In rare procedure, Israeli doctors save Gazan child from paralysis
(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) A rare procedure performed at the Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem has prevented a 3-year-old Palestinian boy from the Gaza Strip from becoming paralyzed. The boy was released from the hospital walking on his own.
Sliman, 3, had developed a benign tumor in his chest, which not only interfered with his respiratory system but also caused a malformation in his spine and limited his range of motion. The tumor posed a risk of causing permanent paralysis in the lower extremities in the future.
This tumor is very rare with only a handful of recorded cases in medical history. It was the first such case to be seen in Israel. The doctors at the Hadassah Medical Center agreed to confront the challenge and decided on a two-stage approach.
The first stage involved a “stretching” of the skeleton with the use of weights in order to facilitate access to the tumor. In the second stage, the doctors excised the tumor as it pressed against the spine in the neck, threatening to cause neural damage at any minute.
During the complex, six-hour surgery, the part of the tumor that had encircled the spine was removed as well as part of the tumor that had grown into the spine. One of the vertebrae was also removed.
“This was a rare procedure not just on a national level, but on a global level,” said Dr. Joshua Schroeder, a senior orthopedic surgeon at Hadassah. “There is almost no documentation of this kind of repair anywhere in the world. Needless to say that this is the first procedure of its kind in Israel….The child arrived at Hadassah with obviously limited range of motion due to the malformation and also required close monitoring of the respiratory system because of the tumor that had spread from his chest to his neck vertebrae. We straightened his spine and alleviated the pressure by removing the tumor from around and inside the spine.”
The boy resumed walking and has been discharged from the hospital. Sliman’s father said that “the doctors at Hadassah were welcoming and helpful. They appear to be miracle workers, with the help of Allah. We are truly grateful.”
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Palestinian terror attack thwarted at crossing north of Jerusalem
(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) Two armed Palestinian terrorists, a male and a female, were shot dead by Israeli security personnel on Wednesday morning at the Qalandiya crossing north of Jerusalem. No Israelis were wounded in the incident.
The two terrorists approached a vehicles-only part of the crossing, which is the main transit point between Jerusalem and Ramallah, by foot. They drew the suspicion of security personnel and did not heed multiple calls to stop. The female terrorist brandished a knife and security personnel subsequently opened fire, killing the terrorists.
Knives were found in the possession of both terrorists. An Israel Police statement said, “The alertness and professional actions of Israel Police officers and Border Police soldiers prevented harm to security personnel and civilians.”
Security forces throughout Jerusalem have been on high alert during the Passover holiday.
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U.S. adopts Israeli military tactic in war against Islamic State in Iraq
(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) The United States is using an early warning tactic developed by the Israel Defense Forces to minimize civilian casualties in American strikes against Islamic State terror targets in Iraq, a U.S. military official revealed Tuesday.
Maj. Gen. Peter Gersten, deputy commander of operations and intelligence for the U.S.-led coalition that is fighting Islamic State, said the U.S. Air Force is now using an early warning method dubbed “roof knocking” to warn the residents of a suspected terrorist hideout that the premises has been targeted.
Developed during Operation Cast Lead, fought in the Gaza Strip in December 2008 and January 2009, this tactic consists of firing a projectile near or above an intended target, signaling to anyone inside to leave the building prior to an aerial strike.
The IDF has been using this warning tactic in every military operation since 2009, with the aim of sparing as many lives as possible.
Speaking with reporters on Tuesday, Gersten said the U.S. Air Force employed the warning signal during its strike on Islamic State targets in Mosul, in northern Iraq, stating that the “tactic and technique were inspired by the Israeli military.”
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U.N. Security Council rejects Israeli sovereignty in the Golan Heights
(JNS.org) The United Nations Security Council unanimously rejected recent statements by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the Golan Heights will permanently remain under Israeli sovereignty.
“Council members expressed their deep concern over recent Israeli statements about the Golan, and stressed that the status of the Golan remains unchanged,” Chinese Ambassador to the U.N. Liu Jieyi, president of the 15-nation Security Council this month, said following a closed-door meeting, Reuters reported.
Jieyi further said that Security Council Resolution 497, which was passed in 1981 when Israel extended civil law over the Golan Heights, means that Israeli administration in the Golan is “null and void and without international legal effect.”
The decision was unanimously adopted by the Security Council, including the United States. Israeli Ambassador to the U.N. Danny Danon said the Security Council’s statement “completely ignores the reality in the Middle East.”
“While thousands of people are being massacred in Syria, and millions of citizens have become refugees, the Security Council has chosen to focus on Israel, the only true democracy in the Middle East,” said Danon, who added, “It’s unfortunate that interested parties are attempting to use the council for unfair criticism of Israel.”
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Retired Saudi general voices support for embassy in Tel Aviv
(JNS.org) Anwar Eshki, a retired major general in the Saudi military, said on Monday that Saudi Arabia would establish an embassy in Tel Aviv in exchange for Israel adopting the Arab Peace Initiative.
