The gunman, named by Danish media as Omar
Abdel Hamid El-Hussein, was well known to police for violence, weapons
violations and his membership in a gang. Reuters could not confirm his
identity and police declined to comment.
Police
records show a man named El-Hussein was convicted of stabbing a man in
the leg on a Copenhagen train in 2013 and Danish media said he was
released from prison in January.
"He
was 'normal' religious, nothing unusual, he didn't go to mosque any
more than the average Muslim," El-Hussein's father told TV2.
He
was an avid kick boxer in his younger years and was often known by the
nickname "Captain Hussein" but members of his club said he has not been
there for years.
"He was a good
student," Peter Zinckernagel, El-Hussein's principal at the VUC Hvidovre
school near Copenhagen told Reuters. El-Hussein attended the school
until the end of 2013, when he was arrested for the train stabbing.
National
news broadcaster TV2 said El-Hussein's parents were Palestinian
refugees who came to Denmark after living in a Jordanian refugee camp
for several years.
TV2 obtained a psychiatric assessment of
El-Hussein conducted in connection with the assault case for which he
was imprisoned in which he told psychologists he had a happy childhood
and good relations with his parents and a younger brother. However, he
did not graduate from school, was unable to get into a university and
later was homeless.
Citing two
unnamed friends, Politiken daily newspaper said the man was passionate
in discussions about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and had a short
fuse. They expressed shock that he should launch such attacks, however.
That ought to encourage Western countries to take in 'Palestinian refugees.' /sarc
The Copenhagen terrorist has been identified as Omar Abdel Hamid el-Hussein (big picture above). I'm sure you're all shocked. The two smaller pictures above are Dan Uzan, top, the volunteer security guard who was murdered outside the Copenhagen synagogue and Finn Norgaard, bottom, who was murdered at the freedom of speech event earlier in the day on Saturday. The police actually had el-Hussein in their grasp - he was released from prison just two weeks ago.
The dead suspect, named on Sunday night as Omar el-Hussein, had reportedly
been released from prison two weeks ago after serving a two-year sentence
for grievous bodily harm.
In a rampage with parallels to the Charlie Hebdo attacks in Paris five weeks
earlier, the 22-year-old Danish-born assailant fired around 40 shots at a
free speech debate in an arts café on Saturday afternoon, killing a
55-year-old documentary filmmaker, Finn Norgaard.
After fleeing in a stolen car, the gunman went on to target a girl's bat
mitzvah party at Copenhagen's main synagogue at one o'clock on Sunday
morning, shooting dead Dan Uzan, 37, an economist at the Danish
treasury, who was acting as a volunteer security guard.
...
As with the Charlie Hebdo attackers, the head of the Danish security and
intelligence service, Jens Madsen, said on Sunday that the gunman had been
identified as a potential threat.
"He was on the radar but he was not known to have travelled to conflict
areas like Iraq or Syria," Mr Madsen said. "We cannot yet say
anything concrete about the motive ... but we are considering that he might
have been inspired by the events in Paris," he told a news conference.
Police traced the killer from CCTV footage from the arts café attack, which
showed him abandoning his getaway car, a stolen Volkswagen Polo, and taking
a taxi. They questioned the driver, and went to the address in the mainly
immigrant area of Norrebro where he had dropped off the suspect.
...
In an indication that the gunman may have had accomplices, four people were
arrested when a dozen armed police raided an internet café in central
Copenhagen. Among the four were a Pakistani and an Arab, according to Danish
media reports.
Just like the victims aren't 'random folks,' so too the terrorists aren't 'random folks.' But until the West stands up and starts acknowledging that reality, this is going to continue - and God Forbid get worse.
#RandomFolks victims of 'militant attack' at Copenhagen synagogue
A #RandomFolk was murdered last night and two others were wounded in a terror attack on a Copenhagen synagogue (Hat Tip: Memeorandum) that was eerily similar to the attack on a Paris Kosher supermarket a month ago. After the second attack in Copenhagen, the terrorist (whom the BBC insists on calling a 'gunman') was killed by police. This is from the first link.
In the second attack, a Jewish man was killed and two police officers wounded near the city's main synagogue.
