07/23 Links: Hours before murderous attack, Fatah encouraged Palestinians to "rage," called for "escalation" and glorified death ~ EoZ

From Ian:

Melanie Phillips: The slaughter of the Salomon family

So now the non-stop Palestinian Arab incitement against Israel has resulted in yet more Palestinian barbarism.
The Salomon family had gathered for a Friday night Shabbat dinner, celebrating the birth of a grandchild, in their home in the Israeli settlement of Halamish. A 19 year-old Palestinian burst in armed with a large knife and began stabbing members of the family.
He killed the grandfather, Yosef Salomon, 70, his daughter Chaya Salomon, 46, and son Elad Salomon, 36. Yosef’s wife Tova, 68, was seriously wounded.
The Times of Israel reports: “In initial questioning, Abed said he bought the knife two days ago, wanting to commit a terror attack because of events surrounding the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.”
This murderous attack is the direct result of the incitement by Mahmoud Abbas and other Palestinian leaders. They are promoting this on the deranged pretext that Israel is somehow attacking Muslims at Temple Mount – all because Israel erected security barriers on the compound after one week ago Palestinians burst from al Aqsa mosque fully armed and murdered two Israeli Druze police officers stationed just outside.
The Palestinians are supported in their war of extermination against Israel by Europeans who are funding this incitement, having bought into this sick narrative of lies. Yet another Israeli family is destroyed by this madness. Let’s see how this latest savagery is reported by the western media, whose own hands in this spiral of Palestinian hysteria and murder are far from clean.

PMW: Hours before murderous attack, Fatah encouraged Palestinians to "rage," called for "escalation" and glorified death

On Friday, a few hours before a Palestinian terrorist murdered 3 Israelis by stabbing them to death in their home, Abbas' Fatah Movement encouraged Palestinians to "rage" and glorified death in a post on Facebook:
Posted text: "If I fall I will not be the first to die, and not the last to die
#Rage!
#Friday_of_dignity"
Text at top of image: "Palestinian National Liberation Movement - Fatah"
Text in center of image: "If I fall I will not be the first to die, and not the last to die
O my brothers, I write my will with my blood, please guard my revolution with your blood
Through Fatah's masses sweeping to attack
I am Fatah, I am a revolution, I am a storm (i.e., Al-Asifa, another name for Fatah)
[Fatah] Mobilization and Organization Commission's Information Office
#Rage_of_Jerusalem" [Official Fatah Facebook page, July 21, 2017]
PA official, Governor of Ramallah and El-Bireh, Laila Ghannam asked Allah for "victory over [our] enemies" and that He "guard the Al-Aqsa Mosque from evil" and "have mercy on the Martyrs of Palestine" :

Temple Mount: What's the point in praying if you can't bring your gun?
This week a lot of people died in Israel. How did it all happen? What critical facts did the media leave out? And why do some headlines make it look like there's no moral difference between the victims and the attackers who killed them? We break down the events, the facts and the media failures.

Thousands join funeral as victims of Halamish terror attack laid to rest

Thousands of mourners gathered in the central Israeli city of Modiin on Sunday as the three members of the Salomon family who were murdered by a Palestinian terrorist in a deadly stabbing attack were laid to rest.
Yosef Salomon, 70, and his two children Chaya Salomon, 46, and Elad Salomon, 36, were killed by a 19-year-old Palestinian who infiltrated the West Bank settlement of Halamish on Friday night and attacked them in their home as they were celebrating the birth of a new grandchild with the family.
Yosef’s wife, Tova, 68, was released from hospital and joined the mourners at the funeral. She had been seriously wounded and taken to the Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem where she underwent surgery on Saturday morning.
Michal Solomon, the wife of Elad, eulogized her husband, calling him her best friend.
“13 years ago we met in Neve Tzur,” she said. “I met a quiet, calm and stable man. I felt certain in my decision to spend our lives together. You were a perfect husband, we couldn’t have asked for any more. You were excited by our kids. You cared about them. You played with them like a kid yourself.”

'How do you tell a 7-year old that her teacher was murdered?'

Haya Salomon, one of the victims of the barbaric terrorist attack in the town of Neve Tzuf-Halamish, served as a teacher at the Noam Hameiri school in Lod. Arutz Sheva spoke with one of the parents at the school about the loss of the beloved teacher.
Three of Lilach Zederboim's daughters studied in Salomon's classes, and her fourth daughter studied with Salomon as a professional teacher. Zederboim said that it was extremely difficult to inform her children about their teacher's murder.
"Immediately after Shabbat I was informed of the murder," Zederboim said. "Luckily the children weren't at home, so my husband and I could take time to recover from this terrible news. When the children came home it was obvious that we had to inform them [of the murder] before the information came from other sources. It is very difficult to sit down a seven-and-a-half-year old girl - who just a week and a half ago met with her teacher for a farewell gathering - and tell her that she'll never see [her teacher] again. It is very, very difficult. It is very difficult even for the older girls."
She added: "Everybody knew it. 'Morah Haya' (teacher Haya) was a name associated with the first and second grades. When the girls finished their two years with her they knew they were ready to read, count, and for any other field. [Haya] put her all into everything she did."

