At least two terrorists wearing explosive belts entered Yeshivat Merkaz HaRav Kook in Kiryat Moshe this evening firing in all directions. According to Haaretz, at least seven people have been killed and seven wounded. The Jerusalem Post says four killed and that there were three terrorists. Israel Radio is reporting eight dead and fifteen wounded. But Arutz Sheva probably has the best written coverage:
Two Arab terrorists infiltrated Jerusalem's Merkaz HaRav Yeshiva at around 8:30 Thursday night and murdered eight Jews. At least six people have been wounded; three are in critical condition and a fourth victim was wounded moderately.
The attackers entered from two separate entrances to the yeshiva and opened fire on the students before one of them was gunned down himself. Witnesses say that the attack began in the seminary's library.
The second terrorist hid in the yeshiva building, with subsequent reports indicating that the attacker was killed by responding security forces. Police are deployed in the surrounding neighborhood and scoured the yeshiva and connected buildings. Most students in the building were evacuated after taking cover in the yeshiva's bomb shelter, according to police spokesmen.
50 ambulances responded to the scene, which emergency responders have called "a major incident." The injured were evacuated to Hadassah Ein Karem Hospital.
Police forces are on heightened alert throughout the country.
The Merkaz HaRav Yeshiva is located near the entrance to Jerusalem, in the Kiryat Moshe neighborhood. The yeshiva, founded by Rabbi Avaraham Yitzhak Kook, is at the heart of the national-religious movement in Israel.
I have just gotten a phone call from Israel to tell me that my wife's nephew who studies in that Yeshiva is - thank God - okay.
Just after 9:00 Israel Radio reported one or two terrorists, one of whom was killed and had a suicide belt on when he was killed. No word on the second terrorist.
A later report from Arutz Sheva lowers the number of wounded to six.
MDA paramedics said Thursday night that six students were wounded in a shooting attack in the Merkaz HaRav Yeshiva in Jerusalem. According to initial reports dozens were wounded. Paramedics explained that many students who initially appeared to be wounded did not require medical care.
At least two of the wounded are in serious condition, and two were moderately wounded. One student who was originally thought to be in serious condition was later found to be suffering from light wounds.
There is a 16-year old who suffered a chest wound, which leads me to believe the attack may have taken place in the high school. My wife has a nephew there as well.
At 10:00 (less than twenty minutes ago), Israel Radio reported eight killed and six wounded - the same as Arutz Sheva reported. The entrance to Jerusalem is closed and the police are hunting for a second terrorist. But as of now, only one terrorist has been found and he did not have a suicide belt.
They have an interview with one of the Yeshiva students, Yitzchak Nadon. They heard were in the Beit Medrash (study hall) and heard shooting from the library. The student went on the roof and pulled his revolver. This student claims that he shot the terrorist in the head twice and then someone else with an M-16 rifle finished him off.
Students were taken to Hadassah Ein Karem and Shaarei Tzedek. Shaarei Tzedek is closer to the Yeshiva but Hadassah has departments that Shaarei Tzedek doesn't have. Police blocking streets throughout the area.
Eight Israeli boys were murdered tonight.
UPDATE 10:32 PM ISRAEL TIME
My wife's nephew in the high school that is part of Merkaz HaRav is also - thank God - okay. Unfortunately, a lot of other boys are not.
My 16-year old daughter reports that Olmert has been sitting and chatting with foreign minister Tzipi Livni since hearing of the attack. I am reminded of the verse at the end of the third chapter of Megillat Esther which will be read two weeks from tonight - "The King and Haman sat to drink and the City of Shushan wallowed in sorrow." But I can't decide which of them is the King and which is Haman.
UPDATE 11:06 PM ISRAEL TIME
Arutz Sheva is reporting that three more wounded have been evacuated to the hospital. They also report that one of the eight dead was the terrorist. That means that only seven people died in the attack, but there are several more who are seriously wounded.
The IDF has razed the terrorist's home in 'east' Jerusalem.
Israeli security forces have razed the home of the murderous terrorist who murdered eight Merkaz HaRav yeshiva students. He lived in Jabel Mukabar, a neighborhood just east of Jerusalem's East Talpiyot neighborhood.
His family set up a mourners' tent outside the ruins, and hung Hamas flags all around it.
Police denied reports that the murderous terrorist had once worked for Yeshivat Merkaz HaRav. However, he was a driver who often transported children and others, and there were reports that he had occasionally been hired by the yeshiva. His last trip was Thursday evening to Yeshivat Merkaz HaRav, where his van was found after the attack with ammunition inside.
I hope they're out in the street. Unfortunately, they probably won't be.
An Arab driving a bulldozer rammed into a bus and other vehicles on Jaffa Street, Jerusalem's busiest street, a short while ago. He was shot and killed by police, who apparently waited way too long because of the strict 'open fire orders.' Anywhere from two to four people have been killed and 'dozens' have been wounded. The driver was apparently an 'east' Jerusalem Arab. He drove from Sarei Yisrael Street into Jaffa Road, not far from the entrance to the city and started driving towards the center of town before he was stopped. I will be in live blog mode for a little while with this story.The police apparently know the terrorist as a criminal. More to follow.
UPDATE 1:00 PM
The terrorist left a construction site on Sarei Yisrael Street and turned into Jaffa Road, the busiest street in the city. He knocked over a bus (#13 bus that left Malcha Mall at 11:30) and then started running over cars. Another bus driver managed to avoid the bulldozer. The latest count according to Israel Radio has three dead and 36 wounded - two of them seriously, four moderately and the rest lightly.
A very large Arab-driven tractor rammed into a bus - and other vehicles - and turned it completely on its side on Jaffa Street in downtown Jerusalem. Two policemen were able to climb the tractor; they struggled with the terrorist-driver, but only after a short time did they shoot and kill him. "This is because the open-fire orders are stupid," said eyewitness and veteran [broadcast. CiJ] journalist Yitzchak Noi.
...
Magen David Adom sources confirm that the incident, which began at the intersection of Jaffa and Sarei Yisrael Streets, was a terror attack. The Arab attacker also damaged at least three cars and two buses. One Toyota car, for instance, is totally crushed; the woman driver was killed.
Construction work on the new light-railway is taking place in the area, and Arab workers are a common sight.
An emergency situation has been declared in the capital.
The overturned bus is located outside the old Shaarei Tzedek building, the current offices and studios of the Israel Broadcasting Authority. Several reporters were eyewitnesses to the attack.
A Palestinian man deliberately plowed the bulldozer he was driving into a bus on Jaffa Street in downtown Jerusalem shortly after noon Wednesday, killing at least two people and wounding dozens more.
Israel Radio said one of the dead was a woman who had been driving a Toyota at the scene of the attack. Police shot and killed the driver of the bulldozer, a Palestinian resident of East Jerusalem in possession of an Israeli identification card and a criminal police record.
...
"I saw the tractor's shovel turn to the bus and deliberately hit it. It hit other vehicles as well," another Israel Radio reporter said.
Emergency vehicles rushed to the scene, where the single-decker commuter bus, its side slashed by the tractor, lay on its side. The Toyota driven by the woman killed in the attack was reportedly flattened.
