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| Thursday, Jun 21 '12, Tammuz 1, 5772 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1. MK: End Muslim Occupation on Temple Mount
by Maayana Miskin  MK Aryeh Eldad (Ichud Leumi) called Thursday to end Muslim control over visits to the Temple Mount. “The time has come to end the occupation,” he declared in a letter to Minister of the Interior Yitzchak Aharonovitch. “The Muslim occupation that occurred 1,300 years ago, and is still in effect on the Temple Mount, of course.” Eldad was angered by the arrest of a Jewish visitor to the Temple Mount on Thursday morning, and the police’s decision to ban Rabbi Yisrael Ariel, who heads the Temple Mount institute, from visiting the holy site. “This is an unacceptable escalation of the affront to freedom of worship in Israel, and another step toward abandoning the Jewish people’s holiest place to the Arab enemy and the Waqf,” he charged. Rabbi Yehuda Glick said that Rabbi Ariel had been refused entrance to the Temple Mount on Wednesday as he attempted to ascend in honor of Rosh Chodesh, the beginning of the next Jewish month. Police told Rabbi Ariel that he was permanently banned, and would not say why, Rabbi Glick said. The Jewish man arrested Thursday morning was detained after quoting to his companions from the Mishnah, Rabbi Glick added. Jews are forbidden to pray on the Temple Mount, but are normally allowed to speak. Also Thursday, a Jewish visitor to the Temple Mount complained that Islamic Waqf officials had ordered him to remove his kippah because it offended them.
Tags: Temple Mount ,prayer arrest ,Aryeh Eldad ,Waqf
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2. Gaza Rocket Attacks on Southern Israel 'Resume'
by Chana Ya'ar  Palestinian Authority terrorists launched another rocket attack on southern Israel Thursday afternoon, aiming at the Sha'ar HaNegev district. At around 1:30 p.m. a short-range Qassam rocket was fired by Gaza terrorists at the southern Israeli region. The rocket landed in an open area. No one was physically injured, although residents who have previously experienced rocket attacks suffered some symptoms of anxiety and some with PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) had trauma symptoms triggered by the explosion. No property damage was reported by authorities. Despite a so-called “truce” declared by the Hamas terrorist rulers of Gaza, two Grad Katyusha missiles were fired at the coastal city of Ashkelon in the wee hours of the morning. One was intercepted by the Iron Dome anti-missile defense system. The second landed harmlessly in an open area south of the city. No one was physically injured. Ashkelon elementary schools were ordered closed by the city's Mayor, Benny Vaknin. A barrage of five short-range Qassam rockets were launched in an attack on the Eshkol Regional Council district at about 7:30 a.m. On Wednesday, students at a girls' high school in Be'er Sheva showed up to classes with red eyes and hoarse voices, their exhaustion plain on their faces. "At first, the teacher thought they'd been out partying all night,” a student told Arutz Sheva, “but then they explained they had been awakened by the Color Red sirens every hour.” The girls, who hailed from various communities throughout the south, had been racing in and out of safe rooms all the previous night, the student further explained. “They barely got any sleep.” Just minutes earlier a Grad Katyusha missile had struck the outskirts of Be'er Sheva, the largest city in Israel's Negev desert region, just as children had reached their schools. At least 120 rockets have been fired from Gaza at southern Israel within a 72-hour period. Four Border Guard police officers were wounded, one seriously, in one of the attacks on Ashkelon earlier in the week.
