Army fires 20 artillery shells at Syrian positions from which rockets launched at northern Golan originated; no injuries or damages reported on Israeli side.
At least two rockets from Syria hit the northern Golan Heights on Tuesday and IDF returned fire, nine days after an Israeli air strike in Syria killed an Iranian general and several Lebanese Hezbollah fighters.
The IDF said it fired 20 artillery shells at Syrian positions from which the rockets originated. The rockets hit open areas and no injuries or damages were reported.
Residents in Druze villages near the border reported to hearing several explosions, shortly after a Code Red rocket alert siren was sounded near the border.
IDF soldiers evacuating visitors from Hermon ski site.
The IDF has instructed the evacuation of some 1,000 visitors from the Hermon Mountain ski site, and the resort has been closed until further notice.
Officials at the Hermon ski site said the rockets fell in several places in the Golan Heights. “Following this, the IDF instructed to evacuate the visitors from the Hermon site … the IDF is also at the scene,” they said.
the Hermon ski site (Photo courtesy of Hermon ski site
Visitors being evacuated from the Hermon ski site (Photo courtesy of Hermon ski site)
Residents in the Maron Golan area were asked to remain close to safe rooms and shelters and farmers in the area were instructed to evacuate. Israel Police briefly blocked all roads leading to the Golan Heights, and has since re-opened all but the ones leading to the Hermon.
Fighting in neighboring Syria’s civil war has spilled over to Israel in the past. Mortar shells have exploded sporadically inside Israeli territory since the conflict began, sometimes causing minor damage. Israel believes most fire is errant shots but has at times accused Syria of aiming at Israeli targets. Israeli troops have returned fire on several occasions.
This time, however, “it does not seem that it was errant fire,” Lieutenant-Colonel Peter Lerner, an IDF spokesman, told Reuters.
Hezbollah’s Al-Manar TV network reported that Israel Air Force planes were circling over the Israel-Syria border at Quneitra on the Israeli side.
The IDF raised its alert level on the northern front last Monday in positions along the border with Syrian and Lebanon and deployed an Iron Dome rocket interceptor battery near the northern border, after a strike attributed to Israel killed senior Hezbollah officers and an Iranian general nine days ago. Both Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran and fought a 34-day war with Israel in 2006, and the Revolutionary Guards vowed to avenge the deaths.
On Sunday, a number of roads were closed amid a possible security incident along Israel’s northern border. Shortly afterwards the roads were reopened, indicating that if there was an event it had come to an end.
Senior security sources in Lebanon who are affiliated with Hezbollah recently said that the attack, in which Iranian general Mohammad Ali Allahdadi and the son of master terrorist Imad Mughniyah were killed, “shows that Israel has crossed the red line in the security war with Hezbollah, which means the rules have changed.”
This is an ongoing event, updates are forthcoming.
Yoav Zitun, Ahiya Raved, Michal Margalit, Reuters, AP contributed to this report.
(On the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz by the Allies, anti-Semitism is resurgent again. So much for “Never Again”.– anneinpt)
Holocaust Memorial Day
The world cries “Never Again” every year on the annual International Holocaust Memorial Day. And yet, seventy years after the liberation of Auschwitz and the defeat of the Nazis by the allies, it is becoming sickeningly evident that the lessons have not been learned, and that “never again” means “maybe now it’s acceptable”. Antisemitism is not only raising its ugly head again, but is alive and kicking and growing daily, as we have seen in the huge rise (some say by 400%) in antisemitic attacks throughout Europe. This is also not to ignore the constant drip-drip of anti-Semitic incitement, disguised as anti-Israel or anti-Zionism, emanating from the Muslim world, and particularly from the Palestinians.
We have seen several nasty examples of this anti-Semitism in the guise of pro-Palestinian, or rather anti-Israel, activism in recent days. One of the most blatant occurred, of all places, in a New York City Council meeting commemorating the liberation of Auschwitz, when anti-Israel pro-Palestinian protestors chose to interrupt precisely as the name of Auschwitz came up during a discussion of an upcoming Council visit to Israel.
Anti-Israel activists in New York City have started a campaign as part of the Boycott, Divest and Sanctions movement to try to prevent City Council members and other politicians from visiting Israel. A coalition of 40 groups, most of which are quite small but including the usual suspects like the inaccurately named Jewish Voice for Peace are leading the effort.
At a NY City Council meeting today, anti-Israel activists disrupted a vote commemorating the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, shouting for one of the council members not to travel to Israel, as reported by Jacob Kornbluh at Jewish Political News & Updates website, which has video:
Pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel activists disrupted the City Council’s stated meeting on Thursday while members were voting on a resolution commemorating the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz.
The protesters started yelling, “shame on you, Melissa”, “why are you supporting an apartheid” and “Palestinian lives matter.”
After five minutes of yelling and screaming, the some 40 protesters were ordered to leave and escorted out the balcony.
Council member Cory Johnson called it “incredibly disrespectful and offensive. Simply awful.” Councilman Mark Weprin added, “The State of Israel has never supported the killing of innocent people, and they want to love in peace.”
