior Hamas terrorist Ismail Radwan told the Bethlehem-based Maan news.
On Sunday, Hamas held a mock trial in the Gaza town of Rafiah in which Abbas was sentenced to life in prison. The “court,” run by Gaza schoolchildren, found Abbas guilty of traitorous activity and “acting against the supreme Palestinian interest.”
In an earlier demonstration, Gaza residents threw shoes at a poster of the Fatah leader.
PA Blames Hamas
Leaders in the Fatah-led PA, for their part, have accused Hamas of standing behind the original decision to delay a meeting on the report, only to criticize Abbas once the choice was made. Hamas had initially criticized the Goldstone Report for its conclusion that Hamas had committed war crimes.
Qatar Under Suspicion
As tensions mount, some PA officials have looked abroad to place blame. On Saturday, senior PA official Bassem Khoury accused Qatar of playing a role in the deferral of the UN decision, due to its own ties with Israel. Qatar is the only Gulf Arab state to maintain ties with Israel.
Qatari media outlets have criticized the PA for deferring the Goldstone report.
6. Record 900 Births in One Month in Bnei Brak Hospital
by Gil Ronen
Maayanei Hayeshua hospital in Bnei Brak has released statistics according to which a record number of births took place in the hospital in September. More than 900 babies were delivered in that month, 100 more than the previous record month, December 2008. The hospital said that close to 500 of the babies born in September 2009 were boys, and that about 10 percent of the births were of twins.
The record number for babies born during a single eight-hour shift during September was 24, or three per hour, and the single day with the most births was the high holiday of Yom Kippur 5770. More than 40 babies were born on that day alone. The hospital said that its doctors have determined that the relatively high number of births on Yom Kippur is not due to fasting by patients.
The head of the hospital's Mothers and Women Section, Dr. Benny Chen, said that the most impressive statistic related to the number of natural births, as opposed to caesarean sections, at the hospital. “By G-d's grace, the average rate of natural births is 88.5 percent,” he said. “Only 12.5 percent were born in a caesarean section – about half the national rate.”
Dr. Chen said that the number of births at the hospital has grown by about 10 percent annually since 2006. There were 8,742 babies born in the hospital in 2008 – compared to 6,968 in 2006. The hospital is Israel's fourth largest in terms of births per year.
The name “Maayanei Hayeshua” means “the Springs of Salvation” and is taken from a verse in Chapter 12 of the Book of Isaiah.
7. Sanhedrin Sponsors Unique Bedouin-Jewish Get-Together
by Hillel Fendel
A unique gathering to improve Jewish and Bedouin ties was held Tuesday afternoon in the Negev city of Rahat, the only Bedouin municipality to hold city status.
The event began with informal talks among the participants and interviews with the press. First to address the gathering was Sheikh Salem Al-Huzeil, declaring the “Our State” Movement together with the religious-Zionist “Hit’habrut” (Joining Together) Movement.
Public Security Minister Yitzchak Aharonovitch (Israel Our Home) then spoke, followed by Tzvi MiSinai, an expert on the Jewish ancestry of Arabs in Israel – a topic on which a short movie was then screened. MiSinai claims that the majority of the Arabs in Israel, including the Bedouin, are descendants of Jews. One place where MiSinai has apparently found very strong Jewish roots is in the Bedouin tribe known as the Sawarka, based in the Sinai and the Negev. Tribal leaders say their ancestors were forced to convert to Islam, yet they still retain many Jewish customs.
Rahat’s Education Department head Dr. Ali Al-Huzeil also addressed the gathering, speaking on Bedouin Tradition and Cooperation with the Zionist Movement.
Representatives of the nascent Sanhedrin organization, which seeks to revive the age-old tradition of a central Jewish Legal authority, were also present, and spoke on the Halachic aspects of those who claim to have Jewish ancestry, Noahides, and more.
In addition, a Bedouin IDF officer shared his experiences and spoke on the Bedouin tradition of self-sacrifice in the army. Salama Al-Turi discussed the issue in some depth, including the lack of Israeli appreciation and understanding of the Bedouin tradition of self-sacrifice in the army.
