Ynet News: 'Murdered simply for being a Jew'

Preface

The "Oslo agreement" is talking about free Jews entarnce to "Joseph's Tomb". Here is the part of the document:

Hanan

______________________________________________

Thousands bid farewell to Ben-Yosef Livnat, who was killed Sunday morning in a shooting at Joseph's Tomb, allegedly by Palestinian policemen. 'It was cold-blooded murder,' says victim's aunt Sports and Culture Minister Limor Livnat. Brother of teen injured in incident: 'They knew what they were getting into, and level of risk involved, but they wanted action'

Yair Altman Published: 04.24.11, 16:31 / Israel News

'Just wanted to pray.' Ben-Yosef Livnat Photo: Curtesy of The Shomron Settlers' Committee

Thousands gathered at Mount Olives Cemetery in Jerusalem to bid farewell to Ben-Yosef Livnat, who was killed Sunday morning in a shooting at Joseph's Tomb, presumably by Palestinian policemen.

Among the participants were right-wing activists, rabbis and public figures, as well as Sports and Culture Minister Limor Livnat, who is Ben-Yosef's aunt.

Windshield sustained bullet holes Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg

Prior and during the funeral procession, participants shouted "vengeance," but Noam Livnat, the victim's father, said "revenge is irrelevant because the perpetrators will get what they rightfully deserve."

 
Limor Livnat's father, Azriel Livnat, compared Ben-Yosef's death to that of Shlomo Ben-Yosef, the first Jew executed by the British authorities during the mandate period.
 

Funeral procession (Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg)

A member of the settlement project told Ynet that "even if they find the murderers, they will probably sit in prison, get an academic degree on the expense of the tax payer, earn the respect of their own people for being Jew killers and eventually find their way back to freedom in this or the other deal, just like what happened in the Itamar massacre."

No eulogies were made due to the holiday, but Sports and Culture Minister Limor Livnat said over her nephew's fresh grave: "I woke up this morning and received a phone call from Ben-Yosef's mother, who told me that he was murdered by a terrorist masked as a Palestinian police officer.

Limor Livnat and Ben-Yosef's grandfather (Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg)

"It was cold-blooded murder. Ben-Yosef went to pray with other Jews, and he was murdered simply for being a Jew," she said.

"It's hard to grasp these things. This is why that area should be under the control of Israel. My own private nephew, a personal sacrifice, I hope that he's the last victim," she said.

'Went withut rabbi's permit'

Meanwhile, the police asked the Petah Tikva Magistrate's Court to remand three Breslov Hasidim, aged 19 from Jerusalem and Bnei-Brak, for five days, for violating a restricted military zone order.

The motion said that the three, along with 15 other hasidim, entered the Joseph Tomb compound on Sunday morning sans the proper permits. The act resulted in the shooting incident that left one Israeli dead and five others injured.

The Petah Tikva Magistrate's Court ordered to release the three under a two-day house arrest.

The court permitted the three to attend prayer services with the escort of family members and ordered them to pay bail of NIS 5,000 each (about $1,400).

The 17-year-old brother of one of the wounded men arrived at Rabin Medical Center in Petah Tikva, where they have been hospitalized.

"They knew what they were getting into, and the level of risk involved. But they considered it as action," the brother told Ynet.

"They only wanted to pray; sometimes fate can be pretty bad and unpleasant," he said, adding "they have a rabbi that coordinates these entries. This time they came without a permit or authorization of the rabbi.

"When the visits are coordinated nothing happens – the rabbi looks after us. However this time the rabbi wasn’t there with them; it was a crime for them to enter the tomb without the rabbi or a permit," noted the brother.

Raanan Ben-Zur contributed to this report

Ynet News: Mideast without Christians

Op-ed: Christians must realize Israel’s fate intertwined with fate of non-Muslims in region

Giulio Meotti Published: 04.18.11, 21:14 / Israel Opinion

This is the saddest Easter in the long epic of Arab Christianity: The cross is near extinction in the lands of it origin. The much-vaunted diversity of the Middle East is going to be reduced to the flat monotony of a single religion, Islam, and to a handful of languages.

Protests in Egypt (Archives) Photo: AP

In 1919, the Egyptian revolution adopted a green flag with the crescent and the cross. Both Muslims and Christians participated in the nationalist revolution against British colonialism. Now, according to the Egyptian Federation for Human Rights, more than 70 Christians a week are asking to leave the country due to Islamist threats.

The numbers are telling. Today there is only one Middle Eastern country where the number of Christians has grown: Israel. As documented in the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics, the Christian community that numbered 34,000 people in 1949 is now 163,000-strong, and will reach 187,000 in 2020.

In the rest of the Middle East, the drive for Islamic purity is going to banish all traces of pre-Islamic pasts. This has affected not only Christians, but other non-Islamic communities too, such as the Zoroastrians and Baha’is in Iran (the late also found refuge in Israel, in Haifa.)

The silence of the global forums, the flawed conscience of human rights groups, the self-denial of the media and the Vatican’s appeasement is helping facilitate this Islamist campaign. According to a report on religious freedom compiled by the US Department of State, the number of Christians in Turkey declined from two million to 85,000; in Lebanon they have gone from 55% to 35% of the population; in Syria, from half the population they have been reduced to 4%; in Jordan, from 18% to 2%. In Iraq, they will be exterminated.

Should the exodus of Christians from Bethlehem continue in the next two or three decades, there may be no clergy left to conduct religious services in Jesus’ birthplace. In Iran, Christians have become virtually non-existent since 1979, when Khomeini ordered the immediate closure of all Christian schools. In Gaza, the 3,000 who remain are subjected to persecution. In Sudan, Christians in the South are forced into slavery.

Israel’s flag a symbol of hope

In Lebanon, the Maronites, the only Christians to have held political power in the modern Arab world, have been reduced to a minority because of Muslim violence and Hezbollah’s rise. In Saudi Arabia, Christians have been beaten or tortured by religious police. Benjamin Sleiman, archbishop of Baghdad, is talking about “the extinction of Christianity in the Middle East.”

The Christian Egypt was symbolically represented by former United Nations Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali, a Christian married to a Jewish woman whose sister was the wife of Israeli Foreign Minister Abba Eban. In 1977, Boutros-Ghali, who was then Egypt’s foreign minister, accompanied President Anwar Sadat to Jerusalem.

Sadat, who as a child had attended a Christian school, was killed because the treaty his signed with the “Zionists,” among other reasons, and his cold peace is now under attack from the new rulers in Cairo.

In 1948, the Middle East was cleansed of its ancient Jews. Today is the Christians’ turn. Just as Islamist totalitarians have ruthlessly persecuted Christians in the Middle East, they have been waging war for the past 63 years to destroy the Jewish state in their midst. That’s why the fate of Israel is intertwined with the fate of the non-Muslim minorities.
 