'Publishing pictures hurts families'

Haim Fogel, a resident of Neve Tzuf and the father of Rabbi Udi Fogel, murdered along with his wife and three children in the 2011 Itamar massacre, slammed the publication of the horrific scenes from the Neve Tzuf terror attack on Friday night.
"My wife turned on the TV on Saturday night and saw the pictures, and it brought it all back to her," Fogel said this morning.
"We are sorry that this is what is happening. It hurts families. Someone may think it's good to show the whole world [...] the blood. The problem is that it hurts us, it hurts the families. Why is it needed?”
“If it were possible to stop it, I would ask that it be stopped,” Fogel added. “In the long run, it doesn’t serve any purpose.”
“I call on all officials arriving first to a [terror] scene, like ZAKA and others - just don’t publish [pictures],” Fogel said.

Israel Dog Unit urges guard dogs in wake of Neve Tzuf attack

The Israel Dog Unit (IDU) is urging Jews throughout Judea and Samaria as well as local emergency response teams to join the canine defense program so as to prevent terrorist infiltrations into Jewish towns in Judea and Samaria.
The IDU provides protection dogs and courses to Jews who seek to protect their families and towns using specially trained defense dogs. The IDU operates a separate division that looks for missing people with specially trained search-and-rescue dogs.
Mike ben Yaakov, commander of the Israel Dog Unit, said, “There is no reason in the world that residents of vulnerable Jewish towns do not patrol the borders of their towns with good patrol dogs that could detect suspicious movement before the terrorist sneaks through the security fence. And there is no reason not to employ the use of dogs to track down a terrorist, once there is a known point of entry, after the sensor indicates that the fence had been touched. It is also clear that a protection dog inside of the house could have helped neutralize the terrorist before he carried out his carnage.”
In March, a Muslim infiltrated the Mor Farm located in the Mount Hebron region. Shabtai Kushelevski saw the terrorist outside his home, and ran inside to get his gun. The terrorist followed Shabtai into the home, where his wife was nursing their young baby in a side room.
When Sayad Machmud Ali Kaysiya tried to stab Shabtai in the back, he was attacked by Sofie the family dog, allowing Shabtai time to grab his gun and shoot the terrorist dead. Two knives were subsequently found on the terrorist.

'Israel was founded so Jews wouldn't have to hide in attics'

Rabbi Schein heard the testimony this morning of Michal Salomon, who lost her husband, Elad, in the attack. “I have just heard a description of the actions of the mother, who hid with her children during the attack in Halamish. She made sure they were quiet so that the terrorist wouldn’t hear them, and thus they were saved.”
“For a second, I lost my breath!”
Rabbi Schein related, “In one of the ‘aktions’ (German for "operations", ed.) of the Nazis in the Kovno Ghetto, they entered my father’s house in the Ghetto. My aunt, who knew how to think on her feet, successfully hid one of the children from the family in the attic, thus postponing his murder until the next ‘aktion.’”
"A clone of Nazi [aktion] is taking place today under the auspices of Palestinian incitement. It is important that we understand that the State of Israel was established so that Jews would no longer have to hide in attics. The proper response must be focused on the [Palestinian Arab] political and religious leadership inciting incessantly, and anyone who helps them.”
“A mother who sees her murderer son as a heroic “Shahid” is a monster. There is only one way to deal with monsters.”

Soldier who shot Halamish terrorist: ‘I didn’t think, I acted immediately’

An off-duty IDF soldier who shot and wounded the Palestinian terrorist behind the deadly stabbing attack in Halamish Friday evening, in which three Israelis were killed, recounted the events Saturday.
Identified only as Sgt. A., from the IDF’s elite canine special forces unit, the soldier said he heard the screams of the victims at the nearby home, ran to the window of the house and shot and wounded the killer.
“I understood immediately what was happening — I saw the terrorist and shot him through the window,” he said, according to Channel 2 news.
“I understood the situation thoroughly,” he repeated. “I shot into [the house] from outside. I didn’t think a lot, I acted immediately.”
The soldier also described the incident in a interview.

IDF soldier who stopped attack in Halamish eye witness account

Netanyahu: Home of Halamish terrorist will soon be demolished

Israel intends to speedily destroy the house of the Palestinian terrorist who killed three members of the Salomon family Friday night in the West Bank settlement of Halamish, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday.
On Friday evening, 19-year-old Omar al-Abed, from a nearby West Bank village, burst in to the Salomon family’s house armed with a large knife and stabbed to death Yosef Salomon, 70, his daughter Chaya Salomon, 46, and son Elad Salomon, 36. Yosef’s wife Tova, 68, was seriously hurt.
During the attack, Abed was shot and injured by an off-duty Israeli soldier who lives nearby. He was discharged from an Israeli hospital into custody on Saturday.
IDF forces early Saturday morning raided Abed’s home and arrested his brother. They also mapped the family home of the 19-year-old killer in preparation for its likely demolition.

