Jewish news briefs: August 20, 2015

jns logo short version

Suspending Palestinian hunger striker’s detention rewards terror, MKs say

(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) Israel’s High Court of Justice on Wednesday suspended the administrative detention of Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist Mohammad Allan. The unusual move followed a hunger strike of more than 60 days staged by Allan and prompted a number of Israeli Knesset members to argue that the decision marks a reward for terrorism.

Allan has been hospitalized at the Barzilai Medical Center in Ashkelon for several weeks. Wednesday’s ruling, rendered in a closed-door hearing, is believed to have stemmed from the revelation that Allan, 31, has suffered brain damage as a result of his hunger strike.

Barzilai Director Dr. Hezi Levy informed Allan of the decision, and the latter agreed to end his hunger strike. Nevertheless, due to his severe medical condition, doctors decided to sedate him for treatment.

“This decision is a direct result of the position taken by the Israel Medical Association (IMA), headed by Dr. Leonid Eidelman, on the issue of refusing to treat hunger strikers until they lose consciousness and there are concerns of irreparable damage. It is time the IMA and its director respect the law instead of taking action that ultimately lead to terrorists’ release,” Israeli Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan (Likud) said Wednesday.

Culture and Sport Minister MK Miri Regev (Likud) said, “The High Court of Justice has capitulated to terrorist extortion. Allan is the inventor of a new suicide system, targeting Israel’s justice system and humanity.”

Deputy Defense Minister Eli Ben Dahan (Habayit Hayehudi) said the ruling “compromises national security. It’s giving in to one detainee’s blackmail, and it effectively rewards terrorism. It may lead to mass hunger strikes by security prisoners.”

MK Yoav Kisch (Likud) said, “Releasing the hunger-striking detainee is a prize for terrorism. Israel is fighting Palestinian terrorism, and part of that fight includes administrative detention. Without this measure we would suffer many more casualties. It’s unthinkable that we’ll capitulate to terrorism and release them.”
*

IDF soldier wounded by explosive device south of Jerusalem

(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) An Israeli soldier was moderately wounded Wednesday night when an improvised explosive device was thrown at an Israel Defense Forces position overlooking a main highway in the Beit Jala area south of Jerusalem.

The wounded soldier, a member of the Kfir Brigade, was transported to a hospital in Jerusalem for medical treatment. The IDF launched a extensive search of the area where the attack took place in an effort to find the perpetrator.

Earlier on Wednesday, two Israelis, including a two-year-old girl, were lightly wounded when rocks were thrown at their vehicle on Route 45 north of Jerusalem. The rocks, which shattered the vehicle’s windshield, were thrown from a Palestinian area alongside the road. The toddler was transported to Shaare Tzedek Medical Center in Jerusalem for medical treatment. She was later released after her wounds were treated.
*

Report: U.N. to let Iran carry out its own inspections of Parchin nuclear site

(JNS.org) The United Nations agency responsible for nuclear inspections has its own separate side agreement with Iran that allows the Islamic Republic to carry out its own inspections at the Parchin nuclear site.

As part the deal, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will diverge from its normal procedure of inspecting the nuclear sites and will let Iran “employ its own experts and equipment in the search for evidence or activities that it has consistently denied—trying to develop nuclear weapons,” the Associated Press reported.

According to the report, the Parchin deal is a side agreement that was worked out by the IAEA and Iran, apart from the larger nuclear agreement between Iran and the P5+1 nations, who were briefed about the side deal but not directly involved with it.

Republican U.S. lawmakers—who are in the midst of their 60-day period to review the Iran nuclear agreement—were quick to criticize the side deal, which highlights their claim that the larger nuclear deal is flawed because it is built on trusting the usually untrustworthy Iranians.

“Trusting Iran to inspect its own nuclear site and report to the U.N. in an open and transparent way is remarkably naive and incredibly reckless. This revelation only reinforces the deep-seated concerns the American people have about the agreement,” said U.S. Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), the Senate’s Majority Whip.
*

Spanish music festival reinvites Matisyahu after anti-Semitism backlash

(JNS.org) The organizers of Spain’s Rototom Sunsplash music festival on Wednesday apologized for canceling a concert by Jewish reggae star Matisyahu in response to pressure by local Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement activists. The festival, which had disinvited Matisyahu even though he is not Israeli himself, has reinvited the singer to perform as previously scheduled on Saturday.

Matisyahu’s performance in Spain was originally nixed after he refused to accede to the festival’s demand to endorse a Palestinian state. The Anti-Defamation League called the episode a “clear case of anti-Semitic discrimination.” On Tuesday, the Spanish Foreign Ministry also condemned the decision, saying it “puts into question the principle of non-discrimination on which all plural and diverse societies are based.”

Matisyahu himself had written on his Facebook page that the festival’s move “was appalling and offensive, that as the one publicly Jewish-American artist scheduled for the festival they were trying to coerce me into political statements. Were any of the other artists scheduled to perform asked to make political statements in order to perform? No artist deserves to be put in such a situation simply to perform his or her art.”

The festival’s organizers said in a statement Wednesday that they “would like to publicly apologize to Matisyahu for having canceled his concert and invite him to perform at the festival next Saturday 22 August, as was initially programmed in the lineup.” The festival admitted that the cancelation was a result of “the boycott and the campaign of pressure, coercion and threats employed by the BDS País Valencià.”

World Jewish Congress President Ronald Lauder said, “The organizers have done the honorable thing and apologized. However, this affair leaves us with a sour taste in our mouths. It was yet another example of how anti-Jewish attitudes, dressed up as vicious and unfair criticism of Israel, are still widespread, and are especially prevalent in a number of far-left global political parties. This affair also showed that the BDS movement is rotten at its core: Although pretending to fight racism, it is fuelled by anti-Semitism. It’s time people realize that and stop listening to this vicious form of propaganda.”
*

Portugal archaeologists discover remains of Jews persecuted by Inquisition

(JNS.org) Archaeologists digging at a site in Evora, Portugal, discovered a dozen bodies they believe to be Jews who were persecuted by the Inquisition and “unceremoniously dumped outside the Inquisition Court along with regular garbage.”

Based on plans of the building in which the skeletons were discovered, the archaeologists say the area where they were found was a trash disposal site associated with the court of the Inquisition used from 1568-1634.

“The sediment surrounding the skeletons is indistinguishable from the household waste layer where they were placed, suggesting that the bodies were deposited directly in the dump,” the archaeologists said in an article published in a recent issue of the Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, according to Forbes. This led them to believe that the people who were disposed of in this manner were considered heretics, and prison records indicate that they were Jewish.

*
Articles from JNS.org appear on San Diego Jewish World through the generosity of Dr. Bob and Mao Shillman