Should the Islamists prevail, the Middle East will be completely green, the colour of Islam. Under atomic and Islamist existential threats, the remnant of the Jewish people risks being liquidated before Israel’s centennial in 2048. It’s time for Christians to recognize that Israel’s survival is also critical and vital for them. During the Holocaust, when most Christians were bystanders or collaborators, the Yellow Star was a symbol of death for the Jews. Today, the white flag with the beautiful six pointed star is a symbol of survival and hope for both Jews and Christians.

Giulio Meotti, a journalist with Il Foglio, is the author of the book A New Shoah: The Untold Story of Israel's Victims of Terrorism

Ynet News: Itamar massacre solved; 2 arrested

Preface

In relation to the slaughtering of the five members of the Fogel family in Itamar, including a 3 months baby girl, Israeli security forces managed to fing and arrest the beasts who did it. The sights from the butchery arena can be viewed here: http://friendship-prior-peace.blogspot.com/2011/03/pictures-and-video-clips-from-itamar.html.

Another reason to reject "Freindship" while the Palestinians are still teaching their youth the hatred of Jews.

Is this the vision of Islam?
Is this called Jihad?
Palestinians must wash their own dirty laundry. No one will do it for them. Till then, no one in the world will be able to like them except the leftist and anarchist hypocrites.
Is our world a safer pleace to live with such beasts?
Cold blooded beast who slaughtered a 3 month baby girl.

Hanan
___________________________________________

Joint investigation of Fogel family murder by Shin Bet, IDF and police culminates in the arrest of two Palestinians. Both suspects admit involvement in terror attack; say they wanted to 'die martyrs' death'

Hanan Greenberg Published: 04.17.11, 12:21 / Israel News

Cleared for Publication: Shin Bet, IDF and police have arrested two Palestinians, both residents of the village of Awarta, in connection to the Fogel family massacre in Itamar in March.

The first suspect is Hakim Mazen Awad, 18, a high school student whose father was active in the Popular Front terror organization. Awad has a prison record. His uncle, who was killed in clashes with IDF forces in 2003, was involved in a June 2002 terror attack in Itamar, which left five dead.

Hakim Mazen Awad Photo courtesy of the Shin Bet

The second suspect, Amjad Mahmad Awad, 19, also a student, is affiliated with the Popular Front.

Amjad Mahmad Awad Photo courtesy of the Shin Bet

The two suspects confessed to their involvement in the murders, and said that they sought to carry out a terror attack in order to kill Israelis. They expressed no regret over the murders.

The Shin Bet arrested the two subsequent to a strenuous investigation, which included the interrogation of multiple persons of interest in the case.

On April 5 and April 10, IDF forces arrested Amjad and Hakim. The investigation into the attack revealed that the two decided to carry out a terror attack and attempted to acquire weapons three days before the March 11 attack.

In order to obtain the weapons they turned to a Popular Front militant in their village, but he refused to acquiesce to their request. And yet, at midday on Friday March 11, they decided that they would go to Itamar that night, armed with knives and carry out the attack.

Masterminds of evil

At approximately 9:00 pm the two cut the settlement fence and entered its ground, masked. At first, they entered a neighboring house, found it empty, and stole an M-16 rifle, clips and a Kevlar vest. From there they moved onto the Fogel home.

Before entering the house the murderers noticed that there were children in the home. Undeterred, they still chose to proceed, killing two of the children immediately after breaking in. Parents Ehud and Ruth were murdered next. According to the investigation's report, the two struggled with their attackers before succumbing to multiple shotgun wounds.

Before fleeing the scene, the two stole an additional gun from the Fogel home. When they had already left the house and saw a patrol car outside, they feared they would be captured. At that point, Amjad insisted on going back into the house and searching for additional weapons. Unfortunately, this was when the Fogel's baby girl started crying. Fearing it would attract attention, the two murdered her, as well.

As for the two surviving children, the murderers said they hadn't noticed them. Had they found the two, both said, they would not have hesitated to kill them, as well.

The Fogel family home after the attack

The heinous deed done, the two, who are not related, returned to their village on foot and appealed to Hakim's uncle, Salah Awad, also a Popular Front militant, for assistance, giving him a detailed report of the attack they had carried out.

Salah Awad helped them conceal their weapons and bloodstained clothes, and later, he transferred the stolen weapons to a Ramallah resident, for hiding. The latter was arrested after the weapons were discovered in his possession.

Israeli security forces also arrested five of the two's family members and friends in connection to the case.

Complex investigation, chilling reenactment

The Shin Bet noted that even though the murderers are affiliated with the Peoples Front, it appears that they acted of their own accord and were not following orders. The issue is still under investigation.

A senior Shin Bet official said that the massacre had the characteristics of a "lone-terrorist" attack and even though it was carried out by two people, it was difficult to receive any information in advance which could have prevented the attack.

A senior Shin Bet official said that the massacre had the characteristics of a 'lone terrorist' attack and even though it was carried out by two people, obtaining intelligence to thwart such attacks in extremely difficult.

Sources familiar with the investigation said the two offered a dispassionate account of the attack, and "a chilling reenactment." Shin Bet officers described it as one of the most "shocking, cold, remorseless and detailed description," they had ever come across.

Amjad noted that he went to Itamar to "die a martyr's death", which strengthened his willingness to carry out an act of terrorism. During their interrogation the two suspects made no distinction between the murder of the parents and the children, describing it simply as an act against five Jewish Israelis.

The village of Awarta, with 8,000 residents is known as a breeding ground for terror and has quite a few hostile elements. Nevertheless, following the massacre and the series of arrests carried out by the defense establishment, the residents renounced the massacre and even attempted to point the blame away from the village.

The Shin Bet said that in spite of the time that passed between the murder and the case's resolution, it was a major achievement.

Following today's discoveries, Ruth Fogel's brother, Yochai Ben Yishai told Ynet: "We are very proud of the State and the security services. But on a personal level, there is no consolation, the pain remains sharp."

Yishai added that "the capture of he murderers gives us a sense of satisfaction on a national level but we must get to a point where these people are deterred before they take action and not just apprehended after the murder."

Ynet News: Hamas: Body of kidnapped activist found

Preface

Can we trust the Palestinians and make with such people peace?
Can we trust those evil Muslims?
Are they human beings?
Are they beasts?
Where are those so called moderate Muslims to speak?
Muslims among themselves must vomit from their society the evil. If not then their moderate destiny is sealed with blood from their own brothers.
Who can be a friend of such people?

Another good reason to close this "Friendship prior Peace" web blog.

