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‘Third intifada was launched,’ Palestinian law student posted before carrying out fatal attack in Jerusalem

Overnight, one mosque outside Ramallah chose not play the melodic hum of the call to prayer to mark pre-dawn worship. Amid fierce clashes that took place across the West Bank and Jerusalem following two attacks on Israelis, and the killing of the Palestinian assailants and raiding of their homes, the mosque amplified the Palestinian national anthem.

The unrest marks the peak of growing tensions over the Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem. Intense clashes escalated yesterday and early this morning, on into the afternoon, prompting Palestinians to speculate if we are seeing the beginnings of a “third Intifada,” or uprising.

More than 100 Palestinians were injured in the upheaval, including two journalists. 

This morning Israeli police announced a two-day closed military zone in the Muslim quarter of the Old City and limits on prayer at al-Aqsa mosque to men over the age of 50. Women of all ages are permitted to pray. 

The first attack

Rabbi Nehemia Lavi. (Photo: Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs)
Rabbi Nehemia Lavi. (Photo: Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs)

In Jerusalem shortly after sunset on Saturday, Israeli authorities said, a 21-year-old Palestinian, Mohannad Halabi, stabbed two Israeli settlers in the Old City, Aharon and Adele Bennett, according to Israeli police and statements made by Adele Bennett. The couple were accompanying their two children, an infant and a toddler, to the Western Wall when the attack occurred. Army reservist Rabbi Nechemia Lavi, who resides in Yeshiva Ateret Cohanim, an East Jerusalem settlement in the Muslim quarter, intervened to aid the Bennett family. Halabi then stabbed Lavi and grabbed his gun, shooting at bystanders until Israeli border police rushed to the scene and shot and killed him.

Aharon Bennett. (Photo: Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs)
Aharon Bennett. (Photo: Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs)

Adele Bennett was hospitalized with moderate wounds. Aharon Bennett and Lavi were laid to rest in consecutive funerals in a north Jerusalem cemetery this morning.

“We will reach the killers of the innocent and pure, and we will reach their inciters and their dispatchers, and will deliver them a stinging blow,” said Israeli President Reuven Rivlin in an eulogy for Lavi, employing his strongest language yet on the recent attacks carried out by both Israelis and Palestinians. “I want to offer my support for the security forces, operating decisively at this time around Jerusalem, and throughout the land of Israel against the murderers,” he said, in apparent reference to an Israeli couple killed deep in the occupied West Bank on Thursday night.

Attacker motivated by slaying of Palestinian, Israeli forces storming al-Aqsa mosque, says third Intifada has started

In the days leading up to the attack Halabi, a law student at al Quds University in East Jerusalem, had posted a flurry of announcements on Facebook advocating violent acts against Israeli civilians and soldiers. One message was addressed to Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas.

“According to what I see, the third Intifada was launched,” Halabi posted on Facebook the night before the attack. He also wrote:

“How long will this humiliation and shame last?”

“Resistance is within the limits of the law and is a legitimate framework.” 

The messages appeared to originate from Halabi’s attendance at the funeral two weeks ago of Diaa Talameh, 21, from Khursa near Hebron. Talameh was a Palestinian killed by Israeli forces during clashes.

“What touched me the most in being at the funeral was that everyone was crying except the mother and father, and more women showed up then men,” Halabi wrote. Over the last month he also posted notes of distress over Israeli forces entering and firing munitions into the Muslim holy site of al-Aqsa Mosque.

“It’s all written on Facebook, the anger that is there,” Halabi’s uncle told me on the patio of their family home in Surda, a middle-class suburb of Ramallah. “Freedom fighters today are called terrorists, we don’t have the right to protect our land. They [the Israeli army] destroyed Gaza, Jenin, the whole of the West Bank– and we are the terrorist,” he said.

The Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad has claimed responsibility for the attack. However, Halabi’s family deny that he was affiliated with the group.

Hours after the killings in the Old City, clashes erupted outside of Ramallah when groups of settlers descended on the Palestinian city lobbing rocks and burning tires. During the clash Israeli soldiers injured five Palestinians with rubber bullets, according to a spokesperson for the Red Crescent. The clashes continued in the north of Ramallah until 3:30 a.m. when scores of Israeli soldiers in Jeeps arrived at the Halabi family home in Surda. With rumors circulating that Israeli forces would arrive overnight to demolish the house, the Halabi family emptied their home of furniture. They piled bedrooms, dressers and dislodged expensive marble countertops and sinks, in preparation for the destruction of their home.

“We already know what they will do, so we beat them to it,” Halabi’s uncle said.

Home demolitions are a punitive measure that was commonplace during the second Intifada as an Israeli tactic of deterrence aimed at the families’ of Palestinians whose relatives carried out fatal attacks against Israel. The practice is illegal under international law as a form of collective punishment, and until last year Israel had enacted a moratorium against leveling homes as punishment.

Dozens of Palestinians from Surda and nearby villages gathered at the entrance of Surda this morning and in front of the Halabi house.

