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1. Photos Disprove Claims of ’Non-Violent’ Fence Protest
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
Photos of Friday’s Arab Bil’in fence protest, which Palestinian
Authority PA Prime Minister Salam Fayyad attended, disprove claims that
the demonstration was "non-violent.” Pro-Arab activists claim the IDF
shot tear gas before the violence began.
Fayyad addressed the rally and left before the violence began. He later
accused Israel of a “war crime” for the death of 36-year-old Jawaher
Abu Rahma, who died a day after the protests from what Palestinian
Authority sources claimed was poison gas. However, Arab sources changed
the story of her medical treatment, first reporting that she and one
other were treated at the hospital and released. After she died, they
reported that she had remained in the hospital in Ramallah.
The IDF has raised doubts concerning the circumstances of her death
because the Palestinian Authority has refused to release medical
reports, which the military wants in order to complete its own
investigation and to determine if the tear gas canister was the direct
cause of her death or if other causes, such as a heart attack, were the
cause. The PA also refused to join Israel in a probe of the incident.
Foreign and local media highlighted the use of tear gas by the Israeli
army and police but did not mention the rock throwing attacks. Several
months ago, a security officer lost an eye after being struck by a rock.
Israel’s Ynet published a video of Friday’s protest that was posted on
YouTube by Kaitham Khatib, media coordinator of Bil'in, who films the
protests every week. The video omits all evidence of Arab and leftist
violence, which was photographed by Israeli authorities.
Also attending the protest was Haggai Matar, a contributing writer for
the Hebrew-language Maariv newspaper, and a member of the left-wing Gush
Shalom [Peace Bloc]. He has refused to enlist in the IDF.
“Contrary to Palestinian claims that yesterday’s riot in Bil’in was
non-violent…approximately 250 rioters had gathered in Bil’in, hurling
rocks at security forces, who responded with riot dispersal means,” IDF
spokesmen said. “The village area was declared a closed military zone in
order to prevent the violent riot from escalating and the entry and
exit of the village for residents continued as usual.
“Similar violent riots occurred this weekend in [five other villages],
in which rioters hurled rocks at security forces.” One soldier was
lightly wounded from a rock that was hurled at his face.”
Left-wing activists, anarchists and Arabs have staged weekly protests
at Bil’in for six years. The village is near the route of the security
fence that stretches from the northern Jordan Valley to the northern
Negev and which is aimed at making it more difficult for terrorists to
reach Israeli urban centers.
Nationalists have charged that the route of the fence, which
approximates the 1949 Armistice Lines that were in effect until the1967
Six Day War, is intended to draw the borders of a future Palestinian
Authority country.
Statistically, terrorist suicide bombers have almost disappeared, but
many attribute this to the activism of the IDF in preventing terror
rather than the fence.
Rahma’s funeral Saturday was accompanied by incitement against Israel.
She was buried next to her brother, who was killed in a similar protest
nearly two years ago, when a tear gas canister struck him in the chest.
PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas played on the sympathies of the international
community, saying that the IDF is guilty of crimes "carried out by the
army of the occupation against our helpless nation.”
Saturday night, Israeli pro-Arab activists disturbed the 1:00 a.m.
quiet around the home of U.S. Ambassador to Israel James B. Cunningham,
chanting anti-Israeli slogans and leaving behind empty tear gas
canisters, according to the Popular Struggle Coordination Committee and
reposted on the New York-based Mondoweiss blog, which is fiercely
against a Jewish presence in Judea and Samaria.
The protesters chanted, “One, two, three, four, stop the occupation
stop the war. Five, six, seven, eight, end the funding (US) end the
hate.” Activists also blocked a main Tel Aviv artery for one hour
Saturday night before being dispersed by police. Several people were
arrested.
2. IDF Bombs Hamas Targets after Mortar and Rocket Attack
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
The Hamas terrorist organization continues test Israel with attacks on Israeli civilians, and the IDF continues to retaliate, bombing a terrorist base and a weapons factory in northern and central Gaza late Saturday night.
Two Gaza Arabs were wounded, according to Arab sources.
The Air Force retaliation followed a mortar attack near Sderot Saturday
evening. One woman was treated for shock. The IDF noted that 6,500
residents live in the immediate area, which includes several kibbutzim.
Two nights earlier, Gaza terrorists attacked the Eshkol region, north
of Gaza, with a short-range Kassam rocket. No one was injured and no
damage was reported.
The military said it holds Hamas, which rules the region, responsible
for all attacks. The terrorist organization often has blamed rival
groups for targeting Israeli civilians and soldiers, despite previous
commitments by all groups to cease fire.
Gaza terrorists attacked Israelis with more than 235 mortars,
long-range Grad Katyusha missiles and short-range Kassam rockets in
2010. In addition, hundreds of bombs were planted along the IDF patrol
route next to the security barrier at Gaza.
%InAd1%
3. Terror Attack Thwarted in Gush Etzion
by Maayana Miskin
Two female soldiers managed to escape a would-be attacker on Saturday
night. The two were attacked by a Palestinian Authority man with a knife
as they left their base in Gush Etzion, south of Jerusalem.
