APN's daily news review from Israel
Monday November 2, 2015
Quote of the day:
"You, Israeli reader, should liberate yourself a bit from the Israeli media diet that makes the
situation so shallow; you should liberate yourself from the language of the masters of “civil disorders and
riots.” Instead, watch the uncensored (video) clips from the “battlefield": soldiers in jeeps running
protesters over, a soldier spraying tear gas from point-blank range in the eyes of medics who come to evacuate
the wounded. Soldiers setting on a store owner who brings in his wares while clashes are going on, and the
soldiers kick him in an orgy of sadism."
--Haaretz journalist Amira Hass writes that the young Palestinian demonstrators with their kaffiyeh, stone and Molotov cocktail should be seen for their bravery and not the highly trained Israeli soldiers in armored jeeps with interrogation rooms and late-night break-ins into homes to pull minors from their beds.
--Haaretz journalist Amira Hass writes that the young Palestinian demonstrators with their kaffiyeh, stone and Molotov cocktail should be seen for their bravery and not the highly trained Israeli soldiers in armored jeeps with interrogation rooms and late-night break-ins into homes to pull minors from their beds.
You Must Be Kidding:
"It is clear to all that they are not criminals, and even though they deny any connection (to the acts), even if it is determined that deviated from the guidelines, I think it betrays reality for the Military Court to define them as 'dangerous.'
--The response by the Honenu organization, which defends right-wing Israelis, to the court decision to detain until the end of proceedings the five IDF soldiers who allegedly attached electrodes to a handcuffed and blindfolded Palestinian suspect’s neck and electrocuted him, even increasing the voltage as the detainee begged them to stop. Soldiers are also accused of filming the act on a cell phone.
Breaking News:
Palestinian teen killed at Jenin checkpoint after alleged attack
At Jalama checkpoint north of Jenin, soldiers say they shot two Palestinians who intended to stab them. Sixteen-year-old Ahmed Awad Abu al-Rub of Qabatiya was killed. (Maan, Haaretz and Ynet)
Front Page:
Haaretz
- Minister Kahlon changes the law and significantly cuts construction of affordable housing
- Netanyahu removed the obstacle for approval of the gas (monopoly) agreement and Deri got budget monies
- On the way to 17 years in power, sweeping victory for Erdogan in Turkey
- (Justice Minister) Shaked advancing bill that will require representatives of left-wing organizations to wear identification tags in the Knesset
- Agriculture Minister drying out botanical gardens
Yedioth Ahronoth
- “Eitam fought the terrorists and saved the children” – 30 days since the murder of Naama and Eitam Henkin: Not a single eye was left dry when the grandmother spoke of the children left behind
- He scared them and won – Drama in Turkey: Erdogan warned of civil war if the Kurds get stronger and the masses ran to the polls to strengthen him
- 4 ministries for Netanyahu: Prime Minister, Foreign Minister, Communications Minister, Regional Dvlpmt Minister and Economy Minister – How can one simultaneously run a country and another four different government ministries?
- Agriculture Minister Ariel suggests population transfer of cats to foreign country because spaying them is against Jewish religion
- Who is afraid of a kiss – Special Israeli project brings together people who don’t know each other through a kiss
- Garbage investment – 155 million shekels for failed attempt to (get Israelis) to separate wet garbage into brown garbage containers
Maariv This Week (Hebrew links only)
- Three Border Police wounded in car-ramming attack – wave of terror continues
- Achievement for Erdogan: Absolute majority in Turkish Parliament
- Don’t pull one over on us // Kalman Libskind
- Deri resigned: The gas agreement is liberated (for approval)
- Suspicion: Adv. Shlomo Nes received bribes worth 500 million shekels from Siemens
- Crime and punishment // Ben Caspit
- Following Maariv’s expose: Today, second discussion in Knesset about gambling among youth
Israel Hayom
- Giving gas to the (gas monopoly) agreement – Netanyahu: “In another year, two years, three, everyone will understand that the gas agreement is a must”
- The narrow vision of the socialists // Hezi Sternlicht
- Netanyahu in a leadership move worthy of praise // Haim Shine
- Ministers approved: Children of divorced parents won’t move automatically to mother
- Mother of Naama Henkin: “Eitan saved the four children”
- The Erdogan rule – what the Turks want // Boaz Bismuth
- News for drivers: State to fun security systems in vehicles
- Closing circle: Moishe Holzberg will participate in world conference of Chabad emissaries
News Summary:
The latest violence in the West Bank, the return of four bodies of alleged Palestinian attackers, the advancing of the controversial gas monopoly agreement and the sweeping victory for President Tayip Erdogan’s AKP party in parliamentary elections were the top stories in today’s Hebrew newspapers.
