Palestinian driver indicted in fatal Jerusalem car-ramming attack
(JNS.org) The Jerusalem District Court on Monday indicted Palestinian driver Khaled Koutineh, 37, for the car-ramming and murder of 26-year-old Jewish man Shalom Yohai Sherki in Jerusalem on April 15. Shira Klein, 20, was seriously wounded in the alleged vehicular attack.
The judges wrote in their indictment that Koutineh decided to carry out a terrorist attack against Jews after he and his family were delayed for inspection at the Anata security checkpoint in eastern Jerusalem. The site of the vehicular attack was on a main axis that separates eastern and western Jerusalem. That axis has seen four car-ramming attacks over the past year.
Koutineh’s attorney claimed that “this was a regular car accident. It was raining heavily at the time.”
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Shin Bet exposes Palestinian terrorist cell in Judea and Samaria
(JNS.org) Israeli security forces recently arrested six Palestinians suspected of perpetrating several terrorist attacks, the Shin Bet security agency revealed Monday. They were arrested in a joint operation by the Israel Defense Forces, the Shin Bet, and the Judea and Samaria District Police.
The six suspects—identified as Mahmad Arhim Naif Satuf, 22, Basel Khaled a-Rauf Rimawi, 20, Wasim Eilan Osama Halabi, 19, Mahmoud Amil Ghasem Rimawi, 19, Mahmad Namer Mohammed Dar Satuf, 23, and Mahmad Fahr Nashaat Dar Taah, 20—were all residents of the Palestinian village of Beit Rima. They are suspected of throwing pipe-bombs and Molotov cocktails at the Jewish community of Halamish and the Elisha pre-military academy, north of Ramallah, in January and February 2015.
According to information released by the Shin Bet, the cell assembled firebombs using scrap pipes and firecrackers, and used a vehicle owned by Satuf to carry out at least five attacks. The vehicle has been confiscated by the police.
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Iran at U.N.: Israel’s nuclear arsenal a threat to Middle East
(JNS.org) Amid international scrutiny of his own country’s nuclear program, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said Monday that Israel is a threat to the Middle East due to its purported nuclear weapons arsenal.
Speaking on behalf of the 120-nation Non-Aligned Movement at a meeting of the 1970 nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), Zarif demanded during an address at the United Nations that Israel “renounce” its alleged nuclear weapons arsenal.
Israel maintains ambiguity regarding its nuclear program, neither confirming nor denying that it has nuclear weapons. Israel has sent an observer to the month-long NPT conference for the first time in decades.
Zarif said the non-aligned states view Israel’s nuclear arsenal as “a serious and continuing threat to the security of neighboring and other states, and condemned Israel for continuing to develop and stockpile nuclear arsenals,” Reuters reported.
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U.N. report on Gaza war slams both Israel and Hamas
(JNS.org) A United Nations inquiry into last summer’s war in Gaza criticized Israeli actions during the conflict, while also slamming Hamas for using U.N. schools to store and fire rockets.
The U.N. only released a summary of the 207-page report and a cover letter written by U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon. The internal inquiry, led by retired Dutch general Patrick Cammaert, is the first U.N. report to be issued on the Gaza conflict.
In his cover letter, Ban said he “deplored” Israeli actions that allegedly led to the deaths of 44 Palestinians at a U.N. building that was being used as a shelter during the conflict.
The report noted that the Israeli military said it was targeting Hamas rocket arsenals, not U.N. sites. Ban also said he was “dismayed” that “Palestinian militant groups would put United Nations schools at risk by using them to hide their arms.”
“The fact that they were used by those involved in the fighting to store their weaponry and, in two cases, probably to fire from is unacceptable,” Ban wrote.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry said that “all of the incidents attributed by the report to Israel have already been subject to thorough examinations, and criminal investigations have been launched where relevant. … Israel makes every effort to avoid harm to sensitive sites.”
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Local candidate in U.K. election says she can’t support Ed Miliband ‘the Jew’
(JNS.org) A British candidate for local political office in the suburb of Derby has been suspended ahead of the May 7 United Kingdom parliamentary election after a comment she made on Facebook referring to Labour Party leader Ed Miliband, who is Jewish, as “the Jew.”
In her Facebook comment, council candidate Gulzabeen Afsar of the Conservative Party wrote that she “just can’t take Mr Ed Miliband seriously!” and that “Never ever will I drop that low and support the Al Yahud!” Al Yahud means “the Jew” in Arabic. She later apologized and removed the post.
But the chairman of the local Conservative Party association, Philip Hickson, said that “there is no place in the Conservative Party for these comments or attitudes either in Derby or anywhere else.”
“The comment was offensive and totally unacceptable and cannot be tolerated under any circumstances,” said Hickson, the BBC reported.
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Berlin police apologize for removing Israeli flag displayed at soccer game
(JNS.org) German police apologized for removing an Israeli flag that was on display during a soccer game in Berlin.
The flag was displayed during a game between Berlin’s 1. FC Union and FC Ingolstadt on Sunday in support of Almog Cohen, an Israeli player for Ingolstadt. But Berlin police ordered it to be removed.
“I saw how our fans were taking down the Israeli flag. They told me that they did so on the orders of the police,” Cohen told the German newspaper Bild. “I asked if the flags of other countries were also prohibited. He told me, ‘No, only the Jewish flag.’ That shocked me.”
Klaus Kandt, president of the Berlin police, said Monday, “It’s the police’s job to protect the freedom of expression. The demand to roll up the flag was the incorrect decision for which I apologize to all those concerned.”
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Articles from JNS.org appear on San Diego Jewish World through the generosity of Dr. Bob and Mao Shillman.
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