Hanan
__________________________________________


(Video) Body of International Solidarity Movement member kidnapped in Strip said to be found in Gaza City, mere hours after news of abduction break. Hamas police arrest two suspects

News agencies Latest Update: 04.15.11, 05:57 / Israel News

VIDEO - The body of an Italian pro-Palestinian activist abducted Thursday by Islamic extremists has been found hanged in a Gaza City house, after a clash between Hamas police and the abductors, Hamas officials said in the early hours of Friday morning.

The officials said Hamas police stormed an apartment in Gaza City belonging to a member of the extremist group that released a video of the activist. Hamas police said they found the man dead from an apparent hanging. Security officials added that two men were arrested and others were being sought in the killing.

The International Solidarity Movement had identified the kidnapped activist as Vittorio Arrigoni, 36, a member from Italy. An Italian doctor was reportedly on his way from Israel to examine the body, a Hamas official said.

Arrigoni, a pacifist and blogger, had lived in the Gaza Strip for some time. Huwaida Arraf, co-founder of the International Solidarity Movement, identified him as one of the group's members. Arrigoni had not been heard from in the past 24 hours, Arraf said.

Italy's government condemned Arrigoni's kidnapping and "brutal murder" on Friday.
 

Arrigoni in the Gaza Strip (Photo: AP)

The Italian foreign ministry "denounces in the strongest manner the act of vile and senseless violence committed by extremists who are indifferent to the value of human life," a statement said.

The ministry expressed "its deep horror over the barbaric murder and its most sincere condolences to the family."

Arrigoni's abduction was first kidnapping of a foreigner since Hamas overran Gaza in 2007. In the past, all foreign kidnap victims in Gaza had been released unharmed.

According to accounts, Gaza police were surrounding the small house where the clash took place. A police officer said the body was inside, adding that two people were arrested in another location in connection with the abduction, and a third was being sought.

A video released earlier Thursday night showed a man with a thick black blindfold and a large bruise on his face. Apparently seated, he was held in front of the camera by an unseen person.

Video posted by kidnappers

 
In a message on the video, an extremist group calling itself "Monotheism and Holy War" demanded that Hamas free its leader, Sheikh Abu Walid-al-Maqdasi, who was arrested in early March; and two other members whose names had not been previously known. The Hamas government had no immediate reaction.

Early Friday, the group – beleaived to be affiliated with al-Qaeda – posted a statement on its website denying responsibility for the abduction.

Before the body was found, the Italian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that it was aware of the kidnapping, was in touch with Arrigoni's family and was taking steps to ensure his safety. "Foreign Minister Franco Frattini is in touch with diplomats in the country and is following the situation with great attention," the statement said.

'A heinous murder'

Hamas' Interior Ministry called a special press conference following the recovery of the Italian peace activist's body in Gaza.

The ministry denounced the act: "This is a heinous murder which does not represent our religion, values and costume," it said in a statement, adding the act "harms the Palestinian people's goals." Hamas police have launched a full inquiry in the case.

Hamas itself is a fundamentalist Islamic group, but it faces challenges from even more extremist offshoots of Islam, including Walid-al-Maqdasi's group, that take inspiration from al-Qaida and the world jihad movement. Hamas has denied that al-Qaeda has a presence in Gaza.

Kidnappings of foreigners were common before the Hamas takeover. Most of those abducted were foreign correspondents, including Alan Johnston of the BBC, who was abducted and held for 114 days before being freed in July 2007, just after Hamas overran Gaza, expelling forces loyal to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

ISM operates in the West Bank and Gaza and is known for trying to prevent the Israeli military from carrying out its missions. Arraf said this activist has been going in and out of Gaza for more than two years. He was working with farmers and fishermen.

The ISM incident that got the most attention was the 2003 death of American activist Rachel Corrie, who was crushed by an Israeli military bulldozer in southern Gaza while trying to block its path.

'Fighting an occupation is in my DNA'

Since his murder, online videos of an interview Arrigoni held earlier this year have surfaced on the internet.

"I arrived in Gaza on August 23, 2009 on a boat of the Free Gaza Movement with about 40 activists from 17 different countries," he said. "We arrived and broke a siege lasting since 1967. I remember this day as one of the happiest in my life."

Arrigoni said he came from a family of partisans. "My grandfathers died fighting an occupation, another occupation, the Nazi-fascist occupation in Italy. For this reason, my DNA, my blood probably has parts pushing me to fight for freedom and human rights."

Arrigoni said that there are people who are willing to devote their lives to support the people in Gaza despite their governments' complaisance and "cooperation with the Zionist-Israeli regime."
 
He said that he and his friends came to Gaza to "face the snipers as a human shield" and did what the UN should be doing to enforce international law.

Elior Levy, Reuters and AFP contributed to this report

This is what Vitorio Aggrosini was thinking.

Ynet News: Actor Juliano Mer-Khamis shot dead in Jenin

Preface

I cannot simply understand the behavior of the Palestinians. They are murdering in the same speed as slaughtering a goat. I have no other words but just to describe those people as the garbage of humanity. A man came to make their situation better and they just spit into the well, sorry shit (I have no other expression at the moment) into their drinking well.

They simply murdered a man of friendship and those are the people we need to deal with them peace. I don't want to dig deeper into their culture and faith which encouraged them to be easy on their guns to their own brothers and friends. So how easy will be their gun against the infidel Jews? It is no wonder if clerics and leaders like Erdogan, Mahathir and other radical anti-Semitic Muslim leaders are brainwashing their minds. They are the cancer of themselves. Just watch what Muslims are doing to Muslims. It is related to the religion. Not all Muslims are terrorists but almost all terrorists are Muslims. Just for that reason of being easy to murder and kill, the Muslims will be punished with a great bloodshed in a brother's war in a very short time. This is not my punishment, it is a divine punishment. They will face darkness for centuries.

In this case we don't need friendship, we don't need peace, not that prior this nor this prior that.

I'm about to change my blog name or remove it from the web. I simply don't want to be a friend of any Palestinian. They should learn first the minimal human behavior.

Hanan Leshnovolsky

Israeli-Arab actor, a pro-Palestinian activist, has received death threats for establishing theater

Elior Levy Published: 04.04.11, 17:27 / Israel News

The Israeli-Arab actor Juliano Mer-Khamis was shot to death in Jenin, Palestinian police in the West Bank announced.

The actor was shot by a masked man who fired five bullets at him as he was exiting his car in the neighborhood in which he resides, afterwards fleeing the scene, police say. Mer-Khamis has resided in Jenin and Haifa alternately.

Civil Administration officials say his body has been transferred to the Abu-Kabir Forensic Institute.

The 52-year old Mer-Khamis, a pro-Palestinian political activist born to a Jewish mother and Arab father, has previously received death threats after establishing a theater at Jenin refugee camp.