At least three other vehicles appeared to sustain damage, including a van whose entire front section was crushed.
The incident marked was the first terror attack in Jerusalem since a gunman killed eight students in a religious school in March. The attack came nearly two weeks into a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
The attack occurred in an area where Jerusalem is building a new train system. The project has turned many parts of the city into a big construction zone.
Israel Radio is now reporting that the driver drove fast down the street and managed to drive 500-600 meters before he was stopped.
UPDATE 1:32 PM
Here's a report from Sky News. Let's go to the videotape.
A terrorist group calling itself Ahrad Al-Jalil said it was behind Wednesday's terrorist attack in Jerusalem, but Israeli authorities are not certain if the group actually it exists. The same unknown group has claimed responsibility for previous attacks.
Gaze terrorist organizations said that the terrorist, who rammed a bulldozer into pedestrians and vehicles, acted independently.
But we've heard of this group before. They originally took responsibility for the Merkaz HaRav terror attack in March (which later turned out to be Hamas). And that attack too was carried out by an Arab from 'east' Jerusalem with a blue Israeli identity card.
UPDATE 1:54 PM
Apparently it wasn't the police who killed the terrorist, and at least for one Jerusalem family, killing terrorists is all in the family.
A soldier on leave took the gun from an elite policeman at the scene and shot the terrorist dead. The soldier, M[full-name removed by court order - see subsequent post], 18, is the brother-in-law of IDF officer David Shapira, who killed the terrorist in the Mercaz Harav Yeshiva attack, Channel 10 reported.
I guess he decided he couldn't care less about the open fire orders. Thank God!
UPDATE 2:04 PM
Listening to a press conference with the police commander Ilan Franco on the radio.
The terrorist was a 30-year old married father of two from Tzur Baher, an Arab village in the southeastern part of the city (near East Talpiyot). Tzur Baher is generally not considered a difficult village. It's not far from Jabal Mukaber, the home of the Merkaz HaRav terrorist. As far as they know, he acted alone. He worked for a construction company.
"I saw the bulldozer smash the car with its shovel. He smashed the guy sitting in the driver's seat," said Yaakov Ashkenazi, an 18-year-old yeshiva student.
"I was shocked. I saw a guy going crazy," said Yosef Spielman. "All the people were running. They had no chance."
Dozens of people were seen fleeing from the scene of the attack, as the wounded lay on the ground amid piles of broken glass and blood stains.
A woman sprinkled water over a baby's bloodied face, a rescue worker stroked the hair of a dazed elderly pedestrian and a loved one raised the bleeding leg of a woman sitting outside the overturned bus.
Esther Valencia, a 52-year-old pedestrian said she barely escaped the carnage.
"He almost hit me. Someone pushed me out of the way at the last moment. It was a miracle that I got out of there."
Sixteen-year-old Eyal Lang Ben-Hur, was in a bus when the driver yelled out, "Get out of the vehicle! Everyone out! People fled in a panic," he said, "and the bus was hit an instant later."
Chen Shimon, a 19-year-old solider, said the whole scene was a nightmare.
"I just got off the bus and I saw the tractor driving and knocking everything down in his path," she said. "Everything he saw he rammed. He had a gun and started shooting at a police officer."
City officials have already said that they want to destroy the terrorist's house. The home of the Merkaz HaRav terrorist still has not been destroyed.
UPDATE 3:34 PM
The BBC has footage that shows the terrorist being stopped. Let's go to the videotape.
UPDATE 5:04 PM
Here's a video from FoxNews that has the best description I've seen or heard yet of how the terrorist was stopped (Hat Tip: Hot Air). Let's go to the videotape.
UPDATE 6:08 PM
I now have footage of the terrorist being shot so let's go to the videotape again.
This is a tape of the first call to emergency services from Yeshivat Merkaz HaRav in Jerusalem during the terror attack on Thursday night. It comes with English subtitles that translate the conversation between the terrified young boy and the police operator and pictures of the attack's bloody aftermath. I am still shaking from watching this.
Kuwaiti newspaper op-ed condemns Merkaz HaRav terror attack
This is most definitely a flying pigs moment.
The Kuwaiti newspaper al-Watan published an op-ed today that condemned Thursday night's terrorist attack on the Merkaz HaRav yeshiva, and said that there was no comparison between the attack and Israel's accidental killing of civilians in Gaza.
"The attack at the yeshiva was a barbaric murder of eight children who were engaged in religious study," read an op-ed in the daily Al-Watan. "This odious and inhuman terror attack exemplifies the extremist and inhuman path of the terror organizations Hamas and Hizbullah."
The writer goes on to assert that "the terror attack must prompt the free world to comprehend the magnitude of terrorism and its threats and to realize that a clear and unequivocal stance must be assumed against it. There can be no negotiations with terrorism that indiscriminately aims itself at students, women and babies without any consideration for the means and the targets."
Contrasting the terror attack with the IDF's operations in the Gaza Strip, the writer explains that "there is no link between a murderous terrorist act and the inadvertent killing of civilians in response to the firing of rockets by Hamas."
I wonder if the US State Department, the UN and the EU would agree. If so, they would have to give up their 'cycle of violence' nonsense, wouldn't they?
Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean someone isn't trying to kill you
I really did plan to go to sleep for the night. But I made the mistake of first reading my comments. And there was NormanF pointing out the fact that Roger Cohen's article in Monday's New York Times is already online. It's difficult to bottle up the visceral anger I feel at nearly every one of Cohen's articles. So I'm staying up even later to respond. I'm going to limit myself to answering three specific points in Cohen's latest screed.
How frightened should an Israeli teenager really be, how inhabited by the old existential terror, the perennial victimhood, the Holocaust fear and vulnerability from which Israel was supposed to provide deliverance?
Yes, Israel is small — all the land between the Jordan River and Mediterranean Sea is scarcely bigger than Maryland — and its environment hostile. This, as former President Jimmy Carter notes in a fine new book, makes it vulnerable. But as Carter also writes in “We Can Have Peace in the Holy Land,” Israel has a “military force that is modern, highly trained and superior to the combined forces of all its potential adversaries.”
Not only that, Israel has a formidable nuclear arsenal; it has made peace with Egypt and Jordan; it has a cast-iron security guarantee from the United States; it has walled, fenced, blockaded and road-blocked the roughly 4 million Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza into a pitiful archipelago of helplessness; its enemies, Hezbollah and Hamas, only declared victory in recent wars by preventing their own destruction.
Cohen asks how frightened 'should' an Israeli teenager be? Israeli teenagers have more to be frightened from than their state's endangered existence. An Israeli teenager always keeps a watchful eye on who gets on the bus with him to make sure that they're not a suicide bomber. I can remember one of my children - then aged 10 - at the height of a series of suicide bombings building massive city scenes with his Lego and then destroying them in a sudden thrust of activity. He called it playing "pigua." Pigua is the Hebrew word for a terror attack. To that child, now a young adult, what Cohen calls 'perennial victimhood' (I would call it an existential fear) is not two generations old. It's here and now. To the 75% of children in Sderot who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, it's not 'perennial victimhood' - it's here and now. To the boys like Mrs. Carl's nephews who study in Yeshivat Merkaz HaRav (one of whom lost several classmates in last year's terror attack), who were present when a terrorist burst into their yeshiva building and opened fire, it's here and now. To the teenager who becomes a combat soldier a year or two later (and by the time they are 16 or so, most Israeli kids know whether they are heading in that direction), it's not a question of being a victim, but of fighting for one's life and for one's country's existence. Cohen, who has apparently spent more time in Germany and Iran than he has in Israel, cannot see that. He believes that the Holocaust is what drives this country, but it's not. Too many of our kids know very little about the Holocaust unless and until they go on a trip to Poland in 11th or 12th grades. But everyone here knows someone who - God save us - has a terror victim in their family.
