Wednesday’s “News in Review” Round-Up

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Contents:  Weekly Quotes |  Short Takes | On Topic Links

 

 

On Topic Links

 

Jihad in Jerusalem: Wall Street Journal, Nov. 18, 2014

A Palestinian Pogrom in Jerusalem: Michael Freund, Jerusalem Post, Nov. 18, 2014

Fear and Loathing in Jerusalem: Jonathan Spyer, New York Daily News, Nov. 13, 2014

Terrorism Defies Definition: Daniel Pipes & Teri Blumenfeld, Washington Times, Oct. 24, 2014

 

 

“We are in the midst of a terrorist assault focused on Jerusalem,” — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in a statement. After weeks of escalating violence, Israeli-Palestinian tensions were stretched to the breaking point Tuesday by a gruesome attack on a Jerusalem synagogue that killed five and injured seven others, including a Canadian citizen. “Citizens of Israel, I call on you to show maximum alert and to respect the law,” Netanyahu said. “As a state, we will settle accounts with all of the terrorists and those who dispatched them. We have already proven that we do this, but let nobody take the law into his hands, even if tempers flare and blood boils.” The Israeli leader vowed to “restore law, order and security to the streets of Jerusalem” and confirmed that he had ordered the demolition of the family homes of Ghassan and Udai Abu Jamal, the Palestinian cousins named as the perpetrators of the synagogue attack. (National Post, Globe & Mail, Nov. 18, 2014)  

 

 “Innocent people who had come to worship died in the sanctuary of a synagogue,” — U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry. “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.” Last week, Kerry traveled to the Jordanian capital and won commitments from Netanyahu, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Jordanian King Abdullah II, who serves as the custodian of Muslim holy sites in Jerusalem, to reduce tensions. Kerry, who spoke Tuesday before, noted that Israel had acted to calm the situation by easing age restrictions on Muslim worshippers at the al-Aqsa Mosque. He did not mention any steps taken by the Palestinians despite what had been described in Amman as a pledge from Abbas to rein in incitement. “To have this kind of act, which is a pure result of incitement, of calls for ‘days of rage,’ of just irresponsibility, is unacceptable,” Kerry said. “The Palestinian leadership must condemn this and they must begin to take serious steps to restrain any kind of incitement … and exhibit the kind of leadership that is necessary to put this region on a different path. This simply has no place in human behavior and we need to hear from leaders who are going to lead their people to a different place,” he added. (New York Post, Nov. 18, 2014)

 

 “It is the Temple Mount that drives the wheels of these kinds of events,” —a high-level Israeli security official in Jerusalem. “The discourse on the Temple Mount has hijacked the public discourse and the overall atmosphere.” He said, “The Palestinian Authority also has a share in this incitement and President Mahmoud Abbas is trying to play a double game. With one hand he condemns terror and thwarts it in the West Bank territories; with the other hand he cries out to ‘defend the Temple Mount with every possible means,’ thus becoming part of the incitement.” (Al-Monitor, Nov. 18, 2014)

 

“We are no longer looking at random incidents by isolated individuals,” —a high-placed Jerusalem police source. “Because these cousins planned the massacre, got hold of a gun, collected intelligence information, knew exactly where they were going and at exactly what time,” said the source. “On the other hand, this act cannot be attributed to an institutionalized terror organization, to training or infrastructure. These are ‘atmosphere’ attacks, local attacks committed by local people influenced by the general atmosphere, by state of mind.” (Al-Monitor, Nov. 18, 2014)

 

“The Palestinian presidency has always condemned the killing of civilians on both sides, and condemns today the killing of worshipers in a house of worship in West Jerusalem,” —Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, in a statement posted to the official Palestinian Wafa news agency.  “It also condemns all acts of violence from whatever source and demands an end to invasions of Al-Aqsa Mosque, to the provocations of settlers, and to the incitement of certain Israeli ministers,” the statement continued. Abbas was forced to condemn the Har Nof synagogue attack after facing pressure from US Secretary of State John Kerry, who had phoned the PA president twice over the past few days to demand that the Palestinians stop anti-Israel incitement. On Tuesday, Kerry issued a call to the PA leadership to condemn the Har Nof attack. Later, Abbas’s office issued a second statement, which again condemned the Har Nof attack and “assaults on the Noble Sanctuary [Temple Mount].” In both statements, the PA leader sought to establish a direct link between the recent spate of terrorist attacks and visits by Jewish groups to the Temple Mount. (Jerusalem Post, Nov. 19, 2014)