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3. Nachman Kletzky Sues Leiby's Killer, Family
by David Lev  Rabbi Nachman Kletzky, the father of Leiby Kletzky, the eight year old Boro Park youth who was kidnapped and murdered last year, is filing a $100 million lawsuit against his killer, Levi Aron, and Aron's family. Proceedings in the suit, which was first filed last August, began in recent days, Arutz Sheva's Hebrew service has learned. The lawsuit, which was filed in a New York court, outlines in painful detail the torture and suffering Leiby underwent at the hands of his killer. As will be recalled, Aron was caught by police after he dismembered Leiby, stuffing body parts into a freezer, shopping bags, and a suitcase. Aron confessed to the murder, and is currently awaiting trial in prison. The lawsuit demands compensation for Leiby's pain and suffering, as well as for the family's suffering. Leiby's father filed a lawsuit against not only Levi Aron, but against his father Jack as well. After Aron kidnapped Leiby as he walked home from day camp, Levi Aron held him in an attic apartment in the family home. The lawsuit against Jack Aron charges him with maintaining “dangerous and deadly conditions” in the attic, and failing to prevent Leiby's kidnapping, or discover him after he was taken. Leiby's trial had been scheduled to start last November, but it was delayed after the defense requested a change of venue, claiming that Levi Aron could not get a fair trial in Brooklyn. That request was denied, but the court said that it would hear a motion for change of venue after the jury for the trial was assembled. Aron is currently being held in Riker's Island prison.
Tags: Leiby Kletzky ,Levi Aron ,Jack Aron
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4. Syrian Air Force Pilot Flies Plane, Defects to Jordan
by Chana Ya'ar  In what is believed to be the first defection of a Syrian pilot with his plane during the current unrest, a high-ranking Air Force officer has flown to Jordan. The fighter pilot handed himself over to authorities, together with the aircraft, upon reaching the King Hussein Air Base in Mafraq, near the Syrian border. According to Jordanian Information Minister Samih al-Ma'aytah, the pilot landed the Russian-made MiG 21 fighter jet at the military base, located in northern Jordan. He is currently being debriefed. According to the Syrian state news agency SANA, Air Force pilot Col. Hassan Mirel al-Hamadeh was flying near the southern border with Jordan when contact was lost. The Free Syrian Army claimed in a statement to the Associated Press that its group had encouraged the pilot to defect, according to spokesman Ahmad Kassem. Meanwhile, Red Cross teams are being stymied in their effort to evacuate scores of civilians from the war-torn central Syrian city of Homs, much of which lies now in ruins. The effort is being held up by shelling of residential areas by President Bashar al-Assad's troops. BBC correspondents are reporting that “it may take hours or days before the operation can be resumed.”
Tags: Syria ,Jordan ,Syrian civil war
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5. Tax Collectors Seeking 'Under the Table' Cash
by David Lev  The Tax Authority is set to recommend a change in Israeli business law that would prohibit merchants and suppliers from accepting payment in cash in amounts over NIS 10,000 (about $2,700). Currently, suppliers are allowed to accept cash payments of up to NIS 20,000, a report Wednesday said. The report was confirmed by an official in the Authority. The change is part of the Authority's ongoing battle against “under the table” money, in which buyers and sellers use funds that were never reported – or taxed – to make purchases. On the buyer's side, the Authority is interested in finding out the source of income, and whether or not income or other relevant taxes were paid. On the seller's side, the Authority wants to be sure that Value Added Tax, and other relevant taxes, are collected. Instead of cash, customers will have to make their purchases using credit cards or checks. The Authority is also considering increasing the severity of tax offenses. For example, the Authority is said to be preparing legislation that will give it blanket permission to examine the bank accounts of individuals suspected of tax fraud. Currently, the Authority must get a court's permission to do so, and must make a clear case of the likelihood of fraud, as opposed to just “suspecting” an individual. In addition, the Authority is seeking to increase its power of seizing property, such as vehicles, from individuals that owe it money – allowing, for example, police to seize a vehicle on the spot at a roadblock when they stop a driver for whom a seizure order has been issued. In figures released Wednesday, Authority officials said that as much as 20% of Israel's GDP – around NIS 180 million – is conducted “off the books.” A total of NIS 221 million is expected to be collected in 2012, officials said.
