Zio-Watch News Round-up

Israeli jets launch new raids on Gaza Strip: Zio-Watch, October 4, 2015

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From PressTV

A Palestinian man looks at the damage following an Israeli airstrike on a Hamas police facility in Gaza City on September 30, 2015. (AFP)

Israeli fighter jets have launched airstrikes on an area in the central Gaza Strip while another Palestinian is shot to death by Israeli troops.

The early Monday attacks, which hit two sites belonging to the armed wing of the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas, were carried out after rockets were allegedly fired from the enclave towards an uninhabited area in southern Israel.

There has been no word on the possible casualties and damage inflicted by those strikes.

Meanwhile, Israeli troops shot dead a Palestinian youth during clashes in the West Bank city of Tulkarem.

According to doctors and police sources, Huzeifa Othman Suleiman, 18, succumbed to his wounds after being transported to a local hospital.
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From PressTV

The photo shows Israeli police firing tear gas canisters at Palestinian protesters following a demonstration in the occupied West Bank city of al-Khalil (Hebron), October 2, 2015. (Photo by AFP)

The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) says nearly 80 Palestinians have been injured from live rounds and rubber bullets in clashes with Israeli forces and illegal settlers in the past 24 hours.

The PRCS’s spokeswoman Errab Foqaha said on Sunday that a total of 77 Palestinians had been wounded in the past day.

According to the data, 18 Palestinians were injured from live rounds and 59 from rubber bullets.

Another 139 Palestinians have also been treated for tear gas inhalation and six for injuries sustained in beatings by Israeli security forces or settlers.

State of emergency
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From PressTV

Palestinian teenager Fadi Samir Mustafa Alloun (shown in the picture), was shot dead by Israeli soldiers near the Damascus Gate of al-Aqsa Mosque compound in the Israeli-occupied Old City of al-Quds (Jerusalem) early on October 4, 2015.

Israeli forces have fatally shot a young Palestinian man close to the al-Aqsa Mosque compound in the Israeli-occupied Old City of al-Quds (Jerusalem) amid simmering tensions between Palestinians and Israelis in the area.

On Sunday morning, Israeli police officers shot dead a Palestinian teenager, identified as Fadi Samir Mustafa Alloun, near the Damascus Gate of al-Aqsa Mosque compound, claiming that he had attempted to stab an Israeli settler with a knife, Palestinian Ma’an news agency reported.

There are reports that Israeli settlers kicked Alloun’s body later on, and dragged it along the street.

Tens of Israeli settlers also stormed Palestinian houses and property in the area, shouting anti-Arab slogans and uttering remarks offensive to Islam and its teachings.

Meanwhile, Alloun’s father has denied the claims that his son tried to stab a settler before he was shot dead.

“Videos from the scene show a group of settlers chasing my son and he was trying to run to an Israeli police patrol for protection,” said the father, adding, “Israeli authorities make up pretexts to shoot and kill any Palestinian.”


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From The Independent

Syria crisis: Let’s welcome Russia’s entry into this war

In the second part of his series, our respected commentator says Vladimir Putin’s military intervention could hasten the war’s end

Russia’s military intervention in Syria, although further internationalising the conflict, does however present opportunities, as well as complications. There are no simple solutions to this terrible war which has destroyed Syria. Out of a population of 22 million, four million Syrians are refugees abroad and seven million have been displaced inside the country.

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From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency

Spain grants citizenship to 4,302 descendants of Sephardic Jews

(JTA) — Spain granted citizenship to 4,302 people who identified themselves as descendants of Sephardic Jews.

The citizenships were approved on Friday, The Associated Press reported, following the Spanish parliament’s adoption earlier this year of a law granting citizenship to the descendants of Jews who fled or were expelled from Spain ahead of and during the Spanish Inquisition.

A day before the approval, a decree making the law official was approved. The decree allowed applicants to maintain dual citizenship with another country.

Under the law approved in June, applicants need not travel to Spain, as proposed in previous amendments that did not pass, but must hire a Spanish notary and pass tests on the Spanish language and history.
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From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency

Israeli officer removed after soldiers destroy journalists’ cameras

JERUSALEM (JTA) — An Israeli military officer was removed from his position after soldiers under his command were seen on video destroying cameras belonging to journalists.

The disciplinary action was announced Friday, a day after the Israel Defense Forces held a hearing on the Sept. 25 incident in the West Bank involving the filming of a Palestinian demonstration by the French news agency AFP. The IDF said it would consider whether to allow the officer to continue to serve in the military in any capacity. He had been suspended following the incident.

“This was a serious incident from an ethical and command perspective that will be investigated and its lessons learned,” the IDF said in a statement.

The commander’s attorney, Eidan Pesach, said the officer, identified only as A., was “sacrificed on the altar of political and diplomatic interests.”
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From PressTV

Israeli policemen force Palestinian worshipers to leave the area outside the al-Aqsa Mosque compound on October 2, 2015. ©AFP

The Palestinian government has slammed the Israeli regime’s new restrictions on the entry of Palestinian worshipers into al-Aqsa Mosque compound in the Israeli-occupied Old City of al-Quds (Jerusalem) for two days.

“The Palestinian government denounces the Israeli escalation policy by Israeli occupation authorities against our people in occupied Jerusalem and the West Bank,” it said in a statement released on Sunday in reaction to the fresh restrictions.

Earlier in the day, Israeli police announced that only Israelis, tourists, residents of the area, business owners and schoolchildren are allowed to enter the sacred site.

Only Palestinian men aged 50 and above could worship at the al-Aqsa Mosque compound, while Palestinian women of any age would be allowed entry.

Israeli forces stand guard as Palestinians, who were prevented from entering al-Aqsa Mosque, pray outside the mosque compound, on October 2, 2015. ©AFP

The measure was taken after two Israelis were killed and two others wounded during clashes between a Palestinian man and Israeli settlers in al-Quds on Saturday night.

Tensions have been on the rise in the occupied West Bank and al-Quds over the past several days, with Israeli forces attacking Palestinian protesters at the holy site.
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From The Times of Israel

Senior minister threatens major West Bank crackdown

Amid uptick in violence, sources warn of ‘Defensive Shield 2,’ refering to massive 2002 anti-terror operation; closure on East Jerusalem Arab neighborhoods possible

October 4, 2015, 12:49 pm

Israeli soldiers patrol a street, east of the West Bank city of Nablus, on October 3, 2015, as they search for the suspected Palestinian killers of Israeli couple Eitam and Naama Henkin. (AFP PHOTO/JAAFAR ASHTIYEH)

Israeli soldiers patrol a street, east of the West Bank city of Nablus, on October 3, 2015, as they search for the suspected Palestinian killers of Israeli couple Eitam and Naama Henkin. (AFP PHOTO/JAAFAR ASHTIYEH)

 

Officials close to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu threatened the army could launch “another Defensive Shield” to quell Palestinian violence, referring to the IDF’s massive crackdown in the West Bank in 2002 in response to the Second Intifada.

Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz (Likud) on Sunday, who is acting as prime minister while Netanyahu is away, said a large operation could be in the offing and also threatened a closure on Arab neighborhoods in East Jerusalem.

Speaking to Army Radio Sunday morning, Katz said that “we may need to launch Defensive Shield 2.”

In March 2002, Israel launched a raid on several West Bank cities to squelch Palestinian terror in the West Bank and Israel proper, which had become a daily occurrence during the Second Intifada. The operation aimed to destroy Hamas and other terror groups’ “infrastructure” — via which they were arming and dispatching suicide bombers. Nearly 500 Palestinians were killed and hundreds more arrested during the operation, which also left 29 Israeli soldiers dead.

“We can impose a closure on the Arab neighborhoods in Jerusalem and stop the privileges of freedom [of movement] to work — these are steps that if faced with security [challenges] we will be forced to used them,” said Katz. “So in Issawiya they will be closed off inside the neighborhood and not work in the most attractive jobs.”
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From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency

Bon Jovi at Tel Aviv concert promises return to Israel

JERUSALEM (JTA) — Jon Bon Jovi said at his first-ever concert in Israel that “I’ll come here any time you want.”

