Again violence in Jerusalem, this time it was Muslim Arabs on the Temple Mount where the El Aqsa mosque stands, in the place of the former destroyed Jewish Holy Temple.
It’s a known fact that in many areas of the world where churches and places of prayer by other religions were destroyed, the Muslims have built mosques on these sites.
This time they took their rioting further than usual, by throwing stones and rocks from the Mount above, at the people below, who were praying by the Western Wall, the only remnant left of the Temple and the holiest place for Jews.
The police were called in and manged to disperse the rioters - many were wounded on both sides. Now, until things quieten down, only people wishing to pray above the age of 40 are allowed to enter the Temple Mount on their way to the mosque. I hope everything will return to normal soon
The massacre of Armenians by Turkey during World War I has come into the news again.
An American diplomatic source said that a resolution classifying the World War I killing of Armenians as genocide passed a House committee in Washington on Thursday.
It is a well-known fact that this genocide happened but for political reasons it has been kept quiet for these many years by most countries in the world, even I must regretfully admit by Israel.
The passage of the resolution in the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee has triggered a crisis in Turkish-US ties. The resolution will now go to the House floor for a vote.
A similar resolution passed the House Committee in 2007, but then-President George W. Bush urged Congressional leaders not to table the vote because of concern for US-Turkish relations.
If any of my readers are interested in details of this act of genocide, I suggest they read the book,The Forty Days of Musa Dagh” which is a historical novel depicting the heroic battle of Musa Dagh, which took place in 1915.
For months the ruthless Turks had waged a campaign of terror against the Armenians – massacring ,hanging, looting and raping. This great novel was written in 1933 by the Austrian writer France Werfel.
An Israeli film called “Ajami” was amongst five films nominated for the Oscar prize for foreign films this year.
Ajami depicts the brutal life involving drugs, violence and poverty in the Jewish-Arab neighborhood by this name in Jaffa and the film was directed by Scandar Copti, an Israeli Arab, and Yaron Shani, an Israeli Jew.
The movie used mainly nonprofessional actors, who were taught in special workshops before filming began.
Some of these actors are themselves residents of the Ajami district.
But this film is not typical of all Muslim-Christian-Jewish relationships in Israel, which are usually normally good.
It depicts only one small poor and unhappy area. Anyway, the film didn’t get any prize, an Argentinian film got the Oscar.
With this I close today. Shalom from Irene
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Tags: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced some days ago that the government intended to promote different places of national heritage. The cabinet decision includes the Hebron and Bethlehem sites in the list of national, historical, religious and cultural sites that would be marked for preservation and restoration. These include the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron and Rachel’s tomb in Bethlehem. In response to this, tensions arose in Hebron amongst the Arabs and much violence against Jews occured. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas warned of a “religious war” over Israel’s decision to place the Cave of the Patriarchs and Rachel’s Tomb on its heritage sites list. (Both these sites are definitely Jewish and mentioned in the Bible.)President Shimon Peres said that Hamas is trying to create an artificial conflict, he attempted to calm tensions on Wednesday, a day after speaking to the United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Robert Serry, at Jerusalem’s Beit Hanassi. Peres stressed that Israel wasn’t interested in “monopolizing” the sites and that it did not need “artificial conflicts” sparked by a “misunderstanding.”He said that Israel respects “every holy place,” emphasizing that while it wanted to educate Jews that the sites are holy to them, this certainly did not mean they would be off limits to Muslims. “We are going to tell our children that it is a holy place for the Jewish people,” he said. “It doesn’t mean Muslims can’t pray there.” Responding to recent Palestinian criticisms of Israel’s move to add West Bank sites to the list for national preservation, Peres said that Hamas is trying to create an artificial conflict. In the meanwhile violence continues on a lesser scale, but has also moved to some extent to Jerusalem .
I know I often repeat myself in my blogs, but I’ve been reading about the fighting against the Taliban in Afghanistan and that region and I wonder why when civilians are killed there by western countries, no one is ever blamed. .Like the IDF ( Israel defence Forces) during Operation Cast Lead, US and British troops face an enemy that cares little for the well being of its people. Like the IDF, US and British forces operate under a military doctrine that aims to prevent civilian casualties.
Like the IDF, US and British forces have found that in a conflict situation, mistakes inevitably occur and civilians are the tragic victims. So why are Afghan civilian casualties “accidents” but Palestinian civilian casualties are “war crimes”?I’ll give a few examples of what only lately happened there, and then you can decide. According to a BBC report: “A Nato air strike against suspected insurgents in Kandahar has instead killed five civilians, officials say. The group was seen digging on a roadside and was thought to be planting bombs. A senior Isaf official said he regretted the loss of life, adding that an investigation was underway . This followed an incident only a day earlier when Afghan civilians were reported to have been killed by an errant missile, that struck a house outside Marjah on Sunday killing 12 people, including six children. Gen Carter blamed these “conflicting” reports on “the fog of war”.
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I read an article by Tom Gross concerning the assasination of the Hamas terrorist Mabhouh in Dubai, and how the world media is treating this subject and would like to quote from it, so with his permission here are parts of it. This is instead of my regular blog. Shalom from Irene
HAS ISRAEL BEEN SET UP?
* There seems a very real possibility that Israel is being set up. Airlines keep detailed passenger records these days and anyone could have got the flight manifestos of British and other passport holders who have flown to Israel in the past and then used these names in a deliberate attempt to point the finger of blame at Israel.
* The Dubai authorities have provided no forensic evidence that points to Israel, only a series of photos and videos of random hotel guests who may or may not all know each other. In any event, the persons shown in these photos and videos are not shown committing any crime. It would be very easy to frame Israel, using the identities of six randomly-chosen Israelis based on flight manifestos. This could have been done by anyone - and especially by persons who wanted to avoid being suspected of this action by blaming the Israelis and diverting attention from the real perpetrators.
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