Soldiers searched the home, questioned relatives, and then left an hour and a half later. Yet clashes continuing in the surrounding area until dawn. By late afternoon, rubble from the encounter was still smoking. 

A second stabbing and rightists chant ‘death to Arabs!’

Meanwhile, in Jerusalem throngs of rightists paraded through the city center after midnight, chanting “Death to Arabs!” And mobs attacked a Palestinian driver.

Outside of Damascus Gate, Palestinian Fadi Aloon from the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Issawiya was killed by Israeli police shortly after 2 a.m., after allegedly stabbing 15-year old Israeli Moshe Malka, according to a statement by Israeli police. Aloon’s family say their son did not carry out the attack, referencing a video that shows the young Palestinian fleeing on foot, chased by ultra-Orthodox Israelis who shouted “shoot him!”–before being gunned down by the authorities. The footage cuts off just as an Israeli security officer is filmed kicking the body of the deceased.

Israeli soldiers then raided the al-Aqsa mosque, arresting 40 worshippers inside of the holy site complex. At daybreak, soldiers entered the Aloon home in Issawiya and arrested the deceased’s father, prompting clashes with residents. 

Malka is currently being treated in a Jerusalem hospital for injuries.

A coming Intifada?

Throughout last night, some Palestinians on social media echoed Halabi’s statement that a third Intifada had taken root. A source close to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu remarked, “They want a third intifada? They’ll get a second Defensive Shield,” according to Israel Hayom.

Defensive Shield is the name of the Israeli military operation during the second Intifada designed to use shock and awe tactics against Palestinian communities to deter suicide attacks. It was the largest army incursion in the West Bank since the June 1967 war and left 497 dead. During this period the Israeli military brought tanks into every major Palestinian city, enacted curfews across the West Bank, and laid siege to the compound of then-chairman of the PLO, Yasser Arafat.

Today PLO Central Committee member Hanan Ashrawi responded sharply to the Israeli tactics.

“The collective punishment that the Palestinian people have suffered over the past 48 hours, including Israeli settler and military attacks against civilians, proves that the Israeli government is deliberately creating a situation of violence and instability that threatens to spiral out of control,” she said. “This government is thereby attempting to create the conditions for a new ‘Defensive Shield’ operation similar to that of 2002 in which the Israeli Army carried out the senseless destruction of Palestinian lives, infrastructure and institutions.” 

The head of Israel’s opposition was also critical of the government. Issac Herzog said early this morning, “Netanyahu has lost control over the security of Israeli citizens and Jerusalem.”

A meeting of Israel’s security cabinet was announced today. Netanyahu is expected to declare new policies to quell the spiraling turmoil. Last Monday night settlers carried out “price tag” attacks against across the West Bank including the firebombing of a vehicle as reprisal for the drive-by shooting and killing of a settler couple in the northern West Bank the previous day.

This meeting comes two weeks after Netanyahu declared a relaxing of Israel’s live-fire policy, approving sniper fire aimed at Palestinian stone throwers and steep prison sentences for stone throwers.

In response to the on-going strife surrounded al-Aqsa mosque, Jordan, the steward of the Muslim holy site, has said that it is mulling recalling its ambassador from Israel.

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“According to what I see, the Third Intifada has erupted. What is happening to al-Aqsa [mosque] is what is happening to our holy sites, and what is happening to the women of al-Aqsa is what is happening to our mothers and women. I don’t believe that our people will succumb to humiliation. The people will indeed rise up.”

“Oh God, look at the situation we’ve reached. This is completely unreasonable. Anger, anger and more anger. Wake up from your slumber and save al-Aqsa. Let the revolution erupt.”

. “According to the law, you have the full right to defend yourself against he who points a weapon at your face. Resistance lies within the boundaries of the law.”

“Nice speech Mr. President, but we do not recognize east and west Jerusalem. We know only that Jerusalem is one, undivided, and that every part of it is holy. Excuse me, Mr. President, but what is happening to the women of al-Aqsa and to al-Aqsa will not be stopped by peaceful measures. We were not raised to be humiliated.”

“Defending the sanctity of al-Aqsa and its women is our pride and honor,” he continued. “Defending those with all means would be considered legal. I thank your efforts, Mr. President.”

He then proceeded to liken “Palestine” to a young orphan girl whose brothers had forsaken her to “an evil man with no children, who does not know how to treat children.” In Halabi’s parable, the evil man, symbolizing Israel, was unable to rape Palestine, but nevertheless “starved her, denied her rights, imprisoned her and burned her.”

http://www.timesofisrael.com/the-third-intifada-is-here-jerusalem-terrorist-wrote-day-before-attack/

According to Amira Hass, Abbas is helpless to stop the violence, in part because,

“What his public sees is the resounding failure of his way and defeatism at best, and conscious collaboration with Israel at worst. Thus, even Abbas, who is out of touch with his public more than any other Palestinian leader, cannot ignore the scorn for him and the descent of his status to an unprecedented low. ”

//www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/.premium-1.678765

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/.premium-1.678765

“the innocent and pure” indeed, both settler-soldiers, both fundamentalist, and where none had a right to be. And that’s what you get even by random choice during an insane gesture.

