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1. Death Sentence for Mumbai Terrorist
by Hana Levi Julian
The lone surviving terrorist in the November 2008 Mumbai massacre was sentenced to death on Thursday by an Indian judge for his role in the massive terrorist attack, one of the worst in the history of India.
During the three-day ordeal, 166 people were slaughtered and more than 300 were wounded. Six of the dead were Jews who were at the Nariman Jewish Center Chabad House, a target specifically chosen by terrorists. (Photos of the scene may be viewed by clicking here. WARNING: The photos are graphic, and reveal in detail the violence at the scene. Israel news photo, below: ZAKA)
Among the victims were the center's directors, Chabad-Lubavitch emissaries Rabbi Gabriel and Mrs. Rivka Holtzberg. The couple's two-year-old son Moishe was rescued by his Indian nanny, Sandra, who hid in a closet for hours until the terrorists had moved into another part of the building, then gathered the toddler in her arms and fled. Moishe and his nanny were subsequently brought by his maternal grandparents back to Israel, where Rivka herself was born and raised.
Israel National News produced a special tribute to honor the Holtzbergs and their guests. The page may be accessed by clicking here.
Justice M.L. Tahaliyani handed down his verdict three days after the surviving terrorist, Mohammed Ajmal Kasab, was convicted of murder and waging war against the nation. Death sentences in India are carried out by hanging. Special prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam said Wednesday that the execution could be delayed by up to a year.
No decision has yet been reached on whether Kasab will appeal the sentence.
The attacks were launched simultaneously by a team of ten young men armed with assault rifles, who began firing at passersby and guests in the two largest and most venerable luxury hotels in India's financial capital, a crowded train station, and Nariman House.
Kasab, who has confessed to being a member of the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taibe terrorist organization, was convicted of brutally murdering and wounding dozens of passersby at the train station. His defense attorney argued that he was pressured by the group into carrying out the attack.
The United States is also currently investigating the possibility that the Lashkar-e-Taibe terrorist group was involved in the recent failed car bombing attempt in New York City's Times Square.
2. Turks Help Hamas Welcome Anti-Israel Ships
by Hillel Fendel
Turkish aid is instrumental in helping Hamas clean and prepare the Gaza port, in preparation for the arrival of the anti-Israel protest flotilla later this month.
Pro-PLO organizations in Europe that have aligned themselves with Hamas are planning a flotilla of aid to the Gaza Strip. The coordinators of what some call the “ship intifada” want to avoid confrontation with Egypt, but appear to be seeking a confrontation with the Israeli navy, backed by media and diplomatic campaigns.
This past January, a senior Hamas operative in Britain named Muhammad Sawalha, who was involved in launching the previous flotilla, said the next convoy will avoid the type of confrontation that occurred the previous time with Egypt, and that next time, “the confrontation will be directly with the Zionist enemy itself on the high seas.”
Swiss MP Josef Zisyadis, one of several European MPs and UN personnel who will be on the ships, together with nearly 600 others, threatened that “if Israel tries to stop the ships, we will sue her in European courts.”
The major organizations and personalities involved in organizing the flotilla are IHH, an Islamic-oriented human rights organization in Turkey; a European organization named The European Campaign to End the Siege on Gaza; and the international “Free Gaza” organization that rails against the Israeli “blockade” of Gaza. In addition, the Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center (ITIC), based in Ramat HaSharon, Israel, states that pro-PLO activists from Sweden and Greece have purchased two ships for the flotilla, and Hamas supporters in Britain – including MP George Galloway - are also involved in organizing the upcoming flotilla and others.
Arutz-7’s Haggai Huberman reports that Turkish elements are helping to clean and deepen the port, in preparing for the arrival of the ships. “Free Gaza” and IHH are coordinating among the various organizations that are taking part in the flotilla and accompanying propaganda campaign.
The ships plan to deliver building materials, medical equipment, school briefcases and even caravans – mobile homes without wheels – for the Hamas-run entity in Gaza.
One of the ships, from Malaysia, will be loaded in Ireland with items donated by citizens in Ireland, Scotland, Britain and elsewhere. It will leave Ireland next week, and will meet up with the other ships in the Mediterranean, from where they will continue on towards Gaza.
3. Min. Attias Admits: No Housing Marketed in J'lem Since December
by Gil Ronen
The Minister of Construction and Housing, Ariel Attias (Shas), admitted Wednesday on the Knesset podium that there are thousands of housing units awaiting sale in Jerusalem, but that none have been been marketed since December.
He was responding to a motion filed by MK Uri Ariel (National Union), who claimed that marketing of plots for construction had been frozen in Jerusalem, for political reasons. Ariel surmised that the Prime Minister was behind the de facto freeze.
Attias essentially confirmed Ariel's suspicions. He said, however, that he hoped that thousands of housing units would be put on sale in the capital in 2010. He even predicted that the number of the units marketed would be larger than it had been in the past two years.
If the Prime Minister indeed instructed Attias to stop marketing homes in Jerusalem in December – this would mean that the freeze began well before the crisis with the Obama administration over construction at Ramat Shlomo. The announcement of the building of 1,600 units there sparked acrimonious rhetoric from the White House, supposedly because it coincided with Vice President Joe Biden's visit to Israel in March.
