PA media blames Israel and Jews for Al-Aqsa Mosque arson by non-Jewish tourist
(JNS.org) A number of official Palestinian Authority (PA) media reports recently blamed Israel and Jews for setting fire to the Al-Aqsa Mosque in the Old City of Jerusalem in 1969, even though the arson was proved to have been committed by non-Jewish Australian tourist Denis Michael Rohan, Palestinian Media Watch reported Aug. 29.
On Aug. 23, PA Minister of Religious Affairs Mahmoud Al-Habbash told PA TV, “Where is the Al-Aqsa Mosque?… It is lost. It was set on fire 44 years ago by criminal hands, in the shadow of a criminal occupation (referring to Israel), and acting in collusion with the criminal occupation (Israel).”
The official PA daily newspaper, Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, wrote,“Today, Wednesday, Aug. 21, is the 44th anniversary of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque fire of 1969, after the radical Jew Michael Denis [Rohan] set fire to the Mosque.” Rohan was a member of a Christian sect, the Worldwide Church of God. He was hospitalized in a mental institution after his trial in Israel.
Also on Aug. 21, a PA TV narrator said, “On August 21, 1969 AD, after East Jerusalem was occupied, one of the Jews set fire to the Al-Aqsa Mosque so that it would go up in flames. The fire completely destroyed its wooden platform, ornaments and southern sections.”
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Feds dismiss complaints on anti-Semitism at three University of California schools
(JNS.org) The Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) dismissed complaints against three University of California (UC) schools—UC Berkeley, UC Santa Cruz, and UC Irvine—which had alleged that anti-Israel activity on campus, and the schools’ insufficient response to that activity, created a hostile environment for Jewish students.
At UC Santa Cruz, the complaint centered on two campus events, including one moderated by a university professor, that featured speakers who were critical of Israel but no speakers offering the alternative perspective; two planned events that never took place, including a “teach-in” titled “Understanding Gaza” that students claimed would be a “one-sided politically motivated event”; and several incidents of anti-Semitic graffiti.
The UC Irvine complaint chronicled incidents including a rabbi being cursed at an anti-Israel demonstration and a student wearing a pro-Israel t-shirt being cursed and yelled at during a Muslim Students Association event.
The Department of Education added protection of Jewish students from anti-Semitism to Title VI in 2010. But after its investigation, OCR concluded in its reports on both schools that the complaints “constituted expression on matters of public concern directed to the university community.” OCR said the campus events in question “do not constitute actionable harassment,” and that at UC Santa Cruz, the school “took prompt action” to investigate and to remove the anti-Semitic graffiti.
“In the university environment, exposure to such robust and discordant expressions, even when personally offensive and hurtful, is a circumstance that a reasonable student in higher education may experience. In this context, the events that the complainants described do not constitute actionable harassment,” OCR said.
Reacting to the OCR decisions, Kenneth L. Marcus—former staff director of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, and current president and general counsel of the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law (LDB), told JNS.org, “Every case stands on its own. We strongly support every student’s freedom of speech, but we also believe that harassment of Jewish students needs to be taken seriously. LDB will continue to support students and faculty who have legitimate claims to civil rights violations on the basis of their Jewish ethnicity.”
Rabbi Aron Hier, director of campus outreach for the Simon Wiesenthal Center, said in a statement that the OCR “failed to address the concerns of American Jewish families, many of whose children have been subject to intimidation, physical and verbal abuse because of their Jewish identity and support for the State of Israel.”
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450 Ethiopian immigrants arrive in Israel, marking end of Jewish Agency operation
(JNS.org) A group of 450 Ethiopian immigrants arrived in Israel on Wednesday, marking the end of Operation Kanfei Yonah (Wings of a Dove).
Since the operation was launched in November 2010, around 7,000 Ethiopian Jews, most of them members of the Falash Mura group, have immigrated to Israel. The Jewish Agency for Israel and the Israeli Immigrant Absorption Ministry jointly ran the operation.
