5 aug 2015
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Eighteen-year-old Mordechai Meir, suspected of organizing arson attack on Galilee church, to be jailed for as long as six months without trial.
Defence Minister Moshe Ya'alon signed an order Tuesday night to allow the administrative detention of right-wing activist Mordechai Meir (18) to last as long as six months without trial. Meir, a resident of Ma'ale Adumim, just east of Jerusalem, was arrested Tuesday evening on suspicion of organizing an arson attack on the Church of Loaves and Fishes on the Sea of Galilee several weeks ago. The suspect had been under house arrest and forbidden from going to |
certain places after spending some time in jail. A second suspect, Avitar Salonim, was also arrested Tuesday for helping organize the activities of Jewish extremists and forbidden from going to the West Bank or Jerusalem.
An official statement from the Defense Ministry said that Meir had been involved in violent incidents and terror attacks as part of a "Jewish terrorist group."
Tuesday's decision was the first of its kind against a Jewish-Israeli suspect in years and came after the Security Cabinet decided earlier in the week to use the method of administrative detention against Jewish suspects of extremist attacks. Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein also offered his legal support for the decision before Ya'alon signed the order.
An official statement from the Defense Ministry said that Meir had been involved in violent incidents and terror attacks as part of a "Jewish terrorist group."
Tuesday's decision was the first of its kind against a Jewish-Israeli suspect in years and came after the Security Cabinet decided earlier in the week to use the method of administrative detention against Jewish suspects of extremist attacks. Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein also offered his legal support for the decision before Ya'alon signed the order.
An Arab League follow-up committee on Wednesday recommended further talks to discuss putting forward a draft resolution at the United Nations Security Council to protect Palestinians from settler violence, officials said.
The Arab Peace Initiative meeting in Cairo -- chaired by Egyptian Foreign Minister Samih Shukri -- called on UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to create an international mechanism for protecting Palestinian civilians in the occupied territories.
The committee also issued support for the Palestinian Central Council's decision to review political, economic and security relations with Israel and stressed support for Palestinian political unity and the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip.
Palestine remains the "primary issue for Arabs," Shukri said.Arab League Secretary-General Nabil al-Arabi called for the group to submit a draft resolution to the UN condemning settler violence and expressed deep concern over the financial crisis within the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, urging Arab states to commit support for the agency.
The committee includes Palestine, Jordan, Bahrain, Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar, Lebanon, the UAE, Morocco and Yemen. Earlier, the PLO said that a special report it prepared on settler violence would be presented to the committee.
The report, entitled "Israeli Settler Terrorism," documented settler attacks on Palestinians from Jan. 1 to July 31 and called on the international community to "hold Israeli authorities responsible for their criminal acts" and end Israel's culture of impunity.
According to the report, settlers have carried out over 11,000 attacks on Palestinians and their property, land, and religious sites since 2004.
Over 85 percent of investigations into settler violence are closed without indictments, Israeli rights group Yesh Din says.Settler violence against Palestinians is routine in the occupied territories but has come under the spotlight in the past week following an arson attack near Nablus which killed 18-month-old toddler Ali Dawabsha.
Israeli settlers have carried out at least 120 attacks on Palestinians in occupied East Jerusalem and the West Bank since the start of 2015, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
The Arab Peace Initiative meeting in Cairo -- chaired by Egyptian Foreign Minister Samih Shukri -- called on UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to create an international mechanism for protecting Palestinian civilians in the occupied territories.
The committee also issued support for the Palestinian Central Council's decision to review political, economic and security relations with Israel and stressed support for Palestinian political unity and the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip.
Palestine remains the "primary issue for Arabs," Shukri said.Arab League Secretary-General Nabil al-Arabi called for the group to submit a draft resolution to the UN condemning settler violence and expressed deep concern over the financial crisis within the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, urging Arab states to commit support for the agency.
The committee includes Palestine, Jordan, Bahrain, Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar, Lebanon, the UAE, Morocco and Yemen. Earlier, the PLO said that a special report it prepared on settler violence would be presented to the committee.
The report, entitled "Israeli Settler Terrorism," documented settler attacks on Palestinians from Jan. 1 to July 31 and called on the international community to "hold Israeli authorities responsible for their criminal acts" and end Israel's culture of impunity.
According to the report, settlers have carried out over 11,000 attacks on Palestinians and their property, land, and religious sites since 2004.
Over 85 percent of investigations into settler violence are closed without indictments, Israeli rights group Yesh Din says.Settler violence against Palestinians is routine in the occupied territories but has come under the spotlight in the past week following an arson attack near Nablus which killed 18-month-old toddler Ali Dawabsha.
Israeli settlers have carried out at least 120 attacks on Palestinians in occupied East Jerusalem and the West Bank since the start of 2015, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
The occupation authorities began drilling operations to implement the project of religious pools in a land near the settlement of Maale Ha-Zeitim established in the neighborhood of Ras Al-Amoud in Silwan south of Al-Aqsa Mosque.
Wadi Hilweh Information Center explained that the occupation authorities have been carrying out wide operations of digging and drilling near the settlement of Maale Ha-Zeitim to build religious pools for settlers on a 2.5 Dunoms lands that was allocated for public use.
The center added that the settlers’ committee in the settlement of Maale Ha-Zeitim headed by Aryeh King, member of Municipal Council, submitted nearly two years ago the project for building religious pools near the settlement to be used by the settlers for practicing their religious rituals (Purity). The project was ratified by the committees and the competent authorities; the municipality funded the project with nearly 1.5 million NIS.
The center pointed out that one pool will be built for males and another for females and there is a possibility to build a third pool which will be all directly connected to the settlement.
Wadi Hilweh Information Center also explained that the “Religious buildings” department in the occupation municipality is the sponsor of the project and the land has been allocated for the use of settlers only despite that it was classified as public use and therefore neglecting the needs of the residents; the land will be added to the settlement.
The center added that the occupation authorities built a 4-meter supporting wall three months ago and placed an 8-meter high fence around it (land remaining after building the religious pools), and therefore the locals of the area will be prevented from submitting any future projects for public use in the area.
The information center denounced in its statement the municipality’s ratifying and funding of the project and and considered it an image of racism as the municipality allocates millions of NIS for the implementation of settlement projects while any development in the infrastructure or any building is prohibited in Silwan
Wadi Hilweh Information Center explained that the occupation authorities have been carrying out wide operations of digging and drilling near the settlement of Maale Ha-Zeitim to build religious pools for settlers on a 2.5 Dunoms lands that was allocated for public use.
The center added that the settlers’ committee in the settlement of Maale Ha-Zeitim headed by Aryeh King, member of Municipal Council, submitted nearly two years ago the project for building religious pools near the settlement to be used by the settlers for practicing their religious rituals (Purity). The project was ratified by the committees and the competent authorities; the municipality funded the project with nearly 1.5 million NIS.
The center pointed out that one pool will be built for males and another for females and there is a possibility to build a third pool which will be all directly connected to the settlement.
Wadi Hilweh Information Center also explained that the “Religious buildings” department in the occupation municipality is the sponsor of the project and the land has been allocated for the use of settlers only despite that it was classified as public use and therefore neglecting the needs of the residents; the land will be added to the settlement.
The center added that the occupation authorities built a 4-meter supporting wall three months ago and placed an 8-meter high fence around it (land remaining after building the religious pools), and therefore the locals of the area will be prevented from submitting any future projects for public use in the area.
The information center denounced in its statement the municipality’s ratifying and funding of the project and and considered it an image of racism as the municipality allocates millions of NIS for the implementation of settlement projects while any development in the infrastructure or any building is prohibited in Silwan
Israeli police Wednesday asked two East Jerusalem Palestinian families to leave their homes, under the pretext of absentee ownership, according to WAFA correspondent. Israeli police ordered Sabri Abu-Nab and Abdullah Abu-Nab, two Jerusalemite Palestinians, and their families to leave their homes before August 11, because the two properties are “absentee”.
Jewish settler organizations, claim the two homes are located on the site of an abandoned Jewish synagogue.
Abdullah Abu-Nab described the order a “manipulation” by the Israeli judiciary which was biased toward the settlers.
He said settler groups had no proof of ownership of the two homes, which have been inhabited by the Abu-Nab family for hundreds of years, even before the establishment of Israel.
Zuhair Rajabi, a pro-Jerusalemites activist and advocate, said a number of lawyers and him were planning to gather as much legal documents as needed to prove the Abu-Nab family’s ownership of the two homes. He said the lawyers will travel to Turkey to obtain paperwork from the Ottoman era that proves the Abu-Nab’s ownership of the two homes.
For years, Israel instituted a series of mandatory laws, regulations and policies to legalize the confiscation of Palestinians’ lands and property and prevent them from returning to their homes.
Palestinians’ land was deemed “absentee property” based on the 1950 Absentee Property Law and the control of the land was transferred to the government and semi-governmental agencies, such as the Jewish National Fund and Israel’s Land Administration for the benefit of Jewish Israelis.
Under this law, Palestinian refugees and the internally displaced are regarded as “present absentees”, designations that authorized the confiscation of their land. The implication of this was that the majority of the Palestinian land was lost.
The law was first enacted and took effect in 1950 after the great population transfer that Israel experienced in its early days, as thousands of Palestinian Arabs were forced to flee the city of fear of being killed. The law was approved by the Supreme Court of Israel on April 16 2015.
