Israel sends Merry Christmas wishes
(JNS.org) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave a video address on Christmas Eve wishing Christians in Israel and worldwide, a Merry Christmas.
“From Jerusalem, I wish Israel’s Christian community and Christians everywhere a very joyous Christmas and a Happy New Year.”
Netanyahu went on to express pride in Israel’s singular support of persecuted Christians, particularly in the Middle East.
“I’m proud to say that Israel is one of the few countries in the Middle East, maybe the only country in the Middle East where Christians are truly free to practice their faith openly, freely to celebrate Christmas and other Christian holidays. The state of Israel is a beacon of liberty in a Middle East plagued by oppression and extremism. Here everyone can practice their faith because in Israel, religious freedom is sacred.”
“It’s my fervent hope, my fervent prayer that 2016 is marked by greater security and freedom for all Christians across the Middle East. May the coming year bring the blessings of peace and prosperity for all humanity. So on behalf of the people of Israel, on behalf of the Israeli government, I wish all our Christian friends a very Merry Christmas and I also invite you, come to Israel. Thank you,” Netanyahu added.
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Late Moroccan king honored for protecting Jews during WWII
(JNS.org) King Mohammed V of Morocco was honored by KIVUNIM: The Institute for World Jewish Studies on Sunday for protecting 250,000 Jews during World War II. His granddaughter, Princess Lalla Hasna received on his behalf the inaugural Reverend Martin Luther King Jr.-Rabbi Abraham Heschel Award at the B’nai Jeshurun congregation in New York City.
In the early 1940s, Jews were protected from discrimination and annihilation from pro-Nazi Vichy forces, when Morocco was under French rule.
“We are living at a time and in a world in which the collective imagination of our societies is too often impaired, not to say poisoned, by regression and archaism. By capitalizing on the depth and resilience of the legacy left by my revered grandfather His Majesty Mohammed V, we can, together, set out to recover the lost expanses of reason and mutual respect which have vanished from many parts of the world,” André Azoulay, royal advisor to King Mohammed VI read in a speech on behalf of the current king.
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Significant rise in hate crimes against Jews in London
(JNS.org) The number of anti-Semitic and anti-Muslim hate crimes has significantly increased in London over the last year, according to figures released this week by the Metropolitan Police.
In 2015, there were 483 anti-Semitic documented hate crimes, an increase of 38% from 2014. Anti-Muslim hate crimes, described by London police as “Islamophobic crimes,” had the same percentage increase from 818 incidents this year from 499 in 2014.
The Police told the Jewish News of London that they will “continue to speak regularly with local synagogues, and also work closely with organisations representing different faiths regarding hate crime issues, such as the Community Security Trust [CST] for anti-Semitic hate crime.”
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Fatah praises terrorists hours after killing and wounding Israelis
(JNS.org) Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah party praised two Palestinian terrorists just hours after they murdered two Israelis and wounded one other in a knife attack in Jerusalem on Wednesday, Ofir Gendelman, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s spokesperson for Arab media revealed.
Two official Fatah announcements with pictures of the two Arab terrorists were posted on Gendelman’s Twitter account. The pictures included the Fatah logo and pictures of their founder, Yasser Arafat.
“PA President Abbas’ Fatah org keeps supporting terrorism, calls the 2 terrorists who stabbed 3 in Jerusalem ‘heroes,'” Gendelman wrote in his tweet.
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Netanyahu condemns video of extremists celebrating Duma attack
(JNS.org) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday strongly condemned a video showing a group of far-right extremists celebrating the murder of a Palestinian family in the village of Duma last summer. The video footage, aired on Wednesday by Israel’sChannel 10, was taken at a wedding.
“The shocking pictures that were broadcast this evening show the true face of a group that constitutes a danger to Israeli society and to the security of Israel. We are not prepared to accept people who deny the laws of the state and do not view themselves as subject to them,” Netanyahu said.
“The pictures underscore how important a strong [Shin Bet] is to the security of us all.”
Police have opened a criminal investigation into incitement to violence based on what is shown in the video.
Several people in the video were dancing while passing around assault rifles while one person held a knife and a molotov cocktail. Another individual was stabbing a photograph of Ali Dawabshe, the 18-month old toddler who was burned alive in the arson attack in Duma.
Israel’s Security Agency (Shin Bet) is investigating the arson attack that left Ali’s mother, Reham, 27 and father, Sa’ad, 31, dead after succumbing to burn wounds.
Amidst the controversy that Shin Bet interrogators allegedly tortured suspects connected to the arson attack, the Shin Bet on Thursday said those claims are made in an effort to distract from “severe attacks motivated by an extreme anti-Zionist ideology,” from a Jewish extremist group who seeks to overthrow the Israeli government through violence and crown a king.
“This organization continued to carry out attacks after the arson attack in Duma and they saw that attack as something to be emulated,” the Shin Bet said in a statement.
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Israeli windsurfers won’t defend Malaysian world championship title
(JNS.org) Two Israelis, Yoav Omer and Noy Drihan, will not be able to defend their titles at the Youth Sailing World Championship in Malaysia after the Israel Sailing Association (ISA) on Wednesday announced they will not send a delegation because of anti-Israel demands made by organizers.
The ISA claims that the International Sailing Federation (ISAF), the International Olympic Committee and the hosts will not allow the surfers to compete under the Israeli flag and could not use any symbol affiliated with Israel on their clothing or surfboard. Also, if an Israeli should win a gold medal, the hosts said they would not play the Israeli national anthem.
In addition, they have yet to receive visas to travel for the Sunday competition.
“The Malaysians’ demands are unacceptable, and as we haven’t received the visas, we decided not to participate. We condemn the unsporting conduct of the organizing committee. We will not agree to be humiliated and we are considering filing a lawsuit against the ISAF and the host country in coordination with the Olympic Committee of Israel,” ISA chairman Gili Amir said.
Omer won the gold medal in the Under-19 for men in the last championships and Drihan won for the women in Under-17 and Under-19 competitions.
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Israelis targeted in 3 terror attacks day after 2 killed in stabbing
(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) An IDF soldier was lightly hurt Thursday in a vehicular ramming attack in the Binyamin region in Samaria. This was the third terrorist attack since Thursday morning, coming after two Israelis were killed in a stabbing attack in Jerusalem Wednesday afternoon.
The Palestinian terrorist, who tried to run over a group of Israeli soldiers at Adam Square, was killed. The soldier received emergency medical care at the scene of the attack.
Shortly before the ramming attack, at around 10 a.m., a terrorist tried to stab an IDF soldier with a screwdriver just outside the Judea Territorial Brigade base near Hebron. Soldiers shot and killed the terrorist before he could hurt his victim, averting disaster.
About an hour earlier, a Palestinian man from Samaria stabbed a security guard working at an industrial zone near the city of Ariel. The terrorist then also managed to stab an additional guard who shot him. Both guards, one of them a young mother, are 24 years old.
The incident began when the terrorist approached the entrance to the industrial compound, about 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) from Ariel. He presented the guards with his work permit and then pounced on one of the guards and stabbed him.
The investigation into the incident revealed that the second guard immediately realized what was happening and drew her weapon while pushing the terrorist out of the guards’ booth. As she shot him, he managed to cut her with his knife. He was later pronounced dead at the scene.
Initially, both guards were classified as being in moderate to serious condition, but they have stabilized and are now in light to moderate condition. The female guard has been hailed as a hero for her resourcefulness and quick thinking.
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