In Beit Anoun, near Hebron, Border Police shot dead a young man, who a witness said was far from the main street, where clashes took place.
The Border Police said he had a knife and that they chased him before fatally shooting him. A Palestinian paramedic said the Israeli forces would not allow their medics to examine the young man and witnesses added that Israeli forces also assaulted journalists who tried to come close to scene, forcing them to leave the area. The forces took him away in a body bag and the Palestinian Authority does not know yet who he is.
In the evening at the entrance to the same village, three Israeli Border Police officers were wounded in what the IDF believes was a car-ramming attack. Soldiers opened fire at the car, but the driver fled the scene. Hours later he turned himself in to the police, when the place he was hiding was found, claiming it was an accident. The driver was arrested and transferred to Shin Bet custody for interrogation. Maariv reported that the Israeli security services were relieved that he did not turn himself in to the Palestinian security services, as they would likelky not have turned them over to the Israelis, as is the case with another Palestinian driver.
Israel released four more bodies of alleged Palestinian attackers, despite the protests of the parents of Oron Shaul, whose body is held by Hamas in Gaza, and despite the cabinet decision three weeks ago not to release any. Thousands marched in the funerals of Raed Jaradat, 22, and Mahmoud Ghneimat, 20, in Sair and Surif villages near Hebron. The release of the bodies was due to the unique protest by Palestinians in Hebron, Ynet’s Elior Levy reported. ‘Hundreds of Palestinians came to a checkpoint in Hebron. At first they confronted security forces there, but after a few minutes the leaders managed to calm the crowd and began negotiating for the return of the bodies on the spot. Two days later, five bodies of Hebron terrorists were given back to their families. To Israel’s chagrin, they were given lavish funerals and official PA ceremonies,’ wrote Levy. In a fascinating article, Isa Amar, one of the main activists, tells Levy that it was those talks that led to the IDF returning the bodies. However, Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon threatened to stop returning the remainder of the corpses if the Palestinians did not hold quiet funerals at night, which Hebronites reject. “The families are saying something very simple: Our children are not thieves and we don’t need to bury them in hiding at night,” the activist, Amar, told Ynet. “It doesn’t make sense for someone to agree to that.” Amar suggests a compromise that would work for the Hebronites and be good for Israel.
Sunday evening, Israel returned the bodies of two alleged Palestinians attackers shot dead in Jerusalem. The funerals of Omar al-Faqeh and Muhammad Nathmi Shamasneh, both 23 years old and from Qutna village, are expected to take place today. However, Maariv’s Yasir Ukbi reports that Palestinians said upon receiving his body, they discovered that "Israel stole Muhammad Shamasnah’s corneas."
The latest violence in the West Bank, the return of four bodies of alleged Palestinian attackers, the advancing of the controversial gas monopoly agreement and the sweeping victory for President Tayip Erdogan’s AKP party in parliamentary elections were the top stories in today’s Hebrew newspapers.
In Beit Anoun, near Hebron, Border Police shot dead a young man, who a witness said was far from the main street, where clashes took place.
The Border Police said he had a knife and that they chased him before fatally shooting him. A Palestinian paramedic said the Israeli forces would not allow their medics to examine the young man and witnesses added that Israeli forces also assaulted journalists who tried to come close to scene, forcing them to leave the area. The forces took him away in a body bag and the Palestinian Authority does not know yet who he is.
In the evening at the entrance to the same village, three Israeli Border Police officers were wounded in what the IDF believes was a car-ramming attack. Soldiers opened fire at the car, but the driver fled the scene. Hours later he turned himself in to the police, when the place he was hiding was found, claiming it was an accident. The driver was arrested and transferred to Shin Bet custody for interrogation. Maariv reported that the Israeli security services were relieved that he did not turn himself in to the Palestinian security services, as they would likelky not have turned them over to the Israelis, as is the case with another Palestinian driver.
Israel released four more bodies of alleged Palestinian attackers, despite the protests of the parents of Oron Shaul, whose body is held by Hamas in Gaza, and despite the cabinet decision three weeks ago not to release any. Thousands marched in the funerals of Raed Jaradat, 22, and Mahmoud Ghneimat, 20, in Sair and Surif villages near Hebron. The release of the bodies was due to the unique protest by Palestinians in Hebron, Ynet’s Elior Levy reported. ‘Hundreds of Palestinians came to a checkpoint in Hebron. At first they confronted security forces there, but after a few minutes the leaders managed to calm the crowd and began negotiating for the return of the bodies on the spot. Two days later, five bodies of Hebron terrorists were given back to their families. To Israel’s chagrin, they were given lavish funerals and official PA ceremonies,’ wrote Levy. In a fascinating article, Isa Amar, one of the main activists, tells Levy that it was those talks that led to the IDF returning the bodies. However, Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon threatened to stop returning the remainder of the corpses if the Palestinians did not hold quiet funerals at night, which Hebronites reject. “The families are saying something very simple: Our children are not thieves and we don’t need to bury them in hiding at night,” the activist, Amar, told Ynet. “It doesn’t make sense for someone to agree to that.” Amar suggests a compromise that would work for the Hebronites and be good for Israel.
Sunday evening, Israel returned the bodies of two alleged Palestinians attackers shot dead in Jerusalem. The funerals of Omar al-Faqeh and Muhammad Nathmi Shamasneh, both 23 years old and from Qutna village, are expected to take place today. However, Maariv’s Yasir Ukbi reports that Palestinians said upon receiving his body, they discovered that "Israel stole Muhammad Shamasnah’s corneas."
Quick Hits:
- IDF Inquiry: Shooting of Palestinian Girl in Hebron Could Have Been Avoided - Despite eyewitness accounts to the contrary, Israeli army inquiry concludes that Hadeel al-Hashlamoun, 18, was carrying a knife. That said, the Palestinian teenager could have been detained and not killed. (Haaretz+)
- In an Exceptional Step Israeli Police Order Temple Mount Activists Out of Capital - Dov Morel, 21, of the “Return to the Mount” movement, which is identified with the outlawed Kach movement, was ordered to stay out of the entire city for six months. Morel, wh lives in Talmon settlement, is also barred from contacint other Temple Mount activists. (Haaretz+)
- Ultra-Orthodox Soldier Indicted on Two Charges of Abusing Palestinian Detainees - Fifth member of IDF Netzah Yehuda Battalion to be indicted for applying an electric current to one of the detainees with a medical device. (Haaretz+, Times of Israel and Maariv)
- Palestinian dresses up as Hasidic Jew to avoid harassment - Nasser, a maintenance worker at a yeshiva, finds a creative way to move around freely in Jerusalem's ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods, with a little help from his Haredi friends. (Ynet)
- Justice Ministry to Introduce Bill Demanding Foreign Funded NGOs Wear Special Tag in Knesset - NGOs receiving funding from foreign governments, the vast majority of which are on the left, could be required to mark their documents and representatives. (Haaretz+)
- Hotovely: Foreign Ministry cadets to tour settlements and get right-wing course content - "It is important that ambassadors be able to deal with the challenge of the boycott of Israel and the delegitimization of our right to self-defense," says deputy FM. Diplomats tell Haaretz it's nothing new. (Maariv/JPost, Haaretz+ and Israel Hayom)
- Palestinian rammed by Israeli army jeep in 'stable condition' - Widely circulated video footage shows the moment an Israeli military jeep rammed into Maher Ghanem al-Froukh, before soldiers disembarked the vehicle and assaulted him while holding back medics. (Maan)
- IDF uses revolutionary treatment to save life of Palestinian stabber - Army medical officer describes cutting-edge technique utilized by his team on Friday to treat dying attacker who had just tried to kill a border guard. (Times of Israel)