Secretary General of the Islamic-Christian Committee to Support Occupied Jerusalem and Holy Sites, Hanna Issa, denounced the court’s decision, and said such property belongs to thousands of indigenous Arab and Palestinian residents who were forced out of their homeland, following the 1948 and 1967 wars.
Palestinian Grassroots Anti-Apartheid Wall Campaign says that, “By classifying every citizen or persons present in an “enemy” territory or country as an “absentee” vis-à-vis property in Israel, the law has served to confiscate the land and real estate left behind by the Palestinians who were forcibly displaced 1948,”
In 1967, most Palestinians in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) de facto became “absentees” with regard to their property in East Jerusalem, which was unilaterally and illegally annexed by Israel.
Israel’s annexation and extension of the Absentees’ Property Law to occupied East Jerusalem is in violation of international law and has been strongly condemned by the United Nations.
Jewish settler organizations, claim the two homes are located on the site of an abandoned Jewish synagogue.
Abdullah Abu-Nab described the order a “manipulation” by the Israeli judiciary which was biased toward the settlers.
He said settler groups had no proof of ownership of the two homes, which have been inhabited by the Abu-Nab family for hundreds of years, even before the establishment of Israel.
Zuhair Rajabi, a pro-Jerusalemites activist and advocate, said a number of lawyers and him were planning to gather as much legal documents as needed to prove the Abu-Nab family’s ownership of the two homes. He said the lawyers will travel to Turkey to obtain paperwork from the Ottoman era that proves the Abu-Nab’s ownership of the two homes.
For years, Israel instituted a series of mandatory laws, regulations and policies to legalize the confiscation of Palestinians’ lands and property and prevent them from returning to their homes.
Palestinians’ land was deemed “absentee property” based on the 1950 Absentee Property Law and the control of the land was transferred to the government and semi-governmental agencies, such as the Jewish National Fund and Israel’s Land Administration for the benefit of Jewish Israelis.
Under this law, Palestinian refugees and the internally displaced are regarded as “present absentees”, designations that authorized the confiscation of their land. The implication of this was that the majority of the Palestinian land was lost.
The law was first enacted and took effect in 1950 after the great population transfer that Israel experienced in its early days, as thousands of Palestinian Arabs were forced to flee the city of fear of being killed. The law was approved by the Supreme Court of Israel on April 16 2015.
Secretary General of the Islamic-Christian Committee to Support Occupied Jerusalem and Holy Sites, Hanna Issa, denounced the court’s decision, and said such property belongs to thousands of indigenous Arab and Palestinian residents who were forced out of their homeland, following the 1948 and 1967 wars.
Palestinian Grassroots Anti-Apartheid Wall Campaign says that, “By classifying every citizen or persons present in an “enemy” territory or country as an “absentee” vis-à-vis property in Israel, the law has served to confiscate the land and real estate left behind by the Palestinians who were forcibly displaced 1948,”
In 1967, most Palestinians in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) de facto became “absentees” with regard to their property in East Jerusalem, which was unilaterally and illegally annexed by Israel.
Israel’s annexation and extension of the Absentees’ Property Law to occupied East Jerusalem is in violation of international law and has been strongly condemned by the United Nations.
Amnesty International said on Tuesday that its staff have received threats from extremist Jewish settlers, Israel Radio has reported.
The threats include an attack on Amnesty's offices in Israel. Palestinian news agency Safa said that the human rights organisation is planning to strengthen security around its office. Amnesty has also filed a complaint with the Israeli police.
The group has accused the Israeli authorities of committing war crimes during last year's offensive against the Gaza Strip. At least 2,260 Palestinians were killed by Israeli troops and 11,000 more were wounded during the seven-week attack.
The threats include an attack on Amnesty's offices in Israel. Palestinian news agency Safa said that the human rights organisation is planning to strengthen security around its office. Amnesty has also filed a complaint with the Israeli police.
The group has accused the Israeli authorities of committing war crimes during last year's offensive against the Gaza Strip. At least 2,260 Palestinians were killed by Israeli troops and 11,000 more were wounded during the seven-week attack.
Israeli Jewish settlers last night attacked Palestinian homes with stones as they provocatively approached the outskirts of Silat ad-Daher, some 20 kilometers to the south of Jenin in northern West Bank, security sources told WAFA.
The settlers, who also chanted racist slogans against Arabs and Palestinians, provoked a scuffle with angry local Palestinians who forced them out of the area.
The village is close to what was known as Homesh and Sa-Nur, two Israeli settlements which were evicted after Israel’s unilateral disengagement from Gaza and four other settlements and a military base in northern West Bank in 2005.
On July 30, some 200 settlers organized an overnight hike to the former settlement in an attempt to resettle there before they were forced to leave by the Israeli army. According to Israeli media, among those who attempted to reoccupy the former settlement were families who were evicted in 2005 as well as rabbis, public figures, and MK Bezalel Smotrich from the nationalist Jewish Home party.
During the settlers’ provocative visit to Sa-Nur, which is adjacent to Nablus-Jenin highway, settlers assaulted passing Palestinian vehicles with stones and provoked tension in the area.
Meanwhile last night, settlers entered the village of Hares near the town of Salfit, in central West Bank, and pelted Palestinian homes with stones before local Palestinians gathered in an attempt to confront them.
According to local sources, the settlers had also some Molotov cocktails on their possession, which means they were plotting a malicious act. But after locals attempted to confront them, an Israeli army force arrived in the scene and ordered the settlers out of the area.
Violence by illegal Jewish settlers is commonplace. They have repeatedly attacked Palestinian property and worship places. Settler violence includes property and mosque arsons, stone-throwing, uprooting of crops and olive trees, attacks on vulnerable homes, among others.
Only last Friday, a group of Jewish fanatics killed an 18-month-old Palestinian baby and seriously injured his entire family, during a predawn arson attack which targeted two homes in the village of Douma, south of Nablus.
The baby’s father, Sa’ad Dawabsha, his mother Riham and his 4-year-old brother, Ahmad, sustained third degree burns and were transferred to several hospitals in the city of Nablus to receive immediate medical care.
In related news, the PNN reports that extremist Israeli settlers, on Wednesday morning, have sprayed hate slogans on walls of homes and shops near Damascus gate in East Jerusalem, calling for “Death of Arabs.” Jerusalem sources said that such groups have often targeted not only houses and shops, but also mosques and churches in Jerusalem, in addition to repetitive arson attacks. None of the attackers were sanctioned by Israeli government.
For their part, Israeli occupation authorities claimed to have opened an investigation in the matter, but Jerusalem locals assured that these investigations are never taken seriously.
They added that, if detained, the attackers are released under the claim that they have mental-issues. Despite the numerous attacks on Islamic and christian sanctuaries, none of the extremist Jewish settlers is held accountable for their crimes.
In a related matter, Israeli occupation police, Wednesday morning, stated they were not able to identify the settler who torched home of 18-month-old Ali Saad Dawabsha, who was burned to death in the attack. The police asked for help from the people to hand any information they have on the case.
The crime of burning alive the toddler Dawabsha, was faced by Israeli condemnations and a 6-month administrative detention order for one extremist suspect. The detainee is also suspected to have participated in the burning of the Church of Loaves and Fishes in Tiberias.
Israeli police, as well, arrested far-right activist Meir Ettinger, but he has not been named as a suspect in the attack yet, reported i24.
Ettinger, whose grandfather Meir Kahane founded the racist anti-Arab movement Kach, was arrested on Monday “because of his activities in a Jewish extremist organization,” a spokesman for the Shin Bet internal security service told AFP.
The court prolonged the incarceration of Meir Ettinger until at least Sunday, according to judicial sources.
Injuries reported during violent clashes in al-Khalil
A number of injuries were reported among Palestinian youths as violent clashes broke out between locals and Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) in al-Khalil to the south of occupied West Bank.
PIC reporter quoted eyewitnesses as stating that the clashes erupted near Bab al-Zawiya area after Israeli forces deliberately threw tear gas bombs towards Palestinian homes located near an Israeli military checkpoint.
Several youths suffered tear gas inhalation during the clashes that lasted for nearly two hours, the sources added.
Late Tuesday, similar clashes were reported in Silat al-Doher town in Jenin as Israeli settlers attacked local homes under the protection of Israeli forces.
A group of settlers overnight broke into the evacuated Homesh settlement, south of Jenin, and started stoning Palestinian homes, local sources clarified.
Local youths responded by throwing stones and empty bottles at the Israeli attackers, preventing them from storming two homes.
Homesh was one of four settlements evacuated alongside of Gaza in 2005, but settlers often return to the settlement in an attempt to re-occupy it.
The settlers, who also chanted racist slogans against Arabs and Palestinians, provoked a scuffle with angry local Palestinians who forced them out of the area.
The village is close to what was known as Homesh and Sa-Nur, two Israeli settlements which were evicted after Israel’s unilateral disengagement from Gaza and four other settlements and a military base in northern West Bank in 2005.
On July 30, some 200 settlers organized an overnight hike to the former settlement in an attempt to resettle there before they were forced to leave by the Israeli army. According to Israeli media, among those who attempted to reoccupy the former settlement were families who were evicted in 2005 as well as rabbis, public figures, and MK Bezalel Smotrich from the nationalist Jewish Home party.
During the settlers’ provocative visit to Sa-Nur, which is adjacent to Nablus-Jenin highway, settlers assaulted passing Palestinian vehicles with stones and provoked tension in the area.
