Palestinian terrorist kills father of five
(JNS.org) A Palestinian terrorist killed a 31-year-old resident of Yitzhar on Tuesday morning at the Tapuach Junction in Samaria, Israel Hayom reported. The victim, named as father of five Evyatar Borovsky, was the first Israeli to be killed in a terror attack in Judea and Samaria since 2011.
A preliminary investigation of the incident suggested that the terrorist, Salam Za’al, a resident of Tulkarem, arrived at the junction armed with a knife. He stabbed the victim, who was waiting at a hitchhiking stop, several times in the chest, and grabbed his handgun. He then opened fire at a nearby Border Police patrol and subsequently tried to flee, but the police officers returned fire and subdued him.
A Border Police spokesman said Za’al had run into a roadblock, preventing him from causing more damage with the stolen gun. He sustained moderate wounds in the exchange of fire.
According to media reports, Za’al had been released from an Israeli prison, where he served a three-year sentence for throwing rocks, less than six months ago. His brother, who is currently jailed in the Palestinian Authority, faced trial on Sunday for allegedly cooperating with Israel. Speculation has been raised that Za’al may have committed the attack in order to restore his family’s honor.
*
Israel receives fifth Dolphin-class submarine
(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) Israel received its fifth advanced Dolphin-class submarine, the INS Rahav, considered one of the most advanced submarines in the world, at a ceremony in the German port city of Kiel on Monday.
The submarine is expected to arrive in Israel in 2014, after undergoing a number of steps required to make it operational. The Israeli Defense Ministry said the new submarine was the most expensive item it had ever acquired for the Israel Defense Forces.
According to foreign reports, the submarine has 10 torpedo tubes capable of launching missiles carrying nuclear warheads. Each Dolphin-class submarine costs around half a billion dollars, with one-third of the cost paid for by the German government.
Dolphin-class submarines are considered to be multipurpose vessels capable of carrying out a diverse range of missions. These submarines are the long arm of the Israel Navy, and, according to foreign reports, provide Israel with second-strike capability in the event of a nuclear conflict, making them an important element of Israeli deterrence of the Iranian nuclear threat. Israeli submarines conduct intensive covert missions from Israel’s shores on a daily basis.
“Iran is continuing its nuclear program. It has yet to cross the red line I presented at the United Nations, but it is approaching it systematically. We cannot let Iran cross it,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday.
*
Hungarian activist assaulted by far-right soccer fans
(JNS.org) The head of a Hungarian human rights organization said he was verbally and physically assaulted by far-right fans at a soccer match in Hungary ahead of a World Jewish Congress meeting.
Ferenc Oroscz, chairman of the Raoul Wallenberg Association, a human rights organization dedicated to Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg, who saved thousands of Hungarian Jews during the Holocaust, said he witnessed several fans at a soccer match in Budapest chanting pro-Nazi slogan such as “Sieg Heil.”
When he attempted to confront the fans on their hate speech, they then verbally assaulted Oroscz, calling him a “Jewish communist.” Later, as Oroscz was leaving the match, he was approached by two men, one who hit him, breaking his nose.
A recent study conducted by Tel Aviv University’s Kantor Center for the Study of Contemporary European Jewry revealed that global anti-Semitism was up 30 percent in 2012, with the largest rise in attacks occurring in economically troubled Europe, specifically in France, Greece, Hungary and Ukraine. In particular, the rise of the far-right Jobbik party in Hungary has alarmed many human rights groups.
“Since Jobbik got into parliament (in 2010), hate speech has gained a lot more ground,” Orosz told Reuters.
Meanwhile, far-right supporters said they will hold a rally against “Bolshevism and Zionism” on the eve of the World Jewish Congress meeting, which is set to begin on Sunday.
*
Massachusetts town a refuge for Egyptian Christians
(JNS.org) A small Massachusetts town has become a growing refuge for Egyptian Christians fleeing persecution in their homeland.
Milford, located approximately 40 miles from Boston, has been drawing increasing numbers of Christians from Egypt, bolstering an existing community of Egyptians who settled in the area in the 1980s and founded St. Mark’s Church in nearby Natick, Mass.
“Milford is one of the most famous cities that has a lot of Egyptians,” Maged Saad told the Boston Globe. “It is just by luck. We have no experience in USA, but we just asked one friend. He is here also.”
As a result, a new church service began in January called the El-Horya (Freedom) Meeting, a satellite service of the Arabic Evangelical Baptist Church of West Roxbury in Boston, which attracted 40-50 local Egyptians.
“Every few weeks we see a new family coming over,” Michael Habib, 32, one of the three men organizing the services, told the Boston Globe. “That’s why we built a good community in Milford.”
Since the 2011 “Arab Spring” revolution that overthrew long-time secular Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Christians in Egypt have come under increasing attacks from Islamic extremists. The new Muslim Brotherhood-led Islamist government has done little to curb the violence amid social and economic decay.
While there are no exact numbers on how many Christians have fled Egypt in recent years, a January 2013 report on Coptic Christians in the U.S. by National Public Radio cited research estimating that 100,000 Coptic Christians have immigrated to the U.S. since the revolution, joining an existing community of 350,000.
*
Preceding provided by JNS.org