07/16 Links: PMW: Fatah calls for violence and “rage” following Friday terror attack; The Arab leadership's failure ~ EoZ

From Ian:

Waqf official may have aided Israeli-Arab terrorists in Temple Mount attack — report

Israel Police made a number of arrests in the wake of the deadly terror attack at the Temple Mount in Jerusalem on Friday morning, which claimed the lives of two Israeli police officers, and officers were on the hunt for additional suspects who may have helped the three Israeli-Arab perpetrators, police said.
Raids were also conducted on the homes of the terrorists, all from the northern Israeli city of Umm al-Fahm, and a mourners’ tent for the terrorists was broken up.
Channel 10 reported Friday that among those detained were at least one official from the Jerusalem Islamic Waqf, the Jordan-based organization that administers the Temple Mount, on suspicion that the shooters received help from inside.
The channel said the official was seen on security footage behaving suspiciously.
Police also said they arrested one person, a 22-year-old from the northern city on suspicion he was directly involved in the attack.
Police have not indicated what kind of assistance they believe the Waqf official provided, though Channel 10 said he may have helped the shooters stash the weapons used in the attack. A gag order was imposed on further aspects of the investigation relating to the Waqf.

Officers killed in Old City attack are buried, remembered as patriots

Thousands of family members, friends, political dignitaries and others gathered Friday to mourn Border Police officers Haiel Stawi and Kamil Shnaan, who were killed in a terrorist attack near the Old City’s Lions’ Gate.
Stawi, 30, the father of a three-week-old boy, was buried in the northern Druse village of Maghar. Shnaan, 22, the son of former MK Shakib Shnaan, was buried in the nearby Druse village of Hurfeish.
According to police, Stawi enlisted in the Border Police in 2012 and served in the Temple Mount Unit. Shnaan, who reportedly was to wed in a week, joined the Temple Mount Unit seven months ago to become a career officer.
Both men, who were buried within hours of each other, were posthumously promoted to the rank of advanced-staff-sergeant-major.
Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan, Police Commissioner Roni Alsheich, Jerusalem District Police commander Yoram Halevy, senior police officers, ministers, members of Knesset and dignitaries from the Druse community attended the funerals.

IsraellyCool: Shot In The Back For Guarding A Mosque

Israeli police have released a video showing the moments just as the two Israeli Druze policemen are shot just outside the Temple Mount. The most horrifying aspect is that the two policemen were taken completely by surprise because they are facing AWAY FROM THE MOSQUE! They are supposed to be guarding the Temple Mount compound (against what I don’t know). Certainly not against hordes of armed Jews “storming” it!
The murdering terrorists run down from the so-called “Third Holiest Site in Islam” to murder and run back there in a, thankfully futile, attempt to escape justice.
Also remember the terrorists, in this case, do not come from anywhere that can be considered “occupied”. They’re from the Israeli Arab village of Um Al Fahm in northern Israel.
These two brave men were murdered in an act of Islamic terrorism for defending an Islamic holy site. That is what glorifies Allah apparently and furthers the cause of relentless Jihad.

PMW: Fatah calls for violence and “rage” following Friday terror attack

Following the terror attack on Friday, in which 2 Israeli border policemen were murdered near the Temple Mount, Fatah rebroadcast Abbas' implicit call to violence from 2014:
Abbas: "We must all carry out Ribat [religious conflict] in the Al-Aqsa Mosque... We have to prevent them, in any way whatsoever, from entering the Sanctuary... They have no right to enter it. They have no right to defile it. We must prevent them. Let us stand before them with chests bared to protect our holy places."
[Official Fatah Facebook page, July 15, 2017, rebroadcast of Abbas' speech on official PA TV, Oct. 17, 2014]
In his speech in 2014, which official PA TV broadcast 19 times in 3 days, Abbas called on Palestinians to defend Al-Aqsa "in any way whatsoever." It marked the beginning of a month of terror attacks in Jerusalem in which 11 Israelis were murdered in car rammings and stabbing attacks.
Rebroadcasting Abbas' speech, which in 2014 was followed by terror and violence, stands in stark contrast to Abbas' conversation with Israeli PM Netanyahu in which he "expressed his strong opposition to and his condemnations of the event that took place at the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque." It also contradicts his statement that he "opposes any event of violence from any side, particularly at places of worship." [Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, July 15, 2017]

Minister mulls home demolitions for Arab Israelis after Temple Mount attack

Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan said Sunday he was considering demolishing the homes of Arab-Israeli terrorists in the wake of a deadly attack at the Temple Mount carried out by three residents of the northern Israeli city of Umm al-Fahm.
Speaking with the Ynet news site, Erdan said that the decision to demolish homes is based on whether the terror “phenomenon” plays a central role in the community in question.
“This is why the High Court of Justice decided against demolishing homes of Jewish terrorists, as this (terrorism) is not a phenomenon that receives broad public support,” he said, referring to the recent decision regarding Jewish terrorists who burned a Palestinian youth to death.
The minister then warned that “as we see more calls of support for these (Arab Israeli) terrorists, and as the likelihood that others will follow their example increases, we will have to consider the demolition of their homes as well.”

Jordan king condemns Temple Mount attack in call with Netanyahu

Jordan’s King Abdullah II on Saturday night spoke to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, condemning Friday’s shooting attack at the Temple Mount that killed two Israeli police officers and demanding Israel reopen the holy site to Muslim worship.
According to the official Petra News Agency, the Jordanian king slammed those who “undermine security and stability” and pave the way for further violence during the call, in an apparent reference to the Arab Israeli gunmen.
He demanded Israel reopen the Temple Mount compound to Muslim worshipers, the report said.
Israel on Saturday night said it would gradually reopen the site on Sunday, having closed the compound for the first time since 1969 following the deadly attack.

Jordanian parliament praises Temple Mount terror attack

After Jordan’s King Abdullah II condemned the murder of two Israeli Border Police officers near the Temple Mount on Friday, some Jordanian lawmakers voiced support for the three murderers, praising them as “martyrs”, Yediot Ahronot reported.
On Saturday, Abdullah spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu following the attack, and issued a condemnation of the murders.
Less than a day later, however, the Jordanian parliament expressed support for the terrorists, praising them as “martyrs”.
The Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Jordanian Parliament’s lower chamber, Atef Tarawneh, hailed the terror attack during an address to the parliament.
“May Allah’s mercy be on our martyrs, who watered the holy soil.”
“Our heads are lifted up by the fighting of young Palestinians who are still fighting in the name of the people.”
Dozens of lawmakers joined with Tarawneh in a prayer for the dead terrorists.
“My Allah have mercy on our young men, from the Jabarin family, that their relatives should receive praise and honor.”

Waqf official refuses to acknowledge terror attack

As Israeli security forces reopen the Temple Mount complex Sunday, Waqf officials still refuse to acknowledge the deadly terror attack that had taken place there, while Arab MKs continue to assert Israel should have never closed the complex.
In an interview with Ynet, Raed Daana, a senior Waqf official, refused to label Friday's shooting attack as terrorism, referring to it only as an "event."
Despite the publication of the names of the terrorists and their home town, Daana insisted he did not know who was responsible.
"We don't have any details at the moment. We don't know who is behind this. We are against the killing of people. We just want to live in peace. I don't know who carried out this event," Daana insisted.

Worshipers protest metal detectors as Israel reopens Temple Mount

Israel partially reopened the Temple Mount complex on Sunday after a brutal terror attack two days earlier, allowing in only Jerusalem’s Muslim residents. A comparatively small number of worshipers actually entered the site, while others stayed outside in protest of new metal detectors set up at the entrances.
According to police, approximately 200 Muslims entered the Temple Mount as of 1:00 p.m., an hour after it opened on Sunday, a far cry from the thousands that were expected to visit the site. By 5 p.m., the number was up to 600.
The holy site had been closed since Friday, when three Arab Israeli terrorists opened fire at a group of police officers, killing two of them, using guns that had apparently been stashed earlier on the Temple Mount.
The closure was the first time Israel had shuttered the compound on a Friday, Islam’s holy day, in nearly 50 years.
At noon on Sunday, Israel reopened one of the entrances to the Mount to all Muslim residents of Jerusalem, regardless of age or gender. However, metal detectors were installed at the gate, which Israel had set up in the past but later removed, in order to improve security.

