Tag Archives: Palestine

Netanyahu Demands World Condemn Palestinian Terror

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is calling on world leaders to finally end their excuses for Palestinian terror attacks on Israelis and condemn Mahmoud Abbas for inciting violence against innocent civilians.

Netanyahu pointed out that the Palestinian Authority has been routinely spreading false statements to incite anger toward Israel.

“Hamas, the Islamic Jihad, and the PA are spreading false rumors, saying we are defiling the Temple Mount, that we plan to destroy holy sites — those are all lies,” Netanyahu said.

Netanyahu noted the Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas condemned the attack but noted that in the same statement also included false propaganda about the Israeli government.

“I urge all world leaders… I want to see shock, utter denunciation of terrorism, of the murder of Jews in their prayer shawls,” Netanyahu said.

Christian Professor Arrested for Blasphemy In Pakistan

A 40-year-old Christian man is jailed in Pakistan charged with “insulting the Prophet Mohammed”, the same charge used to sentence Christian mother Asia Bibi to death.

Qaiser Ayub has been a fugitive for almost three years after the computer science professor was accused of posting statements on his blog that some Muslims considered blasphemous.

The law used by the government to arrest Ayub has been roundly criticized as a tool used by Muslims within the country to target religious minorities for persecution.

The American Center for Law and Justice sees this as another example to support their demand that the USA stop all foreign aid to Pakistan.

“We must stop sending billions of our taxpayer dollars to nations that persecute Christians. It’s that simple. Not one more dime for persecution. Cut off American foreign aid to any country that persecutes Christians,” the ACLJ states in a petition to the White House.

“As a wave of persecution sweeps across the Middle East — and Christians flee for their lives — it’s time for the money to stop.  Already there is growing support for basic human rights and basic common sense on Capitol Hill.”

Muslim Terrorists Attack Jerusalem Synagogue

Two Palestinian terrorists attacked a synagogue during morning prayers and left death and destruction in their wake.

Four people are confirmed dead and at eight others injured when the Muslim terrorists charged into the synagogue with meat cleavers and at least one gun Tuesday morning.  The terrorists then died in a gun battle with police after their attack on innocent civilians.

The Muslim terrorists were identified as cousins Ghassan and Uday Abu Jamal.

Three of the dead held joint U.S.-Israeli citizenship.  The fourth held dual British-Israeli citizenship.

“The gentleman I tended to first still had his tefillin on. There were also women there who didn’t know where their husbands were, and others who didn’t know where their father was. Those were most likely the ones killed. It was very hard to deal with, very upsetting,” a first responder told Haaretz newspaper.

“I looked up and saw someone shooting people at point-blank range. Then someone came in with what looked like a butcher’s knife and he went wild,” Yosef Posternak, who was in the synagogue praying when the attack started, told Israel Radio. “I saw people lying on the floor, blood everywhere. People were trying to fight with [the attackers] but they didn’t have much of a chance.”

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry quickly condemned the attack.

“Innocent people who had come to worship died in the sanctuary of a synagogue,” a visibly upset Kerry told reporters.  “They were hatcheted, hacked and murdered in that holy place in an act of pure terror and senseless brutality and murder. I call on Palestinians at every single level of leadership to condemn this in the most powerful terms. This violence has no place anywhere, particularly after the discussion that we just had the other day in Amman.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed Israel would “respond harshly” to the attack.

Kerry Claims Israel And Palestinians Take Steps To Calm Tensions

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said that Israel and the Palestinians have agreed to solid steps to calm the tensions over Jerusalem’s holiest site.

Violence has been building over the last few weeks over the Temple Mount.  Palestinians have been attacking Israeli police and fears had been building concerning a major uprising by Palestinians.

“Today, we are working to smother the sparks of immediate tension so that they don’t become a fire that is absolutely out of control,” Kerry added, flanked by Jordanian Foreign Minister Naser Judeh.   The area, which contains the Dome of the Rock, is under Jordanian control due to treaty.

Members of the Israeli government have been raising discussions that Jews should be again able to pray on the Temple Mount.  Judah told reporters that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed in the talks to maintain the status quo as a way to help ease tensions.

The agreement announced by Kerry also lifted all age restrictions on Muslims praying at the Dome.

Israeli Authorities To Destroy Terrorist’s Home

Israeli officials issued an order Thursday for the demolition of a terrorist’s home in east Jerusalem.

The terrorist, Muhammed Naif El-Ja’abis, is the man who ran over a pedestrian and then ran an excavator into a bus.  He was shot dead by police as he carried out the bus attack.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the resumption of the policy of destroying homes of Palestinian terrorists in response to the increasing tension in Jerusalem and the vows of Palestinians to continue their attacks on Israelis.

The policy of destruction of the homes had been discontinued a decade ago with the exception of the homes of the Hamas members who abducted and killed three Jewish teens in June.

Jerusalem’s mayor voiced his support for the order saying that all legal measures need to be used to prevent terror attacks.

Police Kill Terrorist Who Attempted Assassination Of Jewish Activist

A Palestinian terrorist who attempted to kill a Jewish activist died after a shootout with police and security officers.