- Israeli soldiers tell Palestinians: ‘We will gas you until you die" - Israeli military forces issued a disturbing message to residents of Aida refugee camp in Bethlehem on Thursday, telling them that unless they stopped throwing stones "we will gas you until you die." (Maan+VIDEO)
- Former Knesset Member Starts One-year Term for Visiting Enemy State Syria - Ex-Balad MK Said Naffaa calls the conviction 'political revenge' and says contacts with neighboring Arab countries are necessary. (Haaretz+)
- Shin Bet Head Says There Is Not Sufficient Cause to Outlaw Islamic Movement - Contrary to Netanyahu's movement, Shin Bet chief Yoram Cohen cites evidence linking the group to incitement, but not terror, so only the organization’s funding sources should be targeted. (Haaretz+)
- IDF warns soldiers against CIA recruitment efforts - Unusual letter issued by Military Intelligence calls on all soldiers and officers to ‘remain alert and report any unusual incidents.' (Times of Israel)
- Israeli Who Stabbed Jew He Mistook for Arab Charged With Attempted Murder - Shlomo Pinto stabbed an Israeli Jew in a supermarket in the north as part of what prosecutors claim was a 'racist' crime. (Haaretz+ and Ynet)
- Helen Mirren: I love Israel, it's a great country - Award-winning British actress honored at 29th Israel Film Festival (IFF) in Los Angeles alongside American screenwriter Aaron Sorkin. 'The great thing that Israel has is Israelis, and they will guide it through,' Mirren says upon accepting Career Achievement Award. (Ynet)
- Dozens attend 'funeral' of 13-year-old's amputated leg in Bethlehem - Dozens of Palestinians on Saturday attended the "funeral" of 13-year-old Issa Ahmad Adnan al-Muti's leg that Israeli doctors were forced to amputate after the child was shot and wounded by Israeli forces in September. (Maan)
- East Jerusalem Man Arrested for Aiding Assailant in Deadly Old City Stabbing Attack - Meanwhile, two Israeli Arabs was charged with perpetrating two separate terror attacks. (Haaretz+)
- Left-wing incitement: Director compares Netanyahu to Hitler
- - Director Orna Ben Dor muses on Facebook: Did "decent" Germans just go on with their lives when Hitler rose to power? Clarifies she didn't mean to compare Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Hitler. Likud decries "foul wave" of incitement against PM. (Israel Hayom)
- Israeli forces detain mayor of Nablus area village and his son - Israeli soldiers stormed Qusra village ransacked the home of the village’s mayor, Hussein Abu Reida, 55, and detained him along with his son Tariq, 33. Four Palestinian Legislative Council members being held in Israeli prisons, including Khalida Jarrar. (Maan)
- Hundreds of Arabs and Jews at a Rabin memorial rally in Bedouin town of Rahat: "We are together along this road" - About 400 residents of the Negev Bedouin town gathered in a show of unity in memory of assassinated prime minister Saturday. MK Yellin: "Our job as residents of the Negev is to show that you can live together and not by the sword." (Maariv)
- Gaza family is first to return to rebuilt home after 2014 conflict - Over a year after Operation Protective Edge, the al-Zaza family is moving back into their rebuilt home; much international funding to reconstruct Gaza has not been delivered. (Ynet)
- Ben-Gurion's Secret Love Letters to His Mistress to Go on Sale - Israeli auction house offering telegrams written by Israelis first prime minister to his lover - a 26-year-old Jewish Viennese medical student. (JTA, Haaretz)
- Pro-Palestinian activists march on Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires - Demonstrators carry Palestinian flags and banners blaming Israeli government for recent wave of Palestinian terror. Organizers call for boycott and for Argentinian government to "bluntly condemn this recent Israeli escalation of repression and death." (Israel Hayom)
- Turkey Set to Return to Single-party Rule in Boost for Erdogan - With 97.5 percent of votes counted, Erdogan's party is on 49.4 percent, while the main opposition CHP is at 25.4 percent, state-run TV reports. (Haaretz)
- UK building first permanent Middle East base since 1971 - The military base in Bahrain is aimed at helping Britain and its allies "reinforce stability in the Gulf and beyond," says British Foreign Secretary. (Ynet)
- Moscow: Russian Plane Broke Up Midair Over Egypt's Sinai - Fragments of the plane were found scattered over a large area, indicating it disintegrated high in the air, Russian aviation official says. (Agencies, Haaretz)
Features:
Ten Bullets, and She Never Got Near the Israeli Soldiers
With a matter-of-fact, almost technical tone, the doctor described the wounds from Israeli army guns that led to the death of Hadeel al-Hashlamoun, 18. The soldiers shot her while she was lying on the ground wounded. The detached tone only broke sometimes, as the doctor’s voice shook or was raised for a moment. After all, Dr. Saleh al-Hashlamoun is the young woman’s father. (Amira Hass, Haaretz+)
Why Can't Israeli Arabs Find Jobs in High-tech?
