Arab MK violates Temple Mount visitation ban, PM says move inflames tension
(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) Arab Member of Knesset Basel Ghattas (Joint Arab List) decided to visit the Temple Mount on Wednesday, violating a ban on visitation for Israeli lawmakers and declaring that “neither [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu nor the powers of the occupation will prevent Arabs and Muslim believers from realizing their right to pray at Al-Aqsa mosque or any holy Muslim site.”
Netanyahu has issued a blanket ban on MKs and Israeli cabinet ministers from visiting the Temple Mount due to the particularly high tensions surrounding the site in recent weeks.
Accompanying a photo of himself at the Temple Mount posted on Facebook, Ghattas wrote, “I am here to tell Netanyahu: You have no sovereignty over Jerusalem or over Al-Aqsa mosque. You and your occupation cannot deny us or our people the right to pray and visit Al-Aqsa mosque. This sacred place will remain Arab and Islamic forever.”
Netanyahu called a press conference Wednesday to address the incident.
“The Temple Mount has been calm for two weeks now, and we are making every effort to maintain this calm. But apparently there are people who are irritated by this,” Netanyahu said. “I promise you that [Ghattas] did not go there to pray, he did it only as a provocation and to inflame tensions.”
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John Hagee Ministries distributes $3.2 million to Israeli and Jewish charities
(JNS.org) John Hagee Ministries distributed more than $3.2 million to Israeli and Jewish charities earlier this week at the 34th annual “Night to Honor Israel” at Cornerstone Church in San Antonio.
Organizations receiving support from Hagee Ministries included Afikim Family Enrichment Association, American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, Bikur V’Ezras Cholim, Friends of the IDF, Galilee Medical Center, Heart of Benjamin, Herzl Institute, Holocaust Memorial Museum of San Antonio, International Council of Young Israel, Israel Help and Education Center at Kiryat Gat, Israeli Christian Recruitment Forum, Jewish Agency for Israel, Just One Life, Koby Mandell Foundation, Laniado Hospital, Magen David Adom, Meir Panim, Nefesh B’Nefesh, Netanya Academic College, Ohr Torah Stone, Or L’Doron, Shurat HaDin – Israel Law Center, and Women’s International Zionist Organization.
Hagee Ministries has distributed more than $95 million to Israeli and Jewish charities since holding its first Night to Honor Israel.
Pastor John Hagee, who besides leading Hagee Ministries is the founder and national chairman of Christians United for Israel, said at the Oct. 25 event in San Antonio, “Tonight our hearts are heavy for the Israelis being murdered by Palestinian terrorists.” U.S. Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), the night’s other keynote speaker, blasted the Obama administration-brokered Iran nuclear deal.
“The Iran deal is not a deal,” Scott said. “I don’t understand how we call that a deal because we didn’t get anything out of the deal.”
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Walmart caves to Arab-American pressure, pulls IDF Halloween costume
(BreakingIsraelNews.com/JNS.org) Under pressure from Arab-American groups and anti-Israel consumers on social media, the giant retail chain Walmart has stopped selling an IDF soldier’s Halloween costume for kids.
Walmart first came under fire for selling the costume IDF uniform, which comes with a toy Uzi gun, on Twitter and the company’s Facebook page. Users claimed that the costume was offensive to Arab Americans and Palestinian Americans and demanded a boycott of Walmart. One customer wrote on Walmart’s website, “Might as well sell a Hitler outfit for children as well!”
American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee President Samer Khalaf said in a statement, “The Israeli forces are responsible for the continued death and occupation of the Palestinian people. Such a symbol of fear, violence, and a long history of dispossession should not be used for entertainment purposes.”
Walmart subsequently removed the IDF costume from its stores, but the costume is still available on Amazon.
Additionally, Walmart removed a “Sheikh Fagin” nose that was also criticized by Arab Americans.
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Jordanians criticize Palestinian Authority’s rejection of Temple Mount cameras
(JNS.org) Jordanian leaders criticized the Palestinian Authority (PA) for rejecting the idea of installing security cameras at the Temple Mount, a solution that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has agreed to in an effort to calm violence amid Palestinian allegations of Israel’s intentions to change the status quo at the Jerusalem holy site.
While the Jordanians argue that installing the cameras is about protecting the Al-Aqsa mosque by monitoring the site, PA officials have argued that Israel would use the cameras to arrest Palestinians “under the pretext of incitement,” reported the Jerusalem Post.
PA Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki called the idea of cameras, which was proposed under the direction of U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, a “trap.” In response, the Jordanian newspaper Al-Ghad quoted Jordanian politicians denouncing Maliki’s remarks as “inappropriate and unfair.”