“If he (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu) announces that he accepts the initiative and gives all rights to Palestinians, Saudi Arabia will start to make an embassy in Tel Aviv,” Eshki said in an interview with Al Jazeera.
“We do not like Israel becoming isolated in the area,” Eshki added.
After being accused by one of the Al Jazeera program’s anchors of neglecting the Palestinians, especially when they are “being bombed” in Gaza, Eshki said, “I told the Iranians about that: ‘You support the Palestinians by weapons, but we support them with money. When we support the Palestinians with money, we want them to live well, and you give them weapons to destroy themselves.’”
Eshki is no stranger to warm overtures toward Israel. Last year at an event in Washington, DC, he publicly shook hands with Israeli Foreign Ministry Director-General Dore Gold and also conducted an interview with an Israeli TV station.
Originally proposed in 2002, the Arab Peace Initiative—which calls for Israel to completely withdraw to its pre-1967 borders as well as for the return of Palestinian refugees, in exchange for recognition of Israel by the Arab world—has not been pursued by Israel. But Netanyahu has said in the past that there are “positive and negative aspects” to the initiative.
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Egyptian archaeologist claims Passover story’s Pharaoh was not an Egyptian
(JNS.org) The ancient Pharaoh mentioned during the Passover holiday’s annual retelling of the Jewish Exodus story was not actually an Egyptian, a leading Egyptian archaeologist has claimed.
“King Pharaoh who ruled Egypt during the epoch of our prophet Moses was not one of the kings who reigned in ancient Egypt, as we tend to believe. He belonged to the Beduin Jabarin dynasty, which is called ‘Hyksos,’” Mustafa Waziri, director-general of Luxor’s Antiquities, said in an interview with Egyptian daily newspaper Al-Youm Al-Sabih.
“This foreign dynasty ruled only in a part of Egypt. One of its last kings was a dictator named Pharaoh, to whom Moses was sent by Allah to demand that he allow the sons of Israel to leave Egypt,” said Waziri.
Waziri claimed that Jews have been promoting a “false thesis” on Pharaoh to “stick false accusations on ancient Egyptians.”
“Due to his oppressive rule, the Jews have succeeded in transforming his name to a formal title of all Egyptians kings, which enables them to damage us by saying that we have raped women and slaughtered children. However, the Pharaoh title was never used to describe Egyptians, but was always attached to boorish people,” Waziri said.
To back up his assertion, Waziri cited the fact that Islam’s Koran does not use the word “Pharaoh” to describe Egypt or Egyptians, but rather only in reference to a private individual.
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British MP quits shadow cabinet role over Facebook post on Israel’s ‘relocation’
(JNS.org) A British Member of Parliament (MP) who suggested that Israel should be relocated to the United States as a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has quit her post as parliamentary private secretary to Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer John McDonnell, the British Labour party confirmed on Tuesday.
Labour MP Naz Shah—who is staying in the parliament despite quitting her role in the United Kingdom’s “shadow cabinet” (the parliamentary opposition’s alternative cabinet to that of the ruling coalition government)—“unreservedly” apologized for a 2014 Facebook post that included an image of the country of Israel superimposed on a U.S. map, with the comment “solution for the Israel-Palestine conflict.” The Guido Fawkes political website was the first outlet to report on the post.
“Problem solved and save u bank charges for £3 BILLION you transfer yearly!” Shah wrote in the Facebook post.
The post gives a list of reasons for why Israel’s “relocation” plan would be beneficial, such as Palestinians getting “their land and life back.”
“This post from two years ago was made before I was an MP. [It] does not reflect my views and I apologize for any offense it has caused,” Shah said in a statement. “I made these posts at the height of the Gaza conflict in 2014, when emotions were running high around the Middle East conflict. But that is no excuse for the offense I have given.”
Additionally, London’s Jewish Chronicle on Tuesday cited anti-Semitic posts Shah made on Twitter in 2014, alluding that Jews rule the government. Shah is a member of the House of Commons Home Affairs Committee, which is currently investigating the rise of anti-Semitism in the U.K.
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13 Democrats among 17 senators not on letter for increased Israel defense aid
(JNS.org) Among 100 members of the U.S. Senate, 17 lawmakers—13 Democrats, three Republicans, and one independent—decided not to join the strong bipartisan support for a letter arguing that Israel should receive increased annual defense aid from America.
The letter, signed by 83 senators and addressed to President Barack Obama, cites a number of security threats facing Israel that justify “investment in the long-term security requirements” forAmerica’s “closest Middle East ally.” Israel is hoping that its U.S. defense package will rise from the current $3.1 billion per year to between $4 and $4.5 billion annually, while the Obama administration has proposed a target of $3.7 billion.
U.S. Sens. Chris Coons (D-Del.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) initiated the letter, which was not signed by the following 17 senators: Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Tom Carper (D-Del.), Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), Al Franken (D-Minn.), Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Angus King (I-Maine), Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Rand Paul (R-Ky.), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Bernie Sanders (D-Vt.), Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), John Tester (D-Mont.), and Tom Udall (D-N.M.).
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