Israelis help Syrian refugees in Europ -2

Israelis help Syrian refugees in Europe while Gaza Children Aspire to Murder Jews as brainwashing continues-2

World Condemns Israel as Muslim Violence in Jerusalem Ushers in Temple Mount Chaos

"Zion stretches out her hands, but there is no one to comfort her.  The Lord has decreed for Jacob that his neighbors become his foes; Jerusalem has become an unclean thing among them."  (Lamentations 1:17)

Just in time for the Jewish holy holidays, Muslim violence in Jerusalem and on the Temple Mount has once again brought condemnation to Israel. Jerusalem received 800 extra police officers to monitor an expected Muslim "day of rage" on Friday after a week of escalated attacks around Israel, including a fatal rock attack against a Jerusalem motorist on the night of Rosh HaShanah (Jewish New Year). Overnight Thursday, two Palestinian men also attacked an Israeli car near Nablus with a firebomb, with the female driver losing control and flipping her car, but escaping unharmed. Nearby security forces shot one of the two suspects and placed the other under arrest; medics took the injured suspect to the hospital.

Alexander Levlovich  

Last Sunday night, in a similar attack, an unnamed criminal threw rocks at passing cars until he hit a windshield that belonged to the car of 64-year-old Alexander Levlovich, who was driving home from a family Rosh HaShanah dinner. Levlovich lost visibility and control of the car, crashed into an electricity pole and died; his two passengers were lightly injured. Visiting the crash site on Wednesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the act "murder," stating, "This stone is one too many.  We are declaring war on those who throw stones and bottles, and rioters." Even so, stone-throwing and other violence continues.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visits Jerusalem after the death
of Alexander Levlovich.

On Monday, a pair of youth hurled stones injuring an Israeli police officer, and along a street near the Old City, multiple Muslims attacked an Orthodox Jewish teenager.  Also Monday, rioters threw rocks and flares at police forces working security on the Temple Mount.  The Muslim anarchists tried to use the al-Aqsa Mosque as a barricade, but police corralled the rioters inside the mosque and locked the doors. "We’re changing the policy to a war on stone-throwers, not just in Jerusalem and the roads leading to it, but also in the Galilee and the Negev," Netanyahu announced.  "The existing situation is unacceptable and we intend to give the tools—to both soldiers and policemen—to take very severe action against the rock throwers and the firebomb throwers." According to Netanyahu, Israel will allow open-fire orders in certain cases and increase the minimum sentence to 4–5 years in prison for throwing rocks and 10 years for throwing firebombs, as well as a sharp increase in fines against the parents of guilty minors, amounting to NIS 100,000 ($26,000).  However, the Knesset (parliament) must approve such measures.

Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu (middle) and Jerusalem Mayor Nir
Barkat (right).

US State Department spokesman John Kirby strongly condemned “all acts of violence," adding that, "it is absolutely critical that all sides exercise restraint, refrain from provocative actions and rhetoric and preserve unchanged the historic status quo on the Haram al-Sharif/ Temple Mount." The “historic status quo” means that the Jordanian Waqf, which has administered the site since 1967, oversees the traditional ban on Jewish prayer.  However, visitation by Jews and Christians is officially allowed, even though rioters and paid harassment groups make such visits humiliating and dangerous. “The status quo is upset constantly by agitators and rioters who barricade themselves on the Temple Mount and harass worshippers or, more precisely, the Jewish visitors,” Netanyahu said.  “This is also unacceptable to us.  We are dealing with this in cooperation and dialogue with Jordan, and not just with them.” On Tuesday, as police escorted Jewish visitors through the Mount complex, another riot erupted with Muslim anarchists throwing firebombs, rocks, iron bars, and firecrackers at the pilgrims.  The rioters sought to barricade themselves in the mosque as they have done many times before, but police followed them in, throwing tear gas and stun grenades. Over the three days on the Mount, news reports cited 26 Palestinian protesters were arrested.  As well, 14 Israeli police and 36 Palestinians were injured. The arrests continued as Israeli police conducted a pre-dawn raid on Wednesday connected to Levlovich's murder, arresting three Palestinians in Jerusalem's Tzur Baher neighborhood. "We are facing a changing world and extremist Islam is shaking old conventions.  The ground around us is burning and we are experiencing historic shocks," Netanyahu stated in a meeting Thursday.While skirmishes connected to the Temple Mount and other attacks have been occurring for months, even years, this week proved an escalation when, before Rosh HaShanah, police found not only piles of rocks to attack Jewish pilgrims but also a number of pipe bombs. Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan said finding the pipe bombs "forces us to reconsider the arrangements for the Temple Mount." "It is unacceptable that Muslim rioters who barricaded themselves during the night on the Temple Mount can, at will, turn this holy site into a battlefield, including throwing stones, shooting firecrackers directly at security forces, and even bringing explosive devices into the area of the Mount," he said.

Israeli police were forced to secure the Temple Mount after Muslim rioters
barricaded themselves inside the al Aqsa mosque with pipe bombs, rocks
and fireworks.

