Tag: Terror

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The West Can Stop Terror By Learning From Israel’s Security Experience

As the number of terror attacks by Muslim extremists in Western countries surges, countries such as France are looking to Israel for help in curbing terror attacks.

While the enemies of Israel and the West have different names, the underlying theme of the terror attacks is martyrdom or Jihad in the name of Allah and Islam. ISIS and Al-Qaeda want to rid the world of infidels, Jews and Christians, while Hamas, Hezbollah and the Palestinian Authority want to rid of Israel with the same goal as ISIS.

In a report by the Institute for National Security Studies, the point is made that France’s measures to combat terrorism, though numerous, have not been very effective in restoring calm in the country. Some of these measures include increased surveillance of Muslim radicals, telephone hotlines to report radicalized individuals, formation of intelligence units, deployment of police reserve units and even joining the US in the fight against ISIS in the Middle East.

“France considers Israel an important partner in the fight against Salafi jihadist terrorism, and sent a parliamentary delegation to Israel to learn from its experience,” says the report. “Israel’s professional, decades-long experience in fighting terrorism and the deep friendship between Israel and France obligate Israel to offer France assistance – to the extent requested – to fight their common enemy… The grave security situation in France may serve to shift public sentiments in France, and make the French more attentive to Israel’s concerns and security requirements in any future agreement with the Palestinians.”

How can Israel help?

Israel has been facing terror attacks ever since and even before it became the State of Israel. The recent terror wave in Israel which began in October 2015, has seen a steady decline thanks to increased security efforts and setting up an alert system to track down terrorists before they attack.

Arutz Sheva reported that this alert system was developed and based on an extensive analysis of terrorists since October. Police and the IDF saw a trend in the type of people committing these terror attacks. “The military’s analysis of attackers shows that most have been 24 or younger, and some 90 percent were male. Among the first 80 to 90 attackers from October to January, suicide was among the motives for around 40 percent.

Surveillance and monitoring is not enough to deter an attack. There is a cultural and social problem that needs to be addressed in many European countries. The analyses that Israel performs after an attack, along with technology to narrow down social media chatter, and campaigns to convince young people not to become radicalized and carry out attacks are all part of an effective counter-terrorism initiative. Intelligence units in Israel are known to be one of the best in the world and can probably help Western countries on deeper strategies to prevent future terror attacks.

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IDF Kills Hamas Terrorist and Arrest 3 Who Murdered Rabbi Michael Mark

IDF soldiers raided a Hamas terror cell in the West Bank village of Surif, near Hebron, and killed Mohammed Jabarah al-Faqih and captured three others.

Al-Faqih was responsible for the drive-by murder of Rabbi Michael Mark in front of his children on July 1 in Otniel. With the help of intelligence from the Shin Bet security forces, the IDF raided his home overnight, exchanged gunfire with the terrorists and shot Mohammed dead. Weapons were also found and confiscated. The other terrorists were taken in for questioning.

Yisrael Levinson, the Director of Har Hebron’s International Desk, told us: “We are happy to hear that the killer of Michael Mark z’l was killed this morning by the IDF and the Shabak. This is a good message to anyone who wants to destroy and uproot the Jewish nation from Israel, that no matter who they are and where they are, we will always win!”

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12 Wounded in Germany Suicide Bomb by Syrian Refugee

A 27-year-old Syrian man blew himself up at a music festival in Ansbach, Germany wounding 12 people, 3 seriously. The man detonated a an explosive device after being refused entry into the Ansbach Open music festival at around 10PM Sunday evening.

According to the Bavarian interior minister, the explosive content in the bomber’s backpack had the capability to injure and kill many more people. He also reported that the attacker came to Germany two years ago seeking asylum but his asylum claim was rejected. They claim the attacker attempted suicide twice before and spent time in a psychiatric clinic. However, the common denominator in the recent attacks in Germany is Islamic terrorism.

This is the fourth Muslim attack in Germany in the past week, including the attack in Munich that killed 9 people and injured 27 and the machete attack killing a pregnant woman. Germany has been on high alert since the recent attacks. Many German citizens are irate about the influx of Syrian refugees which seems to include a number of Islamic extremists and terrorists.