Meanwhile last night, settlers entered the village of Hares near the town of Salfit, in central West Bank, and pelted Palestinian homes with stones before local Palestinians gathered in an attempt to confront them.
According to local sources, the settlers had also some Molotov cocktails on their possession, which means they were plotting a malicious act. But after locals attempted to confront them, an Israeli army force arrived in the scene and ordered the settlers out of the area.
Violence by illegal Jewish settlers is commonplace. They have repeatedly attacked Palestinian property and worship places. Settler violence includes property and mosque arsons, stone-throwing, uprooting of crops and olive trees, attacks on vulnerable homes, among others.
Only last Friday, a group of Jewish fanatics killed an 18-month-old Palestinian baby and seriously injured his entire family, during a predawn arson attack which targeted two homes in the village of Douma, south of Nablus.
The baby’s father, Sa’ad Dawabsha, his mother Riham and his 4-year-old brother, Ahmad, sustained third degree burns and were transferred to several hospitals in the city of Nablus to receive immediate medical care.
In related news, the PNN reports that extremist Israeli settlers, on Wednesday morning, have sprayed hate slogans on walls of homes and shops near Damascus gate in East Jerusalem, calling for “Death of Arabs.” Jerusalem sources said that such groups have often targeted not only houses and shops, but also mosques and churches in Jerusalem, in addition to repetitive arson attacks. None of the attackers were sanctioned by Israeli government.
For their part, Israeli occupation authorities claimed to have opened an investigation in the matter, but Jerusalem locals assured that these investigations are never taken seriously.
They added that, if detained, the attackers are released under the claim that they have mental-issues. Despite the numerous attacks on Islamic and christian sanctuaries, none of the extremist Jewish settlers is held accountable for their crimes.
In a related matter, Israeli occupation police, Wednesday morning, stated they were not able to identify the settler who torched home of 18-month-old Ali Saad Dawabsha, who was burned to death in the attack. The police asked for help from the people to hand any information they have on the case.
The crime of burning alive the toddler Dawabsha, was faced by Israeli condemnations and a 6-month administrative detention order for one extremist suspect. The detainee is also suspected to have participated in the burning of the Church of Loaves and Fishes in Tiberias.
Israeli police, as well, arrested far-right activist Meir Ettinger, but he has not been named as a suspect in the attack yet, reported i24.
Ettinger, whose grandfather Meir Kahane founded the racist anti-Arab movement Kach, was arrested on Monday “because of his activities in a Jewish extremist organization,” a spokesman for the Shin Bet internal security service told AFP.
The court prolonged the incarceration of Meir Ettinger until at least Sunday, according to judicial sources.
Injuries reported during violent clashes in al-Khalil
A number of injuries were reported among Palestinian youths as violent clashes broke out between locals and Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) in al-Khalil to the south of occupied West Bank.
PIC reporter quoted eyewitnesses as stating that the clashes erupted near Bab al-Zawiya area after Israeli forces deliberately threw tear gas bombs towards Palestinian homes located near an Israeli military checkpoint.
Several youths suffered tear gas inhalation during the clashes that lasted for nearly two hours, the sources added.
Late Tuesday, similar clashes were reported in Silat al-Doher town in Jenin as Israeli settlers attacked local homes under the protection of Israeli forces.
A group of settlers overnight broke into the evacuated Homesh settlement, south of Jenin, and started stoning Palestinian homes, local sources clarified.
Local youths responded by throwing stones and empty bottles at the Israeli attackers, preventing them from storming two homes.
Homesh was one of four settlements evacuated alongside of Gaza in 2005, but settlers often return to the settlement in an attempt to re-occupy it.
Shlissel continues rejecting services of public defender; police presents documents and past reports on suspect's mental state, showing he was fit to stand trial.
Yishai Shlissel, who is suspected of murdering 16-year-old Shira Banki at this year's Pride Parade in Jerusalem, will be sent to a psychiatric evaluation, the Jerusalem Magistrate's Court ordered on Wednesday.
The evaluation will determine whether Shlissel, who is also suspected of five attempted murders, is fit to stand trial and whether he was responsible for his actions while stabbing the marchers at the pride parade. Shlissel, who was recently released after spending 10 years in prison for stabbing three people in the 2005 Jerusalem Pride Parade, showed no emotion as he sat at court, refusing to answer journalists' questions.
A representative from the Public Attorney's Office said he spoke to Shlissel before the court hearing, but Shlissel maintains his refusal for representation from the state and refuses to cooperate. When Judge Anat Singer asked Shlissel how he wanted to be represented, he responded: "You have no authority to judge me because it's not according to the laws of Torah, and that is why I have no intention of playing a part in this illegal charade."
A police representative said Shlissel was sane throughout his sentence over the past decade. He also presented documents from the Prisons Service and past reports on Shlissel's mental state that determined he was fit to stand trial.
The psychiatric evaluation will take place within the next 48 hours and its results will be presented to the court until next Tuesday.
Yishai Shlissel, who is suspected of murdering 16-year-old Shira Banki at this year's Pride Parade in Jerusalem, will be sent to a psychiatric evaluation, the Jerusalem Magistrate's Court ordered on Wednesday.
The evaluation will determine whether Shlissel, who is also suspected of five attempted murders, is fit to stand trial and whether he was responsible for his actions while stabbing the marchers at the pride parade. Shlissel, who was recently released after spending 10 years in prison for stabbing three people in the 2005 Jerusalem Pride Parade, showed no emotion as he sat at court, refusing to answer journalists' questions.
A representative from the Public Attorney's Office said he spoke to Shlissel before the court hearing, but Shlissel maintains his refusal for representation from the state and refuses to cooperate. When Judge Anat Singer asked Shlissel how he wanted to be represented, he responded: "You have no authority to judge me because it's not according to the laws of Torah, and that is why I have no intention of playing a part in this illegal charade."
A police representative said Shlissel was sane throughout his sentence over the past decade. He also presented documents from the Prisons Service and past reports on Shlissel's mental state that determined he was fit to stand trial.
The psychiatric evaluation will take place within the next 48 hours and its results will be presented to the court until next Tuesday.
A group of Jewish settlers again stormed Wednesday morning al-Aqsa mosque from the Israeli-controlled al-Magaribeh gate under heavy police protection.
A state of tension has prevailed among Palestinian worshipers after the group carried out provocative tour s in the corners and facilities of al-Aqsa mosque.
Palestinian worshipers in their turn started shouting Takbeer in protest against the settlers’ presence in the Islamic holy shrine.
Meanwhile, Israeli police confiscated at the entrances to the mosque the identity cards of dozens of youths and women before allowing them in.
A state of tension has prevailed among Palestinian worshipers after the group carried out provocative tour s in the corners and facilities of al-Aqsa mosque.
Palestinian worshipers in their turn started shouting Takbeer in protest against the settlers’ presence in the Islamic holy shrine.
Meanwhile, Israeli police confiscated at the entrances to the mosque the identity cards of dozens of youths and women before allowing them in.
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Via the Popular Struggle Coordination Committee's Facebook page: Video showing the actual story not apparent in the viral picture of RHR Field Coordinator Zakaria Sadah and Qusra Mayor ...returning policewoman to prevent second officer from shooting Palestinians...
"The bottom line is that, while settlers are calling this an intentional publicity stunt, and some Palestinians are angry with Zakaria and the Qusara mayor for having helped an Israeli policewoman. (The residents of Qusara and the hundreds of additional Palestinians he has helped are not angry with him.) The fact is that Zakaria may very well have saved Palestinian lives, as another police officer was preparing to shoot. Zakaria is a one person command center who is often the first person to get a call when something happens. |
He is hated by settlers in the area for having foiled many attempts to attack, threaten, invade and trespass. On this particular day, he was with reporters in Douma (where he had also been the first to arrive early last Friday morning, and help evacuate the wounded) when he received the call to come quickly to Qusra, because Israelis had descended from the Eish Kodesh outpost and were trying to prevent Palestinians from developing land in Area B by shouting and standing in front of the equipment.
Although the army now acknowledges that this is Area B, where they have no authority to stop land development, when Zakaria arrived, the army seemed to be siding with the Israelis.
In another video posted on Ynet, you see a settler claiming that Palestinians had thrown stones at him. just before the portion of the video here, you see a police officer speaking with the Israelis. This officer, then, comes over and attempts to arrest Palestinians. Quickly he starts using a taser and, then, the Palestinains do start throwing stones.
The frightened policewoman froze, began to cry, and got caught in between the Palestinians, on one side, and security forces with Israeli citizens on the other. She wasn't hurt, but rocks were falling near her from one side, and tear gas and stun grenades from the other.
Sensing that she was in danger, the police officer in a t-shirt, whom we see later extending his hand to take the policewoman, prepared to shoot at Palestinians.
You can hear Zakaria shouting "Don't shoot! Don't shoot!"
You then see Zakaria and the Qusara mayor escorting the policewoman and the other officer extending his hand to draw her to him."
http://rhr.org.il/eng/2015/08/the-context-behind-the-photo/
Updated from:
08/04/15 (Press TV/Al Ray) In this picture, which was posted on social media websites last week, two Palestinians can be seen protecting a female Israeli police officer from a group of stone-throwing Israeli settlers.
Shaul Golan, an Israeli photographer, took the picture during clashes between settlers and Palestinian farmers in the illegal Israeli settlement of Esh Kodesh in the West Bank on Saturday.
When Israeli police forces arrived on the scene to break up the clashes, the settlers started throwing rocks at them too.
According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, settlers frequently attack local Palestinian villages and prevent farmers from reaching their lands.
The Israeli regime maintains a defiant stand on the issue of its illegal settlements on Palestinian land as it refuses to freeze settlement expansion. Tel Aviv has come under repeated and widespread international condemnation over the issue.
Although the army now acknowledges that this is Area B, where they have no authority to stop land development, when Zakaria arrived, the army seemed to be siding with the Israelis.
In another video posted on Ynet, you see a settler claiming that Palestinians had thrown stones at him. just before the portion of the video here, you see a police officer speaking with the Israelis. This officer, then, comes over and attempts to arrest Palestinians. Quickly he starts using a taser and, then, the Palestinains do start throwing stones.
The frightened policewoman froze, began to cry, and got caught in between the Palestinians, on one side, and security forces with Israeli citizens on the other. She wasn't hurt, but rocks were falling near her from one side, and tear gas and stun grenades from the other.
Sensing that she was in danger, the police officer in a t-shirt, whom we see later extending his hand to take the policewoman, prepared to shoot at Palestinians.
You can hear Zakaria shouting "Don't shoot! Don't shoot!"
You then see Zakaria and the Qusara mayor escorting the policewoman and the other officer extending his hand to draw her to him."
http://rhr.org.il/eng/2015/08/the-context-behind-the-photo/
Updated from:
08/04/15 (Press TV/Al Ray) In this picture, which was posted on social media websites last week, two Palestinians can be seen protecting a female Israeli police officer from a group of stone-throwing Israeli settlers.
Shaul Golan, an Israeli photographer, took the picture during clashes between settlers and Palestinian farmers in the illegal Israeli settlement of Esh Kodesh in the West Bank on Saturday.
When Israeli police forces arrived on the scene to break up the clashes, the settlers started throwing rocks at them too.
According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, settlers frequently attack local Palestinian villages and prevent farmers from reaching their lands.
The Israeli regime maintains a defiant stand on the issue of its illegal settlements on Palestinian land as it refuses to freeze settlement expansion. Tel Aviv has come under repeated and widespread international condemnation over the issue.
4 aug 2015
Israeli settlers on Monday everning have torched tens of olive trees in private Palestinian land in Azzoon town east of Qalilya, northern West Bank.Security sources said that civil defense forces headed to the land, and put off the fire which had already damaged a number of trees.
Settlers by then have fled the scene.
Israeli settler attacks on trees have been on the increase now, especially with the support of Israeli soldiers and police which destroy trees under security pretexts.
On Sunday morning, a horde of Israeli settlers set fire to dozens of Palestinian olive orchards and cultivated lands in al-Mugheir village, east of Ramallah city, moments after they failed to torch a Palestinian family home.
According to the Palestinian Information Center, eyewitnesses said a gang of Israeli vandals residing in an illegal nearby settlement tried to burn down a Palestinian family home before they were stopped by the local residents.
The Israeli occupation forces showed up at the scene and attacked the Palestinian locals with random spates of tear gas canisters and rubber bullets.
On 22 July, IOF have uprooted a number of trees, destroying an agricultural land in Beit Oula village near Hebron, under security pretext.
The land and trees are property of citizen Faried Atrash. Israeli forces have previously told him to uproot the trees for alleged security reasons, but he refused. IOF then have savagely destroyed the land, ensuring that he can not fix again.
Settlers by then have fled the scene.
Israeli settler attacks on trees have been on the increase now, especially with the support of Israeli soldiers and police which destroy trees under security pretexts.
On Sunday morning, a horde of Israeli settlers set fire to dozens of Palestinian olive orchards and cultivated lands in al-Mugheir village, east of Ramallah city, moments after they failed to torch a Palestinian family home.
According to the Palestinian Information Center, eyewitnesses said a gang of Israeli vandals residing in an illegal nearby settlement tried to burn down a Palestinian family home before they were stopped by the local residents.
The Israeli occupation forces showed up at the scene and attacked the Palestinian locals with random spates of tear gas canisters and rubber bullets.
On 22 July, IOF have uprooted a number of trees, destroying an agricultural land in Beit Oula village near Hebron, under security pretext.
The land and trees are property of citizen Faried Atrash. Israeli forces have previously told him to uproot the trees for alleged security reasons, but he refused. IOF then have savagely destroyed the land, ensuring that he can not fix again.
A state of resentment prevailed among Palestinian students in Safed College in northern 1948 Occupied Palestine due to Jewish offensive remarks.
A group of fanatic Jewish settlers wrote racist slogans on the walls of Safed College and put racist posters on walls of shops and entrances of the college, bus shuttles and stations and student dormitories. The slogans incite against Palestinian students signed by “Lahava Israeli racist group”.
Students of Safed College have lately been subjected to Jewish racist practices where many of them were assaulted and their houses were burned out. Palestinian students cannot rent accommodation as a Rabbi of the town forbade Jews to rent houses to Palestinians and announced boycotting of those who do so.
Palestinian students have no choice but to enroll in the college because of it is close to the Arab towns and cities and because the Israeli Occupation Authority (IOA) refuses to let Arabs build universities or colleges inside 1948 Occupied Palestine despite of Arab MKs’ demands.
A group of fanatic Jewish settlers wrote racist slogans on the walls of Safed College and put racist posters on walls of shops and entrances of the college, bus shuttles and stations and student dormitories. The slogans incite against Palestinian students signed by “Lahava Israeli racist group”.
Students of Safed College have lately been subjected to Jewish racist practices where many of them were assaulted and their houses were burned out. Palestinian students cannot rent accommodation as a Rabbi of the town forbade Jews to rent houses to Palestinians and announced boycotting of those who do so.
Palestinian students have no choice but to enroll in the college because of it is close to the Arab towns and cities and because the Israeli Occupation Authority (IOA) refuses to let Arabs build universities or colleges inside 1948 Occupied Palestine despite of Arab MKs’ demands.
A second suspected Jewish extremist was arrested Tuesday in Israel following the firebombing of a Palestinian home that burned a baby alive, the Shin Bet internal security force said.
Israel on Monday arrested Meir Ettinger, whose grandfather Meir Kahane founded the racist anti-Palestinian Kach group, and a court prolonged his detention until the weekend on suspicion of "nationalist crimes".
"A second individual, Eviatar Slonim, was arrested for belonging to an extremist organisation," a Shin Bet spokeswoman told AFP, without providing details on any charges against him.
Israeli television reported that the office of Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein had given permission for authorities to place three suspected Jewish extremists in "administrative detention".
The measure would need the green light from Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon, it added.Media reports said Ettinger could face a year of such detention under the government's harder line against "Jewish terrorists". Israel normally applies the measure, which dates from British-mandated Palestine, against Palestinians, allowing renewable six-month periods of detention without trial.
Currently, 379 of the 5,686 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jail are on administrative detention, according to official figures.
Friday's attack in the occupied West Bank, which killed 18-month-old Ali Saad Dawabsha, sparked an international outcry over Israel's failure to get to grips with violence by hard-line Jewish settlers.
Israel on Monday arrested Meir Ettinger, whose grandfather Meir Kahane founded the racist anti-Palestinian Kach group, and a court prolonged his detention until the weekend on suspicion of "nationalist crimes".
"A second individual, Eviatar Slonim, was arrested for belonging to an extremist organisation," a Shin Bet spokeswoman told AFP, without providing details on any charges against him.
Israeli television reported that the office of Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein had given permission for authorities to place three suspected Jewish extremists in "administrative detention".
The measure would need the green light from Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon, it added.Media reports said Ettinger could face a year of such detention under the government's harder line against "Jewish terrorists". Israel normally applies the measure, which dates from British-mandated Palestine, against Palestinians, allowing renewable six-month periods of detention without trial.
Currently, 379 of the 5,686 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jail are on administrative detention, according to official figures.
Friday's attack in the occupied West Bank, which killed 18-month-old Ali Saad Dawabsha, sparked an international outcry over Israel's failure to get to grips with violence by hard-line Jewish settlers.
Far-right activist Meir Ettinger was arrested by the Shin Bet, which says he developed a plan called 'the revolt', designed to inflame tensions and cause anarchy in order to hasten the end of days.
Meir Ettinger, who was arrested on Monday by the Shin Bet, was accused by the security service of heading a cell planning to commit a series of violent acts against Palestinians as part of a plan he branded "the revolt".
Ettinger, considered the Shin Bet's Jewish division's number one target, was arrested at his apartment in Safed. He is the grandson of far-right late US-born rabbi Meir Kahane, who advocated expelling Arabs from Israel and the Palestinian territories.
According to his worldview, violence must be committed in order to light the flames of conflict and cause the Israeli government to collapse. Anarchy would follow, and then a new order could be created.
"The meaning of bringing down the state is toppling the structure of the state and its ability to rule, and to build a new institution," wrote Ettinger in a document outlining his plan.
"To this end, we must work outside of the rules of the institution we want to bring down.
"If the 'contractor' sees there is a regime and keeps him from carrying out the mission, and the mission must be carried out, he must think now how to topple the regime that's stopping him from building the temple, which is preventing us from attaining full and true salvation," read the document.
"The idea of the revolt is very simple," continued Ettinger. "Israel has many 'weak points', subjects people tiptoe around so as not to cause riots. What we will do is simply 'spark' all these powder kegs, all the questions and the contradictions between Judaism and democracy. Between the Jewish character and the secular character, without fearing the results. Disturbing the ability to rule the country. That's the main part of the revolt's 'vort' (word) to break the rules and the entire status quo."
The document went on: "When you do this, you have to pay attention to the difference between 'breaking' the state, which is an action that doesn't pay enough attention to what is left of the fragments, and 'dismantling', which is the same action, only gentler and particularly careful.
That is, ultimately the goal is disturbing the foundations of the state until the point where the Jews are forced to decide whether they want to take part in the revolution or in suppressing the revolt, because it will not be possible to ignore it or continue to sit and do nothing, because in practice the revolt will not permit the state's existence in the same way."
Ettinger was born in Jerusalem to Mordechai Ettinger, a rabbi at the Har Hamor and Ateret Kohanim yeshivas in Jerusalem, and Tova, the daughter of Rabbi Meir Kahane, the founder of the outlawed Kach movement. He got married in October 2014.
"I've lost the energy for it," Tova Ettinger told Ynet on Monday following her grandson's arrest.
Ettinger embarked on this path six years ago in the outpost of Ramat Magron, which was eventually evacuated, and with time became a well-known figure. He has previously encountered security forces in several incidents, such as when he entered Joseph's Tombin Nablus despite not being approved, and involvement in collecting information on security forces planning to evacuate West Bank outposts, which led to more than six months of detention for Ettinger.
At this point, he met friends from the Od Yosef Chai yeshiva in Yitzhar, and began to be drawn to Hasidic-messianic ideas about hastening salvation through deeds. The president of the yeshiva is Rabbi Yitzchak Ginsburgh, a controversial figure who has been arrested for a series of publications about Arabs, including pamphlets stating that Arabs have no right to live in Israel.
According to the Shin Bet, Ettinger has continued to radicalize since then, and is at the head of a new organization, which was responsible for the arson at the Church of the Multiplication of the Loaves and Fish in June.
Ettinger denied in a blog post that he was the chief of a Jewish terror organization: "To tell you the truth, I don't know what they in the Shin Bet wanted me to organize, and they should definitely look for other people to cast for the roles they need in their show for the media, but this urge of the Shin Bet to create an atmosphere, to put up appearances as if there is some 'organization' it exposed, clearly illustrates to us what those in the Shin Bet understand and are so afraid of," he wrote.
Attorney Yuval Zemer, who represents Ettinger, said he felt the arrest was more a matter of public relations than a true investigation.
Meir Ettinger, who was arrested on Monday by the Shin Bet, was accused by the security service of heading a cell planning to commit a series of violent acts against Palestinians as part of a plan he branded "the revolt".
Ettinger, considered the Shin Bet's Jewish division's number one target, was arrested at his apartment in Safed. He is the grandson of far-right late US-born rabbi Meir Kahane, who advocated expelling Arabs from Israel and the Palestinian territories.
According to his worldview, violence must be committed in order to light the flames of conflict and cause the Israeli government to collapse. Anarchy would follow, and then a new order could be created.
"The meaning of bringing down the state is toppling the structure of the state and its ability to rule, and to build a new institution," wrote Ettinger in a document outlining his plan.
"To this end, we must work outside of the rules of the institution we want to bring down.
"If the 'contractor' sees there is a regime and keeps him from carrying out the mission, and the mission must be carried out, he must think now how to topple the regime that's stopping him from building the temple, which is preventing us from attaining full and true salvation," read the document.
"The idea of the revolt is very simple," continued Ettinger. "Israel has many 'weak points', subjects people tiptoe around so as not to cause riots. What we will do is simply 'spark' all these powder kegs, all the questions and the contradictions between Judaism and democracy. Between the Jewish character and the secular character, without fearing the results. Disturbing the ability to rule the country. That's the main part of the revolt's 'vort' (word) to break the rules and the entire status quo."
The document went on: "When you do this, you have to pay attention to the difference between 'breaking' the state, which is an action that doesn't pay enough attention to what is left of the fragments, and 'dismantling', which is the same action, only gentler and particularly careful.
That is, ultimately the goal is disturbing the foundations of the state until the point where the Jews are forced to decide whether they want to take part in the revolution or in suppressing the revolt, because it will not be possible to ignore it or continue to sit and do nothing, because in practice the revolt will not permit the state's existence in the same way."
Ettinger was born in Jerusalem to Mordechai Ettinger, a rabbi at the Har Hamor and Ateret Kohanim yeshivas in Jerusalem, and Tova, the daughter of Rabbi Meir Kahane, the founder of the outlawed Kach movement. He got married in October 2014.
"I've lost the energy for it," Tova Ettinger told Ynet on Monday following her grandson's arrest.
Ettinger embarked on this path six years ago in the outpost of Ramat Magron, which was eventually evacuated, and with time became a well-known figure. He has previously encountered security forces in several incidents, such as when he entered Joseph's Tombin Nablus despite not being approved, and involvement in collecting information on security forces planning to evacuate West Bank outposts, which led to more than six months of detention for Ettinger.
At this point, he met friends from the Od Yosef Chai yeshiva in Yitzhar, and began to be drawn to Hasidic-messianic ideas about hastening salvation through deeds. The president of the yeshiva is Rabbi Yitzchak Ginsburgh, a controversial figure who has been arrested for a series of publications about Arabs, including pamphlets stating that Arabs have no right to live in Israel.
According to the Shin Bet, Ettinger has continued to radicalize since then, and is at the head of a new organization, which was responsible for the arson at the Church of the Multiplication of the Loaves and Fish in June.
Ettinger denied in a blog post that he was the chief of a Jewish terror organization: "To tell you the truth, I don't know what they in the Shin Bet wanted me to organize, and they should definitely look for other people to cast for the roles they need in their show for the media, but this urge of the Shin Bet to create an atmosphere, to put up appearances as if there is some 'organization' it exposed, clearly illustrates to us what those in the Shin Bet understand and are so afraid of," he wrote.
Attorney Yuval Zemer, who represents Ettinger, said he felt the arrest was more a matter of public relations than a true investigation.
In this picture, which was posted on social media websites last week, two Palestinians can be seen protecting a female Israeli police officer from a group of stone-throwing Israeli settlers.
Press TV/Al Ray reports that Shaul Golan, an Israeli photographer, took the picture during clashes between settlers and Palestinian farmers in the illegal Israeli settlement of Esh Kodesh in the West Bank on Saturday.
When Israeli police forces arrived on the scene to break up the clashes, the settlers started throwing rocks at them too.
Israeli settlers frequently attack local Palestinian villages and prevent farmers from reaching their lands.
The Israeli regime maintains a defiant stand on the issue of its illegal settlements on Palestinian land as it refuses to freeze settlement expansion.
In May of 2014, 972 Mag quoted Israeli Prime Minister joking with Likud supporters:
"Peace talks? What peace talks?
“I was threatened in Washington: ‘not one brick’ [of settlement construction] … after five years, we built a little more than one brick…”
Asked “about peace talks with the Palestinians,” Netanyahu reportedly replied, “about the – what?” to which the audience responded by breaking out into laughter.
Tel Aviv has come under repeated and widespread international condemnation over the issue.
Press TV/Al Ray reports that Shaul Golan, an Israeli photographer, took the picture during clashes between settlers and Palestinian farmers in the illegal Israeli settlement of Esh Kodesh in the West Bank on Saturday.
When Israeli police forces arrived on the scene to break up the clashes, the settlers started throwing rocks at them too.
Israeli settlers frequently attack local Palestinian villages and prevent farmers from reaching their lands.
The Israeli regime maintains a defiant stand on the issue of its illegal settlements on Palestinian land as it refuses to freeze settlement expansion.
In May of 2014, 972 Mag quoted Israeli Prime Minister joking with Likud supporters:
"Peace talks? What peace talks?
“I was threatened in Washington: ‘not one brick’ [of settlement construction] … after five years, we built a little more than one brick…”
Asked “about peace talks with the Palestinians,” Netanyahu reportedly replied, “about the – what?” to which the audience responded by breaking out into laughter.
Tel Aviv has come under repeated and widespread international condemnation over the issue.
Israeli soldiers attacked, on Tuesday morning, dozens of Palestinians in the Al-Aqsa Mosque courtyards, in occupied East Jerusalem, and kidnapped eight Palestinians, including two children. At least two were injured, and hospitalized.
The assaults took place after dozens of Israeli fanatics stormed the courtyards of the mosque, under heavy police and army protection, while carrying Israeli flags, and harassed dozens of worshipers.
Six of the kidnapped Palestinians are guards of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, identified as Majdi al-Abbassi, Fadi Bakeer, Raed Ezghayyar, Majd ‘Abdin, Ahmad Abu ‘Alia, and Husam Seder.
The soldiers also kidnapped two Palestinian children, identified as Amir Balbeesy, and Mohammad al-Hashlamoun.
Two mosque guards, identified as Suleiman Abu Mayyala and Ahmad Badran, were moved to a Palestinian hospital in occupied Jerusalem, after the soldiers violently assaulted them.
The WAFA News Agency said dozens of Israeli extremists, accompanied by soldiers and officers, stormed the mosque compound, and conducted provocative acts against the Palestinians, in addition to chanting racist slogans.
One of the fanatics raised the Israeli flag near the Dome of the Rock, before local worshipers attacked and beat him; the police removed him and started assaulting the worshipers.
In addition, extremist Israelis attacked many Palestinian women, who received orders denying them access to the mosque.
The women were protesting near the Chain Gate, demanding to be allowed into the Mosque.
The assaults took place after dozens of Israeli fanatics stormed the courtyards of the mosque, under heavy police and army protection, while carrying Israeli flags, and harassed dozens of worshipers.
Six of the kidnapped Palestinians are guards of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, identified as Majdi al-Abbassi, Fadi Bakeer, Raed Ezghayyar, Majd ‘Abdin, Ahmad Abu ‘Alia, and Husam Seder.
The soldiers also kidnapped two Palestinian children, identified as Amir Balbeesy, and Mohammad al-Hashlamoun.
Two mosque guards, identified as Suleiman Abu Mayyala and Ahmad Badran, were moved to a Palestinian hospital in occupied Jerusalem, after the soldiers violently assaulted them.
The WAFA News Agency said dozens of Israeli extremists, accompanied by soldiers and officers, stormed the mosque compound, and conducted provocative acts against the Palestinians, in addition to chanting racist slogans.
One of the fanatics raised the Israeli flag near the Dome of the Rock, before local worshipers attacked and beat him; the police removed him and started assaulting the worshipers.
In addition, extremist Israelis attacked many Palestinian women, who received orders denying them access to the mosque.
The women were protesting near the Chain Gate, demanding to be allowed into the Mosque.
As Israeli investigators release their findings that a right-wing Jewish terrorist network is gaining power throughout Israel and illegal West Bank settlements, an arrest has been made in the arson attack Thursday night that burned a baby to death and severely wounded his mother, father and 4-year old brother.
The alleged arsonist, who smiled and joked as he was taken into custody, is 24-year old Meir Ettinger, the grandson of the late Rabbi Meir Kahane, who was known for his racism and incitement against Arabs, as well as direct involvement in violent racist attacks.
His arrest came five days after the attack, and is the only one so far, despite eyewitness accounts that at least four men were seen running from the village after setting the house on fire with a firebomb and spraypainting it with racist graffiti.
As Meir Ettinger was taken into custody, police investigators told reporters from Ha’aretz newspaper that they suspect the involvement of a right-wing network that is based in Yitzhar settlement, in the northern West Bank, and has planned and carried out dozens of terror attacks against Palestinians.
The group is also suspected of carrying out the arson that burned the Church of the Loaves and Fishes, a holy site for Christians, late last year.
Shin Bet arrests Kahane's grandson, online incitement continues
Far-right activist Meir Ettinger suspected of involvement with extremist Jewish organization; police opens investigation into videos of Netanyahu, Rivlin wearing Nazi uniform.
Far-right activist Meir Ettinger was arrested on Monday on suspicion of involvement with an extremist Jewish organization, while police opened an investigation into videos posted on YouTube of President Rivlin and Prime Minister Netanyahu in Nazi uniform.
Ettinger, who was barred from entering the West Bank or Jerusalem for a year, was arrested by the Judea and Samaria Police and transferred to the Shin Bet for questioning. He is the grandson of far-right late US-born rabbi Meir Kahane, who advocated expelling Arabs from Israel and the Palestinian territories.
In a blog he runs, Ettinger wrote on Thursday, a day before the terror attack in Duma in which a Palestinian baby was murdered, that "the truth must be told - there is no terror organization, but there are a whole lot of Jews, a lot more than people think, whose value-system is completely different than that of the High Court or the Shin Bet, and who are not bound by the laws of the state, but by much more eternal laws, true laws."
Under the blog post titled "Terror organization," he went on to say that "as part of the boastful statement by the Shin Bet about the organization it 'exposed,' things I wrote in this blog several weeks ago were quoted as things from 'the head of the organization.'
To tell you the truth, I don't know what they in the Shin Bet wanted me to organize, and they should definitely look for other people to cast for the roles they need in their show for the media, but this urge of the Shin Bet to create an atmosphere, to put up appearances as if there is some 'organization' it exposed, clearly illustrates to us what those in the Shin Bet understand and are so afraid of."
Under a veil of secrecy, new cells of "hilltop youth" have been formed across the West Bank over the past few months. These groups seek to commit "price tag" attacks, which they say will inflame the situation in the Middle East, and bring redemption and the coming of the Messiah closer. The "hilltop youth," which the Shin Bet's Jewish division nicknamed "happy Jews," believe that exacting a price from the establishment will allow them to form a Jewish state based on Jewish moral values that appear in Jewish holy and literary sources.
Netanyahu and Rivlin as Nazi officers
The alleged arsonist, who smiled and joked as he was taken into custody, is 24-year old Meir Ettinger, the grandson of the late Rabbi Meir Kahane, who was known for his racism and incitement against Arabs, as well as direct involvement in violent racist attacks.
His arrest came five days after the attack, and is the only one so far, despite eyewitness accounts that at least four men were seen running from the village after setting the house on fire with a firebomb and spraypainting it with racist graffiti.
As Meir Ettinger was taken into custody, police investigators told reporters from Ha’aretz newspaper that they suspect the involvement of a right-wing network that is based in Yitzhar settlement, in the northern West Bank, and has planned and carried out dozens of terror attacks against Palestinians.
The group is also suspected of carrying out the arson that burned the Church of the Loaves and Fishes, a holy site for Christians, late last year.
Shin Bet arrests Kahane's grandson, online incitement continues
Far-right activist Meir Ettinger suspected of involvement with extremist Jewish organization; police opens investigation into videos of Netanyahu, Rivlin wearing Nazi uniform.
Far-right activist Meir Ettinger was arrested on Monday on suspicion of involvement with an extremist Jewish organization, while police opened an investigation into videos posted on YouTube of President Rivlin and Prime Minister Netanyahu in Nazi uniform.
Ettinger, who was barred from entering the West Bank or Jerusalem for a year, was arrested by the Judea and Samaria Police and transferred to the Shin Bet for questioning. He is the grandson of far-right late US-born rabbi Meir Kahane, who advocated expelling Arabs from Israel and the Palestinian territories.
In a blog he runs, Ettinger wrote on Thursday, a day before the terror attack in Duma in which a Palestinian baby was murdered, that "the truth must be told - there is no terror organization, but there are a whole lot of Jews, a lot more than people think, whose value-system is completely different than that of the High Court or the Shin Bet, and who are not bound by the laws of the state, but by much more eternal laws, true laws."
Under the blog post titled "Terror organization," he went on to say that "as part of the boastful statement by the Shin Bet about the organization it 'exposed,' things I wrote in this blog several weeks ago were quoted as things from 'the head of the organization.'
To tell you the truth, I don't know what they in the Shin Bet wanted me to organize, and they should definitely look for other people to cast for the roles they need in their show for the media, but this urge of the Shin Bet to create an atmosphere, to put up appearances as if there is some 'organization' it exposed, clearly illustrates to us what those in the Shin Bet understand and are so afraid of."
Under a veil of secrecy, new cells of "hilltop youth" have been formed across the West Bank over the past few months. These groups seek to commit "price tag" attacks, which they say will inflame the situation in the Middle East, and bring redemption and the coming of the Messiah closer. The "hilltop youth," which the Shin Bet's Jewish division nicknamed "happy Jews," believe that exacting a price from the establishment will allow them to form a Jewish state based on Jewish moral values that appear in Jewish holy and literary sources.
Netanyahu and Rivlin as Nazi officers
The Israel Police has opened a criminal investigation against a man who calls himself "Asheriko from Facebook" who posted videos on YouTube that portray Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Reuven Rivlin in Nazi uniform and supposedly talking in German.
The State Attorney's Office authorized the investigation "on suspicion of insulting a public official." The video shows Rivlin in Gestapo uniform giving the Hitler salute and saying: "I am a bootlicking president and a self-hating hypocrite. When Jews are murdered, I don't really care. I love licking Muslims'… I am a Jew-hating Nazi. Sieg Heil, Sieg Heil!"
A caption at the end of the video declares: "Protest!!! Jewish blood is not cheap. Asheriko from Facebook." The man, who also calls himself Oshri, uploaded the videos from his home in New York, and admitted in a conversation with Ynet that he created them. "No one told me I'm being investigated. There is no crime in this," he said. "I made the videos and Rivlin's photo with the kaffiyeh and Hamas' logo."
What are you? A Kahane supporter?
"No, I'm just a secular man who has had enough of Jewish blood being treated as cheap. There hasn't been such a fuss when the Fogel family was slaughtered. Some Muslim was burned, probably a future terrorist, so there's a big fuss, and our president accuses the entire Jewish nation of the crime. It doesn't make sense. Where is the president when Jews are murdered every other day?"
Last year, he admitted, he uploaded photos of Rivlin, then-justice minister Tzipi Livni, then-finance minister Yair Lapid and other Israeli officials in SS uniform, in protest of their objection to the nationality bill. He uploaded the photos under the name "Natan Zoabi" and accompanied them with the text: "The anti-Semites who oppose a Jewish state in the Land of Israel." Police also arrested Gilad Kleiner from Kiryat Malachi on Monday after he incited against the LGBT community on Facebook on Friday, and praised Yishai Shlissel, who is suspected of murdering 16-year-old Shira Banki during the Jerusalem Pride Parade.
Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon said Monday that "we intend on waging an uncompromising battle against Jewish terrorism. This is a fight for the state's image, and we have no intention of giving up on this fight."
He talked about the cabinet's decision to allow administrative arrests for Jewish suspects. "This is a drastic measure we will use sparingly," he vowed.
The State Attorney's Office authorized the investigation "on suspicion of insulting a public official." The video shows Rivlin in Gestapo uniform giving the Hitler salute and saying: "I am a bootlicking president and a self-hating hypocrite. When Jews are murdered, I don't really care. I love licking Muslims'… I am a Jew-hating Nazi. Sieg Heil, Sieg Heil!"
A caption at the end of the video declares: "Protest!!! Jewish blood is not cheap. Asheriko from Facebook." The man, who also calls himself Oshri, uploaded the videos from his home in New York, and admitted in a conversation with Ynet that he created them. "No one told me I'm being investigated. There is no crime in this," he said. "I made the videos and Rivlin's photo with the kaffiyeh and Hamas' logo."
What are you? A Kahane supporter?
"No, I'm just a secular man who has had enough of Jewish blood being treated as cheap. There hasn't been such a fuss when the Fogel family was slaughtered. Some Muslim was burned, probably a future terrorist, so there's a big fuss, and our president accuses the entire Jewish nation of the crime. It doesn't make sense. Where is the president when Jews are murdered every other day?"
Last year, he admitted, he uploaded photos of Rivlin, then-justice minister Tzipi Livni, then-finance minister Yair Lapid and other Israeli officials in SS uniform, in protest of their objection to the nationality bill. He uploaded the photos under the name "Natan Zoabi" and accompanied them with the text: "The anti-Semites who oppose a Jewish state in the Land of Israel." Police also arrested Gilad Kleiner from Kiryat Malachi on Monday after he incited against the LGBT community on Facebook on Friday, and praised Yishai Shlissel, who is suspected of murdering 16-year-old Shira Banki during the Jerusalem Pride Parade.
Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon said Monday that "we intend on waging an uncompromising battle against Jewish terrorism. This is a fight for the state's image, and we have no intention of giving up on this fight."
He talked about the cabinet's decision to allow administrative arrests for Jewish suspects. "This is a drastic measure we will use sparingly," he vowed.
3 aug 2015
Foreign Affairs Minister, Riyad Al-Malki Monday, following formal instructions of President Mahmoud Abbas, handed over the file prepared on settlers’ violence against the Palestinian people, to the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Fatou Bensouda, at the International Criminal Court (ICC) headquarters in Hague.
Al-Malki met with the ICC prosecutor in the wake of settlers’ arson attack that targeted two homes in Nablus’ village of Duma and led to the killing of toddler Ali Dawabsheh and the critical injury of his entire family, in order to follow up with the prosecutor’s office procedures regarding the preliminary examinations into the situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
The minister further addressed a previous file that was submitted to the prosecutor’s office in June 25, 2015, on crimes committed by Israel in the occupied Palestinian territories since June 2014, including last summer's military offensive on the Gaza Strip, ongoing illegal settlement activity, and the issue of Palestinian prisoners jailed in Israel.
Al-Malki briefed Bensouda on the latest grave developments in the occupied Palestinian territory, including the Duma crime, and the ‘cold-blooded’ killing of teenager Laith al-Khaldi, who was shot from behind at Atara check point near Ramallah and later succumbed to his critical wounds.
He stressed that the continuation of the Israeli occupation and its policies, including its settlement expansion policy, along with the impunity it grants to settlers, encourages such crimes.
He called on the ICC to speed up investigations into the situation in the occupied Palestinian Territory, particularly in light of the continued ‘inhumane war crimes’ committed by the occupation against the Palestinian people. He further called on the ICC to end the policy of granting impunity to perpetrators of such crimes and to ensure accountability for perpetrators of such crimes.
Al-Malki met with the ICC prosecutor in the wake of settlers’ arson attack that targeted two homes in Nablus’ village of Duma and led to the killing of toddler Ali Dawabsheh and the critical injury of his entire family, in order to follow up with the prosecutor’s office procedures regarding the preliminary examinations into the situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
The minister further addressed a previous file that was submitted to the prosecutor’s office in June 25, 2015, on crimes committed by Israel in the occupied Palestinian territories since June 2014, including last summer's military offensive on the Gaza Strip, ongoing illegal settlement activity, and the issue of Palestinian prisoners jailed in Israel.
Al-Malki briefed Bensouda on the latest grave developments in the occupied Palestinian territory, including the Duma crime, and the ‘cold-blooded’ killing of teenager Laith al-Khaldi, who was shot from behind at Atara check point near Ramallah and later succumbed to his critical wounds.
He stressed that the continuation of the Israeli occupation and its policies, including its settlement expansion policy, along with the impunity it grants to settlers, encourages such crimes.
He called on the ICC to speed up investigations into the situation in the occupied Palestinian Territory, particularly in light of the continued ‘inhumane war crimes’ committed by the occupation against the Palestinian people. He further called on the ICC to end the policy of granting impunity to perpetrators of such crimes and to ensure accountability for perpetrators of such crimes.
by Gideon Levy
Israelis stab gay people and burn children. There isn’t a shred of slander, the slightest degree of exaggeration, in this dry description. True, these are the actions of a few.
True, too, that their numbers are increasing. It’s true that all of them – all the murderers, everyone who torches, who stabs, who uproots trees – are from the same political camp. But the opposing camp also shares the blame.
All those who thought that it would be possible to sustain islands of liberalism in the sea of Israeli fascism were shown up this weekend, once and for all. It’s simply not possible to cheer for the brigade commander who shoots a teenager, and then be shocked by the settlers who set a family on fire; to support gay rights, and hold a founding conference in Ariel; to be enlightened, and then pand+er to the right and seek to partner with it. Evil knows no bounds; it begins in one place and quickly spreads in every direction.
The first breeding ground of those who torched the Dawabsheh family was the Israel Defense Forces, even if the offenders didn’t serve in it. When the killing of 500 children in the Gaza Strip is legitimate, and doesn’t even compel a debate, a moral reckoning, then what’s so terrible about setting a house on fire, together with its inhabitants? After all, what’s the difference between lobbing a fire bomb and dropping a bomb? In terms of the intention, or the intent, there is no difference.
When the shooting of Palestinians becomes an almost daily occurrence – two more have already been killed since the family was burned: one in the West Bank, another on the border of the Gaza Strip – who are we to complain about the fire throwers in Duma? When the lives of Palestinians are officially the army’s for the taking, their blood cheap in the eyes of Israeli society, then settler militias are also permitted to kill them. When the IDF’s ethic in the Gaza Strip is that it is permitted to do anything in order to save one soldier, who are we to complain about right-wingers like Baruch Marzel, who told me this weekend it was permissible to kill thousands of Palestinians in order to protect a single hair from the head of a Jew. Such is the atmosphere, such is the result. Original responsibility for it goes to the IDF.
No less to blame, of course, are the governments and politicians who vie with each other over who can suck up the most to the settlers. Whoever gives them 300 new homes in exchange for their violence at the flagship settlement of Beit El is telling them not only that violence is permissible, but also that it pays. It is already hard to draw the line between throwing bags of urine at police officers and fire bombs into people’s homes.
Also to blame, of course, are the law enforcement authorities, starting with the Judea and Samaria District Police – the most ridiculous and scandalous of all police districts, and not by chance. Nine Palestinian homes were torched in the past three years, according to B’Tselem. How many people have been prosecuted? None. So what happened in Duma on Friday? The fire was simply better, in the eyes of the arsonists and their minions.
Their minions also include the silent, the forgiving and all those who think the evil will remain forever within the confines of the West Bank. Their minions also include the Israelis who are convinced that the People of Israel is the chosen people, and as a result is permitted to do anything – including torching the homes of non-Jews, with their inhabitants inside.
So, too, many of those who were shocked by the act, including figures who have visited the victims in Sheba Medical Center, outside Tel Aviv – the president, the prime minister, the opposition leader and their aides – imbibed the racist, infuriating “You have chosen us from all the peoples” with their mothers’ milk.
At the end of a terrible day, it is this that leads to the burning of families whom God did not choose. No principle in Israeli society is more destructive, or more dangerous, than this principle. Nor, unfortunately, more common. If you were to examine closely what is concealed beneath the skin of most Israelis, you would find: the chosen people. When that is a fundamental principle, the next torching is only a matter of time.
Their minions are everywhere, and most of them are now tsk-tsking and expressing dismay at what happened. But what occurred couldn’t have not happened; what happened was dictated by the needs of reality, the reality of Israel and its value system. What happened will happen again, and no one will be spared. We all torched the Dawabsheh family.
Published by Haaretz newspaper.
Israelis stab gay people and burn children. There isn’t a shred of slander, the slightest degree of exaggeration, in this dry description. True, these are the actions of a few.
True, too, that their numbers are increasing. It’s true that all of them – all the murderers, everyone who torches, who stabs, who uproots trees – are from the same political camp. But the opposing camp also shares the blame.
All those who thought that it would be possible to sustain islands of liberalism in the sea of Israeli fascism were shown up this weekend, once and for all. It’s simply not possible to cheer for the brigade commander who shoots a teenager, and then be shocked by the settlers who set a family on fire; to support gay rights, and hold a founding conference in Ariel; to be enlightened, and then pand+er to the right and seek to partner with it. Evil knows no bounds; it begins in one place and quickly spreads in every direction.
