Jewish World Update Sep/Oct 2018
DANON TO UN: “YOU ARE THE AMMUNITION FOR HAMAS’S GUNS”
“You are the ammunition for Hamas’s guns; you are the warheads for its missiles,” Israel’s UN Ambassador Danny Danon told the UN General Assembly when it recently condemned Israel for responding to Gaza’s violent border protests.
The UN resolution, ironically called “Protection of the Palestinian civilian population,” was proposed by Algeria and Turkey and passed 120 to 8, with 45 abstentions, JNS.org reported. It condemned the “excessive, disproportionate and indiscriminate force by the Israeli forces against Palestinian civilians,” JNS.org said.
However, it never mentioned Hamas or its actions, such as flying firebomb kites into Israel, hurling explosives and grenades over the border, rolling burning tires into Israeli soldiers and throwing rocks at them, firing rockets, using children as human shields, and organizing a violent mob to try to storm through the border.
Even Hamas official Mahmoud al-Zahar admitted in an Arabic interview with Al Jazeera Network that the protests were violent and that language of a “peaceful protest” is used only to deceive the public: “This is not peaceful resistance. Has the option [of armed struggle] diminished? No. On the contrary, it is growing and developing. That is clear. So when we talk about ‘peaceful resistance,’ we are deceiving the public.” The translation was released by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI).
Israeli soldiers responded with tear gas and rubber bullets to reduce the number of casualties, resorting to live ammunition only when necessary to protect Israelis near the border. Most of the people killed by Israeli forces were Hamas militants, according to the terror organization itself.
From news reports
PA SPOKESMAN AT BETHLEHEM CONFERENCE: “JESUS WAS A PALESTINIAN”
“Jesus was a Palestinian,” and Palestine was “the birthplace of Jesus,” Palestinian Authority Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki said at Bethlehem Bible College’s recent Christ at the Checkpoint conference, an annual pro-Palestinian Christian seminar known for vilifying Israel and Christian Zionism.
The Christians hosting the conference, themed “Christ at the Center,” applauded al-Maliki’s revisionist approach to Scripture and ignored the many passages that clearly present Jesus as Jewish and born “in Bethlehem of Judea” (Mt. 2:5).
Speakers advocated for the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement; criticized the recent move of the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem; emphasized the so-called struggle of Arabs under Israeli “occupation”; denounced Christian Zionism; and used the Bible to stir up evangelicals to side with them in their battle against Israel, IsraelToday.co.il reported.
The organizers did, however, invite one pro-Israel voice to speak: Dr. Michael Brown, a prominent evangelical Jewish-Christian author, radio host, and advocate of Israel. Brown explained God’s future for the Jewish people and the nation of Israel, emphasized the dangers of Replacement Theology, clarified the purpose of the checkpoints to protect Israelis, and rebuked the conference organizers and speakers for failing to mention the Palestinian Authority’s and Hamas’s encouragement of terrorism.
“I wonder how many speakers here will decry the hundreds of millions of dollars that Hamas has spent on building terrorist tunnels to kidnap and kill Israelis, including kindergarteners,” Brown said. “If you care about justice, if you care about putting Jesus at the center, surely you have to renounce these things with me today. The least you could do as followers of Jesus is stand with me in denouncing your government’s celebration of terrorism.”
From news reports
KNESSET INTRODUCES ‘PAY TO SLAY’ BILL
The Israeli Knesset has introduced legislation that will reduce the amount of money the Palestinian Authority (PA) receives each month from Israel in tax revenue by approximately $42 million (NIS 150 million) unless the PA can prove it is no longer paying terrorists and their families monthly stipends.
The proposed legislation came two months after the PA revealed its 2018 budget, which allocates $340 million to pay terrorists convicted by Israeli courts and their families. “The law will correct an injustice of historic proportions. Passage of this law will reduce terrorism, and perhaps more importantly, restore the most basic moral values necessary in every civilized society,” Knesset member Elazar Stern said.