All the military force in the world, all the weaponry in the world and all the security guarantees in the world cannot and do not lead one to lose the fear of death in an inherently dangerous area. The reminders of our vulnerability are a daily occurrence: the bag check at the mall, the guard who searches your car before you enter a parking garage, the endless memorials to others who died because they happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, the random clusters of police officers at different points in the city from one day to the next and yes, the security fence (95% of which is a fence and not a wall), are all constant reminders that we cannot let our guard down even for a moment, because we face a bloodthirsty enemy that is all-too-eager to murder us. I suspect that Roger Cohen would not be quite so pompous and condescending if he had to live with our reality for a while. Especially during violent periods (like 2000-2003) this country is a pressure cooker, and its citizens enjoy a palpable sense of relief when they get off an airplane someplace else.
A core contradiction inhabits Israeli policy. While talking about a two-state solution — at least until Netanyahu redux — Israel has gone on building the West Bank settlements that render a peace agreement impossible by atomizing the 23 percent of the land theoretically destined for Palestine.
This is one of the biggest libels about our current situation. Nearly all of the 'building West Bank settlements' that has gone on since 1993 - and all such building that has been done with government approval - has happened in areas where Israel believes that even in the event that it reaches a 'settlement' with the 'Palestinians' it will retain the territory. In other words, nearly all of the building that has gone on beyond the 'green line' that represents the 1949 armistice line has gone on in the 'settlement blocs' that Israel believes - and that President Bush intimated in his April 14, 2004 letter to Ariel Sharon - would be retained by Israel under any permanent agreement with the 'Palestinians.' It is not the 'building West Bank settlements' that has rendered a peace agreement impossible - it is the continued unwillingness of the 'Palestinians' to fight terror, and the continued unwillingness of the 'Palestinians' to negotiate on any issue, as if holding out will mean that the World imposes the 'Palestinians' terms on Israel. Unfortunately, the World (including the United States in recent months) has given the 'Palestinians' reason to believe that the 'Palestinians' terms will be imposed upon Israel.
As an aside, I have observed that when my posts are quoted on other blogs - especially those to the left of mine - people object to my putting the term 'Palestinians' in scare quotes. I thought I had highlighted the issue enough times, but for those who still cannot understand why I do so, it's because there is no such thing as a distinct 'Palestinian' people that is separate and unique from the other Arabs. I discussed that issue at great length here.
The population of Arabs in the Holy Land, at about 5.4 million, will one day overtake the number of Jews. So a two-state solution is essential to Israel’s survival as a Jewish state. Persisting in the 42-year-old occupation and the building of settlements gnaws at the very foundations of the Zionist dream.
Sorry Roger, but that's also a myth. I discussed it at length here, but for those who won't click on links, here are a few highlights.
1. The assumption that Jews are doomed to become a minority between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean has been based on grossly erroneous assumptions, including projected heavy net-immigration, over-projected Arab fertility rate and under-projected Jewish fertility rate. A 67% robust Jewish majority over 98.5% of the land west of the Jordan River (without Gaza) is a long-term documented phenomenon, benefiting from a demographic momentum.
2. According to Israel’s largest daily, “Yedioth Achronot” (April 8, 2007), and largely based on findings by the American-Israel Demographic Research Group (AIDRG, www.aidrg.com ):
* 38% of Palestinians wish to emigrate, according to a February 2007 survey conducted by A-Najah University in Nablus and a survey conducted by Nabil Kukali’s research center in Beit Sakhur. A September 2006 study, by Bir Zeit University, indicated that 44% of the 20-30 age group, and 32% of the total Palestinian population, want to emigrate.
*45,000 emigration requests were submitted to foreign Consulates during the second half of 2006.
* Yoram Ettinger, of AIDRG: until 2000 most emigrants were Christians, but since then most have been Moslems, bureaucrats, intellectuals and businessmen. Palestinian net-emigration has been a regional phenomenon since 1950.
* Palestinian annual average net-emigration has exceeded 10,000, reaching 16,000 in 2005, and a higher level in 2006, as a result of the January 2006 Hamas ascension to power. Emigration has increased substantially, while the PA has become the highest recipient of foreign aid per capita.
* Palestinian emigration increased during the oil price boom of the 1970s and declined during the oil price slump of the 1980s. The expulsion of 300,000 Palestinians from Kuwait, and the Oslo Accord, produced a rare brief net-immigration, but substantially lower than assumed (about 25,000 each). Unprecedented Palestinian terrorism – since Oslo and especially since 2000 – triggered higher net-emigration. The Norwegian institute for social research, FAFO, contended that net-emigration amounted to 100,000 during September 2000 and November 2002 [much higher than documented by AIDRG].
...
3. According to Israel’s daily, Ha’aretz (April 12, 2007):
*The Jewish-Arab fertility gap has been reduced to one-child [down from a 6 children gap in the 1960s]!
*The 2006 “Green Line” Arab fertility rate is 3.6 children per woman (trending downward), compared with a 2.7 Jewish fertility rate (trending upward).
The picture at the top of this post is of one of the murdered students from the terror attack at Yeshivat Merkaz HaRav in March 2008. He is lying on the floor of his school's library in a puddle of his own blood. It's an image that Roger Cohen should be forced to look at many times before he writes his next anti-Israel article.
And with that, I will go get my few hours of sleep. Layla tov (good night) everyone.
Just a reminder that 'raw' video means no comments. This one was taken from Israeli television.
The IDF killed four 'Palestinian' terrorists in Bethlehem tonight, a town in which there are much fewer anti-terror operations than in Jenin or Shchem (Nablus). The terrorists included Muhammad Shahada, 48, a senior leader of Islamic Jihad, Ahmed al-Balbul, also 48, a leader of Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades and two other members of Islamic Jihad.
Here's the car swarm. Sorry, no holding up internal organs this time.
While attempting to arrest the men, who made up the Islamic Jihad's leadership in the city, the troops came under fire near the Bethlehem Mukata (government building), and killed all four in a gun battle.
Palestinian claims that the fugitives were responsible for planning last week's attack on Jerusalem's Mercaz Harav Yeshiva, in which gunman Ala Abu Dhaim killed eight students, were flatly denied by Israeli security officials, who added that the troops had not planned to kill the fugitives.
Muhammad Shehadeh, 45, Ahmed Balbul, 48, Amad el-Kamel, 35 and Issa Zohara, 36, were all in direct contact with Islamic Jihad's leadership in Syria and were following orders issued by the organization's leaders there.
Shehadeh has been wanted by Israel for the past eight years for involvement in planning and executing terror attacks in which Israelis were killed and wounded.