Police say video surveillance suggested the same man carried
out both attacks. They do not believe any other people were involved.
"We assume that it's the same culprit behind both incidents,
and we also assume that the culprit that was shot by the police task
force... is the person behind both of these assassinations," Chief
Police Inspector Torben Molgaard Jensen told a news conference.
He said police would maintain a high presence in the city.
The BBC's Malcolm Brabant in Copenhagen says the city has been on high alert after the shootings.
Early on Sunday, police said they had been keeping an address
under observation in the district of Norrebro, waiting for the occupant
to return.
When he appeared, he noticed the officers, pulled out a gun
and opened fire, police said. They returned fire and shot him dead. The
incident happened near Norrebro train station.
Norrebro is a predominantly immigrant district of Copenhagen, about
three miles (5km) away from the synagogue where the shooting took place
just hours earlier.
A man was shot in the head, and was later confirmed to have died. Two
police officers were wounded. It was later reported that the victim, a
Jewish community member in his 30s, was guarding outside a bat mitzva
celebration at the synagogue, according to Denmark's BT newspaper. It was reported that 80 people were attending the celebration at the time.
Dan
Rosenberg Asmussen, Copenhagen Jewish community leader, said that
following the earlier attack, he had requested police presence at the
synagogue, but police did not follow through.
“We had contacted
the police after the shooting at Café Krudttønden to have them present
at the bat-mitzva, but unfortunately this happened anyway," Asmussen
told Denmark's TV 2 News, as reported in The Guardian. “I dare not think about what would have happened if (the killer) had access to the congregation."
As in the Paris attacks, an anti-Islamist cartoonist was targeted and a Jewish target was hit a short time later. The synagogue was right to request police protection. Jews should take heed.
... to try to post something from London Heathrow since I hadn't had time to post all day... until the moron in front of me in the security from an unnamed Scandinavian country thought he was going to get a bag full of liquids (including two half-drunk bottles of water!) through security....
Back in Israel later today God willing. Time to go work and pray.
Danish Ambassador to Israel Jesper Vahr tries to justify Europe's discriminatory treatment of Israel, and Caroline Glick rips him some new cavities.
Let's go to the videotape (Hat Tip: Sunlight).
I'd love to see Caroline in the Knesset, but I understand that she's not going to put up with the corruption it usually takes (fighting or joining) to get there in the current party system.
Danish Bank boycotting Israeli bank, Swedish bank on its way to doing the same
A Danish bank is boycotting Bank HaPoalim because its mortgage branch lends money for construction in Judea and Samaria, and a Swedish bank has asked for 'clarifications' from Bank Leumi and Mizrachi Tefahot regarding the same issue.
Sweden’s Nordea Bank and Denmark’s Danske Bank have both taken steps
against Israeli banks involved in construction in the settlements,
Walla reported on Saturday.
Danske bank, the largest in Denmark, recently said on its website
that it was boycotting Bank Hapoalim for “legal and ethical” reasons.
And Nordea Bank, the largest in Scandinavia, has asked for
clarifications from Bank Leumi and Mizrahi- Tefahot Bank regarding their
activities beyond the Green Line.
The ministerial meeting to
discuss the boycotts was canceled last week, because of tension between
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Economy Minister Naftali
Bennett.
But the truth is that something much more significant happened in New York last week. This is from the first link.
Over the weekend, Bennett – citing a New York State legislative
initiative – said that it was “possible to boycott the boycotters.” His
remark came in a conversation with New York State Sen. Jeffrey Klein,
who sponsored a bill that would suspend funding to educational
institutions that fund groups that boycott Israel.
The
legislation passed the chamber by a 56-4 vote, and would ban state
funding to colleges that fund organizations boycotting “countries that
host higher education institutions chartered by the Board of Regents of
the University of the State of New York.”
The bill was in response to the American Studies Association’s recent boycott of Israeli universities.
Bennett
told Klein, who represents parts of Bronx and Westchester counties,
that this legislation was an “expression of moral clarity and moral
courage at a time when most of the world is silent in the face of
actions taken against Israel.”
A similar bill introduced in the
State Assembly last month by Speaker Sheldon Silver has 48 sponsors
among the chamber’s 150 members.
