Catholic Church in Israel blames Jewish state for current Palestinian violence

The Pope speaks about fighting antisemitism.  Now's his chance to show he's serious.

Via Jerusalem Post:

The Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, which represents the Catholic Church in the region, accused Israel on Thursday of responsibility for the recent wave of Palestinian violence, saying Israeli policy has created despair and frustration among Palestinians leading them to carry out acts of terrorism.

The Latin Patriarchate spelled out its position in a statement of the “Commission for Justice and Peace” of its Assembly of Catholic Ordinaries, a panel of the leading Catholic clerics in Israel, the Palestinian Authority, Jordan and Cyprus.

It failed however to make any mention of incitement to violence within Palestinian society, on social media, or from PA officials , although the document did say that “Israelis who need security and tranquility.”

(...)

“It is the siege of Jerusalem and the Judaization of the city, the sending away of its Palestinian inhabitants. It is the all-inclusive accusation of terrorism against all Palestinians and the collective punishment that results from it,” observed the Commission for Justice and Peace. 

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Israel: Pro-Palestinian blames Elders of Zion for lack of peace

Via David Collier:

Yesterday, 28/01/2016, I was at the University of Kent to hear a talk by Amira Hass titled ‘Israel and the Palestinians: Colonialism and Prospects for Justice. The event itself was a collaboration between The Centre for Colonial and Postcolonial Studies at Kent University and the Palestine Centre at SOAS, University of London. One of these universities, SOAS, is already a notorious hotbed for extremism, the other, Kent, seems to be desperately trying to catch-up.

(...)

So the evening went on, and Amira Hass had been discussing Israeli ‘war crimes’ for 40 minutes, and the majority of the audience were hanging on her every faltering word. When suddenly, without warning, I heard mention of the ‘Elders of Zion’. As had occurred with me at a different event when Gerald Kaufman had mentioned ‘Jewish money’, I got lost between the sentences as I tried to make sense of what I was hearing. Hass was discussing a hidden agenda, a secret group of Jews, plotting and planning beyond the reach of Israeli democracy – by extension, this secret group were to blame for the ‘war crimes’, for the death of innocent Palestinian children. Hass was spinning tales of a Jewish cabal, of shady secretive control, of unworldly plots and sinister deeds. A road that leads to dead children. Hass was resurrecting a classic historic antisemitic blood libel in a British university.

Hass had stepped back in time to explain the perpetual occupation, to present a reason why after 49 years, no movement had been made towards peace. Without Palestinian violence, Israeli actions become irrational, with Israeli democracy, they become inexplicable, and someway, somehow, this illogical unreasonable position needed to be explained away. All that is left is conspiracy. This is what she said:

    “And I ask myself did the Elders of Zion really sit together at the beginning of the Seventies and then during the nineties, and plan, and have all these military orders, all these changes? I believe that they knew for sure that they don’t want to give back the land and in the Nineties, my conclusion is that they wanted to do everything possible to stop(?) the two state solution.”

Beyond Israeli democracy, beyond the will of the voters, beyond the desires of peacemakers like Rabin and Peres, there are invisible Jewish decision makers. They planned from the early 1970’s, never to let the territories go, they manipulated, they connived, they controlled as puppet masters do. A conspiracy of a Jewish cabal that places the profit to be won from the occupation above the will of the electorate and the lives of innocent children. And it is called the ‘Elders of Zion’.

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Israel: Synagogue vandalized wih "Hitler was Jewish" graffiti

Via Israel Hayom:

A synagogue in Tel Aviv was vandalized with graffiti: Hitler portrayed, "Heilike", "Hitler was Jewish"

Israel: Peace activist says Judaism "helped Hitler wipe out the Jews in Europe"

Amiram Goldblum is an Israeli "peace activist".  He served as Peace Now's spokesperson for 20 years, and founded their Settlements Watch operation.  He currently serves on the board of the international council of the New Israel Fund.



Following the terror attack yesterday, in which Palestinians murdered two parents in front of their kids, Goldblum has this to say (h/t JudgeDan):

"The Jewish religion is destroying us all - just like it helped Hitler wipe out the Jews in Europe".
 