The IDF said that Shehada was held responsible for a series of car bombs and suicide attacks throughout Jerusalem in the beginning of the decade. In November 2000, he sent the car bomb that exploded in downtown Jerusalem killing two people, including the daughter of then-minister Yitzhak Levy from the National Religious Party.
In March 2001, Shehada dispatched a car bomb to the Talpiyot neighborhood in Jerusalem which exploded and wounded five. Later that year he sent two suicide bombers who blew up in two separate incidents and injured close to 50 people.
When the men's bodies were inspected, they were found to be carrying rifles and pistols.
Good riddance!
UPDATE 12:31 AM ISRAEL TIME
There are several claims being made that Shehada planned last week's terror attack at Yeshivat Merkaz HaRav in Jerusalem. You will note that the article above flatly denies that claim (I am highlighting it for you above).
The Marker, Haaretz's business supplement, is reporting that the Israeli government arranged to have videos of the aftermath of the Yeshivat Merkaz HaRav terror attack uploaded to YouTube over the past couple of weeks as part of its fight against terror in the media.
The government recently posted three videos related to the terror attack at Jerusalem's Mercaz Harav Yeshiva earlier this month. While the poster was not identified as having any connection to the government, TheMarker has learned that the Prime Minister's Office was actually behind the upload to the popular video file-sharing site. It is the first time that a government body has used the site in response to a terror attack.
The first film features graphic and bloody footage shot inside the yeshiva in the wake of the attack, as English subtitles document an emergency call made by a yeshiva student during the attack. The one-minute video attracted over 5,300 viewings and 88 responses as of last night.
The second film is shorter, at 27 seconds, and is entitled "Act Now: Stop the Bloodshed, Stop the Terror. It features similar images, with solemn background music and title screens in English describing the attack.
I had not seen that video before. Here it is.
The third is a slightly longer version of the second [and ironically has been tagged 'not suitable for minors' by YouTube. Ironic because most of the boys who were murdered were minors. CiJ].
Here's that video:
In the past, the government has responded to terror attacks with official statements to radio and television stations. A source close to the latest measure has told TheMarker that Jerusalem will upload videos to YouTube in the event of any future terror attacks.
It's about time! I'm amazed at how little interaction there is (at least as far as I am aware) between the government and pro-Israel bloggers. Then again, I wouldn't be one of the bloggers they contact. They know that I'm in favor of new elections.
UPDATED: Holland and Denmark funding terror-glorifying 'news agency'
Palestinian Media Watch reports that the Ma'an News Agency, which is funded by the governments of Holland and Denmark, glorifies terrorists as shahids or 'martyrs,' especially in its Arabic language reports. PMW has called on the two governments involved to change the tenor of the reports or cut off funding.
Marcus and Crook monitored the Ma'an news agency's Arabic and English news coverage of the last few terrorist attacks in Israel and found that it repeatedly honored murderers as "martyrs" and referred to areas of pre-1967 Israel as "occupied Palestine."
They also found that stronger anti-Israel terminology was used in Ma'an's Arabic Web site than in its English one.
"We find it surprising and unfortunate that the governments of the Netherlands and Denmark continue to fund this hate journalism without demanding a change," Marcus and Crook wrote. "Hate incitement, including denial of Israel's existence and glorifying terror, is universally accepted as a paramount cause of continued Palestinian terror. These governments, together with governments who have blindly funded Palestinian schoolbooks, bear direct moral responsibility for the continued hatred that is being ingrained into future Palestinian generations, and bear a moral responsibility for the terror and its victims."
Frans Makken, the head of mission at the Dutch representative office in Ramallah, said such problems were rare at Ma'an and that his office would take steps to ensure that they did not reoccur.
"When this has come up before, we took it up with Ma'an," Makken said. "It was just a mistake of words. It happens rarely, if ever. Our office is involved in connecting people. If there has been a slip-up, we will bring it up with them. They are young journalists and their translations are being improved all the time."
'Translations' may be an excuse for their English language reports, but it is certainly not an excuse for their Arabic reports!
"I am outraged by the myriad excuses from funding countries that refuse to accept responsibility for the hatred and terror promotion they fund," Marcus said. "Why is the Dutch representative trying to create a smoke screen for terror promotion by writing about 'translations' and 'slip-ups?'
"If Denmark and Holland are serious about not being branded themselves as terror promoters, they will stop making excuses for Ma'an and publicly give them an ultimatum: One more example of terror glorification or hate journalism and the funding is canceled. Until this is done, Denmark and Holland can be included among the countries that are part of the terror problem and not part of the solution."
In the report, Marcus and Crook found that Ma'an's Arabic reports glorified the Palestinian who recently murdered eight students at Jerusalem's Mercaz Harav Yeshiva, February's Dimona suicide terrorist, the killers of the two Israeli hikers and the terrorists who attacked a boys' high school with the very highest Islamic status attainable, elevating them to the status of shahids - "martyrs for Allah."
"In defining terrorist murderers as 'shahids,' Ma'an is by definition sending its readers a straightforward message of honor for the killers, and approval for the many murders," Marcus and Crook wrote.
In its English versions of these reports, according to Palestinian Media Watch, Ma'an neither honored the terrorists as "shahids" nor used the English term "martyrs."
But what's most amazing is Ma'an's response. Remember how Yasser Arafat called for jihad right after he signed the Oslo accords and then claimed that jihad could mean a battle for peace. Well this is deja vu all over again.
In response, Ma'an noted that "The term shahid, as translated in the Hans Wehr Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic (page 572), may refer to one killed in action or a martyr." It said that "in the Palestinian cultural/religious tradition, the martyrdom aspect is significantly different from the Judeo-Christian understanding. Those who die as martyrs may be defending their wives or their property, not necessarily engaging in the Western notion of a holy crusade. The PMW interpretation, while undoubtedly held by some religious individuals, is not necessarily the general interpretation of these terms."
Which of his 'wives or property' was the suicide terrorist at Merkaz HaRav defending? Which of their 'wives or property' were the two suicide terrorists in the mall in Dimona defending? In what 'action' were they killed other than action they created on their own in an attempt to murder Jews?
Ma'an News Agency (Ma'an means 'together' in Arabic) is a Palestinian on-line News agency that publishes up-to-the-minute news in Arabic, English, and Hebrew. Ma'an News Agency (MNA) began operation in December of 2004 and is one of the main projects of the Ma'an Network which was established in 2002 as a non-governmental organization that aims to improve local Palestinian media production.
Ma'an Network (Ma'an) is composed of nine independent TV stations and production studios located in each major city of the West Bank and Gaza. Ma'an is dedicated to promoting understanding of the Palestinian situation by strengthening cooperation between local and international media. The network shares a vision of fomenting democracy and freedom of thought and ideas in Palestine. It uses both technical and academic expertise in achieving these goals as strives towards sustainable development and human rights for the Palestinian people.
Ma'an News Agency initiative is funded by both the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, http://www.minbuza.nl/ and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark, Danish International Development Assistance (DANIDA), http://www.um.dk/da.
Ma'an News Agency Commitments-
1. To supply 24-hour news, for free, in Arabic, en, and Hebrew for local, regional, and international readers and media professionals.