The refugee camp disseminated fliers in 2009 calling the actor a fifth column. "If words don't help we will have to speak in bullets," the fliers said.

The theater, which became one of the city's main culture centers since its establishment five years ago, has sustained many firebomb attacks. In April of 2009 the theater's door was torched.

The hypocrites who claim against committing human crimes of IDF (Israeli Defence Forces)

The video clips that are following are just showing the brutality of the regime in Syria. They are the people who are claiming about crimes against humanity done by Israel (IDF). I wonder where is the Humans Rights Committee and Judge Goldstone to make an investigation. Oh, how fast was it established for the "crimes" of IDF in Gaza? Where are those leaders/figures like Erdogan, Mahathir and others? I wonder why are they so silent?

Sure when an anti-Semite is an anti-Semite he will forever remain an anti-Semite. And they just wonder why we call them anti-Semites.

A few video clips are better than 1000 words to describe the brutality of those people. I just wonder from where are they nursing it. Is it education? Is it their religion? Is it their "beasts schools" with hatred brainwashing. I just know that who teaches to hate the Jews blindly, the hatred will become a sward against him. Maybe that time is arriving.

Ynet News: 'Assad using Hezbollah to suppress civil unrest'

Opposition figures say members of Lebanese Shiite group working alongside Syrian security forces to quell Deraa riots; local hospital says bodies of 25 protestors brought in, 'all with gunshot wounds'

Roee Nahmias, agencies Published: 03.24.11, 13:33 / Israel News

At least 25 bodies of protestors who were killed in clashes with Syrian security forces were evacuated to the main hospital in the southern city of Deraa, a medical official reported Thursday.

"They all had gunshot wounds," the official said.

'Massacre in Deraa' Photo: AP

Meanwhile, Syrian opposition leaders have accused President Bashar Assad of using Hezbollah to suppress the anti-government protests. Abd el-Razek told BBC Arabic that Hezbollah operatives were working alongside Syrian security forces to quell the riots in Deraa. Other opposition leaders have made similar claims.

'Corrupt government is butchering us'

An independent Syrian human rights organization condemned the wave of arrests of anti-government activists in the country. The group reported that blogger and communications student Ahmad Hadifa was detained in Damascus Thursday by secret police. Last month Hadifa was held in police custody for six days.

According to the organization, Hadifa was arrested due to his "activity on Facebook in support of the protest in Deraa."

Amnesty International published the names of 93 activists it claims were arrested this month in cities throughout Syria. It said the actual number of those arrested was much higher.

A video posted on YouTube showed an activist pleading with Arab and foreign news networks to "Save us, there is a massacre in Deraa. This corrupt government is butchering us. There are tanks and other armored vehicles here. Save us. Deraa calls out to you; Deraa is dead; I beg of you."

The official Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) reported that late Wednesday an "armed gang attacked an ambulance crew that drove by the al-Omari mosque in Deraa, resulting in the deaths of a physician, medic and ambulance driver."

SANA said security forces would "continue to hunt down armed gangs that terrorize civilians and murder, steal and torch public buildings and homes in Deraa."

Hurriyet Daily News: You shall not kill!

I found this article written by a Turkish journalist who is pointing out exactly the hypocrisy of the Muslim leaders. I also wonder how those hot blooded angry Muslims, among them so called "moderate" were so silent and not condemning the Itamar family massacre (as well as other past events). None of them said that he/she is sorry. How can I believe that Muslims and Islam is the religion and nation of peace? It is not for me or us to prove that they are peaceful, but they need to strive and show the world that they are. Islamophobia is not baseless.

Hanan.

Tuesday, March 15, 2011



BURAK BEKDİL

It was 2010, and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was speaking, as tempered as always, to a crowd as tempered as the prime minister could be.

“These [people] even see babies in their cradles as a threat. They have killed babies in their mothers’ arms,” he boomed.

“These people,” naturally, were the Israelis.

Addressing Israel’s leaders from a public rally in Turkey, Mr. Erdoğan said in both Turkish and English: “You shall not kill.” Then he showed his linguistic capabilities and went on: “You still don’t get it? Then I shall speak to you in your own language: Lo tir’tsach!” He was referring to the sixth of the 10 commandments in the Old Testament.

In various other speeches, Mr. Erdoğan claimed that his fits of anger toward the death of children were “indiscriminative” of race and religion. “Wherever, whenever,” he often said, “a child has been killed,” he would fiercely stand against the murderers. All the same, he has been mute since Saturday.

In the early hours of Saturday, a Palestinian broke into a house in the settlement of Itamar and stabbed to death a couple and their three children, aged 3 months, 4 years and 10 years old. The slain bodies were discovered by the couple’s 12-year-old daughter who was not at home when the murder was committed.

The “Imad Mughniyeh” cell, with alleged links to the al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigade, claimed responsibility for the attack. The terrorist group is named after the “phantom” terrorist Imad Mughniyeh who was killed in a car bomb attack in Damascus which Hezbollah blamed on Israeli agents. Mr. Mughniyeh, or the “Shia bin-Laden,” was one of the world’s most wanted men (wanted in 42 countries) while he was enjoying a safe haven in the Syrian capital prior to his assassination.

Most predictably, we have not heard Mr. Erdoğan saying "You shall not kill" in Arabic, and we probably never will. That’s hardly surprising since we have never heard Mr. Erdoğan speaking “indiscriminately” in the past against the killing of children and defenseless people in Itamar, or elsewhere in Israel – for Saturday’s attack in Itamar was not the first of its kind. In May 2002, a Palestinian killed a 14-year-old boy and wounded another teenager in the same settlement. A month later, another Palestinian killed a woman and her three children. In July the same year another Palestinian stabbed and wounded a couple. And in August 2004, a Palestinian killed a resident of Itamar.

The killing of a 3-month old baby reminded me, inevitably, of what a “Palestinian warrior” told me in Ramallah in 2006. When he praised his suicide bomber sister who had injured a 95-year-old woman (and killed herself) in an attack, I asked him what was the point of injuring or killing elderly women or toddlers when young Palestinians also died in these attacks. He smiled and explained as simply as he could: “For us, even a 1-year-old Israeli baby is a soldier. And that [95-year-old] woman was also an Israeli soldier!” I thought it might not be safe to ask him any further questions.

But in 2008, this time in London and speaking to another Palestinian, I felt more comfortable and dared question the logic of the act that “indiscriminately angers our prime minister.” I reminded him of a verse in the Quran (4:93): “Whoever kills a believer intentionally, his recompense is Hell wherein he will abide eternally, and Allah has become angry with him and has cursed him and has prepared for him a great punishment.”

My Palestinian friend counter-attacked with another verse (17:33): “And do not kill the soul which Allah has forbidden, except by right.” Then came his loud and tempered explanation: “The verse 4:93 forbids killing a believer. Israelis are not believers.” I looked out from the window of the pub where his orange juice vs. my wine stood on the table like two objects silently telling us why we could never agree.