Israeli ministers call for death penalty for Halamish terrorist

Several ministers in the Security Cabinet called for the terrorist who massacred a family Halamish Friday night to be executed ahead of Sunday’s cabinet meeting.
Military courts can sentence someone to death, though the option has not been used since 1962, when senior Nazi Adolf Eichmann was hanged after being convicted of genocide and crimes against humanity.
The ministers called for the death penalty after 19-year-old Palestinian terrorist Omar al-Abed entered a home in Halamish, in Samaria, and began stabbing members of the Salomon family, who were having Shabbat dinner. He murdered Yosef Salomon, 70, and his children Chaya, 46, and Elad, 36, who was celebrating the birth of his fifth child. He also severely injured Yosef’s wife Tovah, who remains hospitalized. Elad’s wife was able to hide together with her five children, saving their lives. An IDF soldier who lives nearby shot al-Abed before he was able to continue the massacre.
“The option of the death penalty exists in military courts,” Education Minister Naftali Bennett said. “There is no need for legislation; just to ask. I call on the military prosecution to demand the death penalty for the terrorist that killed the Salomon family.”

Chief rabbi says Halamish terrorist should have been killed

Sephardi Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef told followers on Saturday that the terrorist who murdered three members of a family on Friday night should have been killed.
Speaking at his weekly homily, Yosef spoke of 19-year-old Omar al-Abed, the terrorist who was wounded after murdering three members of one family. “Too bad they did not kill this terrorist. They should have killed him,” Yosef said.
His comments are controversial after the country has been roiled in recent months by the case of Elor Azaria, a soldier who was convicted of manslaughter for shooting and killing a Palestinian attacker after he had been disarmed.
Yosef dedicated the lesson to the memories of the three victims, Yosef Salomon, 70, his daughter Chaya Salomon, 46, and son, Elad Salomon, 36, as well as to the speedy recovery of their wife and mother, Tova, 68, who was seriously wounded in the attack and is recovering in the Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem.
“Every Arab terrorist who comes to murder must not return alive,” Yosef said. “If you know that he came to attack the Jewish people you must kill him. Not just wound him, you must kill him.”

Halamish terrorist was arrested 3 months ago by PA for allegedly planning attacks

The Palestinian terrorist who stabbed to death three members of an Israeli family while they were eating Shabbat dinner at home Friday night, was arrested three months ago by security forces of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, his uncle said Saturday.
Ibrahim al-Abed said his nephew Omar al-Abed spent two weeks in PA detention and was violently interrogated about alleged plans to attack Israelis before he was released.
The terrorist’s father said that his son was upset over the loss of Palestinian lives following violent clashes over escalating tensions at the Temple Mount and wanted to protect the “honor” of the Jerusalem holy site.
“The honor of Muslims is only the Haram,” Mohammed al-Abed said. “If it’s gone, the Muslims’ honor is gone. This was the motive for my son.”
Al-Abed said in a pre-attack Facebook post that he expected to be killed in the attack. He wrote that he wanted his body to be covered by a banner of the Hamas terror group and a photo of Abbas’s predecessor, Yasser Arafat.

Palestinian teen butchers Israeli family, his mom is proud

Yesterday there was another savage attack on an Israeli family by a Palestinian intruder who entered the house and butchered as many people as he could before being shot.
The attack comes amid increasing incitement to violence after Israel installed metal detectors leading to the Temple Mount, after two Israeli policemen were killed by terrorists who hid their weapons in and around al-Aqsa Mosque. We detailed that attack and the incitement in our post, Palestinian “Day of Rage” ends the way all their other Days of Rage ended.
We covered many such similar attacks, including the murder of the Fogel family, including infant Hadar in her crib, and more recently, the knifing to death of Hallel Yaffa Ariel, which we covered in 13-year old Israeli girl stabbed to death in bed by 17-year old Arab terrorist. It is not a coincidence that many of these attacks are carried out by minors, given the incitement to violence against Jews in Palestinian Arab media, political spheres, social media, and schools, focused on “children”:

Israel cracks down on Hamas in West Bank after deadly attack

With tensions still high in Jerusalem and the West Bank, Israeli security forces are cracking down on Hamas militants, arresting 25 Palestinians overnight across the West Bank.
On Sunday morning, the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) announced that it made 25 arrests of Hamas members, including several higher-up officials overnight in the West Bank in cooperation with the IDF as part of an ongoing effort to ensure that tensions do not escalate into more violence.
“The wave of detentions, that included a number of senior Hamas figures, was part of the preventive efforts of the Shin Bet security service and the Israel Defense Forces against the terrorist organizations, particularly during the past week and due to the tension surrounding the Temple Mount and the unrest in the area,” the Shin Bet said in a statement.
On Saturday, IDF Spokesman Brigadier General Ronen Manelis said that the IDF and other security agencies are working to prevent further deterioration of the situation on the ground which is seeing a worsening trend of increased support for attacks among Palestinians.

A home, not a battlefield

I think about the mother who was protecting her children behind a single closed door, able to hear from the upper floor of the house what was happening, the murderer making his way toward her babies, with nothing for her to do but lean against the door and pray.
I think about the grandmother, who saw her husband and children slaughtered and ran upstairs to defend her grandchildren.
I think about the five young children hidden in a room upstairs, with a terrorist looking for them like an evil animal hunting his prey.
I think about us, we who have seen Jewish blood spilled over and over, and over and over can't stop our tears.
Friday evening, a time for rest and for family. The five members of the Fogel family from Itamar were also murdered in their home on the eve of the holy Shabbat. And the four members of the Gavish family were killed in their home in Elon Moreh on the eve of Passover. Eyal Yeberbaum and infant Shaked Avraham were killed in the Yeberbaum's home in Negohot on the eve of Rosh Hashanah. In all these incidents, bloodthirsty killers broke into homes sanctified by a cup of wine and love, filled with the simple joy of dishes on the countertop and quiet conversation, and turned kitchens into slaughterhouses.