If it passes there, it will go to Gov. Andrew Cuomo for his signature before becoming a New York State law.
I think that we ought to make sure that those who boycott us do so completely.
Let's go to the videotape (which is desperately in need of updating - this is from 2008!).
Carmi Gillon, who was appointed chief of the Shin Bet General Security Service after the agency allowed Yitzchak Rabin to be assassinated, has fled Denmark after the 'Palestinians' sought to have him arrested for his actions as Shin Bet head.
Carmi Gillon, former Head of the Shin Bet (internal security agency)
and Ambassador to Denmark, returned to Israel on Saturday from
Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark.
The move came after a pro-Palestinian group demanded that the Danish
police issue a warrant against Gillon over his involvement in
liquidating terrorists in Israel.
Gillon had been invited to the Jewish film festival in Copenhagen for
a screening of the 2012 Oscar-nominated documentary film 'The
Gatekeepers,' which he appears in. After the screening the former Shin
Bet head gave a speech.
After hearing about the complaint filed with the police Gillon, who joined the left-wing Kadima party in 2006 and blamed rabbis for being behind 'price tag' vandalism, decided to leave Copenhagen immediately.
Gillon would be wise to stay in Israel as much as possible. There are people who are still out to get him. There's not a lot of love lost over him on Israel's Right either, but at least he's safe here.
With Britain sending a warship to enforce its claim to Gibraltar, thousands of miles away, Bret Stephens implants his tongue firmly in cheek, and without even mentioning Israel mentions some of the other occupied territories in the world, and wonders why no one worries about them. In fact, in none of those cases, is the territory in question necessary for the occupier's security, a thought that appears lost on those who criticize Israel as an 'occupier' in Judea and Samaria, which I can literally see from my front door. (Those without access to the Journal's web site can find the full article here.
Rather than waste time and money on a fruitless diplomatic brawl,
Prime Minister David Cameron should say he’s prepared to relinquish
Gibraltar to Spain—on just one condition.
That would be a declaration by the Spanish government that it will
renounce its own claims to the cities of Ceuta and Melilla, which lie
opposite Gibraltar on the northern coast of Africa. Morocco has long
claimed these Spanish enclaves for itself, and in July 2002 it even sent
troops to seize an uninhabited Spanish islet near Ceuta. Madrid
responded a week later by deploying its navy, air force and special
forces to bloodlessly retake the island, but tensions still simmer.
Spaniards might object to returning the two cities on the grounds that
local inhabitants overwhelmingly consider themselves Spanish and wish to
remain a part of Spain. Then again, the last time Gibraltarians took a
vote on their sovereignty, 99% of them wished to remain British.
Of course, Madrid couldn’t just turn over Ceuta and Melilla without
asking Morocco to readjust its own territorial claims. Since 1975, Rabat
has occupied the Western Sahara—a territory larger than the U.K.—though
no other country recognizes Moroccan sovereignty. The Moroccan position
is contested by an Algerian-backed group called the Polisario Front,
which administers a “country” called the Sahrawi Arab Democratic
Republic.
But the leadership in Rabat could hardly be asked to deliver such a
political prize to its arch-rivals in Algiers without expecting some
commensurate sacrifice.
It’s been more than 50 years since Algerian independence led to the exodus of nearly one million pieds-noirs
and the seizure of their properties by Ben Bella’s government. And
though the French government did pay some small indemnities to their
displaced kinsmen, the Algerian government has never recognized, much
less atoned for, the injustice it did to an indigenous community that
had considered itself Algerian for generations.
It seems that there are several European countries who are afraid to designate Hezbullah a terrorist organization. Some of them could even be counted among Israel's friends.
Poland and the Czech Republic expressed “reservations” about
blacklisting Hezbollah at a discussion in Brussels earlier this month,
JTA has learned.
Both Poland and the Czech Republic are considered
more supportive of Israel than Western European nations that supported
blacklisting Hezbollah, the source said.
...
Joining Poland and the Czech Republic — both traditional Israeli allies in Europe — was Finland, the source said. The Wall Street Journal has also reported that Austria is opposed, while The Jerusalem Post, quoting unnamed Israeli officials, reported that Ireland was also against. The Irish embassy declined to comment .