4. Hareidi Jews' IDF Enlistment Rises Tenfold in Two Years
by Gil Ronen
The Shachar program for enlistment of hareidi-religious men to the IDF has seen a sharp rise in popularity in the three years since it began: from 40 hareidi conscripts in 2007, to 200 the next year, to 400 in 2009.
The number of hareidi men expected to join the IDF through the program is expected to reach 1,000 this calendar year.
The Shachar program is a joint initiative of the IDF and JDC-Israel. Unlike the Nachal Hareidi combat program, it offers technological training and service in the Air Force and Technology Branch.
"Enlistment to the military is now an attractive option for hareidi men,” a JDC official said. “It enables them to acquire a profession and work experience through the army, while adhering to their culture, religious needs and the strict norms of the hareidi sector.”
Candidates undergo “rigorous selection,” the JDC official said, and then sign up for two or three years' service, sometimes longer. They undergo basic training and are trained professionally as software inspectors, programmers, technicians, mechanics and more.
"In recent years there has been a considerable rise in the number of hareidi men willing to go out and work for a living, mostly due to financial hardship and the shortage of Torah-related jobs,” the JDC official said. “Military service makes it possible to fill educational gaps and acquire a profession that will help them join the workforce successfully.”
Many Hareidi men strive for a life of Torah learning. This often involves living off of meager study stipends from the government or donors, and dependence on their wives' incomes.
5. Jerusalem Day Organizers: Avoid Fights with Arabs
by Gil Ronen
Organizers of the annual 'Rikudgalim' Jerusalem Day flag parade have asked participants to avoid unnecessary confrontations with Arabs.
MK Uri Ariel (National Union), along with NGOs Am Kalavi and Mateh Maamatz, which have organized the Rikudgalim event for the past 20 years, issued a plea Wednesday to participants to avoid fights with Arabs during the parade, which includes much dancing in the streets with Israeli flags held high (The name 'Rikudgalim' is a combination of the Hebrew words for 'dance' and 'flags').
'A city that was joined together'
"The purpose of the Rikudgalim is to express the connection to Jerusalem, the Holy City, and to the Temple,” Ariel explained in a public letter that was also addressed to educators. “Rikudgalim throughout the city expresses more than anything else King David's words in Psalms: 'The built-up Jerusalem is like a city that was joined together within itself'” [Psalms 122:3].
"Unfortunately, in recent years we see that some participants choose to ignore the main thing, which is Jerusalem, and to confront the Arabs who live in the Old City. The Rikudgalim must not become a scene of fights with the Arabs – and the police. If this happens, we wind up losing more than we gain.”
"I implore you,” the legislator added to heads of educational institutions. “As Jerusalem Day approaches, please talk to the students about the loftiness of Jerusalem.”
Police limited the path of the Rikudgalim this year because they said that in previous years, celebrants who passed through the Muslim Quarter created friction with the Arab residents there.
6. Ganei Modiin: Two More Houses Destroyed
by Hillel Fendel
A family holed itself up inside a building, temporarily preventing construction-freeze inspectors from destroying it. Dozens of neighbors gathered outside as well, similarly blocking the destruction. At least one boy was injured, and another one was arrested.
The drama took place late this morning in a neighborhood of Modiin Illit (Kiryat Sefer) known as Ganei Modiin, adjacent to the town of Hashmonaim. Both are populated by religious-Zionist and hareidi-religious Jews.
The anti-terrorism partition wall has been built around the towns, rendering them contiguous with pre-1967 Israel - and the construction freeze is being enforced even there.
The wrecking crew, accompanied by police forces, first succeeded in destroying one of the two structures on their agenda this morning. However, the owner of the second house refused to leave its home, and called on others to join them. After a struggle with special Yassam unit officers, however, the people were removed, and the house destroyed. Both buildings were well on their way to completion when they were cut down.
"Wickedness with No Atonement"
Earlier this week, pre-fab structures were destroyed in Shavei Shomron, despite the fact that an appeal had been filed against the orders. Shomron Regional Council head Gershon Mesika called the destruction “evil and wickedness that cannot be atoned for.”
Mesika explained that when the 10-month freeze on Jewish construction in Judea and Samaria was first announced last November, “inspectors came here to the site [in Shavei Shomron] and approved what had been built. Three months later, after the shells had been completed, inspectors came again and ordered a halt to construction – in violation of the freeze orders that allow construction to continue if it began before the freeze. The builder stopped building and filed two appeals, to which no response has yet arrived.”
“We are now considering suing personally those who are responsible for this wanton act,” Mesika said.
7. MK Danon: No Need to Fear Prison Riots over Visitation Cuts
by Gil Ronen & Yoni Kempinski
"We are not speaking to you in English or European languages. We are speaking to you in the language you understand," MK Danny Danon warned Hamas Wednesday. Danon joined a protest outside the Hadarim jail, where terrorists are held. He has introduced legislation that would curtail the visitation rights of the prisoners until abducted soldier Gilad Shalit is freed. Danon said he does not fear the possibility that Arab prisoners will riot.