US headlines whitewash Halamish attack

Headlines at major US outlets appeared to lump the attack together with Arab riots in eastern Jerusalem allegedly over Israel’s placement of metal detectors on the Temple Mount. On Friday, PA media had reported the deaths of at least 3 Arab rioters in clashes with Israeli security forces. The rioters threw rocks, Molotov cocktails, and other objects at the Israeli forces, who responded using crowd-dispersal equipment.
In the meantime, a CBS headline on the events read: “3 Palestinians, 3 Israelis killed in violence over Jerusalem shrine.” Fox News reported: “3 Palestinians, 3 Israelis killed in violence over holy site.”
An NBC headline said: “Al Aqsa Mosque Clashes: 6 killed as Jerusalem Shrine Tensions Worsen.” And the New York Times: "Deadly Violence Erupts in Standoff Over Mosque in Jerusalem."

UK media frame Palestinian murder of Jews in Halamish into a ‘clash’ over metal detectors

At least one of the Arab Israeli attackers is believed to have been motivated by his fear that ‘Al-Aqsa Mosque was in danger’ – a lie cynically used by Palestinian leaders over the past century to incite violence against Jews and Israelis.
A sample of cartoons published in Arab newspapers in recent years warning that Israel was going to destroy Al-Aqsa Mosque
The unprecedented violence on the Mount prompted increased Israeli security measures, including the introduction of metal detectors for all Mosque visitors – similar to the detectors Jews must pass through on their way to the Western Wall.
Since then, Arab and Palestinian political and religious leaders began framing the metal detector as an incendiary act, a violation of the status quo, a threat to the mosque and – most importantly – an excuse for more violence. This incitement led to Palestinian rioting in east Jerusalem throughout the week and culminated in a call by Palestinian religious and political leaders for a “Day of Rage” on Friday to protest the Israeli government’s decision to keep the metal detectors in place.
Such incitement prompted thousands of Palestinians in Jerusalem and the West Bank to take to the streets and attack police with rocks and Molotov cocktails and culminated in a deadly terror attack that evening. In the Israeli town of Halamish, a Palestinian terrorist broke into the home of a family that had just sat down for Shabbat dinner and stabbed Yosef, 70, and two of his children – Elad, 36 and Chaya, 46 – to death.

BBC refrains from using the word terror in report on murdered family

Rather, the BBC continued its usual practice of portraying incitement as something that “Israel says” happens while amplifying messaging put out in PLO ‘media guidance’.
“Israel says Palestinian incitement has fuelled the attacks. The Palestinian leadership has blamed frustration rooted in decades of Israeli occupation.”
While at least one BBC journalist was aware of photographs that emerged from the scene of the attack, the BBC preferred to illustrate its early versions of the article with a pastoral image of Halamish, later adding a photo of an ambulance crew evacuating the wounded victim.
The report was further amended the next day to include allegations of ‘collective punishment’.
“Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman also said they were taking steps to prepare the Palestinian attacker’s house for demolition – a measure regularly taken by Israel, which says it is a deterrent, but condemned by rights groups as collective punishment.”
In light of the long-standing double standard in language used when reporting acts of terror against Israelis, it is sadly unsurprising to see the BBC refusing to use the word terror to describe the brutal murders of members of a family doing no more than enjoying dinner in their own home – just as it has in the past refused to use the same term to describe Israelis murdered in their own beds, Israelis praying in their local synagogue or an Israeli painting her own front door.
As predictable as that BBC practice is, it becomes no less repugnant and offensive with time.

IsraellyCool: Know Your History: The Decaying Shrines of Jerusalem (NY Times Aug 21, 1955)

A series where I bring to you news from the archives and historical documents to debunk common misconceptions about the Middle East conflict.
As you know, much of the Muslim world is enraged, protesting and threatening more violence over Israel’s installation of metal detectors at the Temple Mount.
I have already posted how the whole thing is bogus, hiding the real reason for the rage: the fact that the infidel Jews are in control and making decisions.
Here’s another indication: no Muslims were protesting or holding days of rage back in the 1950s when Jordan allowed the Muslim shrines to be in a state of disrepair and neglect (in addition to the Jewish and Christian ones of course) – a way worse situation than having metal detectors, one would have thought.
Note also the New York Times mentions the Jewish history of the site predating Islam, as well as the fact Jews were forbidden from even the Western Wall (yet the Jews did not hold days of rage or threaten violence either, despite the fact this is also way worse than the mere inconvenience of metal detectors).

Yisrael Medad: If Not the Detectors, It’ll Be the Cameras

A new status quo was created by Israel’s Minister of Defense Moshe Dayan in June 1967 as he saw the Jewish element of the walled compound as no more than
“a historical site of commemoration of the past…one should not hinder the Arabs from behaving there as they now do and one should recognize their right as Muslims to control the site.”
But even if the Security Cabinet decides to remove the metal detectors, there is still the matter of the new surveillance cameras. The detectors removed are being replaced by the cameras and that will be the new excuse to demonstrate to undermine Israel’s sovereignty. This will be the new campaign issue; the new “cause” of terror. The Likud-led government will find itself unable to flee from the situation.
With the Three Weeks period upon us and Tisha B’Av 10 days away, we are reminded of the description of a land pursued by its enemies. Little can assuage the Arabs who call themselves “Palestinians”. A disengagement from Gaza brought us three military rounds of hostilities just as the withdrawal from Lebanon brought us the Hezbollah.
Our government rightly bemoaned and denounced the UNESCO decisions that ignored the Temple Mount’s Jewish status.
A firm stand will eventually need to be made.