 

“Israel is searching for a partner in peace, but all we have found is a partnership of terror – in the unity government of Abbas and Hamas. In recent weeks, President Abbas has called on Palestinians to prevent Jews from visiting the Temple Mount using “all means” necessary and repeatedly called for a “Day of Rage.” Every time the Palestinian Authority inflames tensions, violence follows. This morning saw the sixth terrorist attack against Israelis in less than a month. We have been attacked on train platforms and on the streets of our largest cities; today we learned that innocent Israelis can’t even find sanctuary in the sanctuary of a synagogue,” —Israeli Ambassador to the UN Ron Prosor. (Jewish Press, Nov. 18, 2014)

 

“The intifada has started,” —17-year-old Palestinian boy. “We won’t remain quiet about what happens in East Jerusalem and inside Al-Aqsa. We will continue to struggle and support terror against Israel, that is the only solution we have to save ourselves.” Scores of young Palestinians, some as young as 10, took to the streets Wednesday in East Jerusalem, after Israeli security forces demolished the home of a terrorist who plowed his car into a crowd of people waiting at the Ammunition Hill station of Jerusalem’s Light Rail on Oct. 22, killing three-month-old Haya Ziesl Baron. The youths burnt tires, blocking the entrance to Shuafat, and threw stones at the police checkpoint. A number of children aged 9 and 10 wore masks and shouted “we will keep fighting to the end.” (Ynet, Nov. 19, 2014)

 

“It’s a very good thing, I hope more such attacks take place, and more Jews get killed,” —Nabrus, the 16-year-old sister of Abed a-Rahman a-Shaludi, the terrorist behind the October vehicular attack whose Silwan home was destroyed overnight. According to her, she is “proud of her brother and I am willing to follow in his wake. I am willing to give my life to al-Aqsa.” (Ynet, Nov. 19, 2014)

 

“It’s a terrible situation to be in where you’re at the mercy of people who glorify murder,” — Dr. Joyce Morel, a physician from Toronto who now lives in Israel. A volunteer for an emergency first-response organization, it took her only a minute or two to race from her home to the Jerusalem synagogue where two assailants had burst in on early morning prayers with a meat cleaver and a gun. For Dr. Morel there was a terrible sense of déjà vu. She had been at a similarly bloody scene two weeks ago when a Palestinian driver deliberately rammed his vehicle into a crowd of pedestrians in Jerusalem. (Globe & Mail, Nov. 18, 2014)

 

“We need to clearly express the recognition of Israel; no one can doubt its existence,” —Suha Arafat, widow of deceased Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat. Arafat said that it was time for the region’s Arabs to recognize the state of Israel, and that armed struggle to eliminate the Jewish state’s existence was no longer a plausible idea. Arafat, however, did not say whether she believed Israel has a right to exist, only that it does exist. Speaking on the tenth anniversary of her husband’s death, Suha Arafat was also noticeably dismayed at the actions of Palestinian terror group Hamas. “Since Hamas took over the Gaza Strip, Fatah leaders and buildings were attacked,” she stated. Arafat said that Hamas is ruining the futures of Gaza youths, committing “genocide” upon its own population. She added: “Hamas has taken the people in the Gaza Strip as hostages. When I see what is happening in Gaza, its just genocide. This generation grew up with violence, without education, with only a hope of emigrating. I hope that Hamas will finally understand that it should work towards peace negotiations. They said my husband was an obstacle to peace. [But] we saw what happened to peace after his death.” (Breitbart, Nov. 13, 2014)

 