As part of the mission, the Jewish Agency ran a community center in the Ethiopian city of Gondar, with financial aid provided by the Jewish Federations of North America and the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews. At the center, the future immigrants took part in activities to prepare them for life in Israel.
“We have been involved in the aliyah of Ethiopian Jews from the beginning. This is a group that needs to come home,” George W. Mamo, executive vice president of the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, told JNS.org.
“Aliyah has been something that many Christians see as a fulfillment of prophecy and a right of the Jewish people,” Mamo added.
The Ethiopians who have arrived in Israel via Operation Kanfei Yonah have been sent to 17 immigrant absorption centers around Israel.
“This is a moving historical moment,” Jewish Agency Chairman Natan Sharansky said regarding the completion of the operation, according to Israel Hayom.
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IDF reserves summoned, civilians seek gas masks as Israel prepares for West’s Syria strike
(JNS.org) The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has called up reserve soldiers and placed additional Iron Dome batteries in the north as Western allies reportedly prepare to launch a military strike on the Syrian government for its use of chemical weapons.
According to IDF Chief of General Staff Benny Gantz, who briefed the Israeli security cabinet on Wednesday, the military considers it a “low probability” that Syria would strike Israel if Syria is attacked by the U.S. and Western allies.
But the IDF has called up a limited number of reservists as a precautionary measure. As part of the additional preparations, the Israeli Air Force has also deployed Iron Dome batteries in several cities including Haifa, Ashkelon and Eilat, and will place additional batteries in northern towns such as Amakim and Safed.
Meanwhile, Israelis concerned about Syria’s use of chemical weapons flooded post offices and IDF Home Front Command distribution centers to obtain gas masks. Many Israelis were reportedly forced to wait for several hours in line for the masks.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged Israelis to remain calm.
“There is no reason to change our routine,” Netanyahu said in a statement. “We are preparing for every eventuality. The IDF is ready to defend against any threat and to respond with force to any attempt to harm Israel’s citizens.”
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Syria Christians face dilemma as Western powers debate military action
(JNS.org) Caught between the larger Sunni-Shi’a battles for supremacy in Syria, Christians are forced to contemplate an uncertain future as Western powers debate action against the government of Bashar al-Assad.
Syrian Christians are faced with a difficult situation due to the Syrian civil war. Many Christians support Assad out of fear that if he is overthrown and replaced by Islamists, they will face greater persecution, especially from al-Qaeda-linked Sunni Muslim rebel groups such as Jabhat al-Nusra, who have attacked Christians. At the same time, Assad and his government are supported by Iran and its Lebanese terror proxy, Hezbollah, and have used chemical weapons against the Syrian people.
Christian villagers in Wadi al-Nassara (Valley of Christians) in western Syria, home to around 50,000 Christians, have formed “popular defense committees” with the blessing of the Syrian government, according to AFP.
These “popular defense committees” are militias armed and trained by the Syrian government to supplement the Syrian army and protect their own neighborhoods or villages from attacks by rebels. Many of these militias are comprised of Syrian minority groups such as the Christians, Druze and Alawites.
Christian leaders in Syria have faced growing danger from rebels. In April, two Syrian bishops, Yohanna Ibrahim and Boulos Yaziji, were kidnapped at gunpoint at a rebel checkpoint near Aleppo. Their whereabouts are still unknown. In early July, a video posted on LiveLeak.com apparently showed Syrian Catholic priest Father Francois Murad being beheaded by the Al-Qaeda-linked Syrian rebels, Jabhat al-Nusra, in front of a cheering crowd. While there are conflicting reports over whether Murad was depicted in the video, the Vatican has confirmed that Murad, along with two others, were taken from a monastery in northern Syria and killed. In late July, an al-Qaeda linked group abducted Italian Jesuit Priest Paolo Dall’Oglio.
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Preceding provided by JNS.org