Police install hi-tech security cameras outside Temple Mount

The Israel Police overnight Saturday-Sunday installed new surveillance measures near the Lions Gate of the Old City of Jerusalem, the main access point for Muslim worshipers to the adjacent Temple Mount compound.
The Lions Gate area was the scene of a deadly terror attack on July 14 in which three Arab Israeli gunmen shot and killed two Israeli police officers, after smuggling firearms into the compound. The deadly attack prompted Israel to install metal detectors at the Gate of the Tribes access point to the Mount there to prevent further weapons smuggling, enraging Muslim worshipers and setting off increasingly violent mass protests.
In the clearing at the Gate of the Tribes entranceway, Israel put up additional temporary barricades overnight, beyond those already in place from last week, leading worshipers past an array of sophisticated surveillance cameras mounted on newly constructed scaffolding.
According to Hebrew media reports, the camera can identify suspects carrying weapons without the use of metal detectors. Those spotted behaving suspiciously may then be checked by police with a hand-held metal detector.

In London, Ferals Burn Israeli Flag, Scream Allahu Akhbar

Near the Israeli Embassy yesterday:
More from David Collier:
"Islamic thugs, attacking the Jews outside the Israeli embassy. Stealing and burning the flag. Israeli flag burning from about 3 minutes in. Cries of Allahu Akbar. Footage from 22/7 at Israeli Embassy. Hezbollah flag back on London streets, violent Islamic thugs. Listen to vile commentary too."
Let me remark that whenever you feel tempted to praise Tony Blair, just remind yourself that his Open Door policy, cynically and deliberately designed to destroy by demography the conservative vote in England and keep Labour perpetually in power, helped to make London the cesspool of Israel-hatred it is today.

EXCLUSIVE – Father of Druze Officer Murdered by Terrorists Hails Israel’s Treatment of Minorities

Israel “is the best place to live for the Druze minority,” declared Shachiv Shnaan, a member of Israeli’s Druze community and a former Israeli Knesset member in an interview with Breitbart Jerusalem.
Shnaan lost his son, Kamil, a police officer, in last Friday’s deadly terrorist attack at the entrance to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. Kamil Shnaan was one of two Druze police officers killed in the attack.
“Those who seek peace and look to live in peace in the Middle East and in the world in general need to learn from our life inside Israel – they need to learn what mutual respect and mutual responsibility are,” Shnaan said.
According to the former Knesset member, who served as a member of the Labor Party, “Thousands of visits and statements of solidarity from Jewish citizens simply warmed my heart. Jews came to comfort me from across the country, almost all of whom are people I don’t know.”
“I saw this gathering around me and around the family, which is not to be taken for granted,” he continued. “This shows that people appreciate the relations between the Druze and Jewish communities, between the Druze and the State of Israel.”
In his eulogy at his son’s funeral, Shnaan said he was proud that his son was wrapped in the Israeli flag and that he hoped his son will be the last victim of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Bennett on BBC: Read my lips - Temple Mount is open

Jewish Home chairman and Education Minister Naftali Bennett explained in an interview with the BBC on Friday that the decision to leave the metal detectors at the entrance to the Temple Mount was made in order “to defend everyone who wants to worship on the Temple Mount.”
The interview was conducted hours before Friday’s deadly stabbing attack in the Samaria community of Halamish.
“The only way that we can defend ourselves is by placing those metal detectors and I think that you’ll realize that there are metal detectors in the Vatican, there are metal detectors in the Western Wall, at Westminster, in Mecca…there’s no reason that we can’t maintain the metal detectors at the entrance to the Temple Mount,” he added.
“The Temple Mount is open to everyone,” Bennett stressed. “The metal detectors are vital for everyone’s security.”

Israel open to returning bodies of Temple Mount attackers — report

Israel is reportedly prepared to return the bodies of the three Arab Israelis who carried out the recent terror attack at the Temple Mount, shooting dead two police officers.
The decision to return the bodies came at a meeting on Friday between police officials and members of the terrorists’ families, as well as the deputy mayor of Umm al-Fahm, the attackers hometown, Channel 10 reported Sunday.
Police informed the families that the bodies of the attackers — Muhammad Ahmed Muhammad Jabarin, 29; Muhammad Hamad Abdel Latif Jabarin, 19; and Muhammad Ahmed Mafdal Jabarin, 19; — will only be returned if they agree to a number of conditions, including limiting the number of people who attend their funerals, coordinating their timing and leaving a security deposit.
“Failure to comply with these conditions could lead to physical harm and property damage,” unnamed police officials told Channel 10.

Protesters in Jordan Shout ‘How Beautiful to Kill Soldiers from Jerusalem’

Demonstrations in support of Palestinian worshipers in support of their struggle against the new Temple Mount security measures were held Friday in Jordan and Turkey. In Amman, Jordan, thousands gathered and shouted epithets against Israel.
According to reports, the crowd shouted, among other things, “How beautiful it is to kill soldiers from Jerusalem,” with some waving a model of a cardboard missile with the words “Al-Aqsa – Red Line.” Another demonstration was held in Istanbul, where Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim condemned the use of metal detectors at the entrance gates to the Temple Mount.
“The security measures taken by Israel are wrong,” he said. “Blocking Muslims from entering the compound will not contribute to finding a solution to the issue.”

