Search continues for victims of parking lot collapse
(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) Rescue teams at the scene of the collapsed parking facility in Tel Aviv were pessimistic Wednesday, saying the chances of finding survivors under the rubble after more than 48 hours were diminishing rapidly.
Four people were killed and 23 others were wounded Monday when the four-story parking facility under construction in the north Tel Aviv neighborhood of Ramat Hahayal collapsed. Three people are still missing.
Some 250 Homefront Command soldiers, assisted by the military’s Oketz canine unit, and numerous police and emergency services personnel continued the frantic rescue effort Wednesday.
“This is a race against time, but we won’t give up until everyone is accounted for,” Homefront Command Col. Golan Vach told Israel Hayom.
Large and small excavation machines were deployed to the site on Tuesday evening, once rescue teams made their way to the bottom of the rubble.
The structure had been intended to house up to 600 vehicles, and was scheduled to open to the public in October.
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British Jewish MP under police protection following death threat
(JNS.org) A Jewish member of the British Parliament is receiving police protection after she received an anti-Semitic death threat on Facebook, the BBC reported.
Ruth Smeeth, 37, a member of the Labor Party, was repeatedly called a “Yid” and other offensive names as well as being accused of being a “CIA agent,” who should “swing from” the “gallows” for committing treason, in the July online post.
The threat was made after Smeeth called for Labor leader Jeremy Corbyn’s resignation in June when he failed to intervene after an activist used anti-Semitism slurs accusing Smeeth of being part of a “media conspiracy” against Corbyn during an anti-Semitism inquiry meeting.
Following the incident, Smeeth said she received 25,000 abusive comments, 20,000 of which were sent in a 12-hour period.
Smeeth said she holds Labor leader Jeremy Corbyn personally responsible for the threat.
The British Metropolitan Police Service Counter Terrorism Command has launched an investigation and a manhunt for the Facebook abuser.
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Israel’s PM on diplomatic visit to The Hague
(JNS.org) Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte during a diplomatic visit to The Hague in the Netherlands on Tuesday.
Netanyahu and Rutte discussed several ways to improve bilateral relations including an agreement that the Netherlands will help Israel improve water and gas supplies to Gaza, in spite of the conflict with terrorists groups.
“We have no battle, no qualms with the people of Gaza, only with the band of terrorist thugs who have taken them blackmail,” Netanyahu said at a joint press conference. “The first step is to improve the supply of energy and water to Gaza, including laying a gas pipeline.”
Netanyahu also reiterated the need for Europe to work together in the fight against radical Islamic terrorism and acknowledged that the Netherlands is doing its part.
“[I]f we don’t also band together to defeat militant Islam in other parts of the Middle East, more will die, and millions more will flee their homes. Where will they go? One place – Europe,” Netanyahu said. “So defeating militant Islam everywhere in the Middle East is critical for the security of our region, of Europe, of the world.”
Rutte said that along with having a frank exchange about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the two leaders also discussed business investment and innovation and the rise of anti-Semitism.
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Christian Nigerian killed by Muslim, brutal clashes continue
(JNS.org) A Christian Nigerian farmer was recently killed by Muslim Fulani herdsmen in Nasarawa, a state in central Nigeria with a 60 percent Christian population, Morning Star News reported.
Bari Baikoh, who had recently received threats from Fulani herdsmen, was working on his farm when he was attacked on Aug. 24. Fulani are Muslim nomadic cattle herders
“They cut him with machetes and then killed him,” Jibrin Manager, a resident, told Morning Star News, a news service focused on Christian persecution. “His corpse was found on the farm hours after a search party was organized to look for him.”
Police arrested one of the herdsmen in the case.
In the last few years, Muslim Fulani herdsmen have killed Christian farmers throughout Nigeria and destroyed their crops and homes. Clashes between the herders and farmers has resulted in thousands of deaths over the last 20 years.
Many Christian communities were attacked for no justifiable reason, Rev. Emmanuel Haruna, chairman of the Lafia District Church Council of the Evangelical church Winning All, told Morning Star News.
In February 2014, over 300 Christians in Benu state were massacred by Muslim Fulani hersdmen.
“Recently analysts have begun to see some ties between the assailants and Islamic extremist groups keen to exploit longstanding ethnic, property and religious conflicts,” the Morning Star News report said.
The Fulanis ranked as the world’s fourth deadliest militant group in 2014, according to the 2015 Global Terrorism Index.
Nigeria is listed as the 12th most difficult nation to live as a Christian based on reports of intense persecution.
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90 U.S. generals, including Holocaust survivor, sign letter of Trump support
(JNS.org) A group of 90 U.S. military generals, including the only Holocaust survivor to become an American general, signed an open letter supporting Donald J. Trump for president on Tuesday.
The letter, which includes four four-star and 14 three-star flag officers, was organized by Major Gen. Sidney Shachnow and Rear Admiral Charles Williams. The two major issues that spurred the letter are opposition to the temperament accusation and national security.
“The beating that Trump is taking [by Hillary Clinton’s campaign] that he doesn’t have the temperament to be the commander-in-chief is erroneous,” Williams told JNS.org. “We wanted to get this out right now.”
Shachnow, a 40-year Army veteran who served as a Green Beret, was Commanding General of the U.S. Army Special Forces Command Airborne at Ft. Bragg. He’s the recipient of the Distinguished Service Medal. Williams served as Commanding Officer of five organizations throughout his career and received the Legion of Merit.
Williams’ colleagues, who have advised Trump privately, say the billionaire businessman listens 90 percent of the time and asks questions 10 percent. “He grasps the concept then moves onto the next issue, which is what a CEO and leader does,” Williams said.
For many in the military community, national security is the biggest concern and in conversations with numerous peers, Williams said many were willing, and continue to be willing, to sign their names to the open letter supporting Trump.
“If you don’t have national security, you don’t have anything,” Williams said. “These guys have spent their lives in national security, the military is an extension of the State Department. They’ve been on the front lines. When you look at the world and what’s gone wrong, Hillary Clinton didn’t make the world any better. More of the same is not the answer.”
So far, Williams contacted 170 out of over 3,000 living retired admirals and generals. While 90 people have agreed to sign onto the letter so far, Williams said others told him they will vote for Trump but didn’t want to sign a public statement. Few expressed criticism of the letter, he said.
The group may do a second announcement after reaching out to more in the military community, Williams added. Tuesday’s letter is ahead of the Sept. 7 event where Clinton and Trump will appear in a first-ever “Commander-in-Chief Forum,” hosted by the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America in New York City. It will feature questions from NBC News and an audience made up of mostly military veterans and active service members.
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Articles from JNS.org appear on San Diego Jewish World through the generosity of Dr. Bob and Mao Shillman.