Police uncover weapons, but no guns, in Temple Mount searches

Police have arrested eight suspects and uncovered dozens of weapons following a deadly terror attack by three Arab Israelis just outside the Temple Mount compound on Friday in which two officers were killed, the Jerusalem Police chief said.
Police believe the shooting attack was carried out with weapons that had previously been stored on the Temple Mount, prompting police to shut down the complex to all visitors on Friday, the most popular day for Muslim prayers on the holy site, and launch a search for other weapons that might be stored there.
However, in the searches on Friday and Saturday, police failed to uncover guns or serious explosives, Jerusalem Police Chief Yoram Halevi told Army Radio on Sunday.
“We’ve been all over. Two days is definitely not enough, but we’ve covered large swaths of the area, where we suspected had things hidden in them,” he said.
“We found dozens of knives, slingshots, cudgels, spikes, inciting material, unexploded munitions, stun grenades, binoculars — but we haven’t yet found caches of live ammunition.”

The Arab leadership's failure

To prevent that, the Arab Israeli leadership must first take strong steps. But regrettably, it has failed to do so. Israeli Arab leaders held a closed-door meeting in Nazareth, but no clear, determined statement made it into the vague statement that the leaders put out following the attack.
Moreover, even many of those Israeli Arab leaders who expressed reservations about the use of weapons did not have the courage to join Meretz MK Issawi Frej, who issued a ringing call to kick the killers off the Temple Mount. And rather than publicly commiserating with the Druze community over the deaths of the two policemen, both of whom were Druze, the Arab Israeli leadership preferred to "send quiet messages to the Druze."
It's likely that even if Israeli Arab leaders had fiercely condemned the murder, it wouldn't have been enough. But that doesn't excuse their silence. The security services and the police will have to make sure all the holes are sealed up and double their intelligence efforts.
The Temple Mount is one of the most volatile places in the world. It must be managed with great caution, wisdom, and consideration. The decision to close the compound, which ignored warnings from Jordan and Hamas incitement, while authorities could make sure there were no more weapons concealed there, was the correct one.
It was also correct to reopen the Mount this afternoon, and to announce that the status quo on the Temple Mount remains in place, despite Friday's attack.

The lie has turned on its creators

The modern-day blood libel that "Al-Aqsa is in danger" has now turned on its creators. Now Al-Aqsa is indeed in danger, but the threat is not Israeli. The Temple Mount is not, as the inciters say, "under attack," "under threat" or "being held hostage" by the Israelis. It is being held hostage by a blood libel that has brought the deaths and the blood and the shooting into the courtyards of the mosques and the Temple Mount.
The killers came from Umm al-Fahm, a place where many "Al-Aqsa is in danger" rallies have been held. The three killers took part in those rallies and they internalized the message. The rallies were led by the man who to this day refers to himself as the Al-Aqsa sheikh, the founder of the outlawed Northern Branch of the Islamic Movement, Sheikh Raed Salah.
The hundred-year-old libel, which originated in the days of the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem Haj Amin Husseini, was first revived in Umm al-Fahm. Inspired by the incitement of the Northern Branch of the Islamic Movement and its ilk -- the Muslim Brotherhood, Turkey, Qatar and Hamas -- hundreds of terrorists have taken to Israel's streets and stabbed, rammed and shot dozens of Jews to death, with the false cry that "Al-Aqsa is in danger" on their tongues.
The libel has now brought the blood to the Temple Mount, to the doorstep of Al-Aqsa mosque and the Dome of the Rock. It now threatens the status quo Israel has for years sworn to protect, despite the infringement of that status quo on the rights of Jews.

Evelyn Gordon: What the Labor Party Primary Says about Israel’s Consensus

Following Monday’s leadership primary for Israel’s main moderate-left party, much has been written about the outcome and its implications for the party. What I found far more interesting, however, was the campaign itself and what it said about the Israeli consensus. Since the primary electorate consisted solely of Labor Party members, one would have expected the candidates to veer left (and then move back to center in the general election). Instead, both candidates publicly disavowed several ideas popular among left-wing journalists and activists, indicating that those ideas are toxic even on the moderate left.
Ostensibly, winner Avi Gabbay and runner-up Amir Peretz couldn’t be more different. Peretz is a veteran hard-left activist, an early leader of the Peace Now movement, who was advocating Palestinian statehood back when most Israelis still considered the idea anathema. Gabbay is a moderate who once supported Benjamin Netanyahu’s center-right Likud party and, more recently, co-founded the centrist Kulanu party. Yet they sounded almost indistinguishable when answering five questions posed by Haaretz (in Hebrew) before Monday’s run-off (an abbreviated English version is here).
Asked about the idea of unilaterally withdrawing from parts of the West Bank, for instance, both men rejected it. “I don’t believe in unilateral withdrawal,” Gabbay said bluntly. Peretz was wordier, but still quite clear. “We won’t continue to settle the territories, but at the same time, we mustn’t forget the lessons of the unilateral withdrawals from Lebanon and Gaza (and also from other conflict areas around the world),” he said.
What makes this surprising is that several Labor-affiliated former senior-defense-officials-turned-activists have been pushing unilateral withdrawal. Among them are former Military Intelligence chief Amos Yadlin, the man slated to be Labor’s defense minister had it won the last election, and former Shin Bet security service chief Ami Ayalon, a one-time Labor Knesset member. Thus one might expect the idea to appeal to rank-and-file members.
But Peretz and Gabbay thought otherwise. Israel’s unilateral pullout from Gaza in 2005 resulted in three wars and 16,000 rockets on Israel (compared to zero from the Israeli-controlled West Bank), while its unilateral withdrawal from Lebanon in 2000 enabled Hezbollah to grow from a terrorist nuisance into a major strategic threat.

Ministers unanimously approve 'united Jerusalem' bill

The Ministerial Committee on Legislation on Sunday unanimously approved a bill mandating a special, 80-MK majority on any future legislation dividing Jerusalem. The bill was presented by Habayit Hayehudi leader Naftali Bennett.
"Twice, the capital city has been saved from the disaster of division spearheaded by [former prime ministers] Ehud Olmert and Ehud Barak, who had temporary majorities in the Knesset. That's over," Bennett said after the committee approved the bill.
"The 'united Jerusalem' bill will prevent any possibility of Jerusalem being divided. Unity around this will strengthen our status in the world and prevent future pressure on Israel," Bennett said.
Habayit Hayehudi faction chairwoman MK Shuli Mualem-Rafaeli, one of the bill's co-authors, said earlier Sunday that "given our past experience of two prime ministers who tried to divide Jerusalem under a dangerous peace agreement, we need to pre-empt any attack on Israel's capital."
Israel Hayom broke the story of Bennett's bill last month, which is an amendment to the Basic Law: Jerusalem, Capital of Israel.

Macron denounces anti-Zionism as a new form of anti-Semitism

French president Emmanuel Macron on Sunday condemned anti-Zionism as a new form of anti-Semitism, in what observers said was an unprecedented statement from the leader of France in support of the Jewish state.
“We will never surrender to the messages of hate; we will not surrender to anti-Zionism because it is a reinvention of anti-Semitism,” Macron said an event in Paris marking the mass deportation of French Jews during World War II. He was directly addressing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who attended the event.
During a lengthy and introspective speech commemorating the 75th anniversary of the Vel d’Hiv roundup, a mass arrest of 13,152 French Jews in July 1942 that was part of the Nazi effort to eradicate the Jews of France, Macron forcefully denounced Holocaust denial and anti-Semitism.
Like several of his predecessors, Macron accepted France’s responsibility for the deportations, admitting that the Vichy regime actively organized them. “It is indeed France that organized” the roundup, Macron said. “Not a single German” took part, he added.
“Time does its work,” the president said. “Archives open (and) the truth comes out. It’s stark, irrevocable. It imposes itself on us all.”

Netanyahu to Macron: 'Your struggle is our struggle' against extremism

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took part Sunday morning in a ceremony in Paris, that commemorated the 75th anniversary of the Vel' d’Hiv roundup of French Jews during World War II.
French President Emmanuel Macron also participated in the ceremony, alongside leaders of the French Jewish community, Holocaust survivors, French Righteous Among the Nations, and French WWII veterans.
All in all, some 800 people assembled at the Quai de Grennelle, where the Paris velodrome bicycle arena was once located. It was at this site that 13,152 Jewish men, women, and children were rounded up by French police in 1942 -- an especially dark chapter in France’s World War II history. The Jews arrested were confined for four days at the Vel' d’Hiv bicycle velodrome, suffering from inhumane conditions. From there they were deported to Auschwitz. Less than a hundred of them came back.