“By Allah’s permission, they will be defeated. And indeed the Muslims will be victorious,” —Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi, the Islamic State leader, in an audio recording urging followers to “erupt volcanoes of jihad everywhere.” The 17-minute tirade attributed to Baghdadi raged against the American-led military coalition that includes Canada and has been attacking ISIS targets in an attempt to stop the Islamists’ campaign of atrocities in Syria and Iraq. “And the march of the mujahedin will continue until they reach Rome…we see America and its allies stumbling between fear, weakness, inability and failure…America, Europe, Australia, Canada, their apostate tails and slaves from amongst the rulers of the Muslims’ lands were terrified by the Islamic State,” he said. (National Post, Nov. 14, 2014 & Israel Hayom, Nov. 14, 2014)

 

“A few weeks ago there went out from the website of Islamic State to all the faithful everywhere in the world this ukase from Abu Muhammad al Adnan: “If you are not able to find an IED, a bullet, then single out the disbelieving American, Frenchman or any of their allies. Smash his head with a rock, or slaughter him with a knife, or run him over with your car.” Here we find up-to-date and practical advice for carrying out the mandate that Muhammad left to all the faithful: “Fight and slay the Pagans wherever you find them, and seize them, beleaguer them, and lie in wait for them in every stratagem (Sura 9:5.) ISIS’s hot-off-the-press instructions lack nothing to make them immediately applicable to daily life,” —Paul Merkley (Bayview Review, Nov. 18, 2014)

 

“This shameful publicity stunt trivializes the severity of international terrorism and undermines the corresponding suffering that it causes victims and their families…My sympathy will always be with the victims of senseless acts of violence, not those who seek to divide and demoralize us by using violence,” —Jacob Klugsberg, a fourth-year McMaster student. A controversial pro-Palestinian campaign called “Hug a Terrorist” was held Thursday at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario. The event was created by McMaster’s Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights (SPHR) group and is based on a viral video of the same named filmed in Toronto over the summer. (Global, Nov. 13, 2014)

 

“Contacts between Latin America and Islam date back to the 12th century. Muslims discovered America in 1178, not Christopher Columbus,” —Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, claiming that Muslims had discovered the Americas three centuries before the voyages of Christopher Columbus. He was addressing a summit in Istanbul of Muslim leaders from Latin America. “Muslim sailors arrived in America from 1178. Columbus mentioned the existence of a mosque on a hill on the Cuban coast,” Erdogan quipped. Most scholars insist the “mosque” mentioned was a metaphorical allusion to a striking land feature. There have been no archaeological discoveries of Islamic structures pre-dating Columbus’s arrival in the New World. (Washington Post, Nov. 15, 2014)   

 

“This isn’t just about Ukraine,” — German Chancellor Angela Merkel. “This is about Moldova, this is about Georgia, and if this continues then one will have to ask about Serbia and one will have to ask about the countries of the Western Balkans.” The strongly worded statement came as Ukraine’s president warned of a resumption of “total war” in the strife-torn country’s east. Merkel said Russia’s annexation of Crimea and subsequent destabilization of eastern Ukraine “called the whole of the European peaceful order into question.” Ukraine and Western governments accuse Russia of fomenting and sustaining a six-month secessionist uprising in eastern Ukraine, where more than 4,000 people have died in fighting since April. Russia denies the accusations. A ceasefire agreement in Minsk brought a halt to most fighting in early September, but artillery battles have continued around strategic flashpoints. Hostilities have escalated sharply in the past two weeks, fuelling concerns about a return to all-out warfare. (National Post, Nov. 18, 2014)

 

“I guess I’ll shake your hand but I have only one thing to say to you: you need to get out of Ukraine,” — Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, to Russian President Vladimir Putin, at the G20 summit in Brisbane, Australia. Harper and the leaders of the world’s top economies began the annual summit in a tense atmosphere dominated by Western anger towards Putin. The G20 leaders have raised the prospect of further sanctions against Russia. (CBC, Nov. 15, 2014)

 

Contents

 