Israeli-Arab engineering graduates get the cold shoulder when they try to find work in Startup Nation. 'My Jewish classmates with similar grades have had jobs for several months at companies I’ve applied to' is an all-too-common gripe. (Haim Bior, Haaretz+)
Rabin’s Legacy in Art Israelis Deal With the Loss of Rabin Through Art
20 years after Rabin’s murder, Israeli culture still finds it difficult to grapple with the trauma. (Ofer Aderet, Haaretz+)
Commentary/Analysis:
With a matter-of-fact, almost technical tone, the doctor described the wounds from Israeli army guns that led to the death of Hadeel al-Hashlamoun, 18. The soldiers shot her while she was lying on the ground wounded. The detached tone only broke sometimes, as the doctor’s voice shook or was raised for a moment. After all, Dr. Saleh al-Hashlamoun is the young woman’s father. (Amira Hass, Haaretz+)
Why Can't Israeli Arabs Find Jobs in High-tech?
Israeli-Arab engineering graduates get the cold shoulder when they try to find work in Startup Nation. 'My Jewish classmates with similar grades have had jobs for several months at companies I’ve applied to' is an all-too-common gripe. (Haim Bior, Haaretz+)
Rabin’s Legacy in Art Israelis Deal With the Loss of Rabin Through Art
20 years after Rabin’s murder, Israeli culture still finds it difficult to grapple with the trauma. (Ofer Aderet, Haaretz+)
Commentary/Analysis:
Leave Peres alone: If the Oslo Accords led to terrorism, why didn’t the government cancel them?
(Yoram Dori, Maariv) The new hobby of blaming the Oslo Accords for ever act of terrorism is at best, a
cowardly ganging up on the former president, and at worst, a sad and distressing escape from
responsibility.
Without brakes (Ran Adelist, Maariv) 20 years after the assassination, the IDF of Rabin is still battling against the Cossacks who are operating in the field under the auspices of their politicians and the campaigns of despair.
The war that never ends (Mordechai Bahiri-Douani, Israel Hayom) Why is a terrorist car-ramming attack cause for outrage while the near-daily fatal car accidents in Israel are viewed with apathy?
Don’t pull one over on us (Kalman Libskind, Maariv) Libsking complains that the Meretz and Peace Now signs, and the speeches by Yonatan Ben-Artzi, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama made the rally marking the 20th anniversary since Rabin’s murder into a left-wing event and not one that embraces also the right-wing Israelis.
Local Leaders, Jews and Arabs, Should Be at the Helm (Odeh Bisharat, Haaretz+) At the top we see incitement against Arabs, while at the base, in the Galilee and elsewhere, local leaders are doing the right thing.