For a moment, I thought about reminding him that Jews, too, are believers, like other non-Muslim believers, or ask him if the Quran (in verse 4:93) permitted the killing of atheists. But he loudly went back to verse 17:33, with radiating eyes satisfied with the near victory in our little intellectual duel. “You see, that verse forbids killing ‘except by right.’ And it is evident that some killings fall into the category of ‘exception by right.’”

I sipped my wine and got lost in thought, wondering how a doctoral candidate of engineering from a decent British university could defend the murder of innocent people only because they belonged to a faith other than his. How could he twist his own (and my) holy book so as to find holy justifications for the killing of innocent people?

“Never mind,” he interrupted my thoughts, “You are not Muslim anyway. It is normal that you don’t understand.” “Wait a minute,” I protested, “What does it mean ‘you are not Muslim anyway?’” “I see that you are drinking wine,” he replied. “I hope you don’t mind if I leave you alone now. I have an appointment,” he smiled and left the pub.

I didn’t mind because he left. But one does mind when someone tells him that he does not belong to the religion to which he thinks he belongs. I cursed the missed opportunity of reminding him of the verses and hadiths that forbid Muslims from judging other people’s faith by a man-made faith-meter. But then I thought my cute friend would find a way to twist them, too.

The hypocrisy over the killing of innocent people is not coincidental in any way. Last month, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad hosted, in Tehran, a delegation from the disastrous Turkish flotilla Mavi Marmara, comprising the “Mavi Marmara mujahedeen, ghazis and families of the shahids.”

The delegates participated in Iran's Revolution Day ceremonies, and the head of the Turkish delegation noted that: “We are here today with the longing and the determination to build a Middle East without Israel and America, and to refresh our pledge to continue on the path of the Mavi Marmara shahids.”

On Feb. 12, the same Mavi Marmara activist reiterated “the promising words of the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran… that 'only a short time is left for the building of a Middle East without Israel or America in it, and we are praying for the quick arrival of that bright day, when all of us will meet in a free al-Quds [Jerusalem].’”

With five “Jooos” having disappeared from earth after the Itamar attack, that bright day must be arriving sooner.

I am still curious, however, about what rank the 3-month old Israeli “soldier” held. Captain? Lieutenant colonel? Certainly too young to be a general.

Ynet News: Abbas’ hate education

Op-ed: While speaking softly, Palestinian leader carries horrendous stick of hate education

Yoram Ettinger Published: 03.15.11, 18:08 / Israel Opinion

The March 11, 2011 heinous stabbing to death of a Jewish family - while asleep on the eve of the Sabbath - including a three month old baby, a four year old toddler, an 11 year old child and their parents was carried out by graduates of Mahmoud Abbas' hate education. This slaughter was not an anomalous phenomenon.

 The slaughter was a derivative of the infrastructure of hate education and incitement via school text books, Abbas-controlled media and Abbas-controlled mosques. It was installed in 1994 by Abbas, then Arafat's deputy, and perpetuated, since 2005, by Abbas, the Chairman of the Palestinian Authority. It is an extension of Palestinian incitement and terrorism, introduced by Haj Amin al-Husseini in the 1920s, and 1,400 years of Arab/Muslim hate-mongering and terrorism toward each other, but mostly against "the infidel."

While speaking softly, Abbas carries a horrendous stick of hate education, which is largely funded by US foreign aid (over $2BN since 2007.) Since 1994, he has brainwashed Palestinian youth, producing manufacturing lines of hundreds of thousands of potential terrorists/suicide bombers.

One's education is the most authentic reflection of one's ideology, vision, goals and character.

According to Prof. Efraim Karsh, Head of the Middle East and Mediterranean Studies program at King's College in London (Palestine Betrayed, Yale University Press, 2010, pp. 255-6), "For all their drastically different personalities and political styles, Arafat and Abbas are warp and woof of the same fabric: dogmatic PLO veterans who have never eschewed their commitment to Israel's destruction and who have viewed the 'peace process' as the continuation by other means of their lifelong war…He (Abbas) described the proclamation of Israel as an unprecedented historic injustice and vowed his unwavering refusal to ever accept this injustice…(There is) no fundamental difference between the ultimate goals of Hamas and the PLO vis-à-vis Israel: neither accepts the Jewish state's right to exist and both are committed to its eventual destruction…."

On August 13, 2009, Abbas – who enrolled in KGB courses and coordinated PLO ties with the Communist Bloc - ratified the resolutions of Fatah's 6th General Conference, which state (article 19):"The struggle shall not end until the Zionist entity is eliminated and Palestine is liberated."

Honoring terrorists

Holocaust denial is promoted by Abbas' school textbooks, such as Modern World History for tenth graders (p.83). Prof. Karsh notes that Abbas' doctoral dissertation, submitted at the Moscow University, and published in 1984 in Amman, "endeavored to prove…the existence of a close ideological and political association between Zionism and Nazism…(that) fewer than a million Jews had been killed in the Holocaust, and that the Zionist movement played a role in their slaughter." Hence, Mein Kampf and the anti-Semitic Protocols of the Elders of Zion are best sellers in the Palestinian Authority.

Abbas' school textbooks reaffirm the founding document of the PLO, the Palestinian Covenant. It was compiled in June, 1964, aiming at the pre-1967 Israel. Two thirds of the Covenant is dedicated to the destruction of the Jewish State, as a prerequisite for the attainment of Palestinian goals.

Abbas and Salam Fayyad pay condolence visits - and authorize the transfer of monthly allowances - to families of suicide bombers. In February, 2011 they named a soccer tournament in honor of Wafa Idris, a suicide bomber. On January 16, 2010 they named a major square in El Bireh (in addition to two schools and a summer camp) in honor of Dalal Mughrabi, who commanded the March 11, 1978 massacre of 38 bus passengers on Israel's coastal road.

The school textbooks of Abbas – who supervised the 1972 Munich Massacre of 11 Israeli athletes and the March 1973 murder of two US ambassadors in Sudan - idolize suicide-bombing, fuel anti-Semitism and repudiate Israel's right to exist. For example, fifth grade Our Beautiful Language (pp. 26, 31, 32, 36, 70), tenth grade Grammar (pp. 30, 146) and Islamic Education (pp. 42-4, 48, 50) and tenth grade Modern World History (p.64).

On October 12, 2010 Abbas' official TV channel heralded the terrorists who murdered six Israeli civilians in 1975 (Kfar Yuval) and 1980 (Misgav Am.) On January 29, 2010 Abbas' official TV channel broadcast the weekly sermon, referring to Jews as "the enemies of Allah and humanity, modern day Nazis, who must be annihilated."

