 | ||
 |         |  |
 | ||
| MP3 Radio | Website News Briefs: | |||||||||||
| ||||||||||||
 |  |
1. Freeze is Over: Construction in Yesha Resumes
by Hillel Fendel
Anti-climax: The construction freeze in Jewish towns in Judea and Samaria ended at midnight, but construction is resuming slowly, due to the Sukkot holiday.
Jewish building teams are or have been at work in only two locations as of now, Monday morning: At Joseph’s Tomb in Shechem and in the city of Ariel.
Work at Joseph’s Tomb actually started on Saturday night. A new, five-ton gravestone was placed on the site, with the help of cranes, atop the exact spot on which the original stone was vandalized and destroyed by Arabs over the course of the past years.
In Ariel, the 4th largest city in Judea and Samaria with some 17,000 residents, work began this morning on more than 50 new housing units. The new homes have been designated for the former residents of Netzarim, who have been displaced since the Disengagement/Expulsion of 2005. Defense Minister Ehud Barak refused to make an exception in their case, and the freeze thus applied to their new homes as well.
Itzik Vazana of Netzarim-Ariel told Israel National News, “The bulldozers are here, clearing the area – literally starting from scratch. We don’t view this as a time for celebrations, but rather as a time to get to work. Hopefully, with G-d’s help, in a few months or less we will be able to see the foundations of our new homes.”
The new neighborhood is breaking new ground south of the mostly east-west city of Ariel. Work on the 60 or so units is expected to take a year and a half.
In Revavah, a community of 250 families northwest of Ariel, hundreds of celebrants let off balloons, cheered and sang to mark the end of the government-imposed moratorium on construction work.
Thousands of youths of the religious Ezra youth movement set off on a “settlement renewal” march throughout Samaria. They will gather towards evening in the town of Yakir, where they will mark the end of the construction freeze with a gala ceremony. Science Minister Rabbi Dr. Daniel Herskovitz will participate, as will Shomron Regional Council head Gershon Mesika.
They will also hold a memorial for Avishai Shindler, a former Ezra youth counselor who was murdered in a terrorist attack south of Hevron three weeks ago.
2. Beit HaShoevah Joy at Merkaz HaRav
by Gil Ronen
Merkaz HaRav Yeshiva marked Simchat Beit HaShoeva with dancing that went on all night Sunday and continued in the morning. The traditional festivity harkens back to ancient times, when the Holy Temple was standing.
In Temple times, the rejoicing was connected to the libation of water on the Temple altar, which took place during the week of Sukkot. Water would be drawn from the Gihon spring and brought to the Temple. The process was accompanied by dance and song throughout the streets of Jerusalem, and the Talmud says that “he who has not seen Simchat [the Joy of] Beit HaShoevah has not seen rejoicing in his life.”
It was said that there was no yard in Jerusalem that was not illuminated by the Simchat Beit HaShoevah lights, and that the leading Sages danced while juggling burning torches in their hands. Members of the priestly classes – Kohanim and Levites – would play lyres, cymbals, trumpets and other instruments.
3. Arab Groups Claim Responsibility for Shooting Pregnant Woman
by Gil Ronen and Elad Benari
A pregnant woman was wounded in the leg in on Sunday in a shooting attack on the car she was traveling in, south of Hevron. The victim, Netta Zucker, was taken to Be'er Sheva's Soroka Hospital in moderate condition, where doctors performed an emergency caesarean section and delivered her child, a baby boy. Both the mother and baby were said to be in good condition on Sunday night.
According to initial reports, terrorist gunmen ambushed two Israeli-licensed vehicles that were traveling near Tene-Omarim in southern Mount Hevron. They missed the first car but hit the second, wounding Zucker, who was in her ninth month of pregnancy. Sharon Zucker, the wounded woman's husband, who was behind the wheel and was also lightly wounded in the attack, kept driving the car until reaching an IDF checkpoint. He reported the incident to the soldiers at the checkpoint and continued driving for more than 15 miles until he reached Soroka Hospital.
Large forces of IDF soldiers and police were combing the area and searching for the perpetrators.
