France: Murder of Jewish woman thrown off balcony by Muslim neighbor has finally been declared an “anti-Semitic attack”

The brutal murder of Sarah Halimi, a Jewish woman in Paris has been declared an “anti-Semitic attack”, following global outcry at French authorities’ refusal to condemn the murder as an anti-Jewish hate crime.

Orthodox Jew Sarah Halimi, 65, was beaten to death by her Muslim neighbor, 27-year-old Kobili Traoré, in April 2017. Neighbors said they heard Traoré shout “allahu akbar”, before throwing Halimi off a balcony.

“I’ve killed the demon,” he shouted in Arabic, according to French media.

Neighbors reportedly testified that they had heard the Muslim terrorist shouting that he wanted to kill Halimi just before the murder.

During the police investigation, the terrorist asserted that the Koran had commanded him to murder her.

In July 2017, a judge charged Traoré with murder, but declined to add anti-Semitic motivation to the charge.

Halimi’s family said that Muslim murderer should have been charged with “murder with antisemitism as an aggravating circumstance.”

The judgment sparked fury across France and was widely reported on by the international media. Following the international furore, French President Emmanuel Macron called for a thorough investigation into the murder.

On Wednesday (28 February), a French judge ruled that the killing should be categorised as an anti-Semitic hate crime.

Thousands of French Jews rallied in Paris, said Kaddish for Jewish woman who was murdered by her Muslim neighbor while shouting Allahu Akbar pic.twitter.com/gcHfjfvcwJ

— Behind The News (@Behind__News) April 9, 2017

Ethiopian Jews threaten mass hunger strike if Israel removes funding that allows them to immigrate

Representatives for thousands of Ethiopian Jews announced Wednesday they will stage a mass hunger strike if Israel eliminates funding to allow them to join their families in Israel.

Hundreds met at a synagogue in Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa, to express concern that Israel’s proposed budget removes the funding to help them immigrate to reunite with relatives. Many held photos of their loved ones.

Most of the nearly 8,000 Ethiopian Jews in the East African nation are said to have family members already in Israel. Some told The Associated Press they have been separated for well over a decade.

Activists say Israel’s government in 2015 pledged to bring the remaining Ethiopian Jews to Israel. In 1991 with Ethiopia in civil war, Israel carried out the dramatic Operation Solomon, successfully airlifting out some 14,500 Ethiopian Jews in less than two days.

“All of us here in Ethiopia are in a foreign land and suffering from acute poverty and hunger,” said Meles Sidisto, the community head of Ethiopian Jews in Addis Ababa. “Most of our family members are in Israel. Several of our brothers and sisters who took dangerous routes to meet their relatives in Israel have died during their journey.”

He said Addis Ababa’s community of Ethiopian Jews, which numbers around 800 households, will hold a hunger strike if the Israeli government doesn’t hear their plea.

While Israeli law allows anyone with at least one Jewish grandparent to immigrate, the trouble here centers on the ancestors of the community remaining in Ethiopia, said Alisa Bodner, a spokeswoman for the group Struggle for Ethiopian Aliyah. The ancestors were forced to convert to Christianity about a century ago, while their descendants have returned to a “fully Jewish lifestyle.”

 

The origin of the Ethiopian Jews is unclear but a popular legend says they descended from the son of King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba.

In a letter addressed to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the Ethiopian Jews in Addis Ababa said they want to immediately and without any preconditions go to Israel and join family members.

“We will never lose hope in going to Israel because we are winner people,” the letter says. “Dear Mr. Prime Minister, we want you to make our wish a reality. We ask you this in the name of Our God, Israel’s God.”

Chemical weapons watchdog investigates attacks in Syria’s eastern Ghouta

The world’s chemical weapons watchdog has opened an investigation into attacks in the besieged, rebel-held Syrian region of eastern Ghouta to determine whether banned munitions had been used, diplomatic sources have confirmed.

The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) will examine attacks including one on Sunday which authorities said killed a child and caused symptoms consistent with exposure to chlorine gas, the sources said.

France, the United States and Britain have said they would back military action against Damascus if there was proof chemical weapons had been used by forces under Bashar al-Assad.

The investigation by OPCW comes as Syrian warplanes continued to strike eastern Ghouta on Tuesday, despite a Russian call for a five-hour daily truce to allow the 400,000 people living there under siege to leave.

Use of chlorine as a chemical weapons is prohibited under the 1997 Chemical Weapons Convention. If inhaled, chlorine gas turns into hydrochloric acid in the lungs and the build-up of fluids can drown victims.

The latest OPCW mission is seeking to determine whether chemical weapons were used in violation of the international weapons convention, which Syria signed in 2013 after hundreds died in a massive sarin gas attack in Ghouta.