NYC councilman David Greenfield, grandson of Holocaust survivors, hit back with admirable ferocity and eloquence:
Generally, though, British anti-Semitism is of a more genteel type, although it is still not only prevalent, but becoming fashionable again, as Philip Mark McGough documents in his Huffington Post article: “Anti-Semitism means hating the Jews more than necessary”:
There exists a weighty and sublimely pointless literature about the difference between so-called Old Anti-Semitism (religious, racial, xenophobic) and New Anti-Semitism (political, anti-Zionist, Third Worldist); but lately this academic fine-tuning of distinctions between various shades of hate has become practically and provisionally meaningless. Among a long litany of prejudices, anti-Semitism robed as anti-Zionism (when it even bothers to dress for the occasion) is now uniquely acceptable, even respectable, in a style quite without precedent in these hyper-sensitive, judgment-phobic times. Society has given itself a free pass, an ideological Rumspringa, where canards, tropes, and stereotypes totally forbidden in any other context can be affixed to Israel (and, by extension, the Jews) with impunity.
…
… while after each and every Islamist atrocity we are warned- and warned incessantly- of the dangers of an anti-Muslim backlash, the fact remains that in Britain, in 2015, it’s the Jews who are double-bolting their doors.
Elsewhere in Europe, (via Honest Reporting) Ynet brings us the story of a Swedish journalist who donned a kipa and posed as a Jew to see what people’s reactions would be. Unsurprisingly he encountered much anti-Semitic abuse. He’s lucky he escaped unharmed.
After more anti-Semitic crimes were reported in Malmo than in any other city in Sweden, Swedish reporter Peter Lindgren decided to conduct a social experiment by putting on a kippa (yarmulke or skullcap) and a Star of David necklace and walking around the city to see how locals treated Jews.
With a hidden camera and microphone documenting his stroll through the streets of Malmo, Lindgren encountered harsh verbal and physical anti-Semitic abuse.
The footage, aired Wednesday on Sveriges Television as part of a 58-minute documentary titled “Jew-hatred in Malmo,” shows Lindgren sitting at a cafe in central Malmo reading a newspaper as several passersby hurled abuse at him.
In another location, Lindgren was called “Jewish shit” and a “Jewish Satan” and one person even hit his hand – though that incident was not recorded, only recounted. One passerby told Lindgren to “get out,” while another warned him to leave for his own safety.
In Rosengard, a neighborhood heavily populated by Muslims, Lindgren was surrounded by a dozen men who threatened him, while residents of nearby apartments threw eggs at him and shouted anti-Semitic slogans. Lindgren then decided to leave for fear of increased violence.
…
In 2013, Patrick Riley, a journalist for The Local, conducted a similar social experiment in which he donned a kippa and walked through the streets of Malmo. He encountered stares of “disbelief and menace” and insults.
Writing about his experience, Riley said: “As an Irish person abroad I’ve never felt remotely threatened, but wearing the kippa for a few hours was enough to instill feelings of fear. Even when I didn’t feel afraid I was made to feel different and unwelcome.”
Watch this Swedish language video with English subtitles:
Another European anti-Semite pretending to be “only” anti-Israel is the Dutch ex-minister who said (h/t Reality) that if only all the Israeli Jews would move to the US there would be world peace. Because when the Jews did not live in Israel there was world peace… I seriously worry about this man’s sanity.
The first journalist to report on the death of a Argentine state prosecutor, who was investigating the deadly 1994 bombing of a Jewish community center in Buenos Aires, arrived in Israel on Sunday after fleeing the South American country.
Damian Pachter, who also holds Argentine-Israeli citizenship, said he had “quickly” fled Argentina fearing for his life following threats to his security.
“I’m leaving because my life is in danger. My phones are tapped,” Pachter, a journalist with the Buenos Aires Herald, told the website Infobae.
The website carried a photograph of Pachter, wearing a cap and carrying sunglasses, at the airport before he boarded an Aerolineas Argentinas flight.
Despite the fact that his and Nisman’s persecution were as much political as religious, the basis of this whole story was the bombing of a Jewish – not Israeli – community center, and the subsequent cover-up and perversion of justice by the Argentinians and Iranians.
One the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, a group of survivors hold up and point to a picture of themselves, which was taken the day the camp was freed by the Soviet army
Returning to today’s commemoration events in Europe, this year, on the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, a grand memorial ceremony is taking place at Auschwitz, including survivors of that hell-on-earth. Check out the Daily Mail link above for the story including pictures, videos.
Treasury Secretary Jack Lew will represent the United States at the 70th anniversary ceremony for the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp on Tuesday—rather than President Barack Obama or Vice President Joe Biden—while other countries are slated to send their heads of state.
Obama’s absence demonstrates an apathy towards the fate of the Jews both in the past and in the present – not the best attitude to display if he hopes to persuade Israel of his determination to confront Iran. Besides the questionable propriety of his decision, I’m surprised that Obama is prepared to miss such a feel-good PR opportunity. I wonder what his advisors were thinking.