In an apparent swipe at the BDS movement, Bon Jovi made the vow at the end of his performance on Saturday night in Tel Aviv before tens of thousands of fans.

“We’re finally here. It took me long enough,” the American rock star said during the concert.

He dedicated a new song, “We Don’t Run,” released during the summer, to Israelis.
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From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency

U.S. condemns Jerusalem stabbing attack that killed 2 Israelis

(JTA) — The U.S. State Department condemned the murder of two Israeli men in a stabbing attack by a Palestinian assailant in Jerusalem.

“The United States strongly condemns all acts of violence, including the ‎tragic stabbing in the Old City of Jerusalem today that left two victims dead and two injured,” State Department spokesman John Kirby said in a statement issued on Saturday in Washington D.C., that also called for “all perpetrators of violence to be swiftly brought to justice.”

“We are very concerned about mounting tensions in the West Bank and Jerusalem, including the Haram al Sharif/Temple Mount, and call on all sides to take affirmative steps to restore calm and avoid escalating the situation,” Kirby said.

The United Nations’ special coordinator for the Middle East peace process, Nickolay Mladenov, alsocondemned what he called the “brutal terror attack.”

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From Ynet News

PM orders new steps against terror

Violence continues Sunday across the West Bank, East Jerusalem; Palestinian teen killed in clashes as speculation increases of third Intifada.

Amid escalating acts of violence in East Jerusalem and the West Bank, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Sunday night that he had ordered new steps meant to prevent terrorism after a meeting with officials from the Ministry of Defense.
“We are waging a war to the death against Palestinian terrorism,” said Netanyahu. “I’ve ordered a series of additional steps in order to prevent terror and to deter and punish the attackers.”
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From Ynet News

BBC’s Jerusalem attack headline sparks criticism

British media outlet acknowledges inaccuracies in headline allegedly biased toward Palestinian attacker, but falls short of apologizing. A BBC headline sparked sharp criticism from Israelis and Jews around the world on Saturday in the wake of an attack in Jerusalem’s Old City that resulted in the death of two Israelis at the hands of a 19-year-old Palestinian.
“Palestinian shot dead after Jerusalem attack kills two,” read the original headline, prompting accusations of bias in favor of the Palestinian attacker, whose death was the main focus of the headline despite the fact that he had killed two Israeli civilians.
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From The Times of Israel

Jordan MP’s son joins Islamic State, becomes suicide bomber

Mazen Dalaeen says he last saw his 23-year-old son Mohammed in June in Ukraine, where he was studying medicine

October 4, 2015, 11:17 am

Illustrative: In this photo released on June 28, 2015, by a website of Islamic State militants, an IS fighter waves the group flag in Fallujah, Iraq, west of Baghdad. (Militant website via AP)

Illustrative: In this photo released on June 28, 2015, by a website of Islamic State militants, an IS fighter waves the group flag in Fallujah, Iraq, west of Baghdad. (Militant website via AP)

 

A Jordanian parliament member said his son carried out a suicide bombing in Iraq just three months after the family failed to prevent him from joining the Islamic State extremist group.

Jordan is part of an international military coalition against IS, but the group has some grassroots support in the country.

Parliamentarian Mazen Dalaeen told The Associated Press he last saw his 23-year-old son Mohammed in June in Ukraine, where he was studying medicine.

Dalaeen said his son left for Iraq via Turkey and Syria the next day, after they argued about the terror group.

He said Saturday he learned of Mohammed’s death late last week from IS-linked websites that posted a photo of his son and said he participated in a triple suicide car bomb attack on an Iraqi army post.
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From The Times of Israel

Obama administration earmarks $12m for Holocaust survivors

Funds to be distributed over five years; one-quarter of 130,000 US victims of Nazi persecution live under poverty line

October 2, 2015, 8:12 am

The US Holocaust Memorial Museum honors the victims of the Holocaust and Nazi persecution at the US Capitol building in Washington D.C., April 30, 2014. (Allison Shelley/Getty Images/JTA)

The US Holocaust Memorial Museum honors the victims of the Holocaust and Nazi persecution at the US Capitol building in Washington D.C., April 30, 2014. (Allison Shelley/Getty Images/JTA)

 

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration has awarded $12 million for assistance to Holocaust survivors.