On the other hand, some countries that we thought were opposed to designating Hezbullah are now said to be in favor.
Denmark, Sweden, Germany and France support blacklisting Hezbollah, the
source said. It has long been believed that France was blocking such a
move out of concern that it would diminish European influence in
Lebanon, a former French colony.
Decisions in the EU are made by consensus. I find it hard to believe they're going to get one on this.
Jordan warns Jews not to be 'too Jewish'... just like in Europe
Jordan has officially warned Israeli and Jewish tourists not to look 'too Jewish' while visiting Jordan.
The Jordanian Tourism Ministry on Wednesday warned Jewish and Israeli
tourists not to openly wear religious garb or perform religious rituals
while visiting the country.
Jordanian tourism officials reportedly informed their Israeli
counterparts to advise visitors not to wear “Jewish dress” or perform
“religious rituals in public places” so as to prevent possible attacks.
Earlier this year, six Israeli tourists wearing kippot, or yarmulkes,
were assaulted in a marketplace in southern Jordan, after their
traditional Jewish garb “provoked the sensibilities of the vendors,”
independent daily Al-Arab Al-Yawm reported.
Just like Europe....
Meanwhile, Israeli and Jewish officials in Denmark on Wednesday similarly warned Jews to avoid openly wearing religious symbols and dress while in Copenhagen amid rising anti-Israeli sentiments.
"We advise Israelis who come to Denmark and want to go to the
synagogue to wait to don their skull caps until they enter the building
and not to wear them in the street, irrespective of whether the areas
they are visiting are seen as being safe," Israel's ambassador to
Denmark, Arthur Avnon, told AFP.
Avnon added that visitors were also advised not to "speak Hebrew loudly" or demonstrably wear Star of David jewelry.
It's not paranoia when they really are out to get you.
Euroweenies spend three pages condemning Israel over E-1, remember Meshaal's genocidal statement in last paragraph
At the last minute, Germany and the Czech Republic managed to push through an amendment to a three-page condemnation of Israel building in E-1 that inserted one paragraph condemning Khaled Meshaal's call for genocide in Gaza on Saturday. And even that was nearly foiled by Denmark, Finland, Portugal and Ireland.
According to an Israel Radio report
Wednesday, Denmark, Finland, Portugal and Ireland pressured European
foreign ministers to condemn Israel solely for its E1 settlement
construction plan at a meeting of the body’s foreign council Monday.
In the end, the statement included a brief
rebuke of Hamas’s call for Israel’s destruction, after an 11th-hour
intervention by Germany and the Czech Republic, Israel Radio reported.
Israeli leaders slammed the EU statement, with
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying that Europe’s lack of a strong
condemnation of Hamas was a “deafening silence.”
“We can’t accept that, when Jews build homes
in [Israel's] ancient capital, the international community has no
problem finding its voice, but when Palestinian leaders openly call for
the destruction of Israel, the one and only Jewish state, the world is
silent,” Netanyahu said.
...
The three-page EU statement was almost solely
concentrated on condemnation for Israel’s plan to expand settlement
building, including in the sensitive E1 corridor east of the capital.
“The European Union is deeply dismayed by and
strongly opposes Israeli plans to expand settlements in the West Bank,
including in East Jerusalem, and in particular plans to develop the E1
area,” the union’s Foreign Affairs Council said after the Monday
meeting.
In the penultimate paragraph
of its condemnation of Israel, the group said that “The EU finds
inflammatory statements by Hamas leaders that deny Israel’s right to
exist unacceptable. The European Union will never cease its efforts to
combat terrorism which seeks to undermine the openness and tolerance of
societies through indiscriminate acts of violence against civilians.”
German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle on
Wednesday acknowledged that his country was responsible for inserting
the condemnation of Hamas into the EU statement. “We absolutely condemn
the statements by Hamas leader Mashaal. Anyone who questions the right
of Israel to exist can not be a partner for peace talks. Mashaal’s
public pronouncements demonstrate to the world how justified Israel’s
security concerns are,” he said.
The French Foreign Ministry on Wednesday
further condemned Israel’s publication of a tender for the construction
of an additional 92 apartment units in the West Bank settlement of
Ma’aleh Adumim.
