Tag: Judaism

World Is Silent as Palestinian Rioters Torch Joseph’s Tomb

Deborah Brand – April 10, 2022

Palestinian rioters on Saturday night vandalized Joseph’s Tomb, one of Judaism’s holiest sites,  setting it on fire and smashing the gravestone.

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett expressed his “shock” over the incident that occurred near the West Bank city of Nablus.

“During the night Palestinians destroyed Joseph’s Tomb. Dozens of Palestinian rioters in a campaign of destruction simply violated a holy place for us, the Jews,” Bennett said at the start of the cabinet meeting.

“We will not stand by such an assault on a place that is holy to us — on the eve of Passover — and we will get to the rioters,” he said. “And of course we will make sure to reconstruct what they destroyed, as we always do.”

Around 100 Palestinians broke into the site overnight amid clashes between Palestinian gunmen and Israeli troops nearby. The Israeli Defense Forces arrested eight Palestinian terror suspects.

The raids were in response to a deadly terror attack in Tel Aviv on Thursday night in which three Israelis were gunned down.

Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz said the vandalism was a “serious event,” and said he had sent a “strong message” to the Palestinian Authority about the attack on the shrine.

“The vandalism of Joseph’s Tomb is a serious event and a grave violation of freedom of worship in one of the holiest places for every Jew. It violates the feelings of the entire Jewish nation, especially when it occurs during the Muslim holy month,” Gantz said.

https://www.breitbart.com

Anti-Semitism in Germany ‘sharply rising,’ warns security agency

DW – October 9, 2020

One year after an attack on a synagogue in the eastern city of Halle, the head of Germany’s domestic security service, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), has warned that Germany is experiencing a “steep rise” in anti-Semitism.

“In the past two years, criminal offenses, including acts of violence, against Jews and Jewish institutions in Germany have increased significantly,” BfV chief Thomas Haldenwang said in an interview Friday with the Tagesspiegel newspaper.

On October 9, 2019, an armed 27-year-old man attempted to shoot his way into a packed synagogue on Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the year in Judaism. A well-secured door prevented him from carrying out an attack inside. The man then killed two bystanders before fleeing and later being taken into custody.

Last week, a man dressed in military fatigues attacked a Jewish man outside a synagogue in Hamburg.

Haldenwang said Friday that attacks at synagogues were especially disturbing because of Germany’s dark past with National Socialism.

“Germany has a special responsibility for Jewish life,” he said, adding that Jews in Germany have reason to be worried about facing violence and hostility while in public.

The danger especially comes from radicalized “lone wolf” attacks, said Haldenwang.

“Security services must be especially vigilant with this,” said Haldenwang. “Above all, society must be made aware that we need to work together in fighting emerging anti-Semitism.”

https://www.dw.com

Erdogan Tells Turkish Leaders: ‘Jerusalem is Our City’

Emily Jones – October 2, 2020

JERUSALEM, Israel – Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan suggested that Jerusalem belongs to his country during an address to Turkish lawmakers in Ankara on Thursday, The Times of Israel reported.

“In this city that we had to leave in tears during the First World War, it is still possible to come across traces of the Ottoman resistance. So, Jerusalem is our city, a city from us,” he said. “Our first qibla [Islamic direction of prayer] al-Aqsa and the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem are the symbolic mosques of our faith. In addition, this city is home to the holy places of Christianity and Judaism.”

The Ottoman Empire ruled Jerusalem from 1516-1917 until Great Britain took over after World War I. Erdogan is increasingly pushing the constitutionally secular country towards conservative Islam and considers Jerusalem an extension of Turkey.

Shortly after converting Istanbul’s Hagia Sophia church into a mosque in July, Erdogan set his sights on the holy city.

He said in a Facebook post that the “revival of the Hagia Sophia is a sign towards the return of freedom to the al-Aqsa mosque” in Jerusalem.

https://www1.cbn.com

Trump to Sign Executive Order Declaring Jewish People a ‘Nation’ Just as Written in Genesis

Adam Eliyahu Berkowitz – December 11, 2019

Once again, President Trump is attaching himself to the words of the Bible by passing an executive order which explicitly enacts God’s promise to Abraham; the Jews are a nation. One prominent American Israeli rabbi noted the sole Biblical character who referred to Judaism as a religion; Haman.

President Trump announced that he will be signing an executive order on Wednesday intended to withhold federal funding as a means of forcing universities to cope with growing anti-Semitism on campus. First reported in the New York Times, the order will effectively define Judaism as a race or nationality and not just a religion.

The order empowers the Education Department as described in Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 which allows the department to withhold funding from any college or educational program that discriminates “on the ground of race, color, or national origin.” Religion was not included among the protected categories, so Mr. Trump’s order will have the effect of embracing an argument that Jews are a people or a race with a collective national origin in the Middle East.

The new executive order will be based on the State Department’s definition of anti-Semitism which includes a section on anti-Semitism relative to Israel based on the three ‘D’s’: Demonization, Double-Standard, and Delegitimization.

https://www.breakingisraelnews.com