The first breeding ground of those who torched the Dawabsheh family was the Israel Defense Forces, even if the offenders didn’t serve in it. When the killing of 500 children in the Gaza Strip is legitimate, and doesn’t even compel a debate, a moral reckoning, then what’s so terrible about setting a house on fire, together with its inhabitants? After all, what’s the difference between lobbing a fire bomb and dropping a bomb? In terms of the intention, or the intent, there is no difference.
When the shooting of Palestinians becomes an almost daily occurrence – two more have already been killed since the family was burned: one in the West Bank, another on the border of the Gaza Strip – who are we to complain about the fire throwers in Duma? When the lives of Palestinians are officially the army’s for the taking, their blood cheap in the eyes of Israeli society, then settler militias are also permitted to kill them. When the IDF’s ethic in the Gaza Strip is that it is permitted to do anything in order to save one soldier, who are we to complain about right-wingers like Baruch Marzel, who told me this weekend it was permissible to kill thousands of Palestinians in order to protect a single hair from the head of a Jew. Such is the atmosphere, such is the result. Original responsibility for it goes to the IDF.
No less to blame, of course, are the governments and politicians who vie with each other over who can suck up the most to the settlers. Whoever gives them 300 new homes in exchange for their violence at the flagship settlement of Beit El is telling them not only that violence is permissible, but also that it pays. It is already hard to draw the line between throwing bags of urine at police officers and fire bombs into people’s homes.
Also to blame, of course, are the law enforcement authorities, starting with the Judea and Samaria District Police – the most ridiculous and scandalous of all police districts, and not by chance. Nine Palestinian homes were torched in the past three years, according to B’Tselem. How many people have been prosecuted? None. So what happened in Duma on Friday? The fire was simply better, in the eyes of the arsonists and their minions.
Their minions also include the silent, the forgiving and all those who think the evil will remain forever within the confines of the West Bank. Their minions also include the Israelis who are convinced that the People of Israel is the chosen people, and as a result is permitted to do anything – including torching the homes of non-Jews, with their inhabitants inside.
So, too, many of those who were shocked by the act, including figures who have visited the victims in Sheba Medical Center, outside Tel Aviv – the president, the prime minister, the opposition leader and their aides – imbibed the racist, infuriating “You have chosen us from all the peoples” with their mothers’ milk.
At the end of a terrible day, it is this that leads to the burning of families whom God did not choose. No principle in Israeli society is more destructive, or more dangerous, than this principle. Nor, unfortunately, more common. If you were to examine closely what is concealed beneath the skin of most Israelis, you would find: the chosen people. When that is a fundamental principle, the next torching is only a matter of time.
Their minions are everywhere, and most of them are now tsk-tsking and expressing dismay at what happened. But what occurred couldn’t have not happened; what happened was dictated by the needs of reality, the reality of Israel and its value system. What happened will happen again, and no one will be spared. We all torched the Dawabsheh family.
Published by Haaretz newspaper.
A Palestinian youngster at noontime Monday sustained injuries after he was shot by the Israeli occupation forces (IOF) at the Zaatara military checkpoint, in southern Nablus.
A PIC news reporter quoted eye-witnesses as saying that the IOF troops deployed at the Zaatara checkpoint stopped a vehicle carrying a Palestinian youngster and ordered him to hand his personal ID and leave the car for inspection. But the youngster fled and was immediately shot by the IOF.
The youth reportedly sustained moderate foot injuries.
The Israeli occupation soldiers prevented the ambulance crew who rushed to the scene from transferring the casualty to the hospital to be treated for the inflicted wounds.
Shortly afterwards, the IOF sealed off the roadblock between the northern and southern West Bank areas, blocking the movement of Palestinian vehicles.
Meanwhile, eye-witnesses said Israeli settlers hurled stones at a Palestinian vehicle driving on the Ramallah-Nablus road.
Taxi driver Mousa al-Amala, 50, said his vehicle sustained material damage as a result of the stone-throwing.
Israeli vandals stepped up assaults against Palestinian citizens and properties, a few days after a Palestinian toddler was burned to death by fanatic settlers in Nablus’ town of Duma.
A PIC news reporter quoted eye-witnesses as saying that the IOF troops deployed at the Zaatara checkpoint stopped a vehicle carrying a Palestinian youngster and ordered him to hand his personal ID and leave the car for inspection. But the youngster fled and was immediately shot by the IOF.
The youth reportedly sustained moderate foot injuries.
The Israeli occupation soldiers prevented the ambulance crew who rushed to the scene from transferring the casualty to the hospital to be treated for the inflicted wounds.
Shortly afterwards, the IOF sealed off the roadblock between the northern and southern West Bank areas, blocking the movement of Palestinian vehicles.
Meanwhile, eye-witnesses said Israeli settlers hurled stones at a Palestinian vehicle driving on the Ramallah-Nablus road.
Taxi driver Mousa al-Amala, 50, said his vehicle sustained material damage as a result of the stone-throwing.
Israeli vandals stepped up assaults against Palestinian citizens and properties, a few days after a Palestinian toddler was burned to death by fanatic settlers in Nablus’ town of Duma.
Extremist Jewish groups broke into the Aqsa Mosque, roamed its plazas, and provoked Muslim worshipers on Monday morning.
Eyewitnesses revealed that 18 settlers stormed the holy site from al-Magharebah gate under protection of Israeli police and Special Forces who accompanied them in their rounds.
A number of Palestinian females and children, who were present at the Mosque, confronted the settlers’ incursion by shouts of Allahu Akbar until they got out of the Mosque from al-Silsilah gate, the eyewitnesses said.
930 Jewish settlers desecrated the Muslims’ holy Aqsa Mosque in last July, according to statistical data of Jerusalemite institutions.
Eyewitnesses revealed that 18 settlers stormed the holy site from al-Magharebah gate under protection of Israeli police and Special Forces who accompanied them in their rounds.
A number of Palestinian females and children, who were present at the Mosque, confronted the settlers’ incursion by shouts of Allahu Akbar until they got out of the Mosque from al-Silsilah gate, the eyewitnesses said.
930 Jewish settlers desecrated the Muslims’ holy Aqsa Mosque in last July, according to statistical data of Jerusalemite institutions.
Jewish settlers have recently taken over an area of Palestinian lands near Ramallah and established a settlement outpost on it. The Israeli army funded the new settlement’s water and electricity services.
Haaretz Hebrew newspaper revealed on Monday that a group of settlers have lately managed to take over an abandoned military camp of the Israeli army close to Shilo settlement in northern Ramallah city. A settlement called Malachi Shalom has recently been established on the location.
The newspaper slammed the Israeli army for funding the new settlement’s electricity and water services while it called taking over the abandoned part of the camp by settlers as an illegal invasion of a military zone.
According to Haaretz, the Israeli army attempted to evacuate the settlers one month ago from the new settlement, but they returned back to it and ran electricity and water services by Israeli army funding.
It pointed out that the outposts in “Shilo valley” location were established in the nineties within a comprehensive settlement plan aiming at guaranteeing the establishment of settlements in the area located between Ariel and southern Nablus city until the Jordan valley.
Haaretz Hebrew newspaper revealed on Monday that a group of settlers have lately managed to take over an abandoned military camp of the Israeli army close to Shilo settlement in northern Ramallah city. A settlement called Malachi Shalom has recently been established on the location.
The newspaper slammed the Israeli army for funding the new settlement’s electricity and water services while it called taking over the abandoned part of the camp by settlers as an illegal invasion of a military zone.
According to Haaretz, the Israeli army attempted to evacuate the settlers one month ago from the new settlement, but they returned back to it and ran electricity and water services by Israeli army funding.
It pointed out that the outposts in “Shilo valley” location were established in the nineties within a comprehensive settlement plan aiming at guaranteeing the establishment of settlements in the area located between Ariel and southern Nablus city until the Jordan valley.
An Israeli rights group said in a new report issued Sunday that the settlers’ arson attack on Palestinian homes in Duma town was not an isolated incident.
Yesh Din human rights group said that Israeli settlers set fire to 15 Palestinian homes throughout the West Bank since 2008.
In 12 cases, homes’ owners submitted complaints to Israeli authorities against the suspected settlers.
Ten of these cases were never solved as Israeli police did not even bother to take elementary investigative action, while two complaints are still being investigated.
Three of the reported arson attacks were carried out in Burin town south of Nablus, the report pointed out.
“This is due to the authorities’ policy to avoid enforcing the law on Israelis who harm Palestinians and their property,” the group added. “This policy creates impunity for hate crimes, and encourages assailants to continue, leading to this morning’s horrific result (referring to the attack on Duma).”
Yesh Din human rights group said that Israeli settlers set fire to 15 Palestinian homes throughout the West Bank since 2008.
In 12 cases, homes’ owners submitted complaints to Israeli authorities against the suspected settlers.
Ten of these cases were never solved as Israeli police did not even bother to take elementary investigative action, while two complaints are still being investigated.
Three of the reported arson attacks were carried out in Burin town south of Nablus, the report pointed out.
“This is due to the authorities’ policy to avoid enforcing the law on Israelis who harm Palestinians and their property,” the group added. “This policy creates impunity for hate crimes, and encourages assailants to continue, leading to this morning’s horrific result (referring to the attack on Duma).”