Macron urges resumption of peace talks based on two-state solution

French President Emmanuel Macron called Sunday for a resumption of long-stalled Middle East peace talks based on a two-state solution.
“France is ready to support all diplomatic efforts towards this end within the parameters of peace recognized by the international community,” Macron said after talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
He said Israelis and Palestinians should be able “to live side by side within secure and recognized borders with Jerusalem as the capital.”
Stressing that international law should be “respected by all,” Macron said he was referring to Israel’s “continued building of settlements” in the West Bank, a policy opposed by France.
“I hope everything will be done for negotiations to move forward,” he said as he and Netanyahu made joint statements to the press.

French President Macron Joins Netanyahu in Justice Call for Murdered Jewish Pensioner Sarah Halimi

French President Emmanuel Macron broke the French government’s silence on Sunday over the brutal murder of Jewish pensioner Sarah Halimi, as he joined visiting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at a memorial ceremony for French Jews deported during the Nazi Holocaust.
“Despite the denials of the murderer, our judiciary must bring total clarity around the death of Sarah Halimi,” Macron said.
French authorities are still reluctant to treat the murder as an antisemitic hate crime, despite the fact that Halimi’s assailant, her 27 year old neighbor Kobili Traore, shouted Islamist and antisemitic slogans as he beat and tortured the 66 year old widow, before throwing her out of a third floor window while she was still alive. Last week, Traore’s lawyer, Thomas Bidnic, said that his client – who is being held for psychiatric evaluation – denied that he had been driven by an “antisemitic motive” in killing Dr. Halimi.
Macron implicitly criticized the widespread denial in France that Halimi’s murder was an antisemitic act, saying that “we were silent, because we did not want to see.”

Former Palestinian officer opens fire on Israeli troops, is shot dead

A Palestinian gunman who was killed by Israeli security forces overnight raid in the West Bank was a former member of the Palestinian security forces turned arms dealer, the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) said Sunday.
Identified as 34-year-old Ahmad Halil of Nabi Saleh, he was shot by authorities after he attempted to fire at soldiers who came to arrest him during an overnight raid on suspicion that he was responsible for opening fire close to two West Bank communities on Saturday.
Another man who was with Halil at the time of the arrest was detained by security forces in connection to the attacks.
According to the Shin Bet, Halil carried out the two attacks together with his fiancee, Rawan Ambar, because their families did not approve of their engagement. Ambar was detained by Palestinian security forces after surrendering herself to authorities.

Police uncover illegal weapons mill in southern Israel

The Israel police on Thursday uncovered a large illegal weapons production site in southern Israel. One suspect has been arrested.
The site was discovered in Moshav Sde David, near the southern town of Sderot. The suspect, 31, was stopped by police while speeding and a search of his car yielded several weapons.
Following his arrest, police searched the man's apartment, where multiple guns, grenades, pipe bombs, explosives and munitions were found and seized by the police.
A statement by the police said the force "continues with its determined activities against the manufacturing and possession of illegal weapons used by criminal elements." According to the police, the purpose of the activity is "to protect the public and prosecute those involved."
In a separate operation last week, the police arrested two youths from Rahat, a Bedouin town in the Negev, after multiple weapons were found in their car.
A search of the vehicle yielded a rifle, over 300 7.62 mm MAG rounds and two M16 cartridges. One of the suspects has implicated himself in the case, telling investigators he planned on selling the weapons.

