(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) Arab media outlets reported on Wednesday that Yemeni security forces recently arrested a man with both Israeli and Yemeni citizenship on suspicion of spying for the Mossad.
According to reports from Yemen, the man, known as Ali Abdullah Muhsin Al-Haimi Al-Sayaghi or Ibrahim Al-Dir’i, was arrested two weeks ago in the southern region of the Arabian Peninsula country. After his arrest, the alleged spy was reportedly transferred for questioning to a Yemeni intelligence facility in Aden.
Meanwhile, it was reported in Egypt on Wednesday that an Israeli man who was detained in the Sinai Peninsula last week was still being held at an interrogation facility in Sinai and had not been moved to Cairo.
According to the Egyptian reports, Andre Yaacoub, a 24-year-old former sergeant in the Israel Defense Forces, illegally crossed the border from Israel into Egypt in a mountainous area near Taba.
An Egyptian legal official was quoted as saying that Yaacoub had been questioned about his military past and his photographing of security sites in Sinai. According to the official, Yaacoub did not provide satisfactory answers to these questions. The official clarified that Yaacoub is currently suspected only of infiltration, not espionage.
AP corrects story on Gaza construction ban after CAMERA notes error
(JNS.org) The Associated Press (AP) posted a clarification regarding a Dec. 31 story in which it reported that Israel imposed a ban on construction materials entering the Gaza Strip for more than five years.
After communication from the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America (CAMERA), the AP acknowledged that the Israeli ban was only applicable to Gaza’s private sector, and that Israel still allowed construction goods to enter Gaza for humanitarian projects. As of 2010, Israel has been allowing the entrance of such materials through projects of the United Nations. Since the ceasefire deal reached with Hamas in November, Israel has also lifted a ban on private businesses, which can now also ship building materials into the area.
“CAMERA commends the AP on its timely and informative clarification,” CAMERA posted on its website, calling on other news organizations that had published the original misleading information by the AP to make the correction as well.
Fatah continues to incite terror against Israel on Facebook
(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) The Fatah Party has taken the opportunity of its 48th anniversary to broadcast messages on its Facebook page that incite hatred, glorify terrorism and envision a world without Israel. Such messages come despite President Shimon Peres recently declaring that “Israel will have no better partner with whom to secure a peace agreement” than Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who also chairs Fatah.
Palestinian Media Watch has examined how Fatah has chosen to celebrate its 48th anniversary, which the Palestinian party has nicknamed “Breakthrough Day.” The institute discovered a plethora of Web pages related to Fatah’s official media and within the PA’s educational system that displayed messages of incitement and accusations against Jews.
Fatah glorified terrorism as acts of heroism on its Facebook page, PMW reported. The Palestinian party—which is the largest faction in the PA—displayed a map on its Web page that showed a world without Israel, despite statements from Abbas and other Fatah officials that their party and the Palestinian Liberation Organization have both recognized the Jewish state since the signing of the Oslo Accords in 1993.
“Through conquering they stole our land,” Web designers wrote against the backdrop of a map of Israel and the Palestinian territories labeled together as “Palestine,” with no semblance of Israel’s borders.
In addition, Fatah has celebrated Dalal Mughrabi—a terrorist and former Fatah member who helped massacre 37 Israeli citizens on a coastal bus attack in 1978—as a national hero through its online publications and party mouthpieces in the West Bank. Children carrying assault rifles are shown singing songs of exultation to Mughrabi.
Pirate Party raids the Israeli election
(JNS.org) In a country long known for fractious political parties, the emergence of the Israeli Pirate Party may top them all.
One of 34 parties competing in the upcoming Jan. 22 election, the Israeli Pirate Party was founded by 33-year-old, ponytailed leader Ohad Shem-Tov, who showed up at the Knesset to register the party wearing a scarf on his head and a hook on his hand, the Associated Press reported.
Influenced by Hollywood movies like “Pirates of the Caribbean” and general western romanticized views of pirates, the groups often wear pirate costumes and speak in pirate voices.
However, the Pirate Party does focus on serious issues. Founded as part of a larger movement of international pirate parties that began in Sweden in 2006, the movement is connected to concerns over the freedom of information, including reforming international copyright and patent law related to the controversial, yet popular Bit Torrent file-sharing platform.
“Dressing up is a gimmick, it’s a way to draw attention,” Shem-Tov admits. “But this party is serious, even if we use a little humor and do it with a smile.”
Attack on Coptic Christian site in Libya leaves two dead
(JNS.org) An explosion at a building belonging to a nearby Coptic Christian church killed two Egyptian men and wounded two others on Dec. 30, Reuters reported.
The attackers threw a homemade bomb at an administrative building belonging to the church, according to local police.
“The explosion seems like it was very strong, and I have started making my investigations with Misurata officials,” said Tareq Dahrouj, the Egyptian consul in the city.
It was the first major assault on a Christian site in Libya since the “Arab Spring” began. Christians in Egypt and Syria have faced numerous attacks and upheaval as a result of the Arab Spring revolutions.
Though modern Libya is predominately a Muslim country, Christianity—like Judaism—has been present there since antiquity. Historically, the Egyptian Coptic Christian Church has claimed jurisdiction over ancient regions of Tripolitania and Cyrenaica located in Libya, and today comprises the majority of Christians in Libya along with European immigrants.
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Preceding provided by JNS.org