The two reported the incident immediately, and Border Police began
searching the area. They found the PA man nearby, and he admitted to
having attempted to stab soldiers at the base.
He was arrested and taken in for questioning.
The Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) recently reported that there were
fewer terrorist attacks in 2010 than in 2009. In Judea, Samaria and
Jerusalem there were 455 attacks reported in 2010 compared to 636 in
2009. The statistics do not include rock throwing attacks, which are
aimed to causing fatal accidents to Jews.
While most terrorist attacks intend to kill, security forces discovered
in early 2006 that dozens of PA youth carry out poorly planned attacks
each year in a deliberate attempt to be sent to prison. While in prison,
they can complete their high school exams with help from free study
groups, and can even begin their university studies.
4. IDF Foils Jordan Valley Stabbing Attack
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
Soldiers Sunday morning shot dead a young Arab who refused orders to
halt and tried to stab them with a broken bottle at a checkpoint in the
Jordan Valley. Soldiers previously have stopped the smuggling of pipe
bombs and explosives through Jordan Valley checkpoints, but attempts to
kill soldiers have been far less frequent than in the rest of Judea,
Samaria and Gaza.
Foreign media reported that the Arab, described as being from a nearby
village and in his 20s, was unarmed, but the IDF said he possessed a
broken bottle and refused orders to halt while approaching the Hamra
checkpoint.
Soldiers followed normal procedures and fired warning shots in the air
and then aimed at him as he continued towards them. The soldiers were
unharmed.
It was the second attempted stabbing of soldiers in less than 24 hours.
Two women soldiers leaving their base in Gush Etzion, south of
Jerusalem, escaped injuries Saturday night when an Arab attempted to kill them with a knife.
The terrorist was arrested and admitted that his motive was to kill the soldiers.
The IDF has warned soldiers and civilians not to stand alone at
hitchhiking stations and bus stops, especially in Gush Etzion and
several other points in Judea and Samaria.
In 2010, Arab terrorists carried out 455 attacks against Israelis in
Judea and Samaria and in areas of Jerusalem claimed by the Palestinian
Authority for their hoped-for new country. The number is les than in
2009, partly due to improved Israeli intelligence that has helped
prevent terrorist attacks before they are initiated.
Security officials also noted that soldiers and intelligence officials
succeeded in eliminating several senior terrorist leaders in 2010 as
part of efforts to destroy the terrorist infrastructure.
%InAd2%
5. Egypt: 21 Murdered in Terror Attack at Church
by Maayana Miskin
A bomb attack killed 21 people outside a Coptic church in Alexandria, Egypt late Friday night. Another 24 people were wounded.
The bombing took place as worshipers left a church following a New
Year's Eve service. Officials initially suspected that a car bomb was
used.
The Interior Ministry later announced that the blast is believed to
have been a suicide bombing; however, that version of events was
questioned by Christian leaders, who suggested that authorities may wish
to blame a suicide bomber in order not to draw attention to the lack of
security near the church. Proper security would have prevented a
suspicious vehicle from approaching, they said.
While it is not yet clear who carried out the bombing, senior officials
in both the Coptic Church and the government pointed fingers at
al-Qaeda, which has previously threatened attacks on non-Muslims in
Egypt.
Protesters took to the streets after the bombing, with Christians and Muslims clashing near the site of the attack.
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak urged calm. In a televised address, he
said the bombing bore the mark of “foreign hands” seeking to
destabilize Egypt.
“This act of terrorism shook the country's conscience... and hurt the
hearts of Muslim and Coptic Egyptians,” he said. “The blood of the
martyrs in Alexandria mixed, telling us that all Egypt is the target,
and that blind terrorism does not differentiate between a Copt and a
Muslim.”
The Islamist Muslim Brotherhood condemned the attack as well.
The attack follows months of growing anti-Christian violence in Egypt. Six Christians were murdered in a shooting attack in January, and in November one Christian man was killed by police and 156 were arrested during a protest over construction of a church.
The UK-based Barnabas Fund, a Christian advocacy group, has expressed fears for the safety of Egyptian Christians
in the face of incitement. Extremist Muslims have accused Christians of
siding with Israel and of holding captive Christian women who have
converted to Islam.
6. Hamas Planned Rocket Attack on Jerusalem Soccer Game
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
Hamas terrorists, with funds from Saudi Arabia, plotted a missile
attack on a soccer game at Jerusalem’s Teddy Stadium, Israel Security
Agency (Shin Bet) officials disclosed Sunday.
Officials said they arrested two Jerusalem Arabs who carried out
surveillance from a hill overlooking the stadium in order to find the
best place to launch rocket attacks on the packed stadium, home of the
Beitar soccer team.
The plot began following Israel’s counterterrorist Operation Cast Lead
operation two years ago. The terrorists were identified as Muslim
Brotherhood members Moussa Hamda Matzour and Bassam Omri, who bought
several revolvers and attempted to buy weapons and ammunition. Officials
also arrested relatives of Matzour who were involved in the purchase of
the guns.
Security officials said Matzour travelled to Saudi Arabia several times
to meet Muslim Brotherhood members. At one meeting, a Saudi official
gave him money to buy weapons in return for gathering intelligence
information on several locations in Jerusalem.