Hate education is the root cause of the Arab-Israeli conflict, which has always been over the existence – and not over the size – of the Jewish State. Hate education on one hand, and peace negotiation on the other hand, constitute an oxymoron.

Japan and Germany were transformed from hateful to peaceful countries by uprooting regimes of hate education; not merely by condemning hate education. To ignore the centrality of hate education, is to reward and fuel terrorism at the expense of peace and Western democratic values.

Pictures and video clips from Itamar family massacre by Palestinian terrorists (beasts)

A single picture is more than thousand words.

Ynet News: Horror in Samaria: Terrorist murders family of 5

Terrorist stabs five family members to death in settlement of Itamar early Saturday; three children, including baby girl, among victims. Paramedic describes horrific sight, toys next to pools of blood

Yair Altman Latest Update: 03.12.11, 06:20 / Israel News

Horror in Samaria: A terrorist infiltrated the West Bank settlement of Itamar, southeast of Nablus, early Saturday and stabbed five family members to death.

Troops launch manhunt for terrorist Photo: Ido Erez

The shocking attack occurred around 1 am as the terrorist entered the family home and murdered three children aged 11, 3, and a baby girl along with their parents. The victims were apparently sleeping as the killer came in.

Itamar residents reported that shots were heard in the area; the terrorist managed to flee the scene.

Ambulance in Itamar (Photo: Ido Erez)

Three other children at the home, a 12-year-old girl and her two brothers, aged 6 and 2, were able to escape to a nearby house and inform their neighbors of the attack.

The terrorist who carried out the massacre cut the fence surrounding Itamar and entered the home of the victims through the window, an initial probe of the murder showed. Authorities could not immediately discount the possibility that more than one attacker was involved in the murder.

'Toys next to pools of blood'

Following an initial report of the incident, large IDF and police forces rushed to the site. The Air Force also joined the effort to track down the terrorist, deploying numerous aircraft in the area. The night’s sky was lit up with flares, as special IDF and police forces were called in to assist in the manhunt.

The IDF Spokesman’s Office said “troops are scouring the area in search of the suspect. The IDF is performing inspections at all crossing points set up in the region.”

IDF troops near Itamar (Photo: Ido Erez)

Magen David Adom ambulance service teams pronounced the victims dead at the scene. MDA spokesman Zaki Heller said the ambulance service got a call around 1 am and dispatched large teams of paramedics to the area.

“When rescue forces entered the house they encountered a very difficult sight...There were five people there who were hurt. We could do nothing but pronounce them dead,” he said.

Paramedic Kabaha Muayua was among the first responders at the site and described the horrific scene he encountered.

“We could not help the first four stab victims. Following an inspection of the scene I spotted an infant of about three who still had a pulse. We engaged in lengthy resuscitation efforts but had to pronounce him dead,” he said. “The murder scene was shocking. Kids’ toys right next to pools of blood.”

Paramedic Gil Moscowitz, who serves as MDA’s director of operations, said teams dispatched to the home discovered “parents and three children who were brutally murdered.”

“The parents were lying next to each other in their room…we found three bodies in the master bedroom; the two parents and a baby,” he said.

‘Government must back settlers’

Yesha Council Chairman Danny Dayan, who arrived at the site, appeared shocked by the brutal attack.

“This is no doubt one of the most terrible attacks in recent years," he told the reporters on hand.

Dayan at entrance to Itamar Photo: Ido Erez

“Words cannot describe the extent of the horror and pain,” he said. “Those tempted to think that the Palestinians ceased their acts of murder see that they do not shy away from any tactic and any Jewish victims, regardless of how young they are.”

“The time has come for the government to regain its senses and start backing up the settlement enterprise, which remains vulnerable on the frontlines,” he said.

The settlement of Itamar, which is surrounded by Palestinian villages, has been the site of murderous attacks in the past. In June of 2002, a terrorist entered the community and opened fire, killing Rachel Shabo and three of her seven children, Neriya, Tzvika, and Avishai. Yossi Twito, who commanded the local security team at the settlement, was also shot to death in the attack.

Ynet News: Jew-hatred in Holland

Dutch government won’t pay for security of Jews, while anti-Semitism continues to grow

Manfred Gerstenfeld Published: 02.13.11, 20:13 / Israel Jewish Scene

The Dutch government continues to refuse to pay for the security of its threatened Jewish citizens. The Jewish community has stated on various occasions that it is the only group in society which cannot organize activities without including guards or other security measures.

The other week during a debate in a parliamentary commission on the current anti-Semitism in the Netherlands, several MPs asked the Dutch government to pay for the Jews’ security. However, Minister of Security and Justice Ivo Opstelten stuck to the position of his predecessors saying that security is the responsibility of the Jewish community itself and if necessary, of the local authorities. The latter are rarely willing to pay for these expenses.

Chief Rabbi Binyomin Jacobs. Frequently insulted in public

Photo courtesy of Rabbinical Center of Europe

The Dutch Parliament has existed for almost 200 years. The first plenary meeting ever on contemporary anti-Semitism took place last June after a series of articles in the media about anti-Semitic incidents. One article in the prominent daily NRC Handelsblad was titled: “Anti-Semitism is more than an incident. It is normal.” The fact that a second parliamentary meeting was called for a few months later is a sign that nothing has been solved.

The main targets of anti-Semitic harassment in public are a small number of Jews who are recognizably attired as such. In past weeks, several newspapers have reported that Rabbi Raph Evers, the head of the Dutch Jewish Seminary, no longer travels on public transportation because of the harassment he encounters there. He walks out on the street as little as possible. Chief Rabbi Binyomin Jacobs is also frequently insulted in public. His home is fitted with an alarm system which links him directly to the police. Jacobs says 35 year ago, no one insulted him.

What were not mentioned in the Dutch media are the experiences of those Jews who had been repeatedly harassed and now live elsewhere. One Dutch Jewish youngster living in Jerusalem told me that while he was a student at Amsterdam University, he earned a living working in a supermarket in the center of town. He wore a small yarmulke. He was insulted at work on the average twice a week with calls like: “cancer-Jew” of “Hamas Hamas, Jews to the gas.” All of this harassment came from customers of Moroccan ethnicity.

I also interviewed another youngster now living in Jerusalem, who wears ultra-Orthodox garb. A few months ago he visited his parents in the Netherlands. When he changed trains after arriving from Belgium at the Dutch border station Rozendaal, he was immediately shouted at in English by a man with a heavy Dutch accent: “You killed Jesus.” At his arrival in Arnhem, where he exited the station through the back door, he was insulted as well. The same happened when he left from the same station. During his stay in The Netherlands he hardly left his parents’ home.