CANADIAN IN A COMA AFTER HE WAS STRUCK IN HEAD WITH MEAT CLEAVER DURING SYNAGOGUE ATTACK (Jerusalem)—  Israeli-Canadian Howie Rothman was still fresh from celebrating the birth of his first granddaughter when he was struck in the head by an axe wielded by a Palestinian attacker. Raised in Toronto, Mr. Rothman graduated from the Community Hebrew Academy of Toronto in 1979 before studying computer science at York University, where he met his wife. The couple has lived in Israel for the past 30 years. A longtime resident of Haredi Orthodox neighborhood of Har Nof in Jerusalam, Rothman prayed regularly at Kehilat Bnei Torah, the site of Tuesday’s attack. (National Post, Nov. 18, 2014)

 

IS BEHEADS US HOSTAGE PETER KASSIG (London)— An Islamic State group video released Sunday purports to show extremists beheading a dozen Syrian soldiers and ends with a militant claiming to have killed U.S. aid worker Peter Kassig, the latest slaughter proudly broadcast by the group on the Internet. The video ends with the militant standing over a severed head he says belongs to Kassig. The White House confirmed Kassig’s death on Sunday afternoon. The video identifies the location as Dabiq, a town in northern Syria that the group uses as the title of its English-language propaganda magazine and where they believe an apocalyptic battle between Muslims and their enemies will occur. (Newsmax, Nov. 16, 2014)

 

IS AND AL-QAIDA JOINING FORCES, SOURCES SAY (Beirut)— Leaders from the Islamic State group and al-Qaida gathered at a farm house in northern Syria last week and agreed on a plan to stop fighting each other and work together against their opponents. Islamic State and al-Qaida’s affiliate in Syria, known as the Nusra Front, have fought each other bitterly for more than a year to dominate the rebellion against Syrian President Bashar Assad. The Associated Press reported late last month on signs that the two groups appear to have curtailed their feud with informal local truces. Their new agreement, according to the sources in rebel groups opposed to both IS and Nusra Front, would involve a promise to stop fighting and team up in attacks in some areas of northern Syria. (Globe & Mail, Nov. 13, 2014)

 

IS-ALLIED SINAI TERRORISTS VOW TO ‘LIBERATE JERUSALEM’ (Cairo)— Egypt’s deadliest terrorist group, which has pledged allegiance to Islamic State jihadists, branded the regime of Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi “Zionist collaborators” and vowed to liberate Jerusalem once it had ousted his government. Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis, which has spearheaded an insurgency in Egypt’s restive Sinai Peninsula, on Friday claimed responsibility for a suicide attack last month that killed 30 soldiers. The group has killed scores of policemen and soldiers since the army overthrew president Mohammed Morsi last year, but the October 24 attack in which a jihadist rammed a military checkpoint in northern Sinai with an explosives-packed car was the deadliest such incident in years. Earlier this week, Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis pledged its allegiance to Islamic State in a bid to boost recruitment and bolster its fight against the Egyptian army. (Times of Israel, Nov. 15, 2014)

 

FOUR SUNNI MUSLIM GROUPS RESPONSIBLE FOR 66% OF ALL 17,958 TERROR KILLINGS IN 2013 (London)— The number of people killed by terrorists worldwide in 2013 rose by 60 percent compared to the previous year – from 11,133 to 17,958 – according to a comprehensive annual study. Eighty-two percent of fatalities occurred in just five countries – Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nigeria and Syria, although the number of countries that experienced more than 50 terror-related deaths also rose – to 24, compared with 15 the previous year. Four Sunni groups were responsible for 66 percent of all terror fatalities in 2013. In order of deadliness, they were the Taliban in Afghanistan and its Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) affiliate in neighboring Pakistan; al-Qaeda and its various affiliates; ISIS and its al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) precursor; and Boko Haram in Nigeria. (CNS News, Nov. 19, 2014)

 

CANADA COMMISSIONS RESEARCH ON WOMEN IN TERORIST GROUPS (Ottawa)— The Canadian government has issued a call for proposals for research on the role of women in terrorist groups, amid reports that girls as young as 14 are being lured to Syria to serve as wives for I.S. gunmen. A call for bids by Public Safety Canada seeks research “to better understand why and under which circumstances women are recruited and the extent to which they become involved in violent extremist movements.” Canadian police are investigating several cases involving girls who were radicalized and left the country, allegedly for Syria. Extremists are using social media in particular to pressure girls into becoming I.S. wives. (National Post, Nov. 17, 2014)