They Shoot Fellow Arabs Or, Good for the Sabbath

A major oops:
Palestinian man comes under fire while driving north of Ramallah
A Palestinian man was lightly injured when unidentified assailants, believed to be Palestinian, opened fire at his Israeli-plated vehicle north of Ramallah in the central occupied West Bank on Saturday morning, according to the Israeli army.
An Israeli army spokesperson wrote in a statement that Nasser Nael came under fire while driving between...Ateret...and the village of Umm Safa, and sustained minor wounds from broken glass of his car window.
The statement attached a video of Nael describing how he “survived by a miracle after a Palestinian fired three gunshots at his car from a speeding car,” the army spokesperson wrote, adding that “terrorism does not differentiate between Arabs and Jews or between Israelis and Palestinians. Terrorism is blind and has one goal that is against humanity.”
I guess the Shabbat contributed to this happy end.

Shaken nerves after fatal stabbing of 2 German tourists in Egypt

Residents in the Egyptian beach resort town of Hurghada expressed their sadness over the weekend after the fatal stabbing of two German tourists on Friday.
The knifeman killed the two German women and wounded several other tourists at the Zahabia hotel in Hurghada, then swam to a neighboring beach to attack at least two more people at the Sunny Days El Palacio resort before being caught by staff and arrested, officials and security sources said.
Cafe owner, Shady Abdel Raouf, said that the attack was deplorable and believed the attacker acted as a "lone-wolf."
It was the first major attack on foreign tourists since a similar assault on the same resort more than a year ago, and comes as Egypt struggles to revive a tourism industry hurt by security threats and years of political upheaval.
Meanwhile, German officials said on Saturday they had been left "dismayed and furious" by the stabbing, calling it a deliberate attack on foreign tourists.

Iran leases air, land and sea bases in Syria

Iran has leased a military airfield from the Syrian government in the center of the country in order to station fighter aircraft. Iran is also negotiating with the Syrians to establish a land base for Shiite militiamen and a port in the city of Tartus.
The land base would be an Iranian autonomous base capable of supporting 5,000 Iranian militiamen believed to be mercenaries from Afghanistan and Pakistan under the command of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards.
These steps represent a move by Iran to establish a long-term presence in Syria and pose a threat to Israel.
They also represent an annexation plan by Iran to take control of a series of territory in the Middle East with the goal being to create territorial and maritime contiguity from Iran to Lebanon, Sudan, the Gulf, Saudi Arabia, and on to Iraq and Jordan before reaching the Israeli border.
Intelligence sources in the West note that the Iranian measures are reminiscent of a similar move by the Russians in 2015, in which the Khmeimim airport in Syria was leased, setting up an air force and declaring the region autonomously Russian.

Marking coup defeat, Erdogan vows to ‘chop off traitors’ heads’

Turkey on Saturday marked one year since the defeat of the failed coup bid with mass nationwide rallies and a stern warning by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to “chop off the heads” of traitors.
The authorities have declared July 15 an annual national holiday of “democracy and unity,” billing the foiling of the putsch as a historic victory of Turkish democracy.
In an intense program, Erdogan attended a special session of parliament in Ankara, spoke to a mass rally in Istanbul and was set to return to the capital for more events before dawn.
Speaking to a rally of hundreds of thousands by the bridge across the Bosphorus in Istanbul that was the center of much of the fighting, Erdogan warned that Turkey was mulling reintroducing capital punishment.
“First of all we will chop off the heads of those traitors,” Erdogan said, reaffirming he would sign any passed by parliament bill on resuming executions.

Report: Arab countries urge FIFA to drop Qatar as 2022 World Cup host

The six Arab countries who last month cut ties with Qatar are reported to have written to world soccer's governing body FIFA to demand it be stripped of hosting the 2022 World Cup because they consider the Gulf state to be a "base of terrorism".
The Swiss website The Local reported that Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Mauritania, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt had collectively written to FIFA asking it to remove Qatar as hosts under Article 85 of the FIFA Code, which allows for such action in the case of emergency.
Reuters has not seen a copy of the letter and FIFA said that their president Gianni Infantino had not received any such document.
"The FIFA president has never received such a letter and subsequently has not done any comment on that," said a FIFA spokesman.