Non-selective immigration policy

Only limited parts of the Dutch Jewish community encounter substantial anti-Semitism. Besides the aforementioned harassment of recognizably dressed Jews, it impacts mainly on Jewish children in schools and through insults in the workplace. The Jewish community now explicitly blames the disproportionately large role in anti-Semitic incidents of Muslims who account for six percent of the population. The most problematic elements come from the Moroccan, and to a lesser extent, Turkish community.

Over the past decades, Dutch governments have non-selectively allowed in 1.6 million non-Western immigrants, about 10% of the population. Of these, one million originate in Muslim countries where anti-Semitism is far stronger than in the Netherlands. It is thus not surprising that the percentage of anti-Semites among these immigrants is substantially higher than among the local Dutch population. One could put it differently: the Dutch government has for many years followed an anti-Semitism-promoting immigration policy.

It would be desirable to undertake a detailed poll on anti-Semitism among Muslim immigrants as compared to the autochthonous population. One could then also analyze to what extent this anti-Semitism is fueled by families, mosques, schools, friends, or foreign incitement. This would be very useful in the battle against one of the main sources of anti-Semitism. Such an investigation would be, however, far too big a betrayal of Dutch taboos.

Last week’s parliamentary debate had its origin in the media discussion engendered by my book “The Decay: Jews in a Rudderless Netherlands.” It quoted senior Dutch politician and former EU commissioner Frits Bolkestein stating that recognizable Jews should advise their children to leave for the United States or Israel.

However, the book did not focus on anti-Semitism. It had two major themes. The first one, that Jews have a symbolic importance in the Netherlands which goes far beyond the real importance of the community, and the second was that by watching the interaction of the Jewish community and Dutch society at large, one obtains a prism on many aspects of the functioning and problems of Dutch society.

The recent discussions and debates have borne these two points out once more. Minister Opstelten stated that there would be zero tolerance for anti-Semitic incidents and registration of incidents at school. However, the Dutch police are unlikely to be able to become more efficient in the coming months. It is also unlikely that recognizable Jews can soon walk unhindered in certain parts of the country in the near future.

Approximately 10 years ago, there were major inquiries and debates in Dutch society about government failures of post-war restitution of Jewish assets looted in the Holocaust. One of the many criticisms about the Dutch government’s handling of the situation was that it had wrongly charged the surviving Jews for the administrative services involved in returning what was looted from them because the Dutch government could not protect them during the occupation.

A commission of inquiry said that this was a public duty and thus needed to be provided free of charge.
 
One wonders whether in the future, investigators will conclude that the Dutch government has misbehaved against the Jews once again by failing to pay for their protection and that of their institutions, which is also, clearly, a public duty.

Dr. Manfred Gerstenfeld has published nineteen books, several of which deal with European anti-Semitism

AFP: Synagogue torched in Tunisia: Jewish leader

(AFP) – 22 hours ago

TUNIS — Arsonists set fire to a synagogue in the southern Gabes region of Tunisia, a leader of the local Jewish community said Tuesday.

"Someone set fire to the synagogue on Monday night and the Torah scrolls were burned," Trabelsi Perez told AFP, criticising the lack of action by the security services to stop the attack.

Worshippers visit the Ghriba synagogue in Djerba, southern Tunisia

"What astonished me was that there were police not far from the synagogue," added Perez, who is also head of the Ghriba synagogue on the island of Djerba, the oldest synagogue in Africa.

Twenty-one people were killed, including 16 European tourists, when Al-Qaeda bombers attacked Ghriba in April 2002.

Copyright © 2011 AFP. All rights reserved.

Ynet News: Iran: 64 people executed in 24 days

Six people executed in Islamic Republic on Monday alone, including two opposition activists, three rapists, one serial killer

Dudi Cohen Published: 01.24.11, 11:43 / Israel News

Unprecedented wave of executions in the Islamic Republic. Iran executed six people on Monday bringing the number of executions since the beginning of 2011 to 64, an average of one person every nine hours.

It was reported that among those executed were two activists who were members of an exiled group that joined post-election protests. The Tehran prosecutor's office named the two as Jafar Kazemi and Mohammad Ali Hajaghaei. In addition, those executed included three men accused of sexual assault and a serial killer who was sentenced to a public flogging.

Besides drug charges, the Iranian constitution gives out a death sentence for murder, rape, adultery, armed robbery and espionage. Most of the citizens executed since the beginning of the year were convicted of drug offences. Just last week, ten drug smugglers were executed. National media outlets reported that the ten were flogged and fined before they were killed.

The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran accused the regime's security forces of participating in an "execution celebration" though Tehran claims that they stiffened drug offence sentences in a bid to cope with the phenomenon.

The regime's critics claim that the fact that drug use and trafficking - especially among the younger sectors in the population - is expanding proves that the death sentence policy has failed. They called on the Republic to end its cruel execution policy.

Iran is considered the country with the highest rate of executions in the world, relative to the population, and ranked second after China, in the number of annual executions. Last year, at least 180 people were executed in Iran.

Survivor Of Islam - Brigitte Gabriel Speaks Candidly

Survivor Of Islam - Brigitte Gabriel Speaks Candidly

Ynet News: Stabbing victim's friends shocked

Neighbors, acquaintances of Kaye Susan Wilson stunned by brutal attack in mountainous area outside Jerusalem. 'Who could hurt such a gentle woman?' says her housekeeper tearfully

Roi Mandel Published: 12.19.10, 21:19 / Israel News

Searching for Logan Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg

Kaye Susan Wilson, the 46-year-old tour guide who was bound and stabbed multiple times Saturday in a mountainous area outside Jerusalem, continues to recover at the Jerusalem Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital, and digest the news of her friend's death.

Wilson's neighbors and friends at the Jerusalem neighborhood of Givat Ze'ev were shocked by the news of the attack, and wondered who could hurt "such a gentle woman".

"What did she do to these insane people? She never had a problem with anyone," said Tamam Shawamra, who has been working as Wilson's housekeeper in recent years.

"She is such a good woman," she noted tearfully, while holding the Sunday paper with the picture of Wilson on the front page.

Wilson in the hospital (Photo: Aviel Magnezi)

 Tamam and her son Yosef, who also worked for Wilson, described her as a generous and very modest woman who never got into trouble.

"She is like my sister," said Yosef, "She would leave me the key and trust me to take care of her house while she would go travelling for a few days, sometimes even a week.

"She had many friends that used to stay with her. She never argues with anyone, I don’t understand who would do this to her," he added.

Tamam and Yosef said they plan to visit Wilson in the hospital. "This is absolutely horrible, what did she do to make them stab her and her friend? Look at her, what a gentle face of a good woman. Who could do such an awful thing," Tamam said while barely holding back her tears.