The OPCW team does not plan to travel to Ghouta because of safety concerns but will gather witness testimony, photographic and video evidence, and interview medical experts, the sources said.

A UN-OPCW Joint Investigative Mechanism, established by the UN to identify those behind chemical weapons attacks, concluded in 2016 that Syrian government forces had used chlorine on three occasions.

It also concluded last year that government forces were behind a sarin attack on the town of Khan Sheikhoun that killed more than 80 people, many of them women and children.

The US fired 59 cruise missiles at Syria’s Shayrat airbase in April, saying it had been used by Assad’s forces to carry out the sarin attack.

Syria and its close ally Russia, which provides military support to Assad’s forces, deny using chemical weapons and blame insurgents.

New satellite photos reveal Iranian missile base in Syria

Iran has built another permanent military base outside Syria’s capital city complete with hangers used to store missiles capable of hitting all of Israel, according to Western intelligence sources.

Exclusive satellite images from ImageSat International obtained by Fox News show what is believed to be the new Iranian base, eight miles northwest of Damascus, operated by the Quds Force — the special operations arm of Tehran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).  The photos show two new white hangars, each roughly 30 yards by 20 yards, used to store short- and medium-range missiles that can hit Israel.

Gen. Joseph L. Votel, head of U.S. Central Command said in the past five years Iran successfully had created a proxy network in Yemen similar to what it took them 20 years to create in Lebanon with Hezbollah.

A base similar to the one revealed in these new satellite photos was built last year south of Damascus, before being destroyed in December by Israeli surface-to-surface missiles.

PM Netanyahu warned Tehran a month prior to the strike against building any military bases in Syria.  “Israel will not let that happen,” he said.

Speaking at the Munich Security Conference earlier this month, Netanyahu told European diplomats and leaders that “Israel will not allow the regime to put a noose of terror around our neck.,” threatening to strike Iran directly if forced to.

‘Do not test Israel resolve’, Netanyahu tells Iran, brandishing a piece of Iranian drone launched from Syria that infiltrated Israeli territory: Mr. Zarif: do you recognize this? You should. It’s yours. https://t.co/POSk1adKai pic.twitter.com/eMlCwM4Qhk

— Behind The News (@Behind__News) February 18, 2018

“We will act if necessary not just against Iran’s proxies but against Iran itself,” he said, listing the threats that Tehran poses to Israel and the world.

PM Netanyahu: "I give Mr. Zarif credit. He lies with eloquence. Last year at this conference, Zarif said that: "Extremism is driven by lack of hope and respect." If that's true, why does the Iranian regime deny its people hope and respect by jailing journalists and activists?" pic.twitter.com/ub6kxSMBrO

— Behind The News (@Behind__News) February 18, 2018

 

 

3 Muslim terrorists arrested planning ISIS-inspired terror attacks on Temple Mount and Christian churches

Three Muslim terrorists, Israeli citizens from the terror nest of Um-el-Fahem in northern Israel, were indicted Tuesday for planning to carry out a shooting attack on the Temple Mount, similar to the shooting attack in July 2017 in which 2 Druze policemen were murdered.

An investigation revealed that two of them supported ISIS, and that the terror attacks were intended to be carried out as part of their support of the terror group.

The Muslim terrorists —Mohammad Masoud Jabarin, 20, Ammad Lutfi Jabarin, 20, and an additional 17-year-old minor were arrested in January and February.

The attacks were prevented thanks to precise intelligence that allowed the three to be arrested before they could obtain weapons and carry out their plan.

The investigation also showed the three had entertained the idea of carrying out attacks in synagogues and churches or against security forces. They also considered carrying out a vehicular attack and marked Christmas as the potential date for their bloodletting.

The Shin Bet said in a statement that it considered “Israelis supporting the Islamic State terror group a serious threat, and even more so those in contact with the group’s activists and those who act under the group’s banner in Israel.

“The Shin Bet will continue monitoring the suspects and take whichever law enforcement measures are required to prevent the dissemination of the Islamic State’s teachings in Israel, as well as to foil any action against the country’s security.”

IAF investigation reveals pilot and navigator of downed F-16 failed due to stress

The downing of the Israeli F-16 jet in on February 10 by a Syrian anti-aircraft missile was due to an operational mistake on the part of the pilots, the IDF announced Sunday.

“The professional team erred when it did not defend itself as required. Their actions were not in line with the required order of priorities when facing a missile threat,” the investigation determined.

The events of February 10 began in the early morning hours when an Iranian drone infiltrated Israel. An IAF helicopter shot it down, while fighter jets were scrambled to attack 12 Syrian and Iranian targets in Syria in retaliation. On their way back to base, the Israeli planes came under Syrian anti-aircraft fire, with one missile exploding near one of the planes and bringing it down.