According to a poll conducted by state broadcaster ZDF, 77% of Germans fear future attacks.

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Hamas and Its Dark Culture: Death Sentences, Terror Summer Camps and Tunnel Tours

In Gaza, a Hamas-controlled court sentenced three Palestinians to death for collaborating with Israeli forces. Two men, aged 59 and 49, were sentenced to death by hanging, while a third man aged 38 was sentenced to death by firing squad.

The Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR), a Palestinian NGO, condemns the excessive punishment and rejects the death penalty. It claims 13 death penalties have been carried out so far this year. In total, the number of death sentences handed out in Palestinian Authority controlled areas since 1994 has risen to 177.

This should come as no surprise considering the culture of death that Hamas and the Palestinian Authority present. Just this week, Hamas opened up one of its terror tunnels for touring as part of its exhibition to mark the two year anniversary since the last armed conflict between Israel and Hamas. The tunnel, located in the Shuja’iyya neighborhood of Gaza, is one of many Hamas has used to infiltrate Israeli territory to commit acts of terror.

Wait, there’s more of Hamas’ violent influence on its civilians. This summer, more than 30,000 Palestinian children will be attending camps run by Hamas. The camp is run by the Izzadin al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’ military wing. Activities include military training with real weapons, religious indoctrination and incitement to kill Jews. Hamas is training and indoctrinating the future of the Palestinian people into a life of terror, violence and martyrdom.

Of course the world sides with Hamas and the Palestinians with claims that they are just resisting against an “occupying and aggressive” Israel. The truth is that Hamas’ charter details that Jihad and terror against Jews is a duty. It has nothing to do with land and occupation. It has to do with radical Islamic ideology, no different than that of groups such as ISIS, Al-Qaeda, Hezbollah and Boko Haram.

While terror attacks around the world are being condemned by the international community, attacks on Israel are being ignored. The UN and some countries even go as far as sympathizing with Palestinian terror. Prime Minister Netanyahu recently made a statement condemning this blatant hypocrisy: “Terrorism is terrorism, whether it is in France or Israel, and there must be a unified approach of condemnation and war on this terrorism – here and everywhere else.”

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Europe is Not Israel

(Originally published on Israel Hayom)

“France must live with terrorism,” French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said after the massive terrorist ‎attack in Nice last week. Understandably, his statement infuriated the French, who took to social ‎media to express their opprobrium.‎

And French President Francois Hollande, sounding almost as if he was being forced to speak, said, “We cannot deny that it was a terrorist ‎attack.”‎

After the massive Islamic State attacks in Paris in November 2015, political leaders proclaimed ‎themselves “shocked.” Whether this shock was feigned or genuine, at least they made a point, pitiful ‎as it was, of pretending that these massive terrorist attacks were something extraordinary that did not ‎have a habitual place in Europe.

Valls’ resigned declaration of tired surrender after the Nice attack, on the other hand, ‎amounts to the waving of a white flag in submission to the jihadis and is an indication that France ‎has little will to fight.‎

Valls and Hollande sounded like bewildered children at the helm of a ship that they are too ‎clueless to navigate. Imagine Winston Churchill declaring, “Britain must live with ‎Nazism.” ‎

Under its current government, France has busied itself with meddling in Israeli affairs ‎and organizing Middle East peace conferences, instead of spending every waking moment ensuring ‎the proper protection of its own population. It is not ready to fight against the jihad that has been ‎launched against it.

One major factor in this is that its elites blame France.‎ French Ambassador to the U.S. Gerard Araud, for example, wrote on Twitter: “Why is France ‎targeted? History (former colonial power), geography (proximity), first Muslim community of Arab ‎origin sensitive to M.E. issues.”‎

In other words: Colonialism and Middle Eastern “issues” — a diplomatic euphemism for the Israeli-Arab conflict — ‎are to blame, not the Muslims who commit the atrocities and certainly not Islam. A ‎Twitter user from India responded to Araud: “We Indians have been colonized by all European powers ‎including your country. Ever heard of Indian terrorists? Shame on you.” Indeed.‎

One of the best indicators of how massive terrorist attacks have become the “new normal” is the financial markets, famously and hysterically sensitive as they are. One ‎observer concluded after the Nice attack, “Gold is down and the euro is up. Financial markