News Digest — 5/2/19
Holocaust Remembrance Day: Terrorists Fire Rockets Into Israel
According to reports from the Israeli military, Gaza-based Palestinian terrorists launched two rockets into Israel in the early morning hours of Thursday (2nd), Holocaust Remembrance Day. Both fell in open areas without causing damage or injuries.
Prior to the rocket fire, the Israeli Air Force (IAF) struck a Hamas base in response to a number of arson balloons launched from the coastal enclave, which entered Israeli territory and caused fires in the Eshkol region on Wednesday (1st).
Since March 2018, Palestinians have used airborne incendiary devices to start massive blazes in Israel, causing millions of dollars in damages by scorching thousands of acres of farmland and nature preserves. On Wednesday (1st) a balloon carried an incendiary device into Kibbutz Nahal Oz in the Sha’ar Hanegev region causing a fire there.
On Thursday morning (2nd), the IAF tweeted, “The IDF views any attempt to harm Israeli civilians with great severity and will continue operating against these attacks. The Hamas terror organization is responsible for all events transpiring in the Gaza Strip and emanating from it.”
There were no reports of Palestinian injuries from the IAF strike.
(worldisraelnews.com)
Israel Comes To Standstill In Somber Remembrance Of Holocaust Victims
Israel came to a standstill at 10 a.m. Thursday (2nd) as sirens wailed throughout the country in memory of the six-million Jews murdered by the Nazis during World War II.
The annual remembrance is one of the most solemn days on Israel’s national calendar, with much of the country all but shutting down to honor those who suffered under the Nazi killing machine.
The sirens were followed by ceremonies marking Holocaust Remembrance Day in schools, public institutions and army bases, including a wreath-laying ceremony at Yad Vashem Memorial for the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, and the Knesset’s annual recitation of victims’ names. The March of the Living at the Auschwitz-Birkenau extermination camp in Poland began at 1 p.m.
Events will officially come to a close in ceremonies at Kibbutz Lomhamei Hagetaot (Ghetto Fighters) and Kibbutz Yad Mordechai, named after those who resisted the Nazis in Warsaw and the leader of the uprising, Mordechai Anielewicz.
Holocaust Remembrance Day began Wednesday evening at sundown (1st) as ceremonies were held throughout the country. At Jerusalem’s Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial and Museum, an official state event featured six torch lightings from Holocaust survivors. Both Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Rivlin spoke at the solemn ceremony.
(ynetnews.com; timesofisrael.com)
Survivor Ed Mosberg, 93, Is Braving Cancer To March At Auschwitz
Krakow, Poland – At the age of 93, Holocaust survivor Ed Mosberg is saying his goodbyes to the city of his birth, Thursday (2nd).
Flanked by two physicians who accompanied him all the way from New Jersey, Mosberg, who made a fortune in construction after surviving six concentration camps, traveled to Poland on Tuesday (4/30) as he has done for at least 20 years to participate in the commemorative March of the Living through the former Auschwitz death camp, near Krakow.
But suffering from recently-diagnosed blood cancer, Mosberg says in characteristic bluntness: “I don’t know if I’ll be alive this time next year, much less be able to travel and attend the march.”
He doesn’t fear death for two reasons, Mosberg said in an interview with the Jewish Telegraph Agency: “FIRST, I already beat death once after the war when I had fatal-stage tuberculosis – and I can do it again. And SECOND, I already died 70 years ago when the Germans murdered my whole family not far from here.”
Mosberg also brings to the marches – a whip that he says was used to torture Jews at Mathausen, one of three Nazi camps Mosberg survived. “That artifact,” he says, “tends to invoke keen interest during security checks at airports.”
The march takes place on Israel’s national day of mourning for the Holocaust, Yom Hashoah, which falls on Thursday, May 2.
A first this year, is the attendance of soccer players from the New England Revolution team in the United States. Players and executives from the Chelsea soccer team from the United Kingdom, which attended in 2018, are attending again this year. More than 300,000 participants will be marching.
This year’s march will spotlight the tragedy of the Jews of Greece during ceremonies. Greece was by far the Nazi-occupied country with the highest death rate during the Holocaust, losing more than 95% of its pre-war Jewish population of 72,000 people.
Holocaust Remembrance Day began Wednesday evening (1st) and will end on Thursday evening at sunset (2nd)
(jta.org)
Do PA Arabs Want Israeli Sovereignty?
Many Palestinian Authority residents expressed their distrust of the Arab leadership and even said they preferred Israeli rule in interviews with Kan News.
In light of the refusal of Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas to accept the budgets that the State of Israel transfers to him every month due to the reduction of the salaries of the terrorists, there is a fear that the PA will collapse.
Despite the fears of the international community, the Arab street is not as worried about the situation and there are those who even call on the State of Israel to come and rule Judea and Samaria.
One of the interviewees said: “Let Israel come here. The Palestinian Authority (PA) is not interested in us. The PA does what it wants and not what the citizens want. We want things to be comfortable for citizens and not for the PA to have money hidden in its pockets and chairs.”
When asked whether he was alone in that opinion, he replied, “A lot …I tell you, a lot of people think like this.”
Another Arab expressed his anger at the PA government and stated that Abbas is the only person pleased with the existence of the Palestinian Authority. “The members of the security forces also receive only a quarter of their regular salary. Only the top official is satisfied. The rest are not.”
Abbas has refused to accept the tax revenues that Israel collects for the Palestinian Authority, in protest against the offsetting of the salaries the PA pays to terrorists from these budgets.
In a recent PA meeting, Abbas said: “Our position is clear. We will not accept the funds from Israel after a reduction. But if Israel renews the agreements, we will be prepared to conduct a dialogue with them.”
(israelnn.com)
VIDEO: ‘For Allah’s Sake’: Gun-toting Little Boy Vows To ‘Shoot Jews’ And ‘Become A Martyr’
A gun-toting boy tells him mom that he’s “off to Jerusalem” to “shoot the Jews” and “die as a martyr” in a chilling propaganda video from Jordan.
In the footage, the boy, who looks to be no older than four or five-years-old, is seen marching with a slingshot and toy rifle as he informs his mother, “ I’m going on a journey far away. I might not come back.”
The boy marches in the mountains in Jordan armed with his gun in the “sick” video.
He sobs as he tells his mother: “I will die for the sake of Jerusalem.” Later in the video, the boy – believed to have been taught the lines by the makers of the sickening clip – furiously punches the air as he declares: “I am going to the martyr Omar Abu Laila and his friends. I will shoot the Jews who shot Omar.”
When his mom warns him that he will be killed, the boy – named in reports as Amir Al Khasawne – replies: “It’s no big deal, mommy. For the sake of Allah, oh Arabs! This is Jerusalem. I will die for Jerusalem – Isn’t Jerusalem worth it?”
Palestinian terrorist Abu Laila killed a rabbi and an IDF soldier in a shooting spree last month, the Times of Israel reported.
Abu Laila was killed later that week in a shootout with IDF troops near Ramallah.
The little boy sobs as he then tells his mom that he will “go to Omar’s mother,” adding: “I will kiss her forehead, and say, ‘I’m like Omar. We’re all like Omar. We are all your children.’”
The video , which has gone viral, was produced by Mays Alreem for Television Photography and appeared on Gaza TV Media’s YouTube channel.
However it is not known which group is behind the twisted film.
(thesun.co.uk; memri.org)