Israel: Arab arsonists who torched Jerusalem synagogue jailed for 2 to 5 years

Via Israel Hayom:

A Jerusalem District Court Judge on Monday issued prison sentences ranging between two years and five and a half years to members of a terrorist cell from the village of Issawiya, who were found guilty of setting a synagogue in Jerusalem's French Hill neighborhood ablaze, among other crimes.

The court also ordered the defendants to reimburse the victims of their various crimes upwards of thousands of shekels.

In April 2014, prosecuting attorney Yifat Pinhasi issued an indictment against Mohammad Abid, Ibrahim Darbas, Mohammad Alian and Walid Alian, all 18 years of age, for arson, premeditated and aggravated destruction of property, weapons manufacturing, carrying illegal firearms, attempted aggravated assault of a police officer and other offenses.  more

Israel: Jordan desecrated Jewish graves, Ha'aretz justifies it

 Ha'aretz reports about a discovery of desecrated Jewish graves in Jerusalem:

Smashed headstones from Jewish graves dating back about a century were discovered in a salvage dig in East Jerusalem.

The gravestones were apparently taken from the Jewish cemetery on the Mount of Olives, and repurposed for construction, during the 1960s, when Jordan controlled east Jerusalem. postulates the archaeologist handling the salvage dig, Ya'acov Billig for the Israel Antiquities Authority. Jordan wanted to expand the road and build a gas station on the mountain, he explains – though the project ultimately fell through because of the Six-Day War.

Note that Ha'aretz rushes to justify this desecration:

Nor is it rare for ancient gravestones, and other building materials, to be repurposed over the thousands of years people have been building in the region.

Jewish graves have been 're-purposed' by the Nazis and by the Soviets as well.  These governments didn't need the building materials.  They did it in order to insult and abuse the memory of dead Jews.

Why is Ha'aretz justifying antisemitism?

Israel: Controversy erupts over German backed Holocaust-Nakba event planned at Jerusalem think-tank

Via Jerusalem Post (h/t Honestly Concerned):

The right-wing Im Tirtzu organization and the liberal think tank known as the Van Leer Jerusalem Institute have exchanged letters over a planned institute promotion of a book that commemorates together the Holocaust and the Palestinian Nakba.

The book, titled The Holocaust and the Nakba: Memory, National Identity, and Jewish- Arab Partnership, is set to be promoted at the institute on September 7. The institute is also listed as one of two publishers of the book.

“The book invites the readers to think of ways to remember and discuss the Holocaust and the Nakba together, and investigate the possibility of such combined thought – not because the events are identical or even similar, but because they are both traumatic and identity- constructing,” stated the Van Leer website.
(...)

Segev Israel Afriat, CEO of the NGO Shorashim Shel Netina (Roots of Giving), which supports Holocaust survivors in Israel, wrote a letter on Tuesday to Motzkin, urging him to think twice about holding the event.

The event would be “the first nail in the coffin of the memory of the Holocaust,” said Afriat.

He said that he would be happy to refer him to “thousands of Holocaust survivors that would tell him how such an evening is a cancellation of our history.”  more

Israel: Security forces arrest Lebanese-Swedish Hezbollah spy

Via Jerusalem Post:

Security forces arrested a Swedish-Lebanese suspect at Ben-Gurion Airport on July 21, on suspicion of landing in Israel to gather intelligence on sensitive targets on behalf of Hezbollah, the Shin Bet domestic intelligence agency announced on Sunday.

The suspect, Hassan Khalil Hizran, 55, was taken into custody after the Shin Bet received prior intelligence about him, suggesting that he has ties to Hezbollah.

"During questioning by the Shin Bet, Hizran confessed," the agency said, adding that the suspect provided an account of how he was recruited by the Hezbollah and subsequent cooperation with the Lebanese Shi'ite terrorist organization.  more

Israel: Arson, swastikas target Jerusalem synagogue

photo

Via Artuz 7:

Congregants at the Pitchei Olam synagogue in central Jerusalem were shocked to find the site desecrated when they arrived for prayers early Thursday.

Vandals set fire to the curtain that hangs in front of the Holy Ark, where the scrolls of the Torah are housed, and scrawled swastikas and anti-Jewish epithets around the building.

Israel: Synagogues targeted by antisemitic Christian youth

Via YNet:

Synagogue-goers in central Petah-Tikva say they're being harassed by neo-Nazi youth.  The harassment, which started a year ago, has targeted various synagogues and includes throwing stones and garbage, breaking windows, arson, vandalizing as well as swastika graffiti.

According to one synagogue member, when confronted the youth laughed and said "it's just a synagogue, not a church".

A few months ago police arrested two kids, aged 10 and 13, for a few of the attacks.  The kids said they've been influenced by antisemitic YouTube clips.  Police say they see no signs of an organized cell, meanwhile attacks continue.

Eight years ago a neo-Nazi cell composed of non-Jewish youth from the FSU attacked various synagogues around town.

Italy: Former model's mission at the most ancient Jewish cemetery on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem

The Jewish Press reports:

Vandalism and garbage throwing is not a new phenomenon at the most ancient Jewish cemetery on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem. Amid the thousands of tombstones, some of which have been defaced or smashed into pieces, there are areas full of trash and litter left by local Palestinian youth from neighborhoods nearby.

One woman in particular is extremely agitated by the current situation.  Mirella Petteni Haggiag, a former Italian model from Rome, makes her way through the tombstones with a garbage bag in her hand several times of year when she visits Israel. She comes ready to clean around the tombstone of her late husband, Robert Haggiag, the legendary Italian-American film producer.

“This is a holy place. It’s shocking to see what happens here” Mirella Haggiag told Tazpit News Agency in an exclusive interview recently. “The Arabs hold parties and leave behind a mess. For the past five years, I come here and clean up.” “I want this place to be perfect for my husband, may he rest in peace. But look at all this,” says Mirella Haggiag, picking up the garbage and red coke cans strewn around. “These must be the result of parties. It’s not nice.”

Because Mirella lives in Rome, she also sends someone to clean Robert Haggiag’s gravestone or one of their children when she cannot be in Jerusalem. “This isn’t actually as bad as other parts of the cemetery,” she comments. “Over there, you can see the graves have been burnt and some completely smashed up,” she says, pointing to the section where the Afghanistan Jewish community is located. “They haven’t been able to destroy my husband’s tomb,” she told Tazpit.

“My husband would have been 102 years old today. I can’t imagine what he would say about this. People need to know what is happening to this cemetery,” she says.  More.

Israel: Arabs torch graves in ancient Jerusalem cemetery

Via CFCA: 

Jerusalem - Rock and firebomb terror attacks against the Mount of Olives Cemetery in eastern Jerusalem continue unabated, with the Arab assailants just recently destroying a massive number of gravestones and even torching a portion of them as the ongoing vandalism spins out of control.

The Ministry for Religious Affairs expressed its shock at how security forces have abandoned the site to Arab vandals, with sources in the ministry telling Arutz Sheva that Jews wishing to visit the graves of their dear ones are afraid for their own safety.  more

Israel: Bored teens deface synagogue with bloody mezuzas

Arutz 7

Via Times of Israel:

Two Jewish teenagers were arrested Tuesday for defacing a Ra’anana synagogue with anti-Semitic graffiti and vandalizing the building over the weekend.

The two allegedly tore mezuzas off the doorways of the Ahavat Reim Synagogue in the city. Mezuzas are pieces of parchment containing Biblical verses inside decorative cases that are affixed to the doorposts of Jewish homes and businesses. The alleged vandals, who are Jewish, painted crosses and swastikas on the parchment pieces in their own blood and plastered the desecrated parchment on the walls of the synagogue building.

Nearby residents told Kfar Saba police, who were investigating the incident, that close to a dozen mezuzas from their apartment buildings had also gone missing that day, and reported seeing the two 17-year-olds in the neighborhood at the time.

The suspects, both Ra’anana residents, told police they had acted our of boredom. more

Israel: Synagogue, Bnei Akiva Branch Ransacked in Nazareth Illit

In recent years I've seen several articles about Christian Arabs from Nazareth moving to Nazareth-Illit, due to harassment by their Muslim neighbors.  

Via Arutz 7:

A branch of the Bnei Akiva religious-Zionist youth movement in Nazareth Illit (Upper Nazareth) was ransacked and its synagogue defiled this week, in a suspected act of nationalistic vandalism by local Muslims.