Miami Beach teens will no longer perform with Roger Waters due to anti-Israel controversy

Teenagers slated to perform alongside Pink Floyd star Roger Waters have backed out of the event amid accusations of anti-Semitism against the band’s co-founder.
Twelve members of a Miami Beach Parks summer program were supposed to have a dress rehearsal with the band, receive autographed photos, sit in the orchestra pit for the show and perform “Another Brick in the Wall (Part II)” on stage alongside Waters.
The singer selected the 12 teens from Ayuda Miami’s T.A.L.L. (Teens Are Life Long Learners) program and the Teen Club Miami Beach to join him onstage.
In a statement Thursday afternoon, however, Miami Beach spokeswoman Melissa Berthier said the teenagers would no longer be participating.
From the statement: “Miami Beach is a culturally diverse community and does not tolerate any form of hate.”
Earlier on Thursday, the Greater Miami Jewish Federation accused the star of anti-Semitism ahead of his show on the Us + Them Tour at AmericanAirlines Arena, referring to the singer’s anti-Israel views.
In an online ad placed on miamiherald.com, the Greater Miami Jewish Federation wrote: “Anti-Semitism and Hatred are Not Welcome in Miami.” It linked to a message on the group’s website that stated: “Mr. Waters, your vile messages of anti-Semitism, anti-Zionism and hatred are not welcome in this community.”

ROGER WATERS COMPARES ISRAEL TO NAZI GERMANY IN FACEBOOK Q&A

In an hour-long Facebook live video chat on Saturday night, musician Roger Waters compared the Israeli government to Nazi Germany, said there were no harsher regimes in the world and contradicted both himself and facts several times.
Speaking to the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement leader Omar Barghouti in a Q&A session, the lead singer of Pink Floyd said there was no point in having dialogue with Israelis and Israeli artists.
"I think that artists who say that they can somehow improve the situation by going and playing in Israel and having conversations with Israel artists" are wrong, said Waters. "I'll tell you why I think they're wrong, and that is because there are many, many Israeli Jews who are part of the BDS movement... and any of those people will say no, I don't want to sit around a campfire with you what I want you to do is not cross the picket line."
Waters went on to say that it was impossible to have a conversation with "a population that have largely been under a state of living in propaganda 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, all their lives since they were born."

Did Israeli producer help get Chrissie Hynde to play Israel?

Rocker Chrissie Hynde and The Pretenders are heading to Israel for the first time this September, and it looks like we need to thank the Israeli in her life for making that happen.
Hynde, 65, has been on a world tour with her longtime band, following its latest studio album, “Alone.” They’ll perform at Tel Aviv’s Menora Mivtachim on September 23.
The tough-talking, punk rocker originally from Ohio has been living in the UK for years, working steadily with drummer Martin Chambers, the other remaining member of the band. (Pete Farndon and James Honeyman-Scott died young of drug overdoses.)
She has also worked on several solo projects in recent years, which is how she came into contact with Israeli Eldad Guetta, a former member of rock band Monica Sex.
Guetta and fellow producer Marius De Vries — who worked on the Academy Award-winning musical score for “La La Land” — have been in London working with Hynde on an orchestral jazz dub album.

PreOccupiedTerritory: Soros Accidentally Funds Group That Doesn’t Oppose Israel’s Existence (satire)

Aides to philanthropist and political activist George Soros scrambled to perform damage control today after reports emerged that the billionaire had provided support for an organization that does not see Israel’s existence as illegitimate nor calls for its destruction.
As several executives of the Open Society Foundation promised a full investigation, others called for new layers of oversight to ensure that such a serious breach of policy never recurs. According to several witnesses, turmoil within the higher echelons of the organization led to several shouting matches over who bore responsibility for informing Soros of the debacle.
“The sense of nausea and dread is overwhelming,” confessed a staffer who asked not to be identified. “We’ve never messed up this egregiously before, at least not in my ten years here. I do not want to be in the room when the designated poor schmuck tells Mr. Soros what happened.”
“Oh my God oh my God oh my God,” breathed another. “How… how does this even happen?”
Officials at Open Society assured reporters that all protocols regarding the profiles of beneficiary organizations had been followed, and that it appeared that a technical loophole in the procedures had let one enterprise in, but not through the incompetence or malice aforethought of any Open Society employees.

