Terror attack in Jerusalem

According to initial media reports, a Palestinian terrorist used his car to deliberately drive into a crowd of Israelis near a light-rail train station in Jerusalem around noon today (Israel time). 

The driver from eastern Jerusalem (member of Hamas) sped away and then crashed into a second group of pedistrians and other cars. Shortly afterwards, the terrorist exited his car and attacked passers-by with a metal pole. The terrorist was shot dead by the police.

One person was killed and approximately nine people were injured, including two in serious condition.

This is the second deliberate attack on a Jerusalem light-rail station using a vehicle in recent times. The last car attack, which took place exactly two weeks ago (Wednesday, 22 October), killed Chaya Zissel Braun, a three-month-old dual Israeli-American citizen and 22-year old Karen Jemima Mosquera, originally from Ecuador. 

Terror in Judea and Samaria

Last week, Shoval, a combat photographer for the IDF travelling in Samaria reports

“I saw my life flash before my eyes, and felt the terrible fear of dying.

I was traveling on a road in Samaria. A bus full of children returning from school came down the opposite lane. Suddenly, out of nowhere, I saw a firebomb fly directly at the bus. I blinked and saw in my mind one of those horrifying images of an exploded bus you see in the newspaper, only this time it was right there in front of me.

When I opened my eyes, I breathed a sigh of relief. I didn’t know if it was luck or something else, but the firebomb missed the bus, flying right over it.

One split second later, that sigh of calm turned into one of the most fearful moments of my life. The bomb was now heading towards me! I can’t explain how that felt in words – those few milliseconds felt like an eternity. I managed to step on the accelerator of my vehicle and the bomb landed in a bush a few meters away from me.

I sped up and drove to a military position at a nearby crossing, and alerted the soldiers to what had happened. They quickly returned with their commanding officer to the scene of the crime to catch the terrorist. We heard on the radio that another IDF force had already arrived there.

The saddest part of this attack is that this truly non-trivial event has become a dangerous routine. Israeli civilians in Judea and Samaria suffer from attacks like this daily, attacks which the media deem insignificant. After living through this experience today, I feel the importance of being there, as a soldier, even more strongly.”

Terrorists have committed dozens and dozens of firebomb attacks this year across Judea and Samaria. When a terrorist throws a firebomb, he immediately puts lives at risk. Unfortunately, Shoval’s story is just one of many. Share this testimony and show the world the true face of the constant terror attacks that go unreported in Judea and Samaria.

I am a Muslim by Faith but......

"I am a Muslim by faith, a Christian by spirit, a Jew by heart, and above all I am a human being." ~ Dr. Tawfik Hamid.

http://www.tawfikhamid.com/

Dr. Hamid is an Egyptian scholar and author of the article.
The world needs more people like him---ones who have the
courage to face-up to reality.

I was born a Muslim and lived all my life as a follower of Islam.
 
After the barbaric terrorist attacks done by the hands of my fellow Muslims everywhere on this globe, and after the too many violent acts by Islamists in many parts of the world, I feel responsible as a Muslim and as a human being to speak out and tell the truth to protect the world and Muslims as well from a coming catastrophe and war of civilizations.
 
I have to admit that our current Islamic teaching creates violence and hatred toward non-Muslims. We Muslims are the ones who need to change. Until now we have accepted polygamy, the beating of women by men, and killing those who convert from Islam to other religions.
 
We have never had a clear and strong stand against the concept of slavery or wars, to spread our religion and to subjugate others to Islam and force them to pay a humiliating tax called jizia. We ask others to respect our religion while all the time we curse non-Muslims loudly (in Arabic) in our Friday prayers in the mosques.
 
What message do we convey to our children when we call the Jews "descendants of the pigs and monkeys"? [Yet, both Arabs and Jews are descendants of Ibrahim (Abraham)!] Is this a message of love and peace, or a message of hate?
 
I have been into [Christian] churches and [Jewish] synagogues where they were praying for Muslims.  While all the time, we curse them, and teach our generations to call them "infidels", and to hate them.
 
We immediately jump in a 'knee jerk reflex' to defend Prophet Mohammad when someone accuses him of being a pedophile while, at the same time, we are proud with the story in our Islamic books that he married a young girl seven years old [Aisha] when he was above 50 years old.
 