2. To produce news items on political, social, economic, cultural, and sports events. Our on-line News agency reports the facts and delivers high quality pictures.
MNA is known for being reliable, objective, accurate, balanced, and informed.
Ma'an News Agency Objectives-
1. to offer to the Palestinian and international communities independent and professional Palestinian news;
2. to promote democracy in Palestine through media, freedom of exNewsion, freedom of the News, and pluralism of the media;
3. to increase Palestinian media credibility in the international scene by producing objective and professional news;
Well if number 3 is meant to be true, I hope they didn't produce those scenes of the 'blackout' in Gaza that were staged.
UPDATE 10:30 AM
I now have the original PMW report. Here it is:
1- Ma'an Honoring Terrorists and Murderers as Shahids
Ma'an has glorified the recent Palestinian murderer of eight Israeli yeshiva students, the Dimona suicide terrorist, the killers of the two Israeli hikers and the terrorists who attacked a boys' high school with the very highest Islamic status attainable, elevating them to the status of "Shahids" or"Martyrs for Allah." According to the accepted Palestinian interpretation of Islam, there is no higher status that a Muslim can achieve today than that of Shahid. In defining terrorist murderers as "Shahids," Ma'an is by definition sending its readers a straightforward message of honor for the killers, and approval for the many murders. Negative or dishonorable actions could not elevate an individual to Shahid status. (See below for full sources.)
In its English versions of these reports, Ma'an did not honor the terrorists as "Shahids"or use the similar English term "Martyrs." Note, for example, the difference in Ma'an reporting on the murder of the two hikers:
Ma'an Arabic News
Ma'an English News
"Two of the operatives died as Shahids."[Dec. 28, 2007]
"Two Israelis, two Palestinians killed by gunfire near Hebron."
The explanation for this and all other discrepancies between Ma'an's English and Arabic reporting is that this politically-charged Arabic terminology, together with the examples of Ma'an's use of hate-language (below), would readily expose Ma'an's lack of professionalism and messages of approval of terror if repeated in English.
In addition, it must be assumed that the governments of The Netherlands and Denmark would be outraged to know they are funding terror glorification and hate journalism.
2 - Suicide Bombers: Ma'an uses term of higher honor: Shahada-Seekers
With regard to suicide terrorists Ma'an goes even further. According to Islam, someone who intentionally seeks Shahada - deathfor Allah - is greater than someone who achieves Shahada while not actively hoping to die. The Arabic term Istishhadi - Shahada- Seeker- is used by terror organizations to define and add a higher status of honor specifically to suicide terrorists.
Ma'an has followed this lead in its Arabic reporting of the Dimona suicide bombing that killed one Israeli woman and critically injured her husband. Note the apolitical report by Ma'an in English, where the suicide bomber is reported to be just that, "a bomber," followed by the Arabic Ma'an reports that use the term of highest honor, "Shahada-Seekers."
Ma'an Arabic News
Ma'an English News
"Ma'an - Senior military figure [Abu Al-Walid] of the Al-Aqsa Brigades in Gaza, rejected the suspicion that Israel aroused regarding the identity of the two Shahada-Seekers, who carried out the Dimona action... Pictures of the two Shahada-Seekers etc ..."
[February 5, 2008]
"Al-Aqsa Brigades dispel doubts about identity of second Dimona bomber...
Speaking to Ma'an on Tuesday, Abu Al-Walid reiterated that the bombers were Luay Al-Ghawani and Mousa Arafat ... Israeli security officials had expressed doubt about the validity of the image of the second bomber."
Note also that under similar pictures of the mothers of the bombers, Ma'an uses the objective caption in English: "Mother of suspected bomber," and the honor caption in Arabic: "Mothers of the Shahada-Seekers".
Ma'an Arabic caption
Ma'an English caption
"Mothers of Shahada-Seekers"
"Mother of suspected bomber"
3- Ma'an denies Israel's right to exist- all Israel is "Occupation"
Ma'an uses very politicized hate language to routinely reject Israel's right to exist, and even to deny Israel's existence. For example, when reporting on Israeli Arab doctors who visited Gaza, Ma'an defined them in Arabic as "Palestinian doctors from inside 'Occupied Palestine'," Ma'an's term for Israel. In this case, Ma'an's English language report on this story followed similar hate language:
"Palestinian doctors from 1948 territories [another Ma'an euphemism for Israel] visit Gaza... A delegation of doctors from Palestinian territories occupied since 1948, from outside of the Green Line, visited the Gaza Strip." [February 29, 2008]
In this article to deny Israel's legitimacy on its land, Ma'an went out of its way to use a particularly awkward hate expression. Instead of using the simple, accurate and apolitical wording, "doctors from Israel," Ma'an used 13 cumbersome, politically-charged hate words to describe the doctors' origins:
Ma'an political language
Accurate apolitical language
"doctors from Palestinian territories occupied since 1948, from outside of the Green Line"
"doctors from Israel"
It is also important to note that later in the same article, Ma'an used the term "Israel" as follows: "...crippling siege led by Israel." The difference is striking. When referring to the land or location - Ma'an called Israel "Occupied Palestine." In referring to the government of Israel or criticizing Israeli policy Ma'an used "Israel." (See other examples below.)
Finally, since Israel's very existence is presented by Ma'an as an "Occupation," the Israeli army in Arabic is referred to with hate language identical to that used by the terrorist organizations: "the occupation forces." Here, as in some of the cases above, Ma'an avoids the hate language in English. One example is a Ma'an report after Israel arrested three suspected terrorists.
Ma'an Arabic News
Ma'an English News
"Occupation forces arrest ..."
[March 25, 2008]
"Israeli forces raid ..."
See below a list of examples where Ma'an glorifies terrorists and uses hate language.
PMW comment:Last year PMW documented that Ma'an used this politicized hate language after the suicide terror attack in the Israeli city of Eilat. [See PMW Bulletin]
In Arabic, Ma'an had reported that Eilat was "in the south of occupied Palestine," the mother of the terrorist was said to be from the "occupied city of Jaffa", though Jaffa is part of Tel Aviv, and Ma'an had honored the suicide bomber as a Shahid.
We find it surprising and unfortunatethat the governments of The Netherlands and Denmark continue to fund this hate journalism without demanding a change. Hate incitement, including denial of Israel's existence and glorifying terror, is universally accepted as a paramount cause of continued Palestinian terror. These governments, together with governments who have blindly funded Palestinian schoolbooks, bear direct moral responsibility for the continued hatred that is being ingrained into future Palestinian generations, and bear a moral responsibility for the terror and its victims.
The following are additional examples of Ma'an using hate language and honoring terrorists.
Ma'an grants Shahid status to all terrorists in recent terror attacks. The following are in addition to examples above.
1. Jerusalem Yeshiva terror attack - 8 students killed:
Ma'an Arabic News:
"8 dead and two Shahids in the Jerusalem Operation. The operatives were from [village of] Jabal Mukbar..."[Ma'an, Arabic news, March 6, 2008]
2. Terror attack in High School in Kfar Ezion:
Ma'an Arabic News:
"Ma'an discloses the identity of the twoShahidsfrom the Ezion operation." [Ma'an, Arabic news, January 24 , 2008]
3. Two hikers ambushed and murdered as they strolled on nature walk
Ma'an Arabic News:
"Two of the operatives died as Shahids, two more were injured and two Israeli soldiers were killed." [Ma'an, Arabic news, December 28, 2007]
Ma'an English News:
"Two Israelis, two Palestinians killed by gunfire near Hebron."