Road to nowhere: Are we are at the beginning of the inevitable end? (Haim Etgar, Maariv) Haim Etgar talks about his history teacher in high school who bequeathed to him the simple perception that every empire or civilization has its climax and also its painful fall. When I grew up I spent a long period in the history department at Tel Aviv University, and I realized, there are times when things have gone according to other scenarios. Such entities, for example, in which stable, confident leaders who had declared eternal existence, collapsed rather slowly - bite by bite - until nothing remained of them. Corruption, confusion, lousy management and hatred crumbled great powers and sent people to the diaspora. These days I find myself wondering whether we too are on the path there. Sometimes I think that is the direction. With your permission, do an exercise with me. Stop for a moment the routine of your life and notice the little things that happen around you, the things that make the quality of life, and that may suggest the direction in which we are going. (The author lists the broken sidewalk, the criminals who beat his neighbor, the police couldn’t help, the electricity fails in the first winter storm, gaps in education, rats in the hospitals, bus doesn’t come.)…Oh, and the hatred, the hatred. Leftists hate the right. Right despise the media. The media gets abuse from viewers. The boy scouts beat Arabs. Arab respond with blood, fire, we will redeem al-Aqsa and in retaliation they lynch and stab at a industrial rate. After a visit to Damascus Gate in Jerusalem, I finally gave up, when the people I met wished me to choke on Zyklon B. This was not a metaphor. That's what they said… We want to enjoy our time, but maybe it's time to admit that the golden that we knew is over, and that it is going to become more difficult, especially in everyday life. The final disintegration seems to me inevitable. For a pessimist like me, the only hope is that it will happen slowly.
Dismantling and assembling: East Jerusalem Arabs are caught between a rock and a hard place (Sarah Beck, Maariv) Instead of Netanyahu’s plan to revoke their citizenship, the right-wing should adopt the line of the Minister of Education Naftali Bennett, who lead an unprecedented investment in East Jerusalem and wants to give a horizon of coexistence for those who want it.
Israel Faces Tough Dilemma Over Bodies of Palestinian Terrorists (Amos Harel, Haaretz+) The question of whether or not to return bodies of Palestinian terrorists to the PA, especially from the Hebron region, is dividing the defense establishment.
Recent Palestinian Violence Is Just Another Example of Worldwide Islamic Terror (Moshe Arens, Haaretz+) Don't blame latest terror wave on breakdown of peace talks. These terrorists cannot be appeased. Their aim is death to the infidels — to the Jews and the 'Crusaders.'
Anti-Right incitement rages on (Dr. Haim Shine, Israel Hayom) The bullets fired by Yigal Amir did not kill peace. Rather, it was the Palestinians who did so by never coming to terms for even a moment with Israel's existence.
Israel’s Violent Cowardice Faces Palestinian Bravery Untold (Amira Hass, Haaretz+) Israeli soldiers have gotten used to feeling heroic in their planes, tanks and armored jeeps, but now they’re dying of fear as vengefulness erupts. We won’t say thank you that the soldiers in the West Bank aren’t spraying the protesters with live bullets and killing 10 at once, as they killed the protesters in Gaza. We can assume they received orders to try not to kill demonstrators. It turns out that when the army wants to, it can operate without killing. Does this mean the soldiers and police received orders to kill anyone a few meters from them suspected of possessing a knife? Including a yeshiva student whom they mistake for an Arab? True, in contrast to the bravery and daring of the many protesters is the desperation of others. Without orders from above they run to their deaths, waving a knife, because in such situations it’s clear the Israeli soldiers are dying of fear, and their cowardice is deadly...
They won: Yigal Amir is one of the most successful political assassins in history (Ben Caspit, Maariv) The battle over whether Peres would particpate in the rally marking 20 years since the murder makes it clear: not only was the Prime Minister assassinated and the peace process was buried, but also memory was rewritten. And: What motivates Deri and the Divine promise of Hotovely…
Israeli Media Is Another Example of Crony Capitalism (Haaretz Editorial) Netanyahu’s few months as communications minister have proven to be dangerous for journalistic freedom and costly to the Israeli consumer.
Without brakes (Ran Adelist, Maariv) 20 years after the assassination, the IDF of Rabin is still battling against the Cossacks who are operating in the field under the auspices of their politicians and the campaigns of despair.
The war that never ends (Mordechai Bahiri-Douani, Israel Hayom) Why is a terrorist car-ramming attack cause for outrage while the near-daily fatal car accidents in Israel are viewed with apathy?