But for sheer surealism, Israeli President Reuven Rivlin visited the UN and thanked Ban Ki-Moon for fighting antisemitism. Considering that the UN is one of the prime movers of antisemitism in the entire world, all I can do is agree with the following Tweeter:
(Not a pretty picture. I’m sure if and when the Iranian infiltration is complete, they will declare themselves a nuclear power and begin with their demands on Israeli territory. Of course, that’s just opinion. I could be entirely wrong. (hopefully) – LS)
With bases in Lebanon, Syria, Yemen and Iraq, Iran has surrounded all the oil fields of the Persian Gulf. This encirclement can be comfortably backed with Iran’s ongoing nuclear weapons program.
The Iranians already have Hezbollah sitting on Israel’s northern border. All they need now is another terror group sitting in Gaza to the south, in order to create a similar encirclement. And they are working hard to achieve that goal.
“We welcome any party that supports the Palestinian cause.” — Osama Hamden, Hamas leader.
Iran is not interested in the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip. The only thing Iran is interested in there is turning Hamas into another Iranian-backed army that would be used to attack Israel.
As U.S. President Barack Obama continues to seek a negotiated deal on Iran’s nuclear program, the Iranians have been working hard in recent weeks to infiltrate the Palestinian arena and re-establish ties with their erstwhile ally, Hamas.
Emboldened by Obama’s obsession with the nuclear negotiations, which are set to resume next month, Iran’s leaders apparently trust that the Obama Administration is prepared to turn a blind eye to whatever they do.
So the Iranians are apparently feeling free to meddle once again in the internal affairs of the Palestinians, to strengthen their hand still further in the Middle East.
With bases in Lebanon, Syria, Yemen and Iraq, Iran has surrounded Saudi Arabia and all the oil fields of the Persian Gulf. This encirclement can be comfortably backed with Iran’s ongoing nuclear weapons program.
Tehran’s main goal is to regain control over the Palestinian Islamist movement so that it can turn itself into a player in the Israeli-Arab conflict.
The Iranians already have Hezbollah sitting on Israel’s northern border. All they need now is another terror group in Gaza to the south, in order to create a similar encirclement. And they are working hard to achieve this goal.
Relations between Iran and Hamas had become strained after Hamas’s refusal to support the regime of Iran’s client, Syria’s Bashar Assad, in his fight against the Syrian opposition forces.
Iran and Hamas need each other badly. Iran wants Hamas because it does not have many Sunni allies left in the region. An alliance with Hamas would enable Iran to rid itself of charges that it is leading a Shiite camp fighting against the Sunnis.
Hamas, for its part, is desperate for any outside support, especially in wake of its increased isolation in the Palestinian and international arenas.
Hamas is also beginning to feel the heat at home in light of its failure to rebuild the Gaza Strip after last summer’s war with Israel. Hamas leaders are now hoping that Iran will resume its financial aid to the movement and avoid a situation where Palestinians might revolt against it.
Egypt’s tough security measures along its border with the Gaza Strip, including the demolition of hundreds of smuggling tunnels and the creation of a security zone, have also tightened the noose on Hamas.
Hamas leaders say they have taken a “strategic” decision to restore their ties with Iran. Ismail Haniyeh, the former prime minister of the Hamas government in the Gaza Strip, announced recently that his movement is working toward establishing “open relations” with Iran.
Another Hamas leader, Osama Hamdan, announced that the differences between his movement and Iran have been resolved. He said that Hamas establishes its relations with all parties on the basis of providing support for the Palestinian cause. “We welcome any party that supports the Palestinian cause,” Hamdan said. “Relations between Iran and Hamas have returned to normal.”
As part of Hamas’s efforts to appease the Iranians, the Islamist movement’s armed wing, Izaddin al-Qassam, issued a rare statement “thanking Iran for providing money and weapons” to Hamas and other Palestinian groups in the Gaza Strip over the past few years.
Hamas knows that improving its relations with Iran also means rapprochement with Tehran’s proxies in Hezbollah. That is why Hamas has taken a number of steps over the past week to restore its ties with Hezbollah.
The commander of Izaddin al-Qassam, Mohamed Deif, last week sent a letter of condolence to Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah over the death of some senior Hezbollah operatives, who were killed in an Israeli air strike in Syria.
In his letter, Deif called on Hezbollah to join forces with Hamas against “the real enemy — the Zionist entity.”
The Hamas-Iran rapprochement is yet another sign of Tehran’s effort to use its allies in the Middle East to destroy Israel. Hamas leaders are now hoping that Iran will resume not only its financial aid to their movement, but the supply of weapons as well.
Iran is not interested in the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip or providing shelter to thousands of Palestinian families who lost their homes during the last war. The only thing Iran is interested in there is turning Hamas into another Iranian-backed army that would be used to attack Israel. This is all happening at a time when the Obama Administration is busy preparing for another round of talks with Iran over its nuclear program. It is obvious by now that Tehran is using these negotiations to divert attention from its efforts to deepen its involvement in the Middle East, with the hope of taking over the oil fields and eliminating Israel.
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