Palestinian Media Use Paris Attacks as Platform for Anti-Israel Messages
(JNS.org) Through traditional and social media, Fatah and the Palestinian Authority (PA), which are both headed by PA President Mahmoud Abbas, used Friday’s deadly terror attacks in Paris as a platform to spread anti-Israel messages.
Palestinian Media Watch reported that on Saturday an image posted on Fatah’s official Facebook was accompanied by the text, “Terror is terror and we condemn all terror. Be it destroying houses in Nablus and killing our children by Israel, or hitting a Russian plane over Egypt. The Paris attacks are criminal acts done by coward terrorists.”
On Sunday, an op-ed published in Al-Hayat Al-Jadida—the PA’s official daily newspaper—stated, “It is not a coincidence that human blood was exploded in Paris at the same time that certain European sanctions are beginning to be implemented against settlement products, and while France leads Europe in advising the security council that will implement the two-state solution, Palestine and Israel—which the Israelis see as a warning of sudden danger coming from the direction of Europe, where the Zionist, occupying, settling endeavor was born…The wise and correct thing is to look for who benefits. In short: They need to search the last place reached by the octopus arms of the Mossad… It is clear that its ‘Mossad’ will burn Beirut and Paris in order to achieve [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu’s goals. He, who challenged the master of the White House, hides in his soul enough evil to burn the world.”
Woman Who Lost Father and Brother in Terror Attack Invites All Israel to Wedding
(Arutz Sheva) Sarah-Tehiya Litman, 21, whose father and brother were murdered by terrorists on Friday, and who was supposed to get married to Ariel Bigel on Tuesday, announced that the wedding will only be postponed by nine days—and that the entire nation of Israel is invited. The wedding will be held at Binyanei Hauma in Jerusalem.
The invitation announcement is preceded by the phrase “Do not rejoice over me, my enemy, for I have fallen but I have gotten up” (Michah 7:8).
“This evening, instead of wearing the bridal dress, I will sit on the floor with a torn shirt,” Sarah told the newspaper Yediot Aharonot Tuesday. “But very soon, we will marry in a large and happy wedding. We will go on and be happy as Father and Netanel always were. We will not be crushed.”
“This will be the million-person wedding,” the couple said. “Multitudes will come to make us happy.”
The family was headed out from home in Kiryat Arba to Meitar, where their in-laws-to-be live, to hold the Shabbat Chatan—the Sabbath celebration for the groom before a wedding—on Friday. On the way, an Arab terrorist waylaid the car which was being driven by Sarah-Tehiya’s brother Netanel Litman, killing him and his father, Rabbi Yaakov Litman, and wounding his brother Dvir.
Israel to U.N.: Condemn Palestinian Red Crescent for Neglecting Jewish Victims
(JNS.org) Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon has asked U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to publicly condemn the Palestinian Red Crescent organization after one of its ambulances that was near the site of Friday’s shooting attack near Otniel, which left Rabbi Ya’akov Litman and his son Netanel dead, failed to stop and treat the wounded Israeli Jews.
“An ambulance that doesn’t treat wounded civilians is complicit in terrorism. We’re talking about egregiously ignoring all universal moral values and contempt for human life,” Danon wrote to Ban.
Danon added that an ambulance not treating wounded people was a direct violation of international law.
Hungary Refuses to Label Judea and Samaria Products, Defying EU
(JNS.org) Hungary declared that it will not label Israeli products made in Judea and Samaria, the Golan Heights, and eastern Jerusalem, defying the European Union’s new guidelines.
Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó told the Israel Council on Foreign Relations during his one-day trip to Israel on Monday that the EU’s decision to place labels on Israeli settlement products is “irrational” and will only exacerbate the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
“We have to tell things as they are, especially in a time of crisis, otherwise we can’t come up with a solution…political correctness prevents the addressing of situations as they should be,” Szijjártó said.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu thanked Szijjártó for his support of Israel during a meeting at the Prime Minister’s Office.
Egypt Kills 24 Islamic State Terrorists in Sinai
(JNS.org) The Egyptian military said it has killed 24 Islamic State-affiliated terrorists in the Sinai Peninsula.
According to Egyptian security sources, the terrorists were killed as they hid in a mountainous cave, Reuters reported. Eight terrorists were also arrested.
The operation against the Islamic State terrorists came about 40 miles from the crash site of the Russian Airbus 321 airliner that crashed in the Sinai on Oct. 31, killing all 224 people aboard. Sinai-based Islamic State supporters claimed responsibility for that attack.
The Egyptian military has been battling with Islamic State-linked terrorists, who call themselves Wilayat Sinai (Province of Sinai), for the past two years.
Jeb Bush, Ted Cruz Call for U.S. to Give Priority to Syrian Christian Refugees
(JNS.org) Republican presidential candidates U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (Texas) and former Florida governor Jeb Bush have called on America to give priority to Middle Eastern Christian refugees, amid a growing number of U.S. states refusing Syrian refugees following the Paris terror attacks.
“There is no meaningful risk of Christians committing acts of terror,” Cruz said in South Carolina on Sunday, blasting the Obama administration for acting “as if there is no religious aspect to this.”
Bush said that U.S. assistance to any Middle Eastern refugees should focus primarily on Christians fleeing the violence.
“We should focus our efforts as it relates to refugees on the Christians that are being slaughtered,” Bush told CNN on Sunday.
President Barack Obama criticized the Republican candidates for their calls to keep out Muslim refugees while giving priority to Christians.