Erdogan accuses Israel of violating democratic rights over Temple Mount row

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan slammed Israel over its implementation of extra security measures in Jerusalem. He called on the Jewish state on Sunday to observe "basic human rights values" following the clashes between Israeli security forces and Palestinian rioters over Israel's decision to place metal detectors at the entrance to the Temple Mount complex.
The Turkish president didn't stop there. "I condemn Israel's insistence on disregarding all warnings to maintain its position," he said. "It is unacceptable that Israel shut down Haram al-Sharif three days and imposed new restrictions, including metal detectors, on Muslims' entry to the area," he charged.
Erdogan notedly referred to the Temple Mount as 'Haram al-Sharif,' the name Muslims call the Temple Mount by.
"Metal detectors and other restrictions must be lifted immediately and the current status quo must be restored," he pressed on.

Pope calls for ‘moderation’ after deadly violence in Jerusalem, West Bank

Pope Francis has appealed for moderation after the deadly violence over the Temple Mount.
Francis told faithful Sunday in St. Peter’s Square that he was following “with trepidation the grave tensions and violence” unleashed at the contested shrine.
Francis said: “I feel the need to express a distressed appeal for moderation and dialogue.” He invited others to pray with him so people would aim for reconciliation and peace.
Israel installed upgraded security, including metal detectors and cameras at the entrances to the holy site, following a deadly terror attack on July 14 in which three Arab terrorists emerged from the compound and shot dead two Israeli police officers, having earlier stashed their weapons at the site.

Chechnya’s Jewish community is angry at Israel… but doesn’t seem to exist

While Russia’s mainstream Jewish leaders in Moscow firmly backed Israel’s actions in clashes this week with Palestinians at Jerusalem’s Temple Mount, the small Jewish community of Chechnya broke ranks with them and condemned the Jewish state’s “provocations” against Muslims in the holy city.
At least that was the story reported in Chechen national and local media, including the Echo of Moscow radio station and Chechnya Today – the most popular news site in the predominantly Muslim Russian republic.
There was just one problem with the news item: Chechnya apparently has no organized Jewish community, and according to some Jewish people who were born there, also next to no Jews.
The reports about where Chechen Jews stand on the issue of Jerusalem, where police and Palestinians clashed Thursday night and Friday over Israel’s decision to place metal detectors at the entrance to the Temple Mount compound near Al-Aqsa mosque, relied on a video message published Tuesday by a man called Mosei Yunayev.

World Council of Churches Endorses Palestinian Protests Over Temple Mount Security Measures

The World Council of Churches (WCC) has declared its support for the Palestinian campaign against Israeli control of Jerusalem’s holy sites, describing new Israeli security measures at the Temple Mount as a “corrosive act in the midst of an already-fragile peace.”
“Keeping the historical status quo and supporting equal rights for Christians, Muslims and Jews at these holy sites is vitally important to maintaining peace and de-escalating violence,” said Fr. Ioan Sauca, acting general secretary of the WCC.
“Denying access to holy sites for thousands of people who have traveled far to pray is not only a violation of the rights of those individuals, but also a corrosive act in the midst of an already-fragile peace,” Fr. Sauca said.
One prominent Jewish human rights group ridiculed the WCC for protesting against Israel’s installation of metal detectors at the site, when such measures are common at religious sites around the world. In 2015, Saudi Arabia introduced a range of new restrictions, including electronic bracelets, for Muslims performing the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca after capturing a suicide bomber who planned to attack the Grand Mosque in Islam’s holiest city. Major Christian sites, most obviously at the Vatican in Rome, have also implemented enhanced measures amid a continuing wave of Islamist terror attacks in Europe and the Middle East.

Abbas is out of the game

The crisis surrounding the Temple Mount erupted while Abbas was in the midst of confronting Hamas over control of Gaza, with the ultimate objective being to bring Hamas to its knees. The PA president is tightening the noose around the coastal enclave by cutting electricity and water supplies, measures that have a significantly greater impact on the day-to-day lives of Palestinians in Gaza than metal detectors at the entrance to the Temple Mount.
This isn't just a fight over Gaza, however, but for Abbas' future leadership prospects. To be sure, the groundwork is being laid inside and outside the PA to replace him (see Egypt's budding ties with his archrival, Mohammed Dahlan).
Abbas' leadership is negligible. He is not a man of dramatic declarations or actions. This is his blessing and his curse. He is not a man of violence or zeal, but he is apparently not the man to lead the Palestinians to a courageous peace agreement either. All he wants is essentially to return home safe and sound.
The practical significance is that Israel will have to resolve the current crisis on its own; or perhaps with the help of neighboring Arab countries, chief among them Jordan or Saudi Arabia. Abbas will not oppose whatever compromise is reached, and will even look to capitalize on it as he continues to ward off adversaries vying for his seat.