I am sad to say that many, if not most of us, rejoiced in happiness after September 11th and after many other terror attacks.
 
Muslims denounce these attacks to look good in front of the media, but we condone the Islamic terrorists and sympathise with their cause. Until now our 'reputable' top religious authorities have never issued a fatwa or religious statement to proclaim Bin Laden as an apostate, while an author, like Rushdie, was declared an apostate who should be killed according to Islamic Shari'a law just for writing a book criticizing Islam.
 
Muslims demonstrated to get more religious rights as we did in France to stop the ban on the hijab (head scarf), while we did not demonstrate with such passion and in such numbers against the terrorist murders. It is our absolute silence against the terrorists that gives the energy to these terrorists to continue doing their evil acts.
 
We Muslims need to stop blaming our problems on others or on the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. As a matter of honesty, Israel is the only light of democracy, civilization, and human rights in the whole Middle East.
 
We kicked out the Jews with no compensation or mercy from most of the Arab countries to make them "Jews-free countries" while Israel accepted more than a million Arabs to live there, have their own nationality, and enjoy their rights as human beings. In Israel, women cannot be beaten legally by men, and any person can change his/her belief system with no fear of being killed by the Islamic law of 'apostasy,' while in our Islamic world people do not enjoy any of these rights.
 
I agree that the 'Palestinians' suffer, but they suffer because of their corrupt leaders and not because of Israel.
 
It is not common to see Arabs who live in Israel leaving to live in the Arab world. On the other hand, we used to see thousands of Palestinians going to work with happiness in Israel, its 'enemy.' If Israel treats Arabs badly as some people claim, surely we would have seen the opposite happening.
 
We Muslims need to admit our problems and face them.  Only then we can treat them and start a new era to live in harmony with human mankind. Our religious leaders have to show a clear and very strong stand against polygamy, pedophilia, slavery, killing those who convert from Islam to other religions, beating of women by men, and declaring wars on non-Muslims to spread Islam.
 
Then, and only then, do we have the right to ask others to respect our religion. The time has come to stop our hypocrisy and say it openly: 'We Muslims have to change !

http://www.islamreview.com/articles/From_the_heart_of_a_Muslim.shtml

Avaaz Exclusively Blames Israel - Part 1

The organisation Avaaz is putting out a stream of criticism of Israel using emotive terminology and containing no context to the claims. (We don't really want to support them by clicking on their website, do we?)

A recent outburst contained the following statements:_

a)   “Israeli soldiers are entering Palestinian homes in the middle of the night, snatching children from their beds, blindfolding them and taking them away.”

This is an emotive headline rather like “dog bites man”, used to create negative attitudes  towards actions the IDF necessarily undertakes in order to maintain public order and protect lives. There is no law defining a time for action, this way reaction is minimised.

b)   “These children aren't terrorists or related to any terrorists.”

Interesting observation not backed up by facts. The constant indoctrination of children via TV, summer camps etc create hatred from the earliest ages – just review the latest videos from Palestinian Media Watch http://tinyurl.com/pgrdahs and http://tinyurl.com/kwyyjm9  . It suits the Palestinian Authority’s agenda to use, yes, use children in any action in order to create public sympathies.  

c)   “Their families are participating in an inspiring nonviolent movement, peacefully protesting the segregation of the occupation and seeking the same thing that all Israelis already have: freedom, dignity and a state of their own, but the Israeli military and police are viciously cracking down -- beating and jailing them”.

If the actions are so peaceful, why are there between 120-160 terror attacks every month according to the monthly reports of the Terrorist Information Center

But one brave woman is standing up for them -- Gaby Lasky –(Executive member of “Peace Now”, an organisation working against the democratic rights of the Israeli public)- a diminutive and savvy Israeli lawyer. Gaby is their lifeline -- she is who these nonviolent heroes call when they need help. She and her team answer desperate calls from the West Bank in the middle of night, and spend the day in military court fighting bogus charges against nonviolent leaders. And, against the odds, Gaby wins. – Interesting ! there seems to be no source for this claim. As often happens in such cases a single success is blown up into a great victory. Just as in the case of the "Jenin Massacre" which made headlines but was proven to be untrue.

