Israel News for August 31, 2016
Radio Bust
IDF forces raided a radio station in the village of Dura, near Hebron, last night. The station was accused of inciting terror by praising past acts of terror and calling on listeners to commit new ones. Forces arrested five employees of the station and confiscated broadcasting equipment.
Dura is known to be a hotbed of terror activity and is the hometown of numerous terrorists including one who participated in the murder of Rabbi Mickey Mark and two who carried out the Panorama stabbing attack in Tel Aviv. The IDF has also been cracking down on other radio stations in the area accused of incitement.
Meanwhile, IDF and border police forces arrested 8 other wanted suspects in the West Bank. Six of them were suspected of involvement in terrorist activities and violence against police and civilians. Several are members of Hamas.
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Abbas Corruption
Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman believed that Palestinian Authority President Abbas is the main obstacle to the peace process because of his “reign of corruption.”
Lieberman said, “We’ve met dozens of economists and businessmen from the Palestinian Authority, and when you ask what’s most important for the Palestinian economy, they all reply that the most important thing is to get rid of Abu Mazen (Abbas). He has imposed a reign of corruption that encompasses everything. He has people in every economic sector — in real estate, the fuel market, the communications market. Abbas’ people take a tithe from every deal, and aside from the people in the inner circle, the PA leadership doesn’t allow anyone there to develop economically. That’s why it’s so important for him to go. As long as Abbas is there, nothing will happen.”
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Racial Profiling
Racial profiling of Arabs by Israeli police has always been accepted as a necessary evil, as a result of Arab terror against Israel. But racial profiling doesn’t stop with Arabs.
Israel Police Chief Roni Alsheich, speaking at an Israel Bar Association (IBA) conference yesterday, implied that police officers apply racial profiling to Ethiopian Israelis too. Regarding Ethiopian Israelis and Israeli Arabs, Alsheich said, “When a police officer encounters a suspect, it’s natural for his brain to suspect him more than he would have if (the suspect) were someone else, it’s natural.”
He explained, “When there’s a community that’s more involved in crime, Arabs or East Jerusalem residents as well, and the statistics are (publicly available), then when a police officer encounters a suspect, it’s natural for his brain to suspect him more than he would have if (the suspect) were someone else, it’s natural. We, I believe, have understood this and have begun taking care of this a little late, but there has been a very-very tight plan in place for about a year, (in which we cooperate with) leaders inside the community, whose role is to—among other things—minimize over-policing.”
Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan defended Alsheich’s statement saying, “The police chief didn’t justify the over-policing phenomenon against Israelis of Ethiopian descent. He did exactly the opposite.” He added, “Israelis of Ethiopian descent are an inseparable part of Israeli society and of Israel Police, and we’re working together with members of the community and its leaders to mend the past’s mistakes.”
The police issued a statement saying, “Israel Police invests deep thinking into understanding the existing rift between officers and Israelis of Ethiopian descent. The chief of police made an honest admission that after deep internal examination we found that there was over-policing at the interface between cops and members of the Ethiopian community in Israel.”
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Syrian Rebels
Islam Aloush, the spokesman for the Syrian rebel confederation Jaysh al-Islam (Army of Islam), gave an interview to an Israeli researcher in Turkey recently. On the rare occasions that rebel leaders agree to be interviewed by an Israeli, they do so anonymously, in order to protect themselves from being branded as “collaborators” with Israel. Surprisingly, Aloush allowed the interviewer to use his real name. Big mistake for Aloush.
When asked about his group’s position regarding a peace agreement between Syria and Israel, Aloush said, “this issue and other issues of Syrian foreign policy will be determined by the government institutions which will be founded once the Syrian revolution succeeds and the Syrian people are able to vote freely. We will not deny any decision made by the Syrian people, as the Assad regime has done for the past 40 years.”
The fact that he even implied that peace with Israel was possible unleashed a torrent of attacks from the Arab media, which completely distorted the interview and painted Aloush as a collaborator and traitor. A few days later Aloush resigned from his spokesman position.
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Hasidic Expansion
The Satmar Rebbe announced that a prominent Satmar leader has donated a $100 million parcel of property adjacent to the Satmar village of Kiryas Yoel in upstate NY, which will be used to build 2,000 new housing units. This is the first major expansion of the village since its founding forty years ago. There are currently 5,000 families who live in Kiryas Yoel.
The prices of the new apartments will be set by the Satmar leadership in order to make them affordable and to prevent price inflation in the Kiryas Yoel real estate market.
The Rebbe also warned French Jews not to make aliya, in order to protect them from the Zionists. Oh well.
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