[Ma'an, English news, December 28, 2007]
4. Suicide Terror attack in Dimona- one woman killed:
Ma'an Arabic News:
"Ma'an - Senior military figure [Abu Al-Walid] of the Al-Aqsa Brigades in Gaza, rejected the suspicion that Israel aroused regarding the identity of the two Shahada-Seekers, who carried out the Dimona action... Pictures of the two Shahada-Seekers etc ..."
Ma'an English News:
"Speaking to Ma'an on Tuesday, Abu Al-Walid reiterated that the bombers were Luay Al-Ghawani and Mousa Arafat"
[ English news, February 5, 2008]
Ma'an news releases promote the hate message that Israel has no right to exist, calling Israel "Occupied Palestine" or "territories occupied after 1948," Israel's government the "Occupation Authority" and its soldiers the "Occupation forces." Note also when Israel is mentioned it is often put within quotation marks- a common linguistic method to express non-recognition.
1."The Occupation authorities [editor: replaces 'Israeli authorities'] have been enforcing severe restrictions since the morning hours on the entrance of residents to the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque, and even on the entrance into the city of Jerusalem within the borders of the occupation municipality [editor: replaces 'Jerusalem']. They have prevented hundreds of the residents of Jerusalem and the Palestinian territories occupied since 1948, [editor: replaces 'Israel'] who hold blue "Israeli" identity cards from..."
[Ma'an, Arabic news, February 29, 2008]
2."He said that 72 prisoners have died as Shahids during the al-Aqsa intifada, 58 of them from the West Bank, one from the territories occupied since 1948 [editor: replaces 'Israel'] and 13 from the Gaza Strip..."
[Ma'an, Arabic news, February 29, 2008]
"In a research paper he published on the issue of the number of prisoners of Palestine which has been occupied since 1948 (The "inside" prisoners) [editor: replaces 'Israeli prisoners'], he emphasized that this number is an important number in the equation of the historical and cultural struggle against the Israeli occupier..."
[Ma'an, Arabic news, March 15, 2008]
Note in this previous example that instead of just writing the single word "Israel," Ma"an used a very long term: Palestine which has been occupied since 1948. However, Ma"an itself felt the need to further explain its own cumbersome usage by adding in parentheses, ("inside" prisoners) meaning 'Israeli Arab prisoners.' It shows again that Ma"an is willing to burden its readers with linguistic contortions, rather than use simple and accurate language which would indicate recognition of Israel. In this case the language it avoided writing was "Arab prisoners from Israel."
4."Dr. al-Asta did not compare the outlook... to one who lives in the racist Ghetto in Occupied Palestine..."
[Ma'an, Arabic news, February 24, 2008]
5. "A delegation of doctors from Palestinian territories occupied since 1948... visited the Gaza Strip."
[Ma'an, Arabic news, March 17, 2008]
6. Discrepancies between English and Arabic reports:
Ma'an Arabic Report:"The occupation forces" detained 3 residents in Bethlehem and al-Duha".
[Ma'an, Arabic news, March 25, 2008]
Ma'an English Report:
"Israeli forces raid Bethlehem and seize 3 Palestinians"
[Ma'an, English news, March 25, 2008]
Ma'an Arabic Report:
"The Israeli occupation army seized the town of Kafin afternoon today, Wednesday..."
[Ma'an, Arabic news, March 26, 2008]
Ma'an English Report:
Israeli forces stormed the town of Kafin in the West Bank Wednesday..."
Earlier today, I asked how the parents of the despicable terrorist who murdered eight yeshiva students in cold blood at Merkaz HaRav on Thursday night even had a house at which they could set up a 'mourning tent' since an earlier report had indicated that the house had been razed. Tonight I got my answer. It hasn't been razed. But it damned well ought to be:
Knesset Speaker Dalia Itzik (Kadima) said Monday that the house of Alaa Abu Dheim, the terrorist who killed eight students in the Mercaz Harav Yeshiva Thursday evening, should be demolished, Army Radio reported.
Itzik said there was no legal hindrance to such a move.
Itzik was visiting the yeshiva accompanied by rabbis teaching there and heard their views on the ramifications of last week's attack.
She then sat with the yeshiva's head, Rabbi Yaakov Shapira, who told her "it is not normal that the mourning tent still stands. In any other place in the world they would tear it down under such circumstances."
In response, Itzik said "it is not a moral question in any sense. Both the tent and the house should be destroyed. She added that she had turned to Attorney General Menahem Mazuz, asking him to examine the legal possibilities.
Meanwhile, the Almagor organization, representing families of terror victims, sent Prime Minister Ehud Olmert a statement saying that according to a legal examination conducted by the organization, demolishing the terrorist's house was allowed even while the man's family members were holders of Israeli ID cards.
Almagor said in a statement that the families of the slain students were planning a march on the family house on Thursday.
Forget the legalities. Just do it and worry about it later. By the time Yossi Beilin's attorney general finishes 'investigating' the 'mourning period' will be over and tearing down the 'tent' will be meaningless.
As to the families of the slain students, I wonder if the police will arrest them too.
Laser Beams tells the amazing story of Doron Mahareta (pictured top left), one of the eight Merkaz HaRav students that was murdered ten days ago (Hat Tip: Rob in Passaic).
Doron wanted to learn Torah in Mercaz HaRav, one of the best of Israel's yeshivas. But, since his early schooling was in Ethiopia, he lacked a strong background in Gemara. The Yeshiva rejected him. He wasn't discouraged. He asked, "If you won't let me learn Torah, will you let me wash the dishes in the mess hall?" For a year and a half, Doron washed dishes. But, he spent every spare minute in the study hall. He inquired what the yeshiva boys were learning, and spent most of the nights and all of his Shabbatot with his head in the Gemara learning what they learned. One day, the "dish washer" asked the Rosh Yeshiva to test him. The Rosh Yeshiva politely smiled and tried to gently dismiss Doron, but Doron wouldn't budge. He forced the Rosh Yeshiva into a Torah discussion; the next day, he was no longer a dish washer but a full-fledged "yeshiva bachur".
Our 'peace partner,' the 'Palestinian Authority,' led by 'moderate' 'Palestinian' President Mahmoud Abbas Abu Mazen, is celebrating the 'wedding' of Alaa Abu D'heim - may his name be blotted out - the terrorist who murdered eight young boys in the Merkaz HaRav Yeshiva ten days ago. Abu D'Heim has 'married' seventy-two 'dark-eyed virgins of Paradise.'
The official Palestinian Authority daily newspaper describes the murderer of eight yeshiva students in Jerusalem as a "groom" and his burial as his "wedding celebration." The story in Mahmoud Abbas's Al Hayat Al Jadida goes on to evoke the neighborhood Jabal Mukbar's "week of anticipation... preparing themselves for the wedding procession."
