Islamic Movement deputy leader under house arrest for incitement
(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) Deputy Head of the Islamic Movement in Israel Sheikh Kamal Khatib was placed under house arrest Tuesday on suspicion of inciting violence.
Khatib was arrested on Monday night by the Northern District Police after intelligence indicated he urged followers to take violent action over “the danger posed to the Al-Aqsa mosque by Israel’s actions on the holy site.”
Khatib was arraigned before the Nazareth Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday morning. The police sought to remand him to custody, but the court denied the motion, placing him under house arrest for five days and imposing restrictions on whom he could contact during this time.
The court did, however, allow Khatib to leave his home to pray at a nearby mosque.
“I was arrested because they [the police] said what I wrote on my Facebook page was incitement to violence,” Khatib said following his arraignment. “This is additional proof that the Israeli government and its police force are trying to silence people and infringe on the Arab sector’s freedom of speech. I have the right to express my opinions on Facebook and anywhere else.
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Trump adviser reportedly met with senior Israeli officials
(JNS.org) David Friedman, an American Jewish lawyer who serves as an adviser to Republican nominee Donald Trump, met with senior Israeli officials in Jerusalem this week.
In addition, a senior official in Jerusalem said that parallel to Friedman’s visit, one of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s advisers also met with Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton’s team in the United States, according toHaaretz. Netanyahu has reportedly set a strict policy in which Israel would maintain an unbiased position the U.S. presidential election.
“The prime minister’s directive was clear – if we meet with one side we have to meet in parallel with the other side,” said the senior Israeli official. “We track every few meetings to ensure there is no advantage to one side.”
The senior official said that Friedman’s meeting dealt with a diplomatic-security briefing, which included Israel’s positions on various issues.
Friedman, who has served as a lawyer to Trump for more than 15 years, is rumored to be the Republican nominee’s top choice to serve as U.S. ambassador to Israel if Trump is elected.
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Israel wins first Olympic medal since 2008 games
(JNS.org) Israeli judoka Yarden Gerbi has become the first Israeli to win a medal at the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Gerbi, 27, who also became the first Israeli to win a medal at the Olympics since the 2008 games in Beijing, defeated Japan’s Miku Tashiru to earn the bronze medal in the under-73kg judo competition.
Israeli leaders were quick to congratulate Gerbi, with President Reuven Rivlin phoning her to say that she is “champion” and that “today, you are our hero.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also tweeted: “Yarden, you did it. We’re all proud of you.”
Following her victory, Gerbi told reporters that she feels like she is still dreaming.
“I’m here to win, to give my heart and soul, and I still can’t believe it. Someone wake me up, I can’t believe it.
“My dream has come true. They say Israelis don’t have the character (to succeed in sports on the world stage), but we do have the character. I gave my life. It paid off. Whoever says Israelis can’t succeed is wrong. It does happen. It does happen,” she added.
Overall Gerbi became the seventh Israeli athlete to win a medal at the Olympics and the second woman to do so after Yael Arad took home a silver medal at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona.
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Hamas election video shows a flourishing Gaza
(JNS.org) Ahead of the Palestinian municipal elections scheduled for October, 2016. the Hamas terror group, which controls the Gaza Strip, has published a video portraying Gaza as a prosperous, bustling place to live
Instead of its usual claim that Gaza is an “open prison camp” in dire straits due to the Israeli blockade, the terror group’s video shows Gaza in an entirely different light.
The video aimed at highlighting Hamas’ successes in Gaza includes newly developed neighborhoods and areas that are not only safe and clean, but filled with impressive buildings and lush parks, lakes and beaches.
Palestinian residents were also filmed in various locations, including at a soccer field and other spots, smiling and holding a sign that says, “Thank you Hamas.”
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Canada withdraws logo from major event due to anti-Semitism
(JNS.org) The Canadian government withdrew its logo from the World Social Forum’s event list of partners following complaints made by members of Canada’s parliament that the program included anti-Semitic content, Canada’s National Post reported.
Two Liberal members of parliament (MPs) said they saw a “blatantly anti-Semitic cartoon” on the event’s website, which showed a stereotypical Jewish man wearing a hat with a Star of David.
The cartoon, which was posted on a page for a forum session about Islamic terrorists being “in the service of world Zionism-capitalism,” was later removed from the website on August 5. The event was also cancelled.
“The Prime Minister, the Government of Canada, and the Canadian Parliament have been very clear that we oppose the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement and that anti-Semitism is never acceptable,” the Canadian MPs, Anthony Housefather and Michael Levitt, said in a joint statement.
The annual World Social Forum, which began on Tuesday in Montreal, is a gathering of an expected 10,000 activists from around the world seeking to find “concrete alternatives to the neoliberal economic model and to policies based on the exploitation of human beings and nature,” the forum’s website states.
The forum also says it is committed to censoring pro-Israel perspectives.
“We have already taken a stand to exclude all people, organizations or activities that promote any kind of oppression, supporting Palestinians, and all the people struggling for their emancipation and freedom,” the website states.
An accompanying document also advises on the boycott of academics, artists and products it links to “Israeli apartheid.”
Famous anti-Israel activists such as Noam Chomsky and American actor Danny Glover have attended and supported the World Social Forum in the past.
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Israel is cooperating with Arab nations, Foreign Ministry Director says
(JNS.org) Israeli Foreign Ministry Director General Dore Gold said on Monday that Israel is consulting with Arab nations on shared security concerns, especially with regard to Iran.
“The Sunni Arab states increasingly see the Middle East through the same prism as Israel,” Gold told the Financial Times.
Gold said that much of the focus in cooperating with Gulf states has been on how to stop the threat of terror groups affiliated with the Islamic State terror group. For example, Israel has eased military force restrictions on Egypt and allowed it to send its military into the Sinai as necessary.
The strategy to work with Arab countries is also helping Europe, Gold said.
“The paramount threat to Europe today comes from waves of refugees that have already reached great numbers in European countries,” he said.
“The last wave [of refugees] came about because of the dissolution of Syria and Iraq. Should those types of challenges spread to other parts of the Middle East, Europe might face an even larger second wave in the not too distant future,” he added.
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