Gaby told us how this ludicrous, legally sanctioned repression in the West Bank works. Soldiers detain kids, often in the middle of the night, and ask them for information on leaders of the nonviolent movement. The constant use of the term "non viol;ent" belies the facts on the ground. Three Israelis have been killed by stone throwers.  Kids as young as 12 are held for hours without access to their parents, much less attorneys. It can be days before they see a judge. And a child’s coerced testimony is all the army needs to arrest leaders of this nonviolent movement.

d)  “Right now, in towns across the West Bank steadfast groups of citizens come out each week, sometimes daily, in civil disobedience. They march to stolen springs and olive trees, to closed roads and massive militarized walls in peaceful defiance of a crippling occupation. It’s a beautiful, heroic DIY movement and if our community steps up we can give it real help.”

Such typical land grab attempts by Palestinians are commonplace, they “claim” ownership, yet have no legal papers to show proof of ownership. The most recent case  of Susito is a case in point. Palestinians claimed they had been on that land “from time immemorial. Yet photographic evidence presented by Regavim, www.regavim.org showed that there had not been a presence there as recently as the year 2000. The PA is using every trick in the book to fool gullible human rights activists. See video on constant illegal Palestinian building on State lands http://tinyurl.com/n53zn8o

By arresting the leaders of this movement the Israeli army is trying to suffocate a spark of hope that could actually change the the brutal, broken nature of the conflict. Let’s stand with this movement now.

e) The Avaaz community has been unwavering in its support for freedom for the Palestinian people and peace between Israelis and Palestinians

Such peace can only come about when the Palestinian leadership come to terms with the existence of Israel. However, this seems to be forlorn hope when one hears a number of Palestinian leaders making statements such as

“The Palestinian people will never accept the right of the Jewish people to their own state.  Not for 1000 years.                                                                                            Abu Mazen, , 12/7/2009

“It is impossible to realize the inspiring idea or the great goal in one stroke....Israel will come to an end....If I say that I want to remove it from existence, this will be great, great,[but] it is hard.  This is not a [stated] policy. You can’t say it to the world.  You can say it to yourself”  Abbas Zaki, Fatah Central Committee member, Al-Jazeera TV, 23/9/2011

“I will never allow a single Israeli to live among us on Palestinian land”. Mahmoud Abbas, Fatah , 28/7/2010, to Egyptian media (ynetnews)

“It Is Okay to Say One Thing in Arabic and Another in English for Western Audiences” Editor-in-Chief Al-Quds Al-Arabi Newspaper Abd Al-Bari Atwan:December 2010

What is HAMAS Celebrating?

What is Hamas actually celebrating today? 25 years sonce their inception? How about all the terro targetting Israel?  Under each of the comments below is a link to a video which shows the true face of Hamas. Amd Abbas wants us and the UN to believe he is seeking peace? Do me a favour.

Watch the 4 videos i

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=dTWlXRnZbVc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=r-kd0NcoxFU



http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=_ARQ6MHUXEg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=PPvc-eTym-Q



What might civilized people be thinking when sociopaths like Tamimi bask in adulation?

Frimet and Arnold Roth 21st August

The unrepentant, unjustly freed murderer Tamimi
with the unrepentant, unjustly freed murderer Tamimi
at their June 2012 wedding in Amman, Jordan

After receiving some offline comments on the Tamimi speech we publicized yesterday, we have a few further thoughts to share. The urge to do this is triggered by a sense that something deeply disturbing is going on; it's being ignored or willfully not noticed by people who ought to be noticing.

When a politician or public figure on our side of the fence makes an ignorant or dumb or smart or incisive statement, particularly when it's about the Arabs (you know the examples), his/her comments are greeted with near-instant analysis and frequently with condemnation from a global array of press and politicians. The Arab media focus obsessively on such things. Outside the Arab/Islamic world, we frequently see European, American, Australian and other critics drawing wide inferences about how those specific Israeli views are going to bring on the next Black Plague or an increase in pogroms in France. The claim, at minimum, is that irreparable harm is going to be caused to the souls and DNA of innocent Israeli children, to world peace and so on.