The investigation also revealed Hamas involvement on the Temple Mount,
including funding of maintenance work, bringing school children to the
site and subsidizing other activities. Palestinian Authority leaders
have joined Arab world attempts over the past several years to claim that the holy site, where the First and Second Temples stood, have no connection with Judaism.
The Temple Mount is the holiest site in the Jewish world.
%InAd3%
7. Rabbi's Drastic Measures to Stop African Infiltrators
by Hillel Fendel
Rabbi Yisrael Rosen, head of Zomet Institute for Science and Torah, says Israel must build temporary refugee camps for the thousands of monthly African infiltrators.
"We have gone nuts!" Rabbi Rosen writes in his weekly column in the
latest edition of the Shabbat B'Shabbato pamphlet. Noting that an
average of 100 illegal African infiltrators – mainly from Sudan – sneak
into Israel each night, for a total of 3,000 a month, Rabbi Rosen writes
that they seek out Israel not because "we represent the promised land
of economic opportunity, but rather because [we have] an unending
abundance of 'human rights' and humanitarianism."
"The only place in the Middle East where organizations for human rights
exist," the rabbi continues, "is in Israel! The members and supporters
of these groups are willing to accept national suicide as a sacrifice to
the 'religion' of human rights... Under the present circumstances, I am
convinced that this is bringing about a national and existential
disaster for the State of Israel."
"I can already hear the cacophony of shouts accompanied by pointing
fingers," Rabbi Rosen writes: "A rabbi in Israel is heartless and lacks
compassion! Where is his merciful Jewish heart? Jewish refugees in the
Holocaust were also denied entry! Don't the Torah and Jewish Law require
us to provide poor foreigners with a livelihood?"
Economic, Social and Nationalist Issues
"I close my eyes and try to imagine how a true Torah state of today
would treat the Sudanese refugees – and my answer is clear: Though we
know 'G-d has pity for all of his creatures' (Psalms 145), there is a
[supplementary guiding] principle that states, 'The paupers of your own
city take precedence over others' (Tractate Bava Metzia 71a). It is not
only the economic considerations that force us to refuse to absorb this
[onslaught] of refugees, but also, and perhaps mainly, the social and
nationalist elements that are patently obvious."
Following this halakhic [Jewish legal] analysis, Rabbi Rosen proceeds
to offer some drastic measures: Not only the construction of
well-guarded physical obstacles and barriers to block the infiltrators,
but also the construction of temporary refugee camps. The occupants
therein "will be given minimal amounts of water, food, and medicine, in
exchange for public labor under control of the government's newly formed
'Ministry for Non-Absorption of Migrants.' The people in the detention
camps will be categorized as law-breakers… The standard of living
quarters and livelihood will be between minimal and sub-standard, mainly
with the goal of reducing the incentive for this African immigration...
There will be a complete prohibition of any mobility outside the camps,
and will be allowed to travel around the country only in organized
transportation for work and for other vital reasons. This situation will
be explicitly defined as temporary until they are deported under
international agreements."
Rabbi Rosen admits that his idea has slim chances of implementation, "
and you know very well why this is so: We have too many 'enlightened'
people in our country who will never let it happen - knights of human
rights, at the expense of the country!"
Religious Feminist Forum Puts Supporting All Women First
"And here is an example from a sector close to my heart," Rabbi Rosen
concluded. "When a representative of Kolech, The Religious Women's
Forum, was asked recently why that religious feminist organization
supports renting homes to Arabs in Jewish neighborhoods, I was floored
by her reply: 'It's because we support the rights of women, and the
rights of all minorities are included in our agenda.' It is hard to
argue with such 'logic.' I am on a completely different plane than they
are; I give up!"
(Shabbat B'Shabbato, originally published by HaPoel HaMizrachi and now
by Zomet, is the longest-running weekly pamphlet among the dozens that
are distributed weekly in synagogues across the country. It has been
published since 1984 and is read by over 100,000 people each Shabbat,
according to the Zomet website.)
8. Earthquake in the North, None Hurt
by Maayana Miskin
An earthquake hit northern Israel on Saturday evening, being felt most
strongly in the region of Beit Shean and Afula; residents of Tzfat
reported feeling motion as well.
The quake was measured at 3.6 on the Richter scale.
No injuries were reported following the quake. One residential building
sustained damage, and the families living there were evacuated by
Homefront Command workers.
Residents of Beit Shean live along the Syrian-African fault line, and
are accustomed to occasional earthquakes. However, many said that
Saturday night's earthquake was unusually strong. Some residents fled
their homes during the quake, fearing the buildings would collapse.
An earthquake measuring 3.5 on the Richter scale hit the northern Galilee in late November, but did not cause injury.
Scientists have warned that Israel is likely to experience a strong
earthquake, measuring at least 7.5 on the Richter scale, in the near
future. The epicenter will be near Beit Shean, they say.
A governmental committee found in November that a strong earthquake
could kill 16,000 people, injure 6,000 more and leave up to 377,000
homeless if old buildings are not reinforced to prevent collapse.
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