21st Century Wire says…
Israeli authorities have stated that two armed Palestinian men have killed five people after entering a synagogue in West Jerusalem on November 18th. This information comes as hostilities have risen, and while the Palestine Authority is set to go to the UN Security Council this month – in an effort to seek a resolution that would end Israeli occupation by the end of 2016.
While the grisly synagogue attack should be condemned, the public should also be wary of the timing of such an event and how such emotive information is reported during a crisis.
It has been well documented that Palestine’s drive for statehood has been gaining traction in the last few years, prompting many critics of Israel’s brutal bombing campaign over the summertime to strengthen those calls. It has been said that the recent deadly bombing campaign over the summer left nearly 2,200 Palestinian people dead in Gaza, with over twenty percent of those being children.
According to Middle East Monitor in June 0f 2013:
“Official statistics from the Ministry of Information in Ramallah have revealed that 1,518 Palestinian children were killed by Israel’s occupation forces from the outbreak of the second Intifada in September 2000 up to April 2013. That’s the equivalent of one Palestinian child killed by Israel every 3 days for almost 13 years. The ministry added that the number of children injured by the Israelis since the start of the Second Intifada against Israel’s occupation has now reached 6,000.”
Israel prevents statehood
In an Associated Press report we see that there could be something else at play with regards to a recognized Palestine state and the recent Synagogue attack as Spain approved a non-binding measure recognizing a Palestinian state just hours following the attack:
“Spain’s Parliament has overwhelmingly approved a largely symbolic resolution that recognizes a Palestinian state.
The non-binding resolution follows moves in other European countries intended to push for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The vote Tuesday night was 319 in favor with two opposed and one abstention.
Britain and Ireland approved similar motions last month. Sweden’s new left-leaning government went further and officially recognized a Palestinian state Oct. 30 — prompting Israel to withdraw its ambassador from Stockholm.
The European efforts reflect growing international impatience with Israel’s nearly half-century control of the West Bank, east Jerusalem and its blockade of the Gaza Strip.”
On Monday, November 17th, just one day before the Synagogue attack, the newly appointed foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, called for the ‘establishment’ a Palestinian state over the next few years.
IMAGE: ‘A Spotless clean-up’ – The Israeli Zaka emergency response team apparently cleaning up blood from the scene of the attack at the Jerusalem synagogue in the Har Nof neighborhood on November 18th (Photo rt.com)
Here’s a YouTube video supposedly depicting Israeli security firing on the alleged synagogue attackers…
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IMAGE: ‘Trail of blood’ – The crime scene inside the Har Nof synagogue. What really happened here? (Photo ctvnews.ca)
The synagogue attack was allegedly preceded by a ‘van attack’ seen on a CCTV camera on November 5th near a rail station in the West Bank.
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There have been a rash of vehicular related incidents in Israel since October and two apparently on the same day, on November 5th. Both were reported as attacks but strangely the hit-and-run on IDF soldiers was found to be an accident as revealed by Jerusalem Post:
“Israel – A senior Israeli security source said Thursday that the IDF was examining the possibility that what has been referred to as a ramming terror attack that wounded three soldiers on Wednesday night in the West Bank, may have in fact been a hit-and-run accident.
The first suspect, believed to be an abettor of the driver of the vehicle who hit the soldiers, was arrested by the Combat Engineering Corps’ 603rd Battalion in Bet Awa, in the South Mount Hebron region on Wednesday night soon after the incident.”
As one calls into question recent events reported by the media concerning Israel, we are reminded of reports over the summer that falsely stated there was an attack on a Synagogue in Paris. This was confirmed in a French TV interview with the President of the Synagogue de la Roquette, Serge Benhaïm:
“In an interview broadcast Friday on the 24-hour news channel i-Télé, Serge Benhaïm said that there was “not a single projectile thrown at the synagogue” and that “at no moment, were we ever physically in danger.”
The timing of such reports is no accident, and may part of a wider media PR campaign to garner additional sympathy for the State of Israel and to discredit the Palestinian sovereignty movement internationally.
More from RT below…
IMAGE: ‘Disaster volunteers’ – The Israeli Zaka emergency response team (bloomberg.com)
3 US & 1 UK rabbis killed, 8 injured in attack at Jerusalem synagogue
Four people have been killed and at least 8 wounded when two assailants attacked worshipers with knives, axes and a pistol in a synagogue in North Jerusalem in the morning. Three of the victims were dual nationality US citizens and one was from the UK.
Israeli police say both attackers were shot dead on the spot by officers. Spokeswoman Luba Samri described the incident as a “terrorist attack,” according to AP.
Israel’s Public Security Minister, Yitzhak Aharonovitch, has said that gun controls for self-defense will be eased in wake of the attack.
“In the coming hours, I will ease controls on carrying weapons,” he said in comments broadcast on public radio.
He added that the new rules will apply to anyone who owns a gun license, such as private security guards and off duty army officers.
Israeli police have confirmed four people have died in the incident and eight have been wounded, four seriously, two moderately and two lightly.
All four of the victims were rabbis and one of them, Moshe Twersky,was the head of the English speaking Yeshiva Toras Moshe, an institution for religious studies, in Jerusalem. His funeral procession will be held at 2:00 pm local time.
Another of the victims was a British-Israeli national, according to the UK’s Foreign Office.
“We are aware of the death of a dual British-Israeli national in Israel on 18 November 2014,” the Foreign Office said in a statement.
The other three were US citizens, according to Israeli police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld
The FBI has said it will open an investigation into the attack as three of the victims were US citizens.
The suspects have been named as Uday Abu Jamal and Ghassan Abu Jamal, from East Jerusalem, and were both members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, which has praised the attack but stopped short of claiming responsibility, Hamas also honored the attack.
IMAGE: ‘On the hunt’ – Israeli security personal searches for anyone else who may have been involved in the attack at a synagogue in North Jerusalem on November 18th ( Photo RT.com)
Israeli police spokeswoman Luba Samri confirmed the suspect’s identity, AP reports.
Meanwhile, the Israeli Prime Minster has ordered the homes of the two suspects to be demolished, according to his spokesman.
The attacked synagogue is situated on Agasi Street, in the ultra-Orthodox Had Nof neighborhood of Jerusalem.
“We were praying in synagogue in the morning, we heard gunshots from downstairs… one shot, two shots and then a flurry of shots,” a witness who was inside the building told AP.
The first call to the emergency services was at 7:01 and two traffic policemen were the first on the scene who were joined by a third officer. They started shooting at the terrorists and killed them, although one of the policemen was critically wounded in the firefight and another moderately…
More from RT…
READ MORE ISRAELI NEWS AT: 21st Century Wire Israel Files