Even with all of this incitement, the police reactions during the week brought condemnation from Jordan (which administers the site), Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the Palestinian Authority, and other regional leaders. "The Jordanian government condemns the assault carried out by Special Forces of the Israeli occupation army against the Al-Aqsa mosque compound," said the Kingdom's Information Minister Mohammed Momani, calling Israel to stop "provocations." The Palestinian Authority Ministry of Information also accused Israel of incitement against Arabs living in Jerusalem, of terrorism and of declaring war "on the Palestinians and their holy sites."  Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abd alAziz Al-Saud during the week phoned a number of world leaders, including United States President Barack Obama, asking them to stop "the Israeli attacks, including intervening with the U.N. Security Council to protect the Palestinian people." According to the Saudi Press Agency, Salman's appeal to Obama stated, "The Israeli attacks contribute to feeding extremism and violence in the world.” “Any more provocations in Jerusalem will affect the relationship between Jordan and Israel, and Jordan will have no choice but to take action, unfortunately,” Salman said Monday.

The al-Aqsa Mosque as seen on the Temple Mount from the Kidron Valley
in Jerusalem

Netanyahu's warnings of increased repercussions to criminals did not slow the violence. On Thursday, a bus operated by Egged was targeted by stone-throwers in Jerusalem's Ras el-Amoud neighbourhood, causing the Arab driver to flee and contact the police.  The security entourage that arrived on scene found the bus also had been set on fire. On the same day, another bus driver was injured near the Hitzma settlement in a rock attack that smashed his windshield.  A guard tower in Jerusalem's Ofrit IDF base also was set on fire with Molotov cocktails. In the midst of the violence, a 20-person Likud Youth delegation toured the Temple Mount on Thursday morning despite a call from top government officials who said the visit would bring more harm than good. "Because of the events that were on Rosh HaShanah, we wanted to strengthen our sovereignty at our holiest site," said one Likud Youth leader, Dor Harlap, to The Jerusalem Post.  "We didn't come to cause provocations or make a mess; … we came to show our presence." About 20 Muslim Waqf officials surrounded the youth group as female Muslims yelled at them.  The group continued to walk the Mount while praying in their hearts, Harlap said. Due to Friday's expected violence, Israeli security forces barred Muslims under the age of 40 from accessing the Mount.

 

Israeli police on the Temple Mount use their shields to deflect the rocks
that Palestinians are throwing.

Israelis Upgrade Wheelchairs to Tackle Real Obstacles

"'Neither this man nor his parents sinned,' said Yeshua, 'but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him.  As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me.  Night is coming, when no one can work.'"  (John 9:3–4)

Two Israeli innovation teams have wheeled out a pair of savvy wheelchairs this year, with one designed to sense and conquer obstacles in its path and the other geared for mobility feats and rough terrain. As a gift to his mother-in-law—and other wheelchair users—musician Ilan Aviv designed a stair-stepping wheelchair with sensors that help the chair avoid obstacles as it moves. As it rolls up to a curb or a step, the chair stops and extends a pair of arch-shaped mechanisms with wheels on each end that feels for the next surface and gently lowers the chair down to it, lowering its back "legs" until the chair's main wheels touch ground again. Aviv's Step-Up device has been registered as a patent and can be installed into electric wheelchairs.  The gift to his mother-in-law took one year to design and will cost consumers $2,000 to purchase. 

 
 

Step-Up wheelchair

Meanwhile, Israeli company SoftWheel has designed a wheelchair with military veterans in mind, including Americans who will be some of the first users of the device.  SoftWheel CEO Daniel Barel told ISRAEL21c that he contacted the United States Veterans Administration (VA) to begin a working relationship. "We are in advanced talks with the VA now; these things take time.  Meanwhile, there are some private funds in the United States that support veterans," Barel said.  "A few months ago, we contacted the Independence Fund, a $15 million fund that buys medical equipment for veterans.  They were very excited to provide vets with the SoftWheel Acrobat until the VA partners with us officially." The company's Acrobat wheelchair is designed out of lightweight carbon with a patented suspension mechanism that activates above an impact threshold—sending jarring bumps and shocks into the wheels, not the chair or the user. The Acrobat wheel gives wheelchair users "a more comfortable, bump-free ride without performance compromises.  It offers a smooth and comfortable ride across everyday paths, including curbs and other declines, and can virtually connect to any wheelchair frame," writes the company website. Barel said that SoftWheel received a $1.4 million Binational Industrial Research and Development (BIRD) grant to fund the project, which will be in production by December.

Iceland Capital Boycotts Israeli Goods, Cites Apartheid

"'I now realize how true it is that God does not show favouritism but accepts from every nation the one who fears Him and does what is right.'"  (Acts 10:34–35)

In her final act on Iceland's capital city council, Bjork Vilhelmsdóttur successfully pitched a measure to ban city purchases of all Israeli goods.  On the same day, she resigned, stating her plans to volunteer in "Palestine" until January. Israel's Foreign Ministry condemned the municipal ban on Israeli products and services in a statement:  "A volcano of hatred spews forth from the Reykjavik city council building.  For no reason or justification, except hatred for its own sake, calls of boycotting the state of Israel are heard." Reykjavik Mayor Dagur B. Eggertsson said Saturday, however, that Reykjavik City Council's controversial decision to boycott Israeli products will be amended to a boycott of only those goods produced “in occupied areas.”