The term "wedding" is the expression commonly used in PA society, and in PA schoolbooks as well, to describe the death of Shahids - Martyrs for Allah. According to Islamic tradition, they will wed the 72 Dark- Eyed Maidens (Virgins) of Paradise.
The article then reports the "shocking news" for the "thousands who were waiting" that the Israeli Army had decided to force a pre-dawn burial to prevent community celebrations of the murders and the murderer. It bemoans the fact "that the groom was buried in the [early] morning without a celebration and without a wedding procession."
However, the PA daily vows that the wedding celebrations will continue:
"The wedding will not end this way... it will last three consecutive days in which [the town] al-Sawahra will welcome all of those who come to congratulate the groom and will hang his portrait embracing the nation's flags."
Seeing the Martyr's death as a wedding can be found throughout Palestinian society. Some examples:
New Palestinian Schoolbook:
"... I will not cry during this wedding, as our Arabness does not want us to cry over the Shahids."
[Arabic Language and the Science of Language, grade 12, p. 13 (2006)]
Mother of two killed terrorists, called "Shahids":
"We do not encourage our sons to die. We encourage them to Shahada [Martyrdom] for the homeland, for Allah. We don't say to the mothers of the Shahids: "We come to comfort you," rather we say: "We come to bless you on your son's wedding, on your son's Shahada. Congratulations to you on the Shahada." For us, the mourning is [a joyous] wedding. We give out drinks, we give out sweets. Praise to Allah, our mourning is a wedding."[PATV, Nov. 17, 2004]
The PMW bulletin of Dec. 20, 2007, has numerous video examples of the "Maidens of Paradise" reward promised to Islamic martyrs, including a video that has been running on PATV for eight years, depicting a Shahid being greeted in Paradise by the virgins.
The following is from the PA official daily, Al Hayat Al Jadida:
Headline: "Jerusalem groom, Abu-Dahim, [the murderer of 8 in the Mercaz Harav Yeshiva] leaves without his wedding procession
"The residents of the town Jabal Mukbar, were surprised by the sounds of loudspeakers blasting from the [mosque] minarets announcing that the Jerusalem groom, the Shahid, [Islamic Martyr] Ala'a Abu-Dahim [murderer of the 8 Yeshiva students] has gone without their participation in his wedding procession.
An entire week of anticipation, a house of mourning whose sanctity was violated, and soldiers deployed on every street, their military weapons infuriating everyone ... nonetheless [the town of Jabl] al-Mukbar did not tire of the wait and kept its promise to the groom.
Every day, these past seven days, everyone was in a state of anticipation... preparing themselves for the wedding procession. At five o'clock in the morning the loudspeakers of the mosque minarets announced the shocking news to the thousands who were waiting, that the groom was buried in the morning without a celebration and without a wedding procession... frowning faces...expressing their sorrow for having been denied [the right] to participate in the groom's procession and to accompany him to the town's cemetery...
The occupation soldiers sneaked in hours before dawn and lead several adults to the cemetery, while preventing the rest of those who were present despite the darkness of the night, from participating, even preventing the press from participating... They wanted a quiet wedding without music, thinking that way Jerusalem would forget its groom... But the wedding will not end this way... it will last three consecutive days in which [the town] al-Sawahra will welcome all of those who come to congratulate the groom and will hang his portrait embracing the nation's flags."
- Al Hayat-Al Jadida, March14, 2008
But let's let that house keep standing and let's make the IDF and the police protect these 'people.'
And let's give them a statereichlet because Abu Mazen is a 'man of peace' and when they get a reichlet they will stop supporting terrorism.
On Rosh Chodesh Adar Bet 5768, the Mercaz Harav Yeshiva was infiltrated by a terrorist. 8 Holy Children were murdered while learning Torah. May these atrocities never occur again...may we take this as a wake-up call from Hashem (God)...so we won't need anything louder....
Al-Beeb has admitted that it fabricated the news twice in the last month: once when it showed a house being demolished and claimed that it was the home of the terrorist murderer from Yeshivat Merkaz HaRav, Alaa Abu D'Haim, and once when it reported that Israel was deliberately targeting civilians in an operation targeting Kassam rocket launch sites in Gaza, and claimed that the United Nations secretary-general had described it as an attack on civilians.
In a news item on March 7, following the Mercaz Harav Yeshiva attack, the BBC showed a bulldozer demolishing a house, while correspondent Nick Miles told viewers: "Hours after the attack, Israeli bulldozers destroyed his family home. Later, mourners set up Hamas and Islamic Jihad banners nearby."
The house, however, was not demolished; the BBC was embarrassed when news reports from other broadcasters showed the east Jerusalem home intact and the family commemorating their son's actions.
Last week, the BBC apologized live on its news program, admitting it had used footage of another house being demolished.
News anchor Geeta Guru-Murthy said: "Now, we would like to clarify a report we heard at this hour last Friday about the attack by a Palestinian gunman on a Jewish seminary in Jerusalem. In the report, the day after the attack, BBC World said that the gunman's home in east Jerusalem had been demolished by the Israeli authorities. That was not correct, and the images broadcast were of another demolition."
The fabrication was exposed by Boston-based media monitor CAMERA, which revealed that the images used by the BBC were similar to photos taken by the Palestinian news agency Maan from the demolition of the house belonging to Islamic Jihad leader Muhammad Shehadeh in Bethlehem on March 7.
In a second incident, in a news item entitled "Israel jets strike northern Gaza" on March 14 on their News Web site, the BBC reported that Israel was deliberately targeting civilians in an operation targeting Kassam rocket launch sites in Gaza, and claiming that the United Nations secretary-general had described it as an attack on civilians.
"The Israeli air force said it was targeting a rocket firing team... UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has condemned Israel's attacks on Palestinian civilians, calling them inappropriate and disproportionate," the report said.
The second incident was exposed due to the vigilance of a member of the Manchester Jewish community, which just goes to show that yes, WE can have an impact:
In a letter to the BBC, Manchester Jewish community member Jonathan Hantman wrote,
"It is one-sided for the report to describe Israel's operations as 'attacks on civilians' while not describing the Palestinian rocket attacks, to which Israel was responding, as 'attacks on civilians' or 'acts of terrorism.'"
Hantman also pointed out that Ban's attributed comments were made weeks earlier to the UN Security Council and not in reference to that particular attack. He added that it was also wrong to mention the UN secretary-general's condemnation of Israel without mentioning his condemnation of Palestinian rocket attacks in the same statement.
"Ban's statement, made some two weeks ago, did not refer to yesterday's attack and did not describe Israel's operations on Gaza as 'attacks on civilians,'" Hantman noted. "He did, however, describe Palestinian rocket attacks as 'acts of terrorism.'"
...
Apologizing for the error, the BBC said in its response, regarding the speech: "We accept we should have made reference to what [Ban] said about Palestinian rocket attacks as well as to the 'excessive use of force' by Israel. We have amended the report, also removing the reference to Israeli 'attacks on civilians.'"
As many of you know, the BBC has spent millions of pounds to prevent the release of the Balen Report into its biased coverage of Israel and the 'Palestinians.' Now we see yet again why. Hey Brits - that's your tax schillings at work.