The pilot and navigator were able to bail out of the plane before it crashed near Kibbutz Harduf. The pilot was seriously injured, while the navigator was only lightly hurt. Both have since been discharged from the hospital.

During the operation, a total of 27 Syrian anti-aircraft missiles were fired at Israeli jets and one locked onto a second plane in the formation, but unlike the first jet that was hit, the other planes were able to evade the missile.

IDF Chief of the General Staff Lt.-Gen. Gadi Eizenkot visited the Ramon Air Force Base Sunday morning, where he was a presented with the full investigation of the event, which dealt with the entire sequence of the events of the day.

Eisenkot, determined that the advanced planning for the operation was done properly, and the intelligence for the mission was satisfactory, leading to the successful destruction of the targets, which were marked prior to the retaliatory strike.

The warning systems in the F-16 that was hit were found to be in order and alerted the pilot and navigator of the threat on time. The seven other planes that went out on the bombing mission were all able to defend themselves from enemy missiles and completed their tasks successfully.

Despite this, the downed F-16’s team failed to properly defend themselves from the anti-aircraft missile.

The pilot and navigator failed to take heed of the SA-5 missile, which locked onto their plane. The Israel Air Force determined that to be a professional mistake.

Nevertheless, the investigation concluded that the pilot and navigator’s decision to abandon the plane after it was the right one.

Footage of Israeli pilots of an F-16, which was downed in the Beit Netofa Valley region, in ejection protocol. One of the pilots is reportedly in serious condition. The reason for the ejection is as yet unclear. pic.twitter.com/dCS2WDRVN3

— Behind The News (@Behind__News) February 10, 2018

UN approves 30-day ceasefire in Syria after at least 500 killed during a week of bombing raids

The U.N. Security Council has unanimously approved a resolution demanding a 30-day cease-fire across Syria ‘without delay’ to deliver humanitarian aid to millions and evacuate the critically ill and wounded.

The sponsors, Kuwait and Sweden, amended the resolution late on Friday in a last-minute attempt to get Russian support, dropping a demand that the cease-fire take effect in 72 hours.

The resolution comes as air strikes on the Syrian rebel enclave of Eastern Ghouta on Saturday took the civilian death toll from seven days of devastating bombardment to more than 500.

BREAKING: UN votes to approve a 30-day ceasefire in Syria. US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley: "We are late to respond to this crisis. Very late. All eyes will now be on the Syrian regime, Iran and Russia." https://t.co/VQCGb3mZaT pic.twitter.com/rgc48x9zr6

— Behind The News (@Behind__News) February 24, 2018

As she headed into the meeting, U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley said: ‘Today we are going to see if Russia has a conscience.’

‘Every minute the council waited on Russia, the human suffering grew,’ the US ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley, told the Security Council, accusing Russia of stalling.

‘As they dragged out the negotiations, the bombs from Assad’s fighter jets continued to fall. In the three days it took us to adopt this resolution, how many mothers lost their kids to the bombing and the shelling?’

UN votes to approve a 30-day ceasefire in Syria after hundreds killed in Ghouta airstrikes. US Ambassador Nikki Haley: "We are late to respond to this crisis. Very late. Every minute the Council waited on Russia, the human suffering grew." Full remarks: https://t.co/VQCGb3mZaT pic.twitter.com/cJkqpVLlEO

— Behind The News (@Behind__News) February 24, 2018

Russian Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia rejected accusations of foot-dragging, saying that negotiations were needed to arrive at a demand for a ceasefire that was ‘feasible.’

Sweden’s UN Ambassador Olof Skoog said before the vote that the resolution could de-escalate violence and save lives.

‘The UN convoys and evacuation teams are ready to go,’ he said.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 35 civilians were killed in Saturday’s strikes, including eight children. A night of heavy bombardment sparked fires in residential districts, it said.

The Observatory has said the air strikes are being carried out by Syrian and Russian forces. Moscow, which intervened militarily in support of its Damascus ally in 2015, has denied any direct involvement in the Eastern Ghouta bombardment.

US President Donald Trump on Friday said Russia’s recent actions in Syria were a ‘disgrace’.

On Friday the vote on a UN-backed ceasefire was again delayed by at least 24 hours.

But on Saturday, the meeting again failed to start as scheduled at 1700 GMT as negotiations continued in an effort to avert a Russian veto.

UN Security Council members had been discussing a cessation of hostilities for the last month to allow aid to be brought in and the injured to be taken out.

But negotiations have been bogged down over a number of issues, including when the ceasefire should begin.

Moscow said that it wanted to include a 30-day calming period  to allow for aid deliveries and medical evacuations but critics say that as the main ally of President Bashar al-Assad, it is in fact suing for more time.