Tags: Tax Authority ,tax evasion ,police force
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6. Police: File Complaint If Harassed at Temple Mount
by Chana Ya'ar  A 20-year-old visitor from London, England who said he was told by three separate Waqf monitors to take off his kippah because it was offensive to them should have immediately filed a complaint with police, Israel Police spokesman Mickey Rosenfeld told Arutz Sheva in an interview Thursday. "The police are not familiar with any incident that took place,” Rosenfeld said. “As of Thursday, no official complaint has been made. But if there was such an incident, an official complaint can be made without any hesitation, and the police will look further into that matter.” By Israeli civil law, neither the Waqf Islamic Authority, nor anyone else has the right to tell a Jew to remove his kippah or tzitzit (ritual fringed garment) anywhere on the Temple Mount. This ruling includes the courtyard around the grounds of the mosque built upon the site, as well as the area within the building of the mosque itself. The British visitor, however, who was in Israel as part of a student mission, said he chose to leave the scene rather than to take off his kippah -- despite there being no need to do so. A Jerusalem source raised the possibility that the three Arabs who harassed the student just posed as Waqf officials but had no actual status. The group had already entered the site and had been checked by both Israeli guards and Muslim monitors, according to the student.
Tags: Temple Mount ,Jerusalem ,Waqf
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7. Tony Blair: Military Option on Iran 'On the Table'
by David Lev  Although the renewed rocket attack on southern Israel by Gaza Arab terrorists has grabbed most of the headlines this week, Iran remains on top of Israel's defense agenda. At a meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Washington Wednesday, Vice Prime Minister and Kadima head Shaul Mofaz said that it was imperative that Iran's nuclear program be stopped, and that no option should be taken off the table. “After the failure at the third round of talks with the Iranians in Moscow, it is time for the United States and the Western powers to impose more severe sanctions in the oil embargo and financial sectors in order to stop Iran's nuclear development program,” Mofaz said at the meeting. He added that in addition to these measures there is a need “to continue to prepare all of the other options.” Agreeing with Mofaz was former British Prime Minister and current Quartet Middle East envoy Tony Blair. In an interview on IDF Army Radio Thursday, Blair said bluntly that “all options, including the military option, are still on the table. All these options are terrible,” Blair said, “but Iran cannot be allowed to go nuclear. “I have already said a number of times that if we say that Iran cannot be allowed to be a nuclear power, we should mean it. We must be clear and say that all options are on the table.” A nuclear Iran, he said, would badly upset the stability of not only the Middle East, but the whole world. “This isn't just Israel's problem. The clearer and stronger we are, the less likely it is that we will have to actually use the military option,” he added.
Tags: Iran ,Tony Blair ,Shau Mofaz
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8. Firefighters Work to Prevent Haifa Chemical Fire
by David Lev  A dozen firefighting crews worked for long hours Thursday morning to prevent what could have been a major chemical fire, after dangerous materials were found leaking from containers in Haifa Bay. To prevent the peroxide-based chemical from enflaming, firefighters cooled the material down, and diluted it. The incident occurred at about 7 AM Thursday. Some 100 tons of the peroxide-based substance leaked into an organic compound, setting off a chemical reaction that created a highly flammable substance. The temperature of the material rose quickly to a very high level, raising fears of an explosion or fire. Officials said that such an explosion would definitely had occurred if the material was heated to a level of 40 degrees Celsius (about 120 degrees Fahrenheit). Dozens of experts from firefighting and other rescue services were dispatched to the site of the incident. Other firefighters were sent to protect oil refineries in the area. The incident comes a day after the State Comptroller release his report on the 2010 Carmel Forest Fire. The report assigns responsibility for the massive blaze to Interior Minister Eli Yishai and Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz. The two were blamed for the country's lack of preparedness that led to northern firefighters not having the necessary resources at their disposal with which to control the blaze. Both have rejected the charges.
Tags: Fire Fighting ,Haifa ,Environment
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Everyday of Freedom is an Act of Faith for my writings ============> http://robertoscaruffi.blogspot.com for something on religions ===> http://scaruffi1.blogspot.com
Thursday, 21 June 2012