Fatah's military wing, the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, and the Al-Quds Squads of the Islamic Jihad later claimed joint responsibility for the attack, claiming in a statement that the attack was carried out to mark the 15th anniversary of the killing of Fatah founder Fat'hi Shkaki.
In response to the attack, the Judean Residents' Council said Sunday evening that Defense Minister Ehud Barak, "must start protecting Israeli civilians in Judea and Samaria rather than devoting his time to [their] suppression."
The council's statement explained, "As the persecutions against the settlers increase, dealing in defense decreases. Ehud Barak: Do your duty and provide security or go home!"
The Komemiyut organization also responded to the attack in s statement which said: "In the face of the country's stuttering leaders, the Arab enemy continues to strike indiscriminately, while Defense Minister Barak deals with the suppression of Judea and Samaria residents and abandons the security of Jews. Jews have lost their lives on the whims of a man determined to continue to experience failures."
The statement continued: "A Minister of Defense who cannot stop a few hooligans rioting in the capital, brings disaster on Israel's deterrent force and thus allows our enemies to continue and try to hurt us."
This is the third shooting ambush in Judea and Samaria in less than one month. On August 30, just as US-sponsored “peace talks” between Israel and the Palestinian Authority were starting, terrorists murdered four people and one unborn baby at close range near Kiryat Arba.
Two days later terrorists fired at a vehicle near Rimonim in the Binyamin region. A husband and wife were wounded. One was in moderate to serious condition and the other in light condition.
Rock-throwing Arabs carried out numerous attacks on cars in different locations in the Hevron area Sunday afternoon. Other rock attacks took place in Gush Etzion and near Ofra. The attacks indicate that while local leaders conduct a 'peace' process, terrorists are stepping up their attacks on Jews.
4. Israeli-Arab MK to India in Attempt to Undermine Ties
by Maayana Miskin
An Arab MK and a Jewish Israeli professor were among those in India last week for a conference that aimed to put an end to Israel-India ties. MK Jamal Zahalka (Balad), professor Ilan Pappe, and Palestinian Authority official Mustafa Barghouti traveled to New Delhi to speak in favor of boycotting Israel.
Like many pro-boycott conferences, the event in New Delhi featured criticism of the Jewish presence in Judea and Samaria, the growing Jewish population of Jerusalem, and the clash in late May between Israeli soldiers and pro-terror Turkish activists aboard a Gaza-bound ship. It also included criticism of the Jewish presence in the Negev, which Arab activists claimed is rightfully Bedouin land, but is within the UN borders of Israel in 1948.
MK Zahalka told Indians to stop purchasing Israeli arms because they are, he claimed, ineffective. “India should end its defense ties with Israel because it is buying equipment that failed during Israel's aggression on Lebanon,” he said.
Ilan Pappe, known radical leftist and one of the few Israeli professors to support an academic boycott of Israel, focused on the flotilla incident, which he said “exposed Israel for who and what they are [sic].” He criticized the Arab world for “not doing anything” against Israel.
Both Pappe and Zahalka were critical of Israel's ongoing talks with the Palestinian Authority, saying the talks are unlikely to succeed since they do not include Hamas, which governs Gaza.
Another speaker at the event was Richard Falk, formerly the United Nations Human Rights Council envoy to Gaza, Judea and Samaria. During his term as UN envoy Falk condemned Israel for such actions as destroying illegally built Arab structures in Jerusalem and deporting four senior Hamas members from the city. Israeli officials criticized Falk as “redundant at best and malicious at worst” and accused him of lacking objectivity.
Israel and India have had increasingly close economic and military ties for several years. In 2009, Israel became India's top defense supplier, as more than $1 billion in new contracts were signed between the countries per year. IDF Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi made a historic visit to India in December of last year.
India has shown interest in Israeli supplies in particular as it fights its own terrorist threats. Among the equipment it has purchased in the past two years is a radar system to detect attempts at infiltration by sea, such as the infiltration of terrorists into Mumbai in 2008 in which eight Jews at Chabad House were cruelly murdered, to carry out attacks in which hundreds were murdered or wounded.