   

Bjork Vilhelmsdóttur and her husband .

The September 15 vote at Reykjavík City Hall had sought blanket sanctions "to press the Israeli authorities to abandon its military operations and comply with international law," the Social Democrat councilwoman told Icelandic media, connecting the ban of all Israeli products "during the occupation of Israel in the Palestinian territories." “We hope someone in Iceland will come to their senses and end the one-sided blindness fielded against Israel, the only democracy in the Middle East,” an Israel Foreign Ministry statement said. Objections from inside of Iceland apparently helped turn the tide somewhat. Lawyer for the Iceland Supreme Court Einar Gautur Steingrímsson stated that the Reykjavík purchasing ban is illegal, discriminatory and violates the Icelandic constitution.  "This is as illegal as refusing to do business with red-haired people and it makes no difference whether they justify their decision with references to some alleged actions by the Israelis," Steingrímsson said, rebuking the city for acting outside of its role. In a statement to Icelandic media, Steingrímsson said, "Iceland has a political agreement with this country, and it means nothing for the city to contend that they are the only ones with the right opinion on as complicated a subject as the Middle East." A report linked to Vilhelmsdóttur's boycott measure stated support for a sovereign Palestinian state in the borders of territories liberated by Israel in the 1967 Six Day War, including eastern Jerusalem.  The report said that a boycott amounts to peaceful resistance to "countries where human rights are not respected and the international conventions are ignored." While the measure found a majority vote, other council members rejected the bid.  Independence Party councilperson Kjartan Magnússon identified its passage as hypocrisy of the ruling coalition, stating that despite China's occupation of Tibet since 1950, there has been no measure to boycott Chinese goods.  (The Reykjavík Grapevine)

Reykjavik mayor Dagur B. Eggertsson

The passage of the ban resulted from the council members’ condemnation of Israel's "policy of apartheid," which the president of the African Christian Democratic Party in South Africa, Kenneth Rasalabe Joseph Meshoe, said in August is an "inaccurate and malicious" accusation— "an empty political statement that does not hold [any] truth." In a weeklong visit to Israel in August, Meshoe told Israel's Channel 10, "Those who know what real apartheid is—as I know—know that there is nothing in Israel that looks like apartheid." Meshoe observed that "people of different colors, backgrounds and religions" interact every day, while South African apartheid subjected all aspects of life to legalized discrimination. "Skin colour determined where you were born and lived, your job, your school, which bus, train, taxi and ambulance you used, which park bench, lavatory and beach, whom you could marry, and in which cemetery you were buried," writes South African-born journalist Benjamin Pogrund on South African apartheid for The Guardian. "Israel is not remotely like that. … for critics it’s not enough to denounce its ills and errors: instead, they exaggerate and distort and present an ugly caricature far distant from reality," he said.

The multicultural streets of Jerusalem

Former Israeli ambassador to the United States (2009–2013) and Knesset Member Michael Oren also writes that Israeli hospitals employ and treat "thousands of Palestinians," as well as Jews, Israeli Arabs, Druze and even Syrians wounded in the civil war. Non-Jews in Israel have the right to vote and to serve in the Israeli parliament, and have the option, not the requirement, to serve in the Israel military or in national service.  Schools are formed based on cultural preferences, thereby categorized as religious, secular, Jewish, Muslim or Christian, but are not discriminatory and show mixed attendance. Arabs, including non-Israelis, drive on Israeli roads and study in Israeli universities.  In fact, Tel Aviv University's (TAU) valedictorian this year was an Egyptian-American, Haisam Hassanein.  He said he was "raised on anti-Israel hate" but that his career as a student in Israel revealed his misconceptions for what they were. "Growing up in Egypt the entire country had opinions about Israel and none of them were positive.  All we knew was that we had four bloody wars and they were not like us," Hassanein said in his speech to the student body, citing Egyptian music, television and movies that showed Israelis depicted "as spies and thieves." "Instead of the fact that the two countries struck a very famous peace accord in 1979, the Israelis, I was told, were our eternal enemies." "The diversity I found here was as surprising as the warmth of the people," Hassanein said.  "On my very first day here at the university, I saw many kippahs, women in headscarves and hijabs.  I saw soldiers walking peacefully among lively crowds of students.  I learned there were people of every kind in the university and the university had a place for all of them—Jews, Muslims, Christians, Druze, Bedouins and even international students."

"I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which He has called you, the riches of His glorious inheritance in His holy people."  (Ephesians 1:18)

Your prayer support is essential to reach the Jewish People with the message of Forgiveness of Sin through Yeshua HaMashiach (Jesus the Messiah) during this end-times High Holy Days season.