Things have changed a little in Germany, which for now, at least, will not lead an anti-Semitic charge. And the Czech Republic has now assumed the role of our one true friend in Europe. But things haven't changed much at all in the rest of Europe since the Middle Ages. Europe is as Jew-hating as always and judges Jews by the same double standard as always.
South Africa, Denmark won't label Judea and Samaria products 'made in Israel'
Both South Africa and Denmark (Hat Tip: Bad Blue) have announced that they will no longer label products made in Judea and Samaria as 'made in Israel.' This is from the first link.
In a statement published last week in the governmental gazette, Trade Minister Rob Davies declared that consumers in South Africa should not be misled into believing that products originating from the “Occupied Palestinian Territories” originate from Israel.
The minister specified in his note some “misleading labeled products” as “Ahava products, and other cosmetic brands, technology and soft drinks.”
Israel reacted furiously to the South African announcement, which the Foreign Ministry said was the first of its kind in the world. Spokesman Paul Hirschson said the ministry would call in the South African ambassador to protest the move.
“The singling out of one side of one conflict out of all the conflicts in the world is verging on racism,” he said, adding that “this is sad coming from South Africa, which should know better.”
Well, yes, but there is a second country as well. This comes from the second link.
Denmark is planning to ban labeling products from Israeli settlements in the West Bank as "Made in Israel," the foreign minister told Danish media on Saturday. The move follows reports of similar plans announced this month by South Africa's government.
“This is a step that clearly shows consumers that the products are produced under conditions that not only the Danish government, but also European governments, do not approve of,” Foreign Minister Villy Søvndal Søvndal told Politiken newspaper. “It will then be up to consumers whether they choose to buy the products or not.
A source in Brussels familiar with the matter told Haaretz that it is still unclear whether the move is a recommendation or a new directive.
In late 2009, the U.K. government recommended West Bank products be labeled separately.
And who is most likely to suffer from all this high minded behavior? You guessed it, the 'Palestinians.'
Ironically, those who would get harmed the most by the move are some 15,000 Palestinian workers who are employed in these factories and depend on them to make a living.
"Of course I am worried, but first and foremost I am concerned about my workers, who will be the first to get hit; there are thousands of employees here that are getting conditions that they won't get anywhere else in the Palestinian Authority, and if costs are cut because of the boycott, they will be the first to get fired," said a manager of a factory located in a Jewish settlement in the West Bank.
The manager noted that he successfully handled boycott attempts in the past, but this time the situation is more worrisome: "They always make it difficult for us, and up until now the workers couldn’t care less; ideology is a nice thing, but eventually economic interests prevail. This time we must stop the [tidal] wave.
"The workers and myself are in the same mind that there should be a political agreement at the highest echelons, even if it is secret, that would prevent these boycotts," he added.
Here's a copy of the South African notice. As Haaretz so delicately put is, Mr. Davies is of 'Jewish descent.' A meshumad? (Someone who converted out of Judaism?).
IDF removes Eisner from command, bars his promotion for two years
IDF Lieutenant Colonel Shalom Eisner didn't even get the pretense of a show trial. Chief of Staff Benny Gantz removed Eisner from his post as deputy commander of the Jordan Valley brigade on Wednesday, and barred his promotion for two years. Eisner, a decorated officer and Second Lebanon War hero, is weighing his options and may leave the army.
IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen Benny Gantz ordered Wednesday that Eisner be relieved of his duties as deputy commander of the IDF's Jordan Valley Brigade over "operational and ethical failures."
...
Ganzt also ordered that the Eisner will not be eligible for any promotion in the next two years, effectively revoking his candidacy for head of Bahad 1 – the military's Officers Training Academy.
Eisner told reporters that he "received the ruling in the matter with a heavy heart. I'm physically and emotionally injured and I have to recuperate. I have to reconsider my future in the IDF, should I be offered another position."
The IDF also obtained what purports to be full video of the incident, rather than just the one-minute video which has been widely shown on the internet.
Here's part of it. Let's go to the videotape.
The 25-minute video depicts the ride taken by pro-Palestinians and the events leading up to the skirmish between Eisner and the Danish protester.
The raw footage, taken by Nablus TV cameraman Bashar Abdul Hek, was filmed for a news report about the planned protest ride and does not depict the entire event.
In the moments leading up to the incident, an IDF officer is seen trying to talk to the protesters – who were blocking the road – in an attempt to bring the rally to its end.
Hek identified the officer as a DCO official who was "very courteous." The Danish protester is seen in the background several times, shouting various slogans.
The cameraman said he stopped filming for a while, and started again when the soldiers were about to remove the protesters from the road.
At this point of the footage, Eisner is seen on the bottom right of the screen, knocking down a female protester. He is then seen striking the Danish activist.
The footage also shows Eisner after he was injured – allegedly by the Danish protester – with his hand bandaged.
The IDF is still analyzing the video and deposing several witnesses as part of its investigation.
We really are mad. These protesters were neither innocent nor peaceful.
You might recall that the International Solidarity Movement terror sympathizer whom IDF Lieutenant Colonel Shalom Eisner is accused of hitting with a rifle without provocation is Danish. You might also recall that Israel's 'leadership' rushed to condemn Eisner without an investigation in order to stave off Danish protests.
Well, here's how the Danes deal with unarmed protesters, straight from Copenhagen.
Let's go to the videotape (Hat Tip: Elder of Ziyon via Twitter).
Rabbi Dov Lior got it right. Commenting on Lieutenant Colonel Shalom Eisenman's predicament, Rabbi Lior said:
[T]he "hypocritical condemnations" of the incident are meant to "appease the nations of the world. Thus, they serve our enemies at home and abroad and deal a severe blow to the IDF."
At least the first part of that statement has been confirmed.
A diplomatic incident with Denmark over an IDF officer who slammed the face of a Danish protester with his M16 rifle on Saturday was averted by the IDF’s quick disciplinary action against the officer and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s immediate condemnation, diplomatic officials said Monday.
In a statement posted on the website of Denmark’s Foreign Ministry, Danish Foreign Minister Villy Sovndal said that “we do not yet know the circumstances surrounding the incident” and that Denmark’s ambassador to Israel Liselotte Kjærsgaard Plesner had “immediately asked the Israeli authorities for an explanation.”
“I can see that the soldier involved was immediately suspended and the matter is now being investigated,” Sovndal said.
Sovndal also noted that Netanyahu had condemned the incident.
“We must all condemn the use of force, which apparently has occurred against the demonstrators,” Sovndal said.
I guess they don't use force to put down riots in Denmark.
But here in Israel, if you block roads and threaten police officers, you will be pushed back. What's unusual about this incident is that the terror-sympathizer was hit with a rifle and not pushed back with an arm, and that in the one-minute video he does not appear to have provoked the officer, although he may have been provoking people for two hours before that.
But no, most people here would not issue such a blanket condemnation of the use of force to quell a riot.
In a statement issued to The Jerusalem Post on Friday, McCully said: "We remain concerned that the commemoration of the 2001 Durban Declaration could re-open the offensive and anti-Semitic debates which undermined the original World Conference. For these reasons, we have decided not to participate.”
He added that "New Zealand is fully committed to combating racism and we agree the UN should lead discussions on the elimination of racism. That is why we engaged constructively in the preparatory discussions in New York. However, in the end, the text is not one that we could support.”
The New Zealand Foreign Affairs Ministry statement said “New Zealand joins a growing list of countries, including the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Bulgaria, Israel and the USA, that have also indicated they will not participate in the event.
New Zealand did not participate in the Durban Review Conference held in 2009.”
On the other hand Denmark, Romania and France are still in, and Hungary is likely to be in as well.
I am an Orthodox Jew - some would even call me 'ultra-Orthodox.' Born in Boston, I was a corporate and securities attorney in New York City for seven years before making aliya to Israel in 1991 (I don't look it but I really am that old :-). I have been happily married to the same woman for thirty-five years, and we have eight children (bli ayin hara) ranging in age from 13 to 33 years and nine grandchildren. Four of our children are married! Before I started blogging I was a heavy contributor on a number of email lists and ran an email list called the Matzav from 2000-2004. You can contact me at: IsraelMatzav at gmail dot com