“The cameras will document everything, including those who want to assault Palestinians or Israelis. The cameras will document anyone who caries out an assault or Jews who want to pray there,” said Jordanian politician Adnan Abu Odeh.
Earlier this week, Netanyahu told the Israeli Knesset that the Temple Mount “will be managed as it has been until now. The visits by Jews to the Temple Mount will be maintained; there will be no change, as with the prayer arrangements for the Muslims.”
“Israel has an interest in placing cameras around the Temple Mount,” said Netanyahu, in order to prove that it is not disturbing the status quo at the site.
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Yitzhak Rabin killer’s brother detained for incitement against Israeli president
(JNS.org) The brother of Yigal Amir, who assassinated former Israeli prime minster Yitzhak Rabin in 1995, was arrested Tuesday by Israeli authorities on suspicion of incitement to violence against Israeli President Reuven Rivlin on Facebook.
“Rivlin is a sycophantic politician,” wrote Hagai Amir ahead of the 20th anniversary of the murder of Rabin, according to Yedioth Ahronoth. “He cannot decide whether or not my brother is released [from prison], only the Almighty decides—as He decided that Rabin would drop dead, despite Rivlin and his friends not really agreeing. The Almighty decided that Rivlin would be president, and it’s time for Him to decide that Rivlin and the Zionist state must disappear from the world just as Sodom did because of the crimes they ‘lawfully’ committed against their people. Today that day is no longer far away.”
Hagai Amir’s post came in the wake of a remark by Rivlin on Sunday, during the annual Rabin memorial ceremony at the President’s Residence, that “as long as I am president of the State of Israel, the murderer (Yigal Amir) will not walk free.”
Hagai Amir was also incarcerated for 16 years for a conspiracy to murder Rabin, among other charges. He was released in 2012.
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Defense Minister Ya’alon in DC to discuss maintaining Israeli military edge
(JNS.org) Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon is visiting Washington, DC, to meet with his American counterpart Ashton Carter and begin talks on maintaining Israel’s military edge in the Middle East.
“During this visit, I will be meeting with my good friend Secretary of Defense Ashton (Ash) Carter, who has time and again proven his commitment to the security of the State of Israel,” Ya’alon said Monday night at the Israeli Embassy in Washington, the Jerusalem Post reported.
“We will discuss how to further increase the IDF’s capacity and capabilities to maintain our qualitative edge, given increased and growing regional threats on the security of our country,” Ya’alon added.
Ya’alon is seeking to resume negotiations on another 10-year U.S. military aid package to Israel. The current aid package, worth about $3 billion annually, is set to expire in 2017. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had suspended talks over the aid package in July ahead of the signing of the Iran nuclear deal. Before the suspension, both sides were close to agreeing to a new package of aid worth $3.6-$3.7 billion per year.
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Head of Israel’s Islamic Movement to serve 11-month prison term for incitement
(JNS.org) The leader of the Islamic Movement in Israel, Raed Salah, had his appeal rejected in a Jerusalem District Court on Tuesday and will now serve an 11-month prison sentence for incitement.
The fiery Arab leader attempted to appeal a conviction for a speech he gave in 2007.
“In spirit and blood we will defend Al-Aqsa,” Salah shouted during a court appearance two weeks ago, the Jerusalem Post reported.
Salah recently called on Jordan to bar Jewish visitors from the Temple Mount and accused Israel of seeking to destroy the Al-Aqsa mosque to “build an imaginary temple on its ruins.”
The Islamic Movement in Israel, which has ideological ties with the Muslim Brotherhood and the Hamas terror group, has been blamed by Israeli leaders for stoking the incitement behind the recent wave of Palestinian terrorism. As a result, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has supported a bill seeking to outlaw the northern branch of the Islamic Movement.
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Harry Potter author J.K Rowling defends anti-BDS stance
(JNS.org) The author of the Harry Potter series, J.K. Rowling, took to social media on Monday to defend her stance against the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement after receiving criticism from some fans.
Last week, Rowling was among dozens of U.K. artists who signed a letter published in The Guardian protesting the idea of culturally boycotting Israel and expressing support for Culture for Coexistence, an independent British network committed to informing and encouraging dialogue about the Jewish state in the cultural community.
Rowling said that a “number of readers” have asked for more information as to why she signed the letter. Rowling wrote on her Twitter account that while she opposes the policies of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, she does not “believe that a cultural boycott will force Mr. Netanyahu from power, nor have I ever heard of a cultural boycott ending a bloody and prolonged conflict.”
Rowling added that she believes it will be “ordinary Israelis” who might not support Netanyahu who will be most affected by the boycotts.
“The sharing of art and literature across borders constitutes an immense power for good in this world,” Rowling said.
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