Abbas confirms he halted security coordination, warns Israelis will ‘lose’

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas confirmed on Monday his decision to halt security coordination with Israel in protest of the installation of metal detectors at entrances to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, describing the decision as difficult and warning that it would be Israelis who would suffer from the measure.
Abbas suggested that should Israel want security coordination to return, it would have to reverse the recent security measures taken at the Temple Mount and halt all military incursions into Palestinian cities.
“If we are patient, we will certainly get what we want: we will stop the installation of these metal detectors, stop these measures, and stop the incursions by the Israeli government in all cities of the West Bank,” Abbas said, according to a report in the official PA news site Wafa.

Liberman: Israel can manage without Palestinian security cooperation

Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman on Sunday said Israel will manage without security coordination with the Palestinian Authority, apparently confirming reports the Palestinians have suspended their joint efforts with Israel to prevent terror attacks.
“We’ve managed for many years without security cooperation, we’ll manage now as well,” Liberman told the Ynet news website.
The defense minister stressed, however, that the security ties were in the Palestinians’ best interest.
“It’s their decision,” he added. “It’s not that the security coordination is an Israeli need. Before our needs, it’s a Palestinian need first and foremost, and therefore if they want it, it will continue, if they don’t want it, they won’t. It’s their decision.”

Time to deport Abbas

It’s the old game – Arabs attack and then Israel is blamed for defending itself.
Following the murder of two Israeli soldiers on the Temple Mount, at the hands of three Muslim terrorists, Israel did what any sovereign nation would do; it took measures to make sure it doesn’t happen again. In this case, authorities installed security detectors at the entrances to the site to keep it safe and orderly.
But Mahmoud Abbas and other Arab leaders could not resist the temptation to accuse Israel of acting provocatively against Muslim sensitivities.
Abbas demanded bloodshed… and over the weekend an Arab heeded Abbas’s call and three more Israelis were murdered.
High-level lawmakers from Jordan and Egypt (like old times) pointed the blame directly upon the Jewish State, accusing it of “escalation.”
For what? For taking logical steps to maintain law and order at the Temple Mount? Yes. Exactly. To them, apparently, the murder of Israelis is perfectly all right. That part does not trouble Egypt and Jordan. For Abbas, any day when he can go screaming to the world against Israel is a good day, a golden opportunity – and any excuse will do.
He knows the world stage and nobody can put on a “poor me, I need help” performance like he can. He knows how to play with emotions.

Israeli Arab lawmaker proclaims 'Jerusalem is Palestinian'

"Jerusalem is Arab, Muslim, Palestinian. That's how it was, and that is how it will be," Joint Arab List MK Ahmad Tibi declared before an excited crowd in the Old City of Jerusalem this weekend.
In his speech, which the Israel Hayom website was the first to report, Tibi told his audience that "the crowds here came to send a message loud and clear to the world that the occupation is preventing most Muslims from praying at Al-Aqsa, while talking about freedom of religion."
Tibi, who serves as Knesset deputy speaker, went on to respond to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's explanation for Israeli metal detectors on the Temple Mount. Tibi explained that while Netanyahu argued that there were also metal detectors in place in Mecca, "Mecca is not an occupied city like Jerusalem. Therefore, we don't want anything from the occupation."
Tibi also said that "altering the existing arrangement is designed to divide Al-Aqsa. We won't accept that. Your [Israel's] duty is to protect Al-Aqsa as a place for Muslim prayer only."

BBC backgrounder on Palestinian ‘metal detector’ outrage fails to tell all

The fact that Temple Mount is the holiest site in Judaism is not mentioned.
Knell: “For Palestinians, anything seen as a threat to al Aqsa mosque is a rallying cry and a symbol of Israel’s occupation.”
While Yolande Knell amplifies the baseless propaganda concerning “a threat to al Aqsa mosque”, she does not bother to inform viewers that in fact, no such threat exists.
Text: “Israeli soldiers are responding with tear gas. Unusually, Israel closed the site after two of its police officers were shot dead by armed men inside the mosque grounds.”
The backgrounder does not clarify that the incident (that took place at Lions Gate rather than “inside the mosque grounds”) in which the two Israeli police officers were murdered was a terror attack. Critically, viewers are not told that the terrorists used weapons that they received from an accomplice inside al Aqsa mosque. Without that crucial information, BBC audiences obviously cannot understand why the metal detectors were subsequently installed.

IsraellyCool: BREAKING: Inventors of the Suicide Bomb Dislike Metal Detectors (satire)

There is a story sending shock waves throughout the International Community today. Specifically, it appears that the folks who brought us the airline hijacking and the suicide bomber……. you may want to sit down for this one …….. well it appears that they really dislike metal detectors. Once again, the people who brought us the Munich Olympics massacre, the Entebbe Hijacking, and the Sbarro bombing……. are violently opposed to measures that may have prevented……. the Munich Olympics massacre, the Entebbe Hijacking, and the Sbarro bombing. The Daily Freier wandered around Jerusalem trying to make sense of it all.
First we moped around Machane Yehuda. None of this made any sense. It is almost as if metal detectors are considered provocative……. by the people who are a Huge (Yuge!) reason for metal detectors.
(In other breaking news, it appears that teenage boys object to enforcement of the Speed Limit, girls who are saving themselves for marriage, and liquor stores that ask for your ID.)
Then we got on the light rail, where we were given the once-over by a security guard packing a 9mm pistol underneath his tan vest. But what the heck was he doing guarding a public place in Israel? From whom? Like what’s the point? And why are we even writing this non-sequitur that has nothing to do with our main point?