The Security Council members were unable to agree on the precise language that could gain Russia’s support.

As a permanent member of the council, Moscow has veto power, and has used it at least 10 times to protect the government of President Assad.

Syrian opposition activists say Russian warplanes are taking part in bombarding eastern Ghouta, where many people are hiding in underground shelters with little food and medical supplies amid a tight government siege.

“There is no electricity, no water, no flour, no bread and no baby formula,” said paramedic Siraj Mahmoud in an audio message calling for a short break in airstrikes so residents can get food for their children. “There is nothing inside Ghouta.”

Painting of Erdogan with a banana up his buttocks and titled ‘Turkish dictator’ sparks anger at German art fair

An art piece featuring Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan with a banana in his buttocks and titled ‘Turkish dictator’ caused a stir at the Art Karlsruhe fair in Germany and was removed from the exhibition.

Gallerist Michael Oess said he took down the provocative painting by Thomas Baumgaertel, a prominent Cologne-based graffiti artist known for his signature spray-painted bananas, “to avoid trouble.”

“I have a certain responsibility toward other visitors,” he told German news agency DPA. A Turkish journalist had complained about the picture on Thursday, and later used his cell phone to broadcast live video footage from the public display, according to Oess.

A couple of women also allegedly voiced their unease about “desecrating” the Turkish flag, which was in the background of the artwork. But the gallerist shrugged it off as “a staged event” and claimed the females were “agents.” The painting was later sold for €5,900 ($7,200), he said.

Baumgartel, aka the Banana Sprayer, was outraged over the decision to have the piece removed, even “without him being informed” and tweeted that he severed ties with the gallery after the incident.

“It just can’t be true that everyone is tucking their tails between their legs as the populists destroy artistic freedom and freedom of expression” the artist told DPA. The fair organizers said it was not their decision, but that of the gallery owner, “to take down the caricature.”

In 2016, Erdogan submitted a criminal complaint against German comedian and TV host Jan Boehmermann, author of a satirical poem about the Turkish president “repressing minorities, kicking Kurds, and slapping Christians while watching child porn.”

Afghanistan: 23 killed, dozens wounded in wave of terror attacks

At least 23 people were killed and more than a dozen wounded in multiple suicide bombings and attacks in Afghanistan on Saturday, officials said, the latest in a series of terror attacks in the war-torn country.

In the biggest attack, Taliban terrorists stormed an army base in the western province of Farah overnight, killing at least 18 soldiers.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack.

In another attack, a suicide bomber detonated his explosives near the diplomatic area of Kabul during the morning rush hour, killing at least three people and wounding five others.

A security source who requested not to be named said the explosion happened near a compound belonging to the National Directorate of Security (NDS), the Afghan intelligence agency. The NDS compound is located near the NATO headquarters and the US embassy.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

In two other terror attacks on Saturday in the southern Helmand province, suicide car bombs killed at least two soldiers and wounded more than a dozen others, officials said.

In the first incident, terrorists used a Humvee to attack an army base in Nad Ali district but the vehicle was destroyed when soldiers identified it and hit it with a rocket propelled grenade.

The Nad Ali attack was followed by a second suicide car bombing in the provincial capital Lashkar Gah that wounded seven people.

The attack was against an NDS compound and near a police headquarters in the city, Helmand police spokesman Salaam Afghan told AFP.

The Taliban claimed both attacks in Helmand.

Terrorists including the Taliban and ISIS have stepped up their attacks on Afghan troops and police in recent months.

Afghan soldiers have taken what the UN describes as “shocking” casualties since international forces ended their combat role at the end of 2014, though troop casualty figures are no longer released.

US Embassy in Jerusalem will open in May to coincide with Israel’s 70th Independence Day

The U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem will open in May to coincide with Israel’s 70th Independence Day, officials in the Trump administration said Friday.

U.S. President Donald Trump announced last December that the United States recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, infuriating Arabs who want the eastern part of the city as the capital of their imaginary state.

Under the terms of the plan, US ambassador David Friedman and a small team of staff will set up their offices in an existing American consular building in the Arnona neighborhood of Jerusalem.

That building will then become America’s official embassy, even if it is only temporary.

The majority of American diplomats will remain at the current embassy building in Tel Aviv.

The US government in the meantime will continue scouting for a location for the permanent embassy in Jerusalem and later begin construction on an embassy building.

Israel will this year celebrate the anniversary on April 19/20. Israel proclaimed independence on May 14, 1948.

A ribbon-cutting is being planned for mid-May.

Palestinian Authority chief negotiator Saeb Erekat, who told US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley to “shut up” earlier this month, said the decision “provoke the feelings of all Arabs and Muslims”.