JNS.org
POLAND RETRACTS HOLOCAUST LAW
Poland has decided to remove the criminal provisions of its controversial Holocaust speech law in response to international outcry. The law had called for criminal penalties for anyone accusing Poland of complicity in the Holocaust.
JNS.org
IRANIANS DEFY REGIME, SUPPORT ISRAEL
Thousands of Iranians recently defied their anti-Israel government by tweeting their support and love for Israel on Quds Day, an annual day established by the Iranian regime to condemn Israeli control of Jerusalem.
The hashtag #WeStandWithIsrael was featured in tens of thousands of tweets written by Iranians campaigning to separate their opinions of Israel from that of their government, according to Israel’s Foreign Ministry. “Most of the Iranian people oppose the regime and its policies towards Israel, and Iranians are always writing to us that they love Israel—that they do not want their regime to use their money to bolster Hamas and Hezbollah,” said Sharona Avginsaz, the ministry’s Persian-language, digital-media manager.
The supportive tweets came days after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu released a video promising to help Iranian farmers learn Israel’s cutting-edge water technologies in the midst of Iran’s severe drought. “The Iranian people are victims of a cruel and tyrannical regime that denies them vital water. . . . The hatred of Iran’s regime will not stop the respect and friendship between our two peoples,” Netanyahu said.
JNS.org
PA-TV GAME-SHOW Host PRAISES TERRORISTS
The host of the Palestinian television game show The Box recently opened the show by praising Palestinian “martyrs” who die while committing acts of terror against Jewish Israelis. “A thousand blessings always to the souls of our heroic martyrs who water the land of Palestine with their blood every day, until the independent State of Palestine whose capital is Jerusalem arises. Whoever doesn’t like it—let them bang their head against the iron of the Damascus Gate,” the host said.
JNS.org
SOUTH AFRICAN JEWS, CHRISTIANS GATHER TO SUPPORT ISRAEL
More than 1,500 South African Jews and Christians gathered recently in Cape Town, Johannesburg, and Durban to learn how to strengthen pro-Israel communities and counter the growing anti-Israel sentiments in their country.
The initiative, sponsored by the Israeli Ministry of Strategic Affairs and Public Diplomacy and the Zionist Federation of South Africa, included panels on how to raise support for Israel and counter the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement trying to destroy Israel.
“The reality in South Africa is deeply disturbing, given the increasing prominence of the BDS movement within the country and the solidarity by the ANC [African National Congress Party] towards terrorist organizations,” said Strategic Affairs Minister Gilad Erdan. “I decided to focus my ministry’s efforts on activities in South Africa in order to strengthen the local pro-Israel community and their fight against BDS and terrorism.”
JNS.org
JEWISH GROUPS, ISRAEL HELP GUATEMALA
The American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee has been working with the Guatemalan Jewish community to provide humanitarian aid in the aftermath of Fuego’s volcanic eruption, which devastated some 1.7 million people and killed more than 70. The Jewish groups have been distributing critically needed items to those in the hardest-hit areas and helping to plan how to rebuild schools and clinics.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also conveyed his condolences to Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales and sent Israeli logistical and medical teams to the area.
JNS.org
ISRAEL UNVEILS NEW KAMIKAZE-LIKE DRONE
Israel Aerospace Industries recently demonstrated its newest, high-tech, kamikaze-like drone designed to enhance Israel’s land warfare proficiencies by destroying enemy targets.
The drone, called Rotem, is a lightweight, multirotor, lethal assault drone with vertical takeoff and landing capabilities, making it suitable for intelligence, reconnaissance, surveillance, and tactical missions. It carries a 2.2-pound warhead, covers up to 6.2 miles in range, can hover for 30 to 45 minutes before diving down at a speed of up to 58 miles per hour, and can be deployed in one minute by a single soldier.
JNS.org
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