Don’t pull one over on us (Kalman Libskind, Maariv) Libsking complains that the Meretz and Peace Now signs, and the speeches by Yonatan Ben-Artzi, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama made the rally marking the 20th anniversary since Rabin’s murder into a left-wing event and not one that embraces also the right-wing Israelis.
Local Leaders, Jews and Arabs, Should Be at the Helm (Odeh Bisharat, Haaretz+) At the top we see incitement against Arabs, while at the base, in the Galilee and elsewhere, local leaders are doing the right thing.
Road to nowhere: Are we are at the beginning of the inevitable end? (Haim Etgar, Maariv) Haim Etgar talks about his history teacher in high school who bequeathed to him the simple perception that every empire or civilization has its climax and also its painful fall. When I grew up I spent a long period in the history department at Tel Aviv University, and I realized, there are times when things have gone according to other scenarios. Such entities, for example, in which stable, confident leaders who had declared eternal existence, collapsed rather slowly - bite by bite - until nothing remained of them. Corruption, confusion, lousy management and hatred crumbled great powers and sent people to the diaspora. These days I find myself wondering whether we too are on the path there. Sometimes I think that is the direction. With your permission, do an exercise with me. Stop for a moment the routine of your life and notice the little things that happen around you, the things that make the quality of life, and that may suggest the direction in which we are going. (The author lists the broken sidewalk, the criminals who beat his neighbor, the police couldn’t help, the electricity fails in the first winter storm, gaps in education, rats in the hospitals, bus doesn’t come.)…Oh, and the hatred, the hatred. Leftists hate the right. Right despise the media. The media gets abuse from viewers. The boy scouts beat Arabs. Arab respond with blood, fire, we will redeem al-Aqsa and in retaliation they lynch and stab at a industrial rate. After a visit to Damascus Gate in Jerusalem, I finally gave up, when the people I met wished me to choke on Zyklon B. This was not a metaphor. That's what they said… We want to enjoy our time, but maybe it's time to admit that the golden that we knew is over, and that it is going to become more difficult, especially in everyday life. The final disintegration seems to me inevitable. For a pessimist like me, the only hope is that it will happen slowly.
Dismantling and assembling: East Jerusalem Arabs are caught between a rock and a hard place (Sarah Beck, Maariv) Instead of Netanyahu’s plan to revoke their citizenship, the right-wing should adopt the line of the Minister of Education Naftali Bennett, who lead an unprecedented investment in East Jerusalem and wants to give a horizon of coexistence for those who want it.
Israel Faces Tough Dilemma Over Bodies of Palestinian Terrorists (Amos Harel, Haaretz+) The question of whether or not to return bodies of Palestinian terrorists to the PA, especially from the Hebron region, is dividing the defense establishment.
Recent Palestinian Violence Is Just Another Example of Worldwide Islamic Terror (Moshe Arens, Haaretz+) Don't blame latest terror wave on breakdown of peace talks. These terrorists cannot be appeased. Their aim is death to the infidels — to the Jews and the 'Crusaders.'
Anti-Right incitement rages on (Dr. Haim Shine, Israel Hayom) The bullets fired by Yigal Amir did not kill peace. Rather, it was the Palestinians who did so by never coming to terms for even a moment with Israel's existence.
Israel’s Violent Cowardice Faces Palestinian Bravery Untold (Amira Hass, Haaretz+) Israeli soldiers have gotten used to feeling heroic in their planes, tanks and armored jeeps, but now they’re dying of fear as vengefulness erupts. We won’t say thank you that the soldiers in the West Bank aren’t spraying the protesters with live bullets and killing 10 at once, as they killed the protesters in Gaza. We can assume they received orders to try not to kill demonstrators. It turns out that when the army wants to, it can operate without killing. Does this mean the soldiers and police received orders to kill anyone a few meters from them suspected of possessing a knife? Including a yeshiva student whom they mistake for an Arab? True, in contrast to the bravery and daring of the many protesters is the desperation of others. Without orders from above they run to their deaths, waving a knife, because in such situations it’s clear the Israeli soldiers are dying of fear, and their cowardice is deadly...