At this point, the only way the Zionist entity might protect its civilian population would be to issue uniforms to the certified civilians.

Joke of the day: Jordan, the steward of the Muslim holy site, has said that it is mulling recalling its ambassador from Israel.

As if King Playstation would ever do anything what his Las Vegas masters dislike.

If it would be for real, Jordan would be shipping weapons and fighters for the liberation of Palestine instead of targetting the resistance in Syria.

“‘Let the People of Israel Enter the Gates and Kill Arabs’

Racist violence has erupted following terrorist attacks in the past, but this time it seems that the Jewish mob which took to the streets was accepted by Jerusalemites with understanding, if not downright approval.

Just like after every other terror attack in recent years, young Jews vented their anger with racist violence for several hours, attacking Arab passersby in Jerusalem on Saturday …

However, in contrast to previous incidents, this time it looked like a very big group and that Jewish residents of Jerusalem accepted their behavior with understanding, as part of the terror routine.

Shortly after the terror attack, in which a Palestinian stabbed to death two Jews, hundreds of people, mostly youths, gathered at Zion Square, answering a call to demonstrate and demand revenge. Bentzi Gopstein, head of Lehava, and right-wing extremists Itamar Ben Gvir and Baruch Marzel were prominent, but they only seemed to be leading the event. In practice, this crowd had no leader but was fueled by a feeling of hate and the desire to take revenge.

Among the demonstrators were Lehava activists, wearing black shirts, young ultra-Orthodox Jews, well-known local right-wing activists and many foreigners, speaking English and French, who joined the mob, and at least one Evangelist preacher, who called on the people of Israel to awaken. In contrast to the past, it looked like women took a significant part in inflaming passions.

“We have to kill them all, including the Arab Druze in the army,” explained one woman to her girlfriend.

It started as a kind of protest of rage, with the familiar calls of “death to terrorists,” “revenge” and “the people demand security.” However, it quickly switched to the no-less familiar calls of “death to Arabs,” “an Arab is a bastard, a Jew is a good soul” and other songs from the fairly limited racist repertoire of the far right in Jerusalem. Some of the organizers sought to lead the mob through Damascus Gate and the Muslim Quarter in the Old City to the site of the terror attack. The police was not about to let that happen and blocked their way between Zion Square and Jaffa Road.

From there, gangs of youths ran amok looking for Arab victims. But Arab workers in central Jerusalem are used to such events, and the vast majority of them fled home before the rioting. Even on the light rail cars, that often serve the Arab population, there were no Arabs. The Jewish youths blocked the rail in the square and “interviewed” passengers to determine their identity.

“Are you an Arab? Are you an Arab?” they called out to a passenger who was probably wise enough to smile without answering.

“Leave him alone. He’s a Jew,” said one of the attackers, and they moved on to look for the next victim. The rest of the passengers responded apathetically and tried to look the other way. There were many drivers who honked in solidarity and vocally supported them. The cafes and restaurants along Jaffa Road were full of people watching the march of hatred passing back and forth.

They found one victim in Mamila Mall, a kitchen worker at the Roladin café who had stepped out for a cigarette. They sprayed teargas in his face. A Palestinian taxi driver was attacked, and when he tried to flee he hit and lightly injured a pedestrian. Dozens of Jewish youths stormed the central Ben Yehuda Street looking for Arab workers. On Jaffa Road, policemen were forced to accompany a vehicle of municipal sanitation workers. At Zion Square, they massed around a circle of people participating in the “Medabrim Bakikar” dialogue group and threatened to assault a Palestinian woman.
But these random victims did not sate their urge and after midnight there was a mass run toward Damascus Gate. They were stopped before the gate by police and pushed back with clubs toward the Musrara neighborhood.

“Let the people of Israel enter the gates and kill Arabs,” one of the youths shouted at the police. “Where were you at seven in the evening? Go beat up Arabs,” a female demonstrator cried, referring to the terror attack earlier that night. Meanwhile, they ran back and forth, following false rumors of Arab passersby and undercover agents hiding among them with calls of death to Arabs.

At 4 A.M., Fadi Alon, a 19-year-old resident of Isawiyya, arrived at the scene. According to the police, he was armed with a weapon and was planning to make an attack. He managed to stab one youth and injure him moderately before he fled and was shot to death by police, who were being egged on by the demonstrators.

Alon’s family asserts that he was caught up in the place by accident, when he went out for a jog and was only seeking to defend himself. His death has set off fears of violence in Isawiyya. There have been over 20 wounded in clashes between police and youths from the village. His father and uncle have been arrested by police.”

read more: http://www.haaretz.com/news/israel/.premium-1.678800

This is what impunity for the myriad crimes that Israel is has become. The very wicked idea of supremacy/chosenness is what prompted this disaster.