Seeing Govt’ Refuse To Escalate, Arab MKs Take Matters Into Own Hands (satire)

The Israeli government’s relative restraint in the aftermath of two murdered police officers and more than a week of deadly rioting has forced lawmakers from the Joint List alliance in the Knesset to initiate provocations themselves, as the cabinet and police refuse to do so.
MK Haneen Zoabi of Balad urged rioters to keep at it, as Jamal Zakhalka, Ahmad Tibi, Ayman Odeh, and others argued in media and at demonstrations that the violent outrage was justified, as in parallel they refused to denounce the murder of the police officers as murder without watering down the denunciation with condemnation of “all violence” or pinning blame on Israel.
Zoabi explained that if the Israeli government was not going to take more active steps to stoke tensions and spark further unrest, she and her colleagues would have to do so. “Closing off the Temple Mount until metal detectors could be installed is little more than a token measure,” she charged. “If Netanyahu and his government were truly serious about inflaming the situation they would be ordering the police and army to fire indiscriminately at protesters, maybe kill a few dozen women and children. But as it is, we’ve seen maybe a handful of deadly incidents. That will not do.”
“As the Jewish proverb states, ‘In a place where there is no man, strive to be a man’ – so my fellow legislators from the Joint List are here to provide the incitement that Bibi refuses to foment,” she continued. “Al Aqsa is in danger! The Jews are going to undermine the mosque and the Dome of the Rock shrine! the honor of all Muslims is at stake! See? Is it so hard, Mr. Netanyahu?”

Jewish group decries US report on 'lack of hope' spurring Mideast terror

B’nai B’rith International faulted the Trump administration for adopting the “Palestinian narrative” in the State Department’s annual report on terrorism.
In the report released this week, the State Department listed as “continued drivers of violence” a “lack of hope in achieving Palestinian statehood, Israeli settlement construction in the West Bank, settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank, the perception that the Israeli government was changing the status quo on the Haram Al Sharif/Temple Mount, and IDF tactics that the Palestinians considered overly aggressive.”
It is astonishing that State is parroting the false Palestinian narrative,” B’nai B’rith said in its statement Thursday. “If it were not released by the State Department, it would be easy to mistake the inflammatory and accusatory language as coming directly from the Palestinians.”
While such an assessment would be uncontroversial coming from a think tank or even Israeli security officials, it is unusual in a State Department statement, particularly under President Donald Trump, who has been outspoken in condemning Palestinian incitement.

Rocket fired from Gaza explodes in the air

Terrorists on Saturday night fired a rocket towards Israel from Gaza.
The rocket exploded in the air, causing no physical injuries or damages. Due to the fact that the rocket exploded in the air, the “Red Alert” rocket siren was not activated.
Last month, terrorists from Gaza fired a rocket towards the Sha'ar Hanegev region of southern Israel.
In that attack as well, there were no physical injuries or damage.
The Israeli Air Force later retaliated by launching airstrikes on two military infrastructures belonging to Hamas in northern and southern Gaza.

60 headstones toppled at Connecticut Jewish cemetery

Some 60 headstones were toppled at a Jewish cemetery last week in Hartford, Connecticut.
The damage at the Ateres Knesseth Israel Cemetery was discovered on Friday, when a relative of someone buried there visited the gravesite.
The woman who made the discovery told police that when she visited the cemetery on Monday, five days earlier, she had not seen any such damage, according to reports.
Most of the 60 gravestones reportedly can be reset on their bases, but at least two were shattered.
The cost to repair the damage is estimated at up to $10,000.

Three Italian brothers seek to reconnect with their life during the Holocaust

Renting a house in the Italian countryside and eating loads of pasta is about as blissful a vacation as they come.
For the three Anati brothers, however, such a trip is a reminder of the horrors of the Holocaust.
Yet the brothers — Bubi, 77; Andrea, 85; and Emmanuel, 88 — did just that in 2013, precisely with the aim of reconnecting with their past.
The Anatis were raised in an upper-class family in Florence. In 1942, just before the deportations of Florentine Jews to Auschwitz began, the family escaped the city. They fled from village to village and eventually settled in a forest near Villa a Sesta, a town some 50 miles from Florence. With the help of locals, their father dug a cave — and the family lived underground, literally, for several months during the winter of 1944 until the end of the war.
The family then moved to Israel, where the brothers have lived ever since.

‘Wonder Woman II’ in the works, Warner Bros. announces

Warner Bros. studios officially announced that it will produce a sequel to its wildly successful “Wonder Woman” film, but it hasn’t said if Israeli actress Gal Gadot will reprise her role in the movie.
Warner Bros. Pictures and DC Comics announced the follow-up, called “Wonder Woman II,” at the Comic-Con in San Diego, according to reports.
The movie reportedly will be set during the Cold War with the Soviets. A release date has not been announced.
“Wonder Woman” has surpassed $600 million at the box office worldwide, making it the sixth-highest grossing film of 2017, with Gadot in the leading role.
Gadot arrived at Comic-Con on Saturday to participate in a panel with her co-stars in the upcoming “Justice League” movie. “Gal Gadot is here and Comic-Con is losing its mind,” the Los Angeles Times reported.

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