 

GERMAN POLITICIANS, MEDIA OUTRAGED OVER LEFTISTS ANTI-ISRAEL ‘TOILETGATE’ (Berlin)— Two anti-Israel extremists last week shocked German left-wing politicians when they tracked down popular Left Party chairman Gregor Gysi in a parliamentary corridor, loudly and relentlessly haranguing him because they object to his views on Israel. One of the demonstrators chased Gysi into a bathroom and relented only after the politician locked himself in a stall. Norbert Lammert, the president of the Bundestag, initiated a persona non grata process to ban both extremists who verbally assaulted Gysi, Canadian-Israeli David Sheen and American Max Blumenthal. The left-wing anti-Israel activists launched their verbal assault on Gysi after he declined to meet with them after they appeared unannounced at his office. They said Gysi called Sheen an anti-Semite, which Gysi flatly denies. The German media termed the scandal “Toiletgate.” (Jerusalem Post, Nov. 15, 2014)

 

GERMAN TOWN TURNS TABLES ON NEO-NAZIS (Berlin)— A small town in Germany has turned a far-right march into an unwitting walkathon for an exit program for neo-Nazis. After failing to prevent neo-Nazis from staging an annual pilgrimage to the birthplace of Adolf Hitler’s deputy Rudolf Hess, the Bavarian town of Wunsiedel decided to change tack this year. Residents and businesses pledged to pay 10 euros ($12.50) for every meter the neo-Nazis walked, and motivational signs were erected along the route of Saturday’s march. Inge Schuster, a spokeswoman for the town, said that the stunt received “a great response,” raising more than 10,000 euros for the group EXIT-Deutschland that helps people leave the neo-Nazi scene. Hess was buried in Wunsiedel in 1987. Three years ago his remains were exhumed, cremated and scattered at sea. (Times of Israel, Nov. 19, 2014)

PIER 21 SHOULD DISPLAY MEMORIAL: SURVIVORS (Halifax)— A memorial to the Jewish refugees turned away from Halifax in 1939 should be on display at Pier 21, and not in storage, says the group that represents Canadian Holocaust survivors. The Wheel of Conscience, a memorial to the victims of MS St. Louis, was installed at the Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21 in 2011 to commemorate the 254 passengers who were murdered by the Nazis after Canada turned them away. Since this summer the memorial has been in storage, and the museum says it may eventually be placed elsewhere. There were 937 refugees seeking asylum from Nazi persecution on MS St. Louis when it was refused entry to Cuba, the U.S. and Canada, after Prime Minister Mackenzie King rejected humanitarian appeals to let them in. In that era, antisemitic Canadian immigration officials strictly limited Jewish immigration, following the slogan “none is too many.” The terrible ordeal of the refugees was chronicled in a 1976 movie, Voyage of the Damned. (Montreal Gazette, Nov. 12, 2014)

 

 

On Topic Links 

 

 

Jihad in Jerusalem: Wall Street Journal, Nov. 18, 2014 —To understand why peace in Palestine is years if not decades away, consider the Palestinian celebrations after Tuesday’s murder in a Jerusalem synagogue of five Israelis, including three with joint U.S. citizenship.

A Palestinian Pogrom in Jerusalem: Michael Freund, Jerusalem Post, Nov. 18, 2014 —Yesterday morning, two Palestinian Arabs entered the Kehillat Yaakov yeshiva and synagogue complex in Jerusalem and proceeded to slaughter Jewish men at prayer.

Fear and Loathing in Jerusalem: Jonathan Spyer, New York Daily News, Nov. 13, 2014 —The current atmosphere in Jerusalem is reminiscent of the Second Intifada’s opening days, in the autumn of 2000. Tension and fear. A sense of foreboding.

Terrorism Defies Definition: Daniel Pipes & Teri Blumenfeld, Washington Times, Oct. 24, 2014 —Defining terrorism has practical implications because formally certifying an act of violence as terrorist has important consequences in U.S. law.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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