Archive for December 19, 2012

Israeli Arab bus-bomber charged with 27 counts of attempted murder

Mohammed Mafarja, 18, is accused of planting hidden bomb on a Tel Aviv bus on the last day of Operation Pillar of Defense

Mafarja reportedly boarded a train to go back to work after he disembarked from the targeted bus

The explosive device was allegedly detonated remotely from the West Bank.

By Israel Hayom Staff

 

An indictment has been filed in the Tel Aviv District Court against the Israeli Arab man suspected of planting a bomb on a Tel Aviv bus on Nov. 21.

The site of a Tel Aviv bus bombing last month. – Photo: KOKO

Mohammed Mafarja, an 18-year-old resident of Taybeh, was charged with aiding the enemy during wartime, conspiring to commit a crime and 27 counts of attempted murder, among other charges.

Continue Reading »

U.S. St. Dept: ‘EU will soon designate Hezbollah as terrorist group’

U.S. St. Dept’s Daniel Benjamin reports that the US has shared intel with Europeans on Hezbollah’s increased activities in their countries.

 

WASHINGTON – The US State Department indicated Tuesday that it expected the EU to finally designate Hezbollah as a terrorist organization, following an intensive US lobbying campaign and suspected Hezbollah plots on European soil.

Hezbollah supporters in Beirut [file] - Photo: REUTERS

Hezbollah supporters in Beirut [file] – Photo: REUTERS


“We’ve been engaging with our partners in Europe and we are cautiously optimistic – at last – about the prospects for an EU designation of the group,” Daniel Benjamin, the State Department’s coordinator for counterterrorism, said during an address at the Brookings Institution. Continue Reading »

Washington Post challenges Washington’s Pentagon candidate

Joining several senators objecting to Chuck Hagel’s nomination as defense secretary, the Washington Post wonders if his extreme positions on critical issues (Iran, Israel) won’t serve as an obstacle to Obama’s policy

Yitzhak Benhorin

 

Though US President Barack Obama has yet to officially name Chuck Hagel as the defense secretary’s successor, several pro-Israel senators have already announced their objection to his nomination and said they would act to prevent it.

Chuck Hagel Photo: AP

Chuck Hagel – Photo: AP

On Wednesday, the Washington Post joined the opposing voices in an editorial claiming Hagel was not the right choice for the position.

The reason stated by Washington Post was Hagel’s radical stand on Iran and the Middle East, which was clearly evident when he repeatedly voted against enforcing sanctions to halt Iran’s race obtaining nuclear weapon and doubted the use of force to compel it to negotiate. Continue Reading »

Abbas Asks UN in 1st Step to Flood Israel with Foreign Arabs

Abbas asks UN’s chief to take bold first step and flood Israel with foreign Arabs by suggesting Syrian Palestinian “refugees” move to the PA.

By Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu

 

Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas is asking the UN to take the first step towards flooding Israel with foreign Arabs by suggesting Syrian “refugees” move to the PA.

Ban Ki-moon speaks to the media during his visit to Al Zaatri refugee camp, in Jordan. - Reuters

Ban Ki-moon speaks to the media during his visit to Al Zaatri refugee camp, in Jordan. – Reuters

Abbas’ request to United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, was reported by the official Palestinian Authority website Wednesday.

His latest diplomatic ploy could place Israel again in the role of “bad man.” Continue Reading »

Polls: Palestinians prefer violence and majority support Hamas

Poll shows that Palestinian Authority’s failure to educate its population for peace has set the stage for perpetual conflict.

By Israel Today Staff

 

Two new public opinion polls reveal that in the wake of the recent Gaza war, Palestinians are even more in favor of violence against Israel, and would hand Hamas the reins of the Palestinian Authority if elections were held today.

A poll conducted by the Ramallah-based Arab World for Research & Development found that an overwhelming 87.7 percent of Palestinian Arabs either agree or strongly agree that “armed struggle, as adopted by Hamas, is the best means of achieving Palestinian independence.” Continue Reading »

Richard Falk finally removed from Human RIghts Watch committee

GREAT NEWS: Human Rights Watch has just expelled antisemitic U.N. official Richard Falk, thanks to campaign by UN Watch.

By JTA

 

Human Rights Watch has removed Richard Falk, United Nations special rapporteur on Palestinian human rights, from one of its local committees.

OVERVIEW OF the Human Rights Council at the UNHRC - Photo by Reuters

OVERVIEW OF the Human Rights Council at the UNHRC – Photo by Reuters

Falk, who has compared Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians to the actions of the Nazis and suggested that the U.S. government may have had foreknowledge of the 9/11 attacks, was removed Tuesday from the international nongovernmental organization’s local committee in Santa Barbara, Calif.

U.N. Watch said in a letter to its supporters that Falk’s removal from the committee came after U.N. Continue Reading »

Israel issues travel visas to Gazans for Christmas in West Bank

 

500 Christian Palestinians & 75,000 tourists to visit Bethlehem for Christmas

IDF to decrease military activity in area during holidays

By YAAKOV LAPPIN, JERUSALEM POST STAFF

 

The IDF is set to issue permits to some 500 Palestinian Christians residing in Gaza allowing them to travel to the West Bank, specifically Bethlehem, for Christmas. Additionally, at least 20,000 entrance visas will likely be issued to Christian pilgrims who are expected to visit Bethlehem from abroad for the holiday.

Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem - Photo: Michael Omer-Man

Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem – Photo: Michael Omer-Man

The IDF traditionally decreases its activities in the Bethlehem area around the holiday in order to facilitate Christmas celebrations among the Christian community. Continue Reading »

3,000 New Homes Planed for Existing ‘Settlement Blocs’

The gov’t ministry plans to issue tenders for construction in 3 large Israeli towns in Judea & Samaria.