A global Foreign Ministry poll conducted in 2009 found that support for Israel is highest in India, where 58% of those polled said they supported Israel. The United States was in second place with 56% support.
5. Sinai: Weapons Hidden in Rocket
by Maayana Miskin
Egyptian security forces discovered half a ton of explosives outside the Sinai town of El-Arish on Sunday, according to the Bethlehem-based Maan news. The explosives were hidden inside an old rocket.
The unique hiding place selected by weapons smugglers for the contraband is what led to its discovery. Local villagers stumbled across the remains of the rocket – left over from a war between Egypt and Israel decades ago – and reported its existence to authorities out of concern that it may still pose a threat.
Upon their arrival, the forces realized that the rocket contained new weapons. Besides the half ton of TNT, the weapons cache also included anti-aircraft shells.
The weapons were packaged in bags, apparently to prepare them for delivery via the tunnels between Gaza and Egypt.
Many Bedouin residents of the Sinai Peninsula have become involved in smuggling contraband into Gaza, including weapons and terrorists. Smugglers also bring drugs, criminals, and illegal migrants into Israel via the Negev.
Egypt's police have recently cracked down on smuggling activity, blocking several tunnels to Gaza and arresting an estimated more than 1,000 Bedouin. The Egyptian police have also repeatedly opened fire on illegal migrants attempting to enter Israel, killing more than 20 so far in 2010.
Some Bedouin in the Sinai have argued that they have few economic opportunities, and have turned to smuggling to make a living. Tourism to Sinai has dropped in recent years, due largely to fear of terrorism. Israel's Counter-Terrorism Bureau has issued an extremely high alert for the once-popular Sinai, where there have been threats of Gaza terrorist cells planning to kidnap or murder Israeli citizens.
6. War on Peace: Firebomb, Rock Attacks in Jerusalem
by Maayana Miskin
Arab riots continued on Sunday in Jerusalem, where rioters attacked police officers with rocks and firebombs. Terrorists hurled a Molotov cocktail at officers in the Givati parking lot near the Old City.
Nobody was injured in the attack. Police arrested three suspects and found another three firebombs prepared for use in the area.
In a separate attack, Arabs hurled stones at police officers on Salah a-Din street, outside the Old City's Shechem Gate. One officer was lightly wounded and required hospital care. A second officer scared attackers off by firing warning shots in the air.
Palestinian Authority media reported that an Arab toddler in the northern Jerusalem neighborhood of Issawiya died after inhaling tear gas, often used by police to disperse rioters. Police said they had received no report of the alleged incident.
Violent riots began several days ago, shortly before the Sukkot holiday. Rioters have primarily targeted policemen and Jews in the neighborhoods of Mei Shiloach (Silwan), A-Tor and Ir David. Several Jewish homes have been pelted with rocks and firebombs, and at least one home and one sukkah have been burnt. Eleven civilians have been wounded by rioters' violent attacks.
7. Old Mortar Cartridge Clogs Up Tel Aviv Shopping Area
by Gil Ronen
Alert passersby identified a potential security threat at a bus stop on Tel Aviv's Dizengoff Street, near Dizengoff Center, one of the city's top shopping spots.
Security forces were quick to deploy around the suspicious object, and blocked off traffic on all sides. A robot was used to find out the nature of the threat. It turned out to be the empty cartridge of an old illumination mortar bomb, which did not pose any real threat.
The event occurred at about 1:00 PM. The cartridge was taken to an explosives lab for further analysis.
Police sources said they were not sure who placed the object at the place where it was found, and why. Terrorists often use dummy threats to observe Israeli security forces' patterns of deployment. They praised the public's alertness and asked people to continue to report any suspicious object.
More Website News:
 | Jew Arrested on Temple Mount for Daring to Seem to be Praying  |
| 500 Likud Members Promise to Help Save Yovel from Beinisch |
| Historic First: UK's Labor Party Headed by a Jew |
| Hamas Campaign to Arrest 'Spies for Israel' in Gaza |
| Complex Nighttime Operation Restores Joseph's Tombstone |