They won: Yigal Amir is one of the most successful political assassins in history (Ben Caspit, Maariv) The battle over whether Peres would particpate in the rally marking 20 years since the murder makes it clear: not only was the Prime Minister assassinated and the peace process was buried, but also memory was rewritten. And: What motivates Deri and the Divine promise of Hotovely…
Israeli Media Is Another Example of Crony Capitalism (Haaretz Editorial) Netanyahu’s few months as communications minister have proven to be dangerous for journalistic freedom and costly to the Israeli consumer.
Interviews:
In the name of God: a meeting with the terrorist who regretted on the way to an attack
Sarah Beck went to Hebron to meet Mohammed Jaber, who was in Islamic Jihad and turned into a believer in peace, and realized that the struggle is really about the future of Islam. (Interviewed by Sarah Beck in Maariv)
This visit, which took place at the peak of a particularly stressful days, started as a telephone conversation Amir Muhammad Sharif Odeh, the Head of the Ahmadiyya Movement in Israel. I interviewed him in the past and we stayed in touch. Now he invited me to join him on a trip to Hebron to visit a terrorist who turned into an Ahmedi, meaning he joined the Islamic sect that believes in peace and tolerance, from a religious perception that opposes violence.
…..
What would you do in Israel’s shoes?
"Four years ago I was in jail and I discovered something that no one understands: All the prisoners who did a murderous act come from the poor worn-down population. No prisoner has a rich father. Whoever has a factory, work or money will not go to commit suicide. He won’t go to jail. Maybe you find a very few who have a good economic situation, but they are influenced by religious clerics. If you do not believe, I'll show you the ones who throw stones. I know them, they are poor children who do not work or go to school. If Israel gives them work permits, then they would be busy dealing with the livelihood of their family. All the Palestinian organizations live off the back of the battered population."
How they accept you at your work that you are an Ahmadiyya?
"They tell me we have a different prayer, different fasting and that our haj (pilgrimage) is different. So I tell them that nothing is different except the interpretation of the Koran. I saw good things in the Ahmadiyya sect, humility, humane people."
The fact that the Jaber family has not been not excommunicated, that Jaber is not afraid and that people continue to buy his orthopedic shoes with small sizes that he crafts by hand for children throughout the West Bank shows a great change has occurred in Hebron. In the past such a family could not be Ahmadiyya for eight years without it being made clear to them that they are unwanted.
Sarah Beck went to Hebron to meet Mohammed Jaber, who was in Islamic Jihad and turned into a believer in peace, and realized that the struggle is really about the future of Islam. (Interviewed by Sarah Beck in Maariv)
This visit, which took place at the peak of a particularly stressful days, started as a telephone conversation Amir Muhammad Sharif Odeh, the Head of the Ahmadiyya Movement in Israel. I interviewed him in the past and we stayed in touch. Now he invited me to join him on a trip to Hebron to visit a terrorist who turned into an Ahmedi, meaning he joined the Islamic sect that believes in peace and tolerance, from a religious perception that opposes violence.
…..
What would you do in Israel’s shoes?
"Four years ago I was in jail and I discovered something that no one understands: All the prisoners who did a murderous act come from the poor worn-down population. No prisoner has a rich father. Whoever has a factory, work or money will not go to commit suicide. He won’t go to jail. Maybe you find a very few who have a good economic situation, but they are influenced by religious clerics. If you do not believe, I'll show you the ones who throw stones. I know them, they are poor children who do not work or go to school. If Israel gives them work permits, then they would be busy dealing with the livelihood of their family. All the Palestinian organizations live off the back of the battered population."
How they accept you at your work that you are an Ahmadiyya?
"They tell me we have a different prayer, different fasting and that our haj (pilgrimage) is different. So I tell them that nothing is different except the interpretation of the Koran. I saw good things in the Ahmadiyya sect, humility, humane people."
The fact that the Jaber family has not been not excommunicated, that Jaber is not afraid and that people continue to buy his orthopedic shoes with small sizes that he crafts by hand for children throughout the West Bank shows a great change has occurred in Hebron. In the past such a family could not be Ahmadiyya for eight years without it being made clear to them that they are unwanted.
Prepared for APN by Orly Halpern, independent freelance journalist based in Jerusalem.