By Maayana Miskin

 

The Housing Ministry is planning to issue building tenders for projects in three large Israeli towns in Judea and Samaria, Channel 2 reports.

According to the report, the new tenders are part of a plan to allow construction of 3,000 new homes in Israeli communities in the region.

Tenders will be issued for projects in Karnei Shomron, Efrat, and Givat Zev, all of which are located in “settlement blocs” – areas with a large Israeli population that, based on past negotiations, it has been assumed will remain under Israeli sovereignty if a diplomatic agreement is reached with the Palestinian Authority. Continue Reading »

Iran’s state-run newspaper blames ‘Israeli death squads’ for Sandy Hook shooting

 

The most vile piece of Iranian propaganda yet. The outlandish theory isn’t clear, but it appears to argue that the attack could have been retribution for Obama’s cold diplomacy towards Israel.

Will the Iranians swallow such gall?

Posted by Max Fisher

 

Iran’s state-run media outlet PressTV, which broadcasts in English, on Tuesday carried a story blaming Israel for the school shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary. PressTV has a well-earned reputation for incendiary anti-Israel stories and for wild conspiracy theories, but even this seems a far stretch for the organization, which maintains a bureau office in the District.

 

Screenshot of PressTV, an Iranian state-run outlet

. Continue Reading »

The PA-IDF collaboration in the West Bank has been faltering

Long-term cooperation between Palestinian-Israeli security units in West Bank at critical junction

By Elior Levy

 

The IDF and the Palestinian security forces in the West Bank have been enjoying a relatively good operational relationship over the past few years, but military sources told Ynet Tuesday that cracks have been appearing in the security relations’ proverbial veneer.

Palestinian security forces – Photo: AP

According to both Palestinian and Israeli security sources, the PA’s security forces stopped their IDF counterparts from pursuing their activities on at least two occasions in the past few weeks.

The Israeli soldiers opted to turn back rather than clash with the Palestinian security forces. Continue Reading »

European UNSC members to condemn Israel over East Jerusalem housing

Netanyahu urges all Zionist parties to support building in the capital, but Livni slams gov’t’s plans.

The 4 European members that condemn the Israeli building plans are France, Britain, Germany & Portugal, diplomatic source says.

By REUTERS, JPOST.COM STAFF

 

European nations in the 15-member United Nations Security Council are set to jointly condemn Israel over its plans for Jewish settler homes in east Jerusalem, a European diplomatic source said on Tuesday.

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JERUSALEM’S RAMAT SHLOMO neighborhood. – Photo: Ariel Jerozolimski/The Jerusalem Post

Israel approved plans for a further 1,500 homes on Monday after provoking international protests earlier this month against a project for another 3,000 such homes in a sensitive area known as E1.

Continue Reading »

Israel Antiquities Authority & Google launch Dead Sea Scrolls digital library

Using NASA & Google technology, the new website allows visitors to read the fragments, text search in Hebrew & English translation, as well as place the specific scroll at the site where it was first found.

 

The Israel Antiquities Authority and Google Israel launched the Dead Sea Scrolls digital library on Tuesday.

Dead Sea Scrolls digital library

Dead Sea Scrolls digital library.

The library, stored on Google servers, will eventually hold all of the tens of thousands of fragments of the scrolls in very high resolution. For now, some 4,000 scans of infrared photographs taken right after their discovery in the 1950s have been uploaded, as well as 1,000 new scans done in a lab specially constructed for this task by the Antiquities Authority. Continue Reading »

Haaretz News Writer ‘Wins’ the 2012 Booby Prize for ‘Dishonest Reporting’

HonestReporting, which tracks int’l media bias against Israel, awards Israel’s newspaper Haaretz writer Gideon Levy with the “Dishonest Reporting Prize” for 2012.

By Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu

 

The HonestReporting website, which tracks media bias against Israel, awards Haaretz writer Gideon Levy the “Dishonest Reporting Prize” for 2012.

The media watch site explained that although it traditionally cites international media for faulty reporting, it cited Levy as the worst offender this year because foreign media often base their reports on Haaretz, the most popular left-wing newspaper in Israel.

The newspaper  denies it is anti-religious or anti-Zionist, but only the most left-wing liberals, and non-Israelis who do not really know the country, could view it otherwise. Continue Reading »

Pope tells Abbas of Vatican’s hope for Palestinian State

 

Palestinian Authority president touring Europe, thanking countries that supported a de facto recognition of a Palestinian state in the U.N. General Assembly.

Abbas also met with Italian PM Mario Monti, who also expressed support for a Palestinian state.

By Reuters and Israel Hayom Staff

 

Pope Benedict XVI told Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Monday the Vatican hoped the recent de facto recognition of Palestinian statehood at the United Nations would spur the international community to find a solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict.

Pope Benedict held private talks with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas for about 25 minutes in the Vatican’s Apostolic Palace on Monday.

Continue Reading »

Honor killings in Israel puts police in complicated situation

Much too often, Israel is accused of trying to “Judaize” the country and/or interfering in minority societies, when the gov’t steps in to enforce Israeli law & order.

By Israel Today Staff

 

The recent murder of a 16-year-old Israeli Arab girl by her brother for the sake of “family honor” has many howling at the Israel Police for doing too little to eliminate the phenomenon of so-called “honor killings.”

The murder occurred about three weeks ago, when 24-year-old Ahmed al-Assam slit the throat of his sister, Aisha, following a heated argument about her relationship with another boy.

Aisha had previously moved in with her boyfriend, but had returned home at her parents’ urging, and with promises that she would come to no harm at the hands of her brother. Continue Reading »