Prayer books and other holy books in the synagogue were were desecrated and burned. In addition, Israel flags were defiled, equipment cabinets were overturned, fluorescent lights were broken and paint was spilled in every direction.

Sources in Bnei Akiva said that the branch has been in operation for 40 years, and that one of its main goals is to strengthen Jewish pride in the city.

The branch is located in the city's northern neighborhood, which has seen large scale encroachment by Arabs. In recent years, the branch has suffered repeated harassment by Arabs, who often show up at the location – sometimes pestering the Jewish youths.

Israel: Arson suspected at two Jerusalem synagogues

Via Times of Israel:

Fires broke out at two synagogues in the East Jerusalem Jewish neighborhood of Pisgat Zeev Saturday, in what police suspect to be deliberate arson attacks.

Palestinians from the neighboring refugee camp of Shuafat hurled rocks and other objects at firefighter teams that attempted to extinguish the blazes, according to the Ynet news site.

No injuries were reported.   more

Israel: Mount of Olives graves routinely desecrated, and Jews attacked, by Arabs in Jerusalem

Via Elder of Ziyon:

Isaac Gul died at the age of 89 on the Sabbath before Passover. Born in Afghanistan, "he loved his country" his nephew Yochanan said. "He joined the army, fought bravely during the Six Day War, lived alone, and before he died he had only one request: to be buried on the Mount of Olives."

Two weeks ago, when his nephew came to the Mount of Olives to fill the request of his uncle, he was attacked by a group of Arab rioters with stones and bottles. Windshields were smashed. Gul was miraculously saved. This week, when going to unveil the gravestone thirty days since the death, he was shocked at what he saw. "Everything was destroyed, and there is no gravestone," he said, weeping.

Following this short interview I went the next day on a tour of the Mount with the Jerusalem city council member, Aryeh King. Not to find something I didn't know. To see it with my own eyes. This tour is a must for anyone who wants to understand the incompetence of the State of Israel with the Arab enemy. Not in Iran. Here, at home.

A few hundred meters from the Western Wall, a stone's throw from the Knesset, the Supreme Court and in the middle of the pulsating capital of Israel, the State chose to give up.

Many families prefer, fearing for their safety, not to visit the graves of loved ones any more. A close friend told me about an elderly relative he had who owned a plot at the Mount, and with her death, the family decided to bury her elsewhere. "We had a great fear that whoever comes to visit the place would risk his life," he explained, "or simply nobody will visit the grave".

Who wants to visit loved ones on the mountain cemetery while risking getting hurt by stones, Molotov cocktails or being lynched by students in local schools. Those who come in will see neglect, dirt, vandalism and countless pictures, each of which, had it occured in a Jewish cemetery in Europe, would be headline news.

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Israel: Bedouin upset at employment office line, "death to the Jews"

Via Rotter:

A Bedouin who was upset at waiting in line at a Beersheba unemployment office started arguing with one of the employees.  The argument escalated, and the Bedouin started yelling "death to the Jews" and cursed and threatened a guard.

Police were called in and arrested the man.

Israel: "Khaybar Khaybar ya Yahud" at Temple Mount

Muslim children on the Temple Mount shout "Khaybar Khaybar ya Yahud", which means: “Jews, remember Khaybar, the army of Muhammad is returning”  (see more about this phrase here)

Israel: Palestinian kills man, injures woman in car ramming attack

Via The Times of Israel:

Police Commissioner Yohanan Danino on Thursday said the car-ramming attack in Jerusalem late Wednesday night, in which 25-year-old Shalom Sherki was killed and a woman was seriously injured, was likely deliberate and nationalistically motivated.

Police have named Khaled Koutineh, 37, of the West Bank town of Anata northeast of Jerusalem, as the suspect in last night’s vehicular attack in the French Hill neighborhood, the Hebrew-language news site Ynet reports.

Israel: Swastikas on fallen soldiers' memorial

Via NRG:

Anti-Semitic graffiti on memorial for fallen soldiers in Omer, next to Beersheba.  The Arabic graffiti included: "Palestine", "Gaza" and swastikas.  A nearby forest was set on fire twice in the past week, and the locals suspect the two attacks are related.