To illustrate: when a posse of Israeli delinquents (it happens to be a very current issue here) beat up an Arab youth in a street fight, the New York Times says the event has led to "a stark national conversation about racism, violence, and how Israeli society could have come to this point" That's an actual quote: check it out. We think the Times' journalist's conclusion is overwrought nonsense, but that's not the point. Israel is not, never has been and should never be, immune to criticism, or even object to it, and mostly doesn't.


Now think for a moment about how Ahlam Tamimi and her hundreds of published interviews and speeches are treated by global public opinion. Pay attention in particular to how Arabs view her, since they are her principal audience.


No one - certainly not the woman herself - denies the fact that she planned and carried out a premeditated killing on a large and vicious scale, which was the whole point of doing it. The law convicted her on the basis that she's a murderer; she says (more or less) that she did it for the freedom and honour of her nation. The fact that she planned to kill and succeeded mightily has never been in dispute. She does not miss an opportunity to say that it was children, and specifically Jewish children, and even more specifically orthodox Jewish children like ours, who were the target. She regrets that she did not kill more - it's there in yesterday's video and in numerous other speeches and earlier videos recorded in her Jordanian freedom.


She appears on television and in front of adoring crowds (ask us if you want to view the video files) and expresses the vilest kind of racist hatred of Jews, Israelis and Zionists. She has done this many times since she unjustly got her freedom in October and her message is hugely amplified by the social media. She is a star on YouTube, a hero on Facebook. She is globally broadcast via satellite television into every corner of the Arabic-speaking world. It's arguable that she has the largest footprint of any ordinary murderer (ignoring "celebrities" like Hitler, Mao, Stalin et al) in human history. If that seems like an overstatement then we urge you to concede that she is in the major leagues. The fact that most people don't know this is largely because most people don't speak Arabic.


She smiles warmly when she says she killed those Jews, and her god wanted her to do it. She points to how she has subsequently been rewarded with freedom, fame, a wedding that received live television coverage. The adoring crowds applaud and ululate. The encouragement (and probably the will) to emulate her actions is clear.


How many Arabic speakers are there in the world? A quick query on the web turns up these numbers: "280 million native speakers, and an extra 250 million non-native speakers" [source]. How many Arabic newspapers? Many.


Here's our point: We have searched and have not yet found a blog, article, published speech or op-ed in her language, Arabic, which criticizes the woman or her views. So far, not one. If our readers can point us to exceptions, please do.



This is deeply shocking. Tamimi's message resonates throughout the Arab and Islamic world. Her views don't even rise to the level of controversial. She's simply a hero, wall to wall. She and her vile deeds, opinions and intentions appear to represent some sort of global consensus in the Arab and Islamic world. There is no public debate, no expressions of outrage - not even concerning the passivity of the Kingdom of Jordan where she lives and from where a vibrant Tamimi-focused industry of online and broadcast videos sends its message of hatred and death out to the world.



Does the absence of criticism throughout the Arab world mean they support the deliberate killing of the innocent people among their enemy? Does their silence mean they support the murder of children as Tamimi certainly does, and they want to see it happen again and again as she certainly does?



What does this say about the discourse underway in the Arab world? What light does it throw on the global news media?



What can we learn from here about the chances of ever making peace?

Terror in Bulgaria

A terrorist attack on a bus carrying Israeli tourists in Burgas, Bulgaria Wednesday killed seven people on board and injured at least 20 more, several critically, according to the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry and Israeli Police.



The tourists had landed at Burgas’ Sarafovo Airport on a flight from Tel Aviv and had just boarded buses to travel to the city’s Globus Hotel. Bulgarian media said 44 people were on the vehicle at the time of the explosion, about 5:30 p.m. local time. All of the buses were still in the airport terminal.


Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held security consultations following the terror attack in Bulgaria today (Wednesday 18 July 2012).


The Prime Minister said: “All signs point towards Iran. Over the last few months we have seen Iran’s attempts to attack Israelis in Thailand, India, Georgia, Kenya, Cyprus and other countries. Exactly 18 years to the day after the horrendous attack on the Jewish Community Center in Argentina, deadly


Iranian terrorism continues to strike at innocent people. This is a global Iranian terror onslaught and Israel will react firmly to it.”


The Prime Minister sends his condolences to the families of the victims and wishes a speedy recovery to the wounded.