The two ruled out the possibility of a personal attack. "I never saw her fight with anyone, I can't imagine that it has anything to do with her. There are plenty of crazy people in the world that would do such a think," noted Tamam.

'Loves life'

On Saturday, police officers arrived at Wilson's house in Givat Ze'ev and spoke with her neighbors in an effort to find out more details.

"I heard about the incident in the news and suddenly a few police officers appeared and told me what happened," Shulamit Avital, Wilson's landlord and neighbor recounted on Sunday.

"They asked me to open the door to her apartment and took out some documents and personal belongings. No one knows the details of the incident," she added.

Avital, who rented an apartment to Wilson two months ago, said she hardly got to know her.

"I knew she was a tour guide and that she was gone for days at a time because of her work. I don’t know much about her life, and I've never seen her friends around – only her and her dog," she said.

Wilson has been working at Shoresh Tyulim guided tours company for the past few years. Her colleagues described her as "a happy woman who loves life and loves the land of Israel very much."

Aviel Magnezi contributed to this report

Ynet News: Israelis attacked on way to Jerusalem pub

Three students and Australian tourist take wrong turn on way to Jerusalem's city center, find themselves in heart of Arab neighborhood of Issawiya. 'Dozens of young men began throwing stones and sticks at us. It was a well-planned ambush,' driver recounts

Yair Altman Published: 11.05.10, 13:04 / Israel News

Three students from the central city of Givatayim and their Australian friend will never forget their nightly drive to Jerusalem's city center. The three, who picked up the young woman from the Hebrew University's Mount Scopus campus, almost paid with their lives after taking a wrong turn.

"There were four of us in the car, and we planned to sit in a quiet pub on Ben-Yehuda Street and talk," the driver, Assaf Ben-Ari, told Ynet on Friday morning. "There were no signs, and since we don't live in the area we didn't know how to turn back. We took a right turn on one of the curves and found ourselves on a one-way road in an unfamiliar area."

Shortly afterwards the four began feeling discomfort, which was soon replaced with real fear.

"After driving for a minute, we saw a 12-year-old boy walking on the side of the road. We explained to him that we lose our way and asked how to get to Ben-Yehuda Street. He said in an Arabic accent that he didn't speak Hebrew and called someone. That's when I began realizing that something was wrong," Assaf recounted.

As he and his friends were waiting, Assaf noticed that all the store signs in the area were in Arabic. "An older person arrived and he and the kid began laughing at us. They told us to continue driving on the same road, while the older one was on the phone and simply sent us into a well-planned ambush."

'Look of murder in their eyes'

The group had no choice and continued driving according to the instructions, and found themselves in the heart of the neighborhood of Issawiya. They decided to turn back, but were shocked to discover that the road had been blocked.

"I don't know how they managed, but only two minutes later they set up a barrier which included a barbed-wire fence, chairs, and iron pipes. We were in shock. We suddenly heard an explosion sound in the back, and saw the boy and the adult who we spoke to throwing bricks at us."

'It was like a nightmare' (Photo: Assaf Ben-Ari)

The car's rear windowpane was smashed, and young men began coming out of the neighborhood houses and throwing stones at the vehicle. The driver began speeding into the center of Issawiya.

"My friend contacted the police, and after we managed to get away I stopped and contemplated what to do. I had never encountered such a situation of helplessness without any preparation, and with friends and a terrified tourist," Assaf said.

Meanwhile, "the entire neighborhood woke up and dozens of young men gathered next to us and waited for us with sticks and stones. I considered escaping from the vehicle or even hiding until the police arrived, but I knew we wouldn't stand a chance if they found us outside the car. Several minutes later we were surrounded, and I realized that I must drive my car into the barrier if I want to get out of here alive."

At that moment, he began driving fast while being hit with stones and iron pipes from all directions. "I pressed the gas pedal with all my might, and simply drove into the barrier at 110 kilometers an hour. The barbed-wire fence was caught under the wheels and dragged along. There were sparks in the air."

Part of barbed-wire fence in improvised barrier (Photo: Assaf Ben-Ari)

After crossing the first barrier, the group was shocked to discover a second trap. "Several meters ahead they placed a row of taxis attached to each other in order to prevent us from passing. Luckily, we managed to get through a small gap between the pavement and the wall, a moment before another taxi arrived to close us in."

At the same time, three Border Guard jeeps arrived in the area and ensured that there were no injuries. According to the police, "The fighters dispersed the rioters and the matter has been handed over to the minority department."

"It was like entering a nightmare. They had a look of murder in their eyes," the driver said after the incident. "Had we stayed there one more minute we wouldn't be alive anymore. It wasn't just an attempt to stone us, but an intentional desire to lynch us only several meters way from the university."

Gil Naveh contributed to this report

__________________________________________________________________

Stones thrown at ambulance treating Palestinian

Paramedics treating injured Palestinian flee Issawiya after stones damage their vehicle

Yair Altman Published: 11.06.10, 20:46 / Israel News

Stones were thrown Saturday at an ambulance and an MDA mobile intensive care unit near the village of Al-Azariya just a day after some young Israelis were attacked as they drove through nearby Issawiya, in east Jerusalem. The ambulance teams had been called to village to treat a young man who had fallen from the fifth floor of a building.

At about 6 pm, an ambulance was called to Al-Azariya, in the vicinity of east Jerusalem. Due to the critical condition of the patient, the intensive care unit was called. As paramedics treated the patient, a number of teens from Issawiya began throwing stones at the vehicle, making the paramedics' task difficult. The windscreen of the vehicles was damaged, as was another Israeli vehicle that was driving behind them.

 
Hagai Bar-Tov, an MDA paramedic, spoke of those minutes of fear. "On the way to the hospital, as the paramedics treated the patient… we had to take care of our own lives at the same time," he said. "A shower of stones fell on us… Luckily the vehicle was armored, so the windscreen was damaged but not completely broken in."
 
"Unfortunately, we see once again how terror groups operate without limits, even when it's clear to all that ambulances don't do any damage anywhere in the world" said Danny Rotenberg, MDA spokesman in the Jerusalem region. "The team, which was in the middle of intensive treatment saving the life of a seriously wounded Palestinian patient, feared for its life, making the situation even worse."

Police said they had begun searches in the area to find those responsible for throwing the stones. The police view the incident gravely, as they do the attempted lynch of three students from Givatayim and an Australian tourist. Police sources said they intend to increase operations against stone throwing in Issawiya, to pressure the local population to keep public order.
 
The students and tourist, who only wanted to go to a pub in the city, almost paid with their lives after making a wrong turn. They said they followed the directions of children in the neighborhood and almost reached the center of Issawiya. When they tried to go back they saw the street was blocked, and saw the eldest child who had given directions throw stones at them. None of the group was injured, despite the shower of stones.