The allocation from the Department of Health and Human Services to the Jewish Federations of North America, to be disbursed over five years, is part of an initiative launched in late 2013 by Vice President Joe Biden to address the needs of survivors in the United States, a quarter of whom live below the poverty line.

Combined with matching private funds, the approximately $2.5 million per year over the five years “will support $4.1 million in programming annually for organizations that help Holocaust survivors,” the JFNA said. According to JFNA, the funds will be used to advance “innovations in person-centered, trauma-informed supportive services for Holocaust survivors.”

“With this award, we will be able to advance our efforts to provide crucial services to vulnerable survivors, including those living in poverty, those in the Orthodox Jewish community and those from the former Soviet Union,” Mark Wilf, the chairman of the JFNA’s National Holocaust Survivor Initiative, said in a statement.

“These are our mothers and our fathers, our teachers and our mentors,” he said. “They deserve to live their remaining years in dignity, and this award will help make that hope a reality.”
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From The Times of Israel

After PM’s silence at UN, US Jewish groups offer quiet praise

Subdued response to Netanyahu’s speech focuses on peace overtures rather than Iranian nuclear threat

October 2, 2015, 7:47 am

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses the UN General Assembly on Thursday, October 1, 2015. (screen capture: YouTube)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses the UN General Assembly on Thursday, October 1, 2015. (screen capture: YouTube)

 

NEW YORK — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech to the United Nations Thursday afternoon was marked by a dramatic pause, a rebuke for the international body’s silence in the face of Iranian threats against Israel. But if Netanyahu’s silence was the theatrical highlight of the day, a second moment of relative quiet was also unusual, with many US-based groups offering muted responses to the speech.

The endorsements he did receive this year focused on the contrast between Netanyahu’s overtures toward negotiations with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Abbas’s own combative speech one day earlier, rather than on his discourse as to the dangers of a nuclear Iran.

Following last year’s speech to the international body, at which Netanyahu railed against the threat of a nuclear Iran while diplomats attempted to hammer out an agreement, numerous major US Jewish groups quickly released statements showering praise on the prime minister’s rhetoric.

A few Jewish groups did offer enthusiastic endorsements of Netanyahu’s 2015 speech.

The World Jewish Congress (WJC), for instance, “hailed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s call at the United Nations for the Palestinians to return to the negotiating table and lauded Netanyahu’s remarks that Israel and Arab states are cooperating against radical Islam.
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From The Times of Israel

Oregon gunman asked victims to state religion before opening fire

Shooter identified as Chris Harper Mercer, 26; at least 10 killed, 7 injured in attack at community college

October 2, 2015, 6:31 am

Friends and family are reunited with students at the local fairgrounds after a deadly shooting at Umpqua Community College, in Roseburg, Oregon, Thursday, October 1, 2015. (AP/Ryan Kang)

Friends and family are reunited with students at the local fairgrounds after a deadly shooting at Umpqua Community College, in Roseburg, Oregon, Thursday, October 1, 2015. (AP/Ryan Kang)

 

ROSEBURG, Oregon — A gunman opened fire inside a classroom at a rural Oregon community college Thursday, killing at least nine people before dying in a shootout with police, authorities said. One survivor said he demanded his victims state their religion before he started shooting.

The attack shattered the first week of classes at Umpqua Community College in the small timber town of Roseburg, about 180 miles south of Portland.

The killer was identified as 26-year-old Chris Harper Mercer, according to a government official who was not authorized to speak publicly and provided the name on condition of anonymity. Authorities shed no light on his motive and said they were investigating.

According to a profile on a dating site attributed to him, Mercer is of “mixed race,” “conservative, Republican” and listed “organized religion” as one of his dislikes, according to the Daily Beast.

Chris Harper Mercer, 26, was identified as the gunman in an Oregon shooting rampage at a community college, on October 1, 2015. (MySpace)
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