Terrorist came from organization that kidnapped IDF soldier five years ago
Israel Television reports from Hezbullah's al-Manar television in Lebanon is reporting that tonight's terror attack at Yeshivat Merkaz HaRav was carried out by a terror organization called 'Liberators of the Galilee.' The organization carried out the kidnapping of IDF soldier Oleg Shaichat in July 2003. Israel Television confirms that the terrorist was an Arab resident of 'east' Jerusalem, although it is not yet clear whether he had a blue identification card, which would be emblematic of an Israeli citizen.
Al-Manar was also the source of the report I blogged earlier about the IDF surrounding a house in Bethlehem.
"Mem" requested the gag order to remove his name from the media
It turns out that "Mem," the off-duty soldier from the elite IDF combat unit who killed the Jerusalem bulldozer terrorist last Wednesday, was the person behind the belated request that his name not be used in the media after the attack (Hat Tip: Shy Guy).
One of the first phone calls made by the soldier in the Egoz unit who ultimately killed Duwiyat - after he was wounded by a policewoman - was to the soldier's brother-in-law, David Shapira - the army officer that killed the terrorist who infiltrated Merkaz Harav. Shapira, now an officer in the Paratroops Brigade, was in the midst of an exercise in the Golan Heights this week. At the same time, an initial report about the attack in Jerusalem was passed along the chain of command, from Egoz to the Golani Brigade and onward. "That's the Egoz mentality," said one senior officer. "They're taught to be that way from their first week of basic training." And it was, in fact, such a soldier, who had just completed his basic training and was on his first regular furlough, who knew how to establish contact, storm the terrorist and finally end the rampage, although a large number of older police officers were also around.
Shapira had one piece of advice for his brother-in-law: "Stay away from reporters." The Egoz soldier followed these orders. He wrote a brief description of the event, read it into the Israel Defense Forces spokesperson's tape recorder, and avoided any further contact (which didn't stop some media outlets from presenting his comments as if made in an interview). Later, just to be certain, the soldier requested a gag order be put on his name and his photo, although they had already appeared extensively in Israel and abroad following the attack.
It's curious that no one seems to have any problem with his brother-in-law's name being used.
Last week, I reported that 84% of 'Palestinians' supported the murder of eight yeshiva boys at the Merkaz HaRav yeshiva earlier this month. Here's a video of what Hamas' al-Aqsa TV network showed from Gaza that night.
This comes from a lengthier article about the investigation into Thursday night's terror attack at Merkaz HaRav yeshiva in Jerusalem (Hat Tip: Danny in Tokyo).
Jerusalem Police have launched a probe into the police response to the shooting attack in the yeshiva.
Eyewitnesses have said that it took between 15-20 minutes for police to actually enter the building. Ultimately, the first two police officers to arrive did not enter the yeshiva, despite hearing the gunshots.
Instead, one apparently ran down the street to prevent a bus that was traveling to the building from approaching, and a second said that he stood outside to prevent civilians from entering.
In the end, it was an off-duty IDF officer, Capt. David Shapira, who ran past police officers standing outside and entered the building to neutralize the terrorist.
No conclusions have been reached yet in the police inquiry.
Public security minister Avi Dichter has finally ordered the police to destroy the home of Alaa Abu D'Hein, the terrorist who murdered eight students at Yeshivat Merkaz HaRav in Jerusalem last Thursday night.
Public Security Minister Avi Dichter (Kadima) has ordered the police to destroy the home of the terrorist who murdered eight yeshiva students last Thursday night. The order came after six days of deliberations and legal questions.
The Kadima minister told the Knesset earlier in the day that the law allows tearing down the house only if there is proof that the residence serves as a base for terror. Likud MK Gideon Saar scoffed at the delay, pointing out the terrorist's father also has been arrested and that posters praising the killer adorn the mourning tent at the home. Jordan prohibited the establishment of a mourning tent in its country for the terrorist, but Israel allowed the eastern Jerusalem tent to remain standing.
Now don't all go holding your breaths waiting for this to happen. There will be a Supreme Court appeal and if the court agrees to destroying the house there may be some human shields outside - maybe even some 'international' ones. But hopefully no pancakes this time.
Teen who killed bulldozer terrorist was nearly banned from the army
There's an interview on Arutz Sheva's website today with 18-year old M [the Jerusalem Magistrates Court has now forbidden publication of his name. CiJ], the off-duty IDF soldier who shot and killed the bulldozer terrorist on Jaffa Road yesterday and put an end to the carnage. (By the way, I looked online for a photo of M to embed in this post and could not find one; if anyone has one in *.jpg, *.cif, *.bmp or *.png format, please email it to me and I will add it to this post). The interview shows that M is the kind of guy that Israel's left loves to hate.
M did not wish to speak with the media, but hours afterwards read a written statement. He began by calling the attack a "murderous attack on our holy and beloved land, part of the war in which we find ourselves." He then thanked all those who, he said, had a hand in helping him act correctly: "First of all, thanks to G-d, and secondly to the education and upbringing I received, beginning in the Morashah Talmud Torah in Jerusalem, and then the Dimona Yeshiva High School, and then the Yitzhar and Kiryat Arba Hesder yeshivot, and finally to my army training, for helping me act in the way every soldier and citizen should. I also wish to thank my brother-in-law David Shapira for serving as a personal example [Shapira was one of the two who killed the terrorist in Merkaz HaRav earlier this year - ed.] "
"As far as what happened," M continued: "I was bicycling from the center of town [westward] towards my home, when I saw a bulldozer battering a bus lying on its side and a lot of commotion. I immediately realized that it was a terrorist attack. I threw the bicycle to the side, and I ran towards the scene, trying to get as close as I could to the bulldozer so that I could get on it and stop the driver. As I got closer I tried to somehow get a weapon. When the bulldozer stopped, a policeman climbed up, and I climbed up right behind him, screaming at him to shoot."
"Oron Ben-Shimon, with whom I was privileged to cooperate in stopping the terrorist, also climbed up, and he and the policeman tried to stop him with their hands. At first I could not shoot him, because the policeman stood in between us and the terrorist. The terrorist suddenly got up and started to drive again, screaming out Allahu Akbar, and Oron was able to turn the steering wheel so that the bulldozer wouldn't run over more cars. Finally, I was able to grab Oron's gun and shoot over the heads of the policeman and Oron, three bullets to his head. Then a Yassam policeman got on and fired again to ascertain his death."
M can be seen in a blue shirt, outside the bulldozer cabin, in many of the videos of the attack being circulated.
There's also an interview with Oron Ben Shimon in the same post, so make sure to read the whole thing.
But what I found most interesting about M is something that was reported on Israel Radio on Wednesday, but which I have not seen online anywhere. M was nearly banned from the IDF because he had been arrested as a teenager while protesting the expulsion of Gaza's Jews from their homes. The IDF has rejected many of the teens who were so arrested, or has not permitted them to join combat units. M appealed to the IDF and finally convinced them to take him into the elite unit to which he belongs. Many people hope that as a result of M's actions on Wednesday, other teens who have been banned from elite units by the IDF due to their political activism over Gaza will also be allowed to serve in the units of their choice. Even President Shimon Peres called M a hero on Wednesday.
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