Moataz Hejazi shot and wounded Yehuda Glick, an American born settler who has been leading a campaign to allow Jews to pray on the Temple Mount.  He has been a target of Muslims who believe Jews should be banned from even setting foot on Temple Mount.

“Anti-terrorist police units surrounded a house in the Abu Tor neighborhood to arrest a suspect in the attempted assassination of Yehuda Glick,” Israeli police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said. “Immediately upon arrival they were shot at. They returned fire and shot and killed the suspect.”

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, ignoring the fact Hejazi attempted to kill a Jewish leader, said Israel’s police killing Hejazi is “tantamount to a declaration of war.”  He called for a “day of rage” Friday against all Israelis.

Palestinians threw rocks at police as they attempted to capture and ultimately had to kill Hejazi.  Hejazi had been in prison for 11 years for previous attacks on Israel.

Unity Government To Take Control of Gaza

In what is likely an attempt to strengthen their hand before talks with Israel in October, Islamic groups in the Gaza strip have agreed to allow a unity government to take control of the region.

The ceasefire that had been struck in August between Israel and Hamas called for the Palestinian Authority to take over as civil administration for the region.  The deal with Hamas and Fatah announced today in Cairo calls for the unity government to take over immediately.

The deal was brokered by Egyptian intelligence services.

“All civil servants will be paid by the unity government because they are all Palestinians and it is the government of all Palestinians,” said Azzam Ahmed of Fatah on Thursday.

The groups reportedly have agreed to eliminate “all the obstacles” to a national unity government.  They will also negotiate with the UN and Israel over border crossing access.

However, in what might be a blow to potential talks, the leaders of the unity government said they want Israel tried for war crimes.

IDF To Investigate Five Cases Related To 50-Day Conflict

The Israeli Military Advocate General Corps announced investigations into five incidents connected to the 50-day battle between Israel and the terrorist group Hamas.

The most high profile of the cases involves the airstrike on a beach that resulted in the deaths of four Palestinian children.  However, the IDF said none of the situations is being investigated under the guise of a “war crime.”

The MAG Corps speed at launching investigations is seen as a response to actions after the 2008-2009 Operation Cast Lead in Gaza that had some incidents left without investigation years later.

The beach investigation will look into accusations from reporters that no Hamas military targets were in the area of the beach at the time of the air strikes.  The strike took place near a hotel where foreign journalists had been staying and they observed the air strike.

An investigation that has already taken place regarding an Israeli rocket that struck a UN school has shown that while one Israeli rocket hit the school, no injuries were caused to anyone by the strike.  Hamas had claimed children were injured as a result of the strike.

Netanyahu Says No More Prisoner Releases

Israel’s Channel 2 is reporting that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu drew a line before the start of Operation Protective Edge regarding the release of prisoners in peace deals with the terrorist group Hamas or anyone negotiating on their behalf.

Netanyahu said anyone convicted of terrorist acts would not be eligible for release from prison in any negotiation.

Netanyahu’s reasoning said despite the public statements by Palestinian leaders condemning the killing of three kidnapped Israeli teens, the celebratory welcome given to terrorists released as part of a previous peace deal conflict with the words.

The edict of the Prime Minister is expected to make peace negotiations more difficult over the next few months.  Prisoner releases along with a freeze on construction of Israeli settlements in the West Bank were demands of Palestinians for peace talks.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas reportedly is going to seek approval from the Arab League to offer a nine-month negotiation process to create a Palestinian state.

Anti-Semitic Teacher Loses Job Offer; Critics Cry Foul

A college professor who posted hate speech toward Israel on his Twitter account is now being backed by free speech advocates furious the hate speech cost him a job.

Steven Salaita, a Palestinian-American who had taught at Virginia Tech University, had been initially offered a tenured position in the American Indian Studies department at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.  After his hate filled tweets about Israel, the university rescinded the offer to him.

Some of Salaita’s anti-Semitic tweets stated:

“At this point, if Netanyahu appeared on TV with a necklace made from the teeth of Palestinian children, would anybody be surprised?”

“Zionists, take responsibility: if your dream of an ethnocratic Israel is worth the murder of children, just [profanity deleted] own it already.”

“You may be too refined to say it, but I’m not: I wish all the [profanity deleted] West Bank settlers would go missing.”

“Hamas” is the biggest red herring in American political discourse since Saddam’s “weapons of mass destruction.”

The moment Salaita revealed the offer to him was rescinded; outcry came from major media outlets and international activists.

Glenn Greenwald, who has been working with wanted fugitive Edward Snowden to release classified information, said “there were a lot of atrocious causalities from the Israeli attack on Gaza, but one of them was academic freedom at Univ. of Illinois.”

Inside Higher Ed author John Wilson said pro-Israel sentiment is on par with “Mazism, terrorism, racism, sexism and homophobia.”  Michael Hiltzik of the L.A. Times said it was “clear-cut infringement of academic freedom.”

The Huffington Post had a story saying that the “University of Illinois Repeals The First Amendment for Its Faculty.”