“When I hear political leaders suggesting that there should be a religious test for admitting which person fleeing which country,” Obama said at the G20 press conference in Turkey, “when some of these folks themselves come from other countries, that’s shameful. That’s not America. That’s not who we are. We don’t have religious tests to our compassion.”
Following the Paris attacks, Republican governors of 12 states—Maryland, Texas, Michigan, Florida, Illinois, North Carolina, Louisiana, Indiana, Arkansas, Arizona, Alabama and Massachusetts—said they will not absorb Syrian refugees over security concerns.
Swedish Foreign Minister Blames Paris Attacks on Palestinian Frustration
(JNS.org) Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallström linked Palestinian grievances with Israel to the Islamist terror attacks that killed 129 people in Paris.
“Obviously, we have reason to be worried, not just in Sweden but across the world—because there are so many that are being radicalized. Here, once again, we are brought back to situations like the one in the Middle East, where not least, the Palestinians see that there is not a future. We must either accept a desperate situation or resort to violence,” Wallström said in a television interview.
In response to Wallström’s comments, Israel summoned Sweden’s ambassador to the Jewish state for an urgent meeting with Israeli Foreign Ministry Director-General Dore Gold, calling the Swedish minister’s remarks “brazen,” “shocking” and “hostile.”
Attempting to clarify Wallström’s rhetoric, the Swedish Foreign Ministry said, “In the interview which is referred to, no implication or reference was made that implied that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict had any relevance for the tragic events in Paris. We condemn all acts of terror.”
Israel Intercepts 450 Liters of Gaza-Bound Rocket Fuel Chemicals
(JNS.org) Israel intercepted a Gaza Strip-bound Palestinian truck with 450 liters of a banned chemical called TDI, known to be a central component in the production of rocket fuel, the Israeli Defense Ministry said Monday.
In the West Bank, Israel’s border-crossing authority found the truck’s registered contents of so-called “soybean oil” to be suspicious and conducted a preliminary chemical test, which showed the liquid was actually unidentifiable. After confiscating the materials and sending them to a lab for further testing, it was clear the material was TDI, a liquid prohibited from entering Gaza due to the Hamas terror group’s intent to use it for rockets. Israeli security authorities have opened an investigation into the incident.
Absorption Group Asks Israel to Prepare for Massive Influx of French Jews
(JNS.org) The number of French Jews immigrating to Israel is skyrocketing and the Jewish state needs to prepare for a further uptick, Dr. Michael Bensaadon—director of the “Klita” absorption group, which works with French Jews seeking to make aliyah—told Israel National News following the Paris terror attacks.
Bensaadon is asking Israel to better prepare its infrastructure, such as education and employment, to absorb a greater number of Jewish immigrants who in the absence of suitable Israeli infrastructure might prefer moving to the United States or Canada.
“We’ve gotten lots of promises and we hear the Israeli government call on Jews to come home to Israel, but we don’t see definite steps,” he said.
Based on preliminary findings from opinion polls—which show that as much as 80 percent of French Jewry is mulling aliyah—in addition to a report Bensaadon’s group is working on together with the Jewish Agency and the Nefesh B’Nefesh aliyah organization, the wave of French aliyah “will yet strengthen,” said Bensaadon. In the last year alone, 7,000 French Jews immigrated to Israel amid the rising anti-Semitism in France.
Palestinian Authority and Fatah Blame Paris Attacks on Israel
(JNS.org) Through traditional and social media, the Palestinian Authority (PA) and the Fatah faction—which are both led by Mahmoud Abbas—blamed Friday’s deadly Paris terror attacks on Israel.
Fatah on Monday posted two Israel-related conspiracy theory cartoons on its official Facebook page, according to Palestinian Media Watch (PMW). One showed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with an Islamic State terrorist near the Eiffel Tower; Netanyahu is pictured helping the terrorist aim his machine gun. In the other cartoon, two matches in a matchbox are labeled “Terrorism,” with the head of one match shaped as an Islamic State terrorist and the head of the other match as an Orthodox Jew.
PMW also reported that on Sunday, an op-ed published in Al-Hayat Al-Jadida—the PA’s official daily newspaper—stated regarding the Paris and Beirut attacks, “The wise and correct thing is to look for who benefits. In short: They need to search the last place reached by the octopus arms of the [Israeli] Mossad [spy agency]…It is clear that its ‘Mossad’ will burn Beirut and Paris in order to achieve Netanyahu’s goals. He, who challenged the master of the White House, hides in his soul enough evil to burn the world.”
Israel Provides France With Terror Intelligence After Paris Attacks, PM Says
(JNS.org) Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Saturday that Israel has provided France with intelligence related to the perpetrators of Friday’s six coordinated terror attacks in Paris—which killed at least 129 people—and intelligence about other terrorist plots in Europe.
“Israel stands shoulder-to-shoulder with France in this joint battle against militant Islamic terrorism,” Netanyahu said. “I’ve instructed Israel’s security and intelligence forces to assist their French counterparts and their counterparts from other European countries in any way possible.”
The Islamic State terror group claimed responsibility for Friday’s attacks.
“Terrorism is the deliberate and systematic targeting of civilians,” said Netanyahu. “It can never be justified. Terrorism must always be condemned. It must always be fought. Innocent people in Paris, like those in London, Madrid, Mumbai, Buenos Aires and Jerusalem, are the victims of militant Islamic terrorism, not its cause. As I’ve said for many years, militant Islamic terrorism attacks our societies because it wants to destroy our civilization and our values.”