Police and prosecutors 'failing to protect British Jews from hate crime', new data suggests

Police and prosecutors have been accused of betraying British Jews by failing to crack down on anti-Semitic crime.
New research suggests suspected hate offences targeting Jewish victims surged for the third consecutive year in 2016, reaching the worst level on record.
But at the same time the number of charges fell “drastically” – with alleged perpetrators charged in fewer than a tenth of cases, campaigners say.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said it does not recognise this figure.
Anti-Semitic crimes recorded by police forces around the UK increased by 14.9 per cent in 2016, according to figures provided following Freedom of Information requests.
The total of 1,078 offences registered last year compared to 938 in 2015 and 746 in 2014.
Gideon Falter, chairman of the Campaign Against Antisemitism, which compiled the analysis, said: “The failure of police forces and the Crown Prosecution Service to protect British Jews is a betrayal.

Everything you need to know about rising antisemitic crime figures in 2 minutes

Berlin mayor rebuked over Imam's call to kill Jews and stone women

A Danish Imam convicted for inciting hate after he preached for the extermination of Jews in Berlin during Israel's Operation Protective Edge in 2014 appeared on Friday in the capital city at a radical mosque, catapulting the city's mayor Michael Müller's administration into a new round of criticism for failing to rope in Islamists who advocate lethal antisemitism.
Sheikh Abu Bilal Ismail said in a fiery 2014 sermon at Berlin's Al-Nur mosque: “Oh, Allah, destroy the Zionist Jews, they are no challenge for you." He added,'Count them and kill them to the very last one. Don’t spare a single one of them. Make them suffer terribly.”
The Lebanese-born cleric's sermon was caught on video and triggered international criticism. Ismail was slated to speak on Friday at the African mosque, but was replaced at the eleventh hour by a Syrian imam who warned about spies within the congregation.
The Free Democratic party politician Marcel Luthe, who is a representative in the Berlin parliament, told the B.Z. paper: "The Senate [Berlin mayor's Michael Müller's administration] learned nothing from the appearance of the Islamic terrorist preacher at the Fussilet and Al-Nur mosques and continues to not take seriously the stoking of terrorism under the cover of practicing religion. These types of appearances should be carefully monitored."

UK-Israel Trade Booms Following Brexit

The British Embassy in Tel Aviv published figures for the first time that reveal the number of Israeli companies active in the UK has increased since the Brexit vote last year.
From June 2016 to May 2017, 32 new Israeli companies entered the UK market. They invested £152m ($199 million) and created 888 new jobs. This is an increase on the previous year where 25 Israeli companies entered Britain with an investment of £114m ($149 million) and created 787 jobs.
Barry Grossman, Commercial Attaché of the British Embassy in Israel, told The Marker, “Companies continue to set up businesses in the UK, and even more than in the past. People have understood that the referendum created more opportunities, and I think Britain will put more emphasis on developing its trade in the world.”
He added, “We want to reach a free trade agreement between Israel and Britain as soon as possible.”
The Embassy data shows that the 32 Israeli companies that established themselves in the UK last year represent a diverse group; eight dealt with financial services and seven with software, with others working in advertising, infrastructure, trade, engineering, space, tourism and technology.

In muggy Tel Aviv, Guns N’ Roses brings sizzling show to 62,000 fans

Guns N’ Roses closed out their European tour with a high energy, marathon-length show in Tel Aviv that lasted for more than three hours on Saturday night in the Yarkon Park.
Lead singer Axl Rose, 55, spent much of the show, which had no breaks, dashing across the stage and tossing the microphone stands with abandon, defying his three plus decades of rock star living.
One woman was seriously hurt while trying to climb onto the stage in the middle of the show.
Some Hebrew media reports said that the woman, in her late 20s, appeared to be drunk when she attempted to climb up the side of the stage during the performance. She then fell off and injured her head.
Medics at the show gave her first aid and she was transferred to Tel Aviv’s Ichilov Hospital while unconscious and on a respirator. However, medics said her injuries were not life-threatening. Some 65 people were also treated for dehydration.
More than 62,000 people attended the concert, making it the largest of the summer and among the largest ever in Israel. Out of the 62,000 attendees, only one “Guns N Moses” shirt was spotted, which is approximately one too many.
“There sure are a lot of you here,” Rose told the crowd at the start, one of the few times he addressed the crowd directly.

We have lots of ideas, but we need more resources to be even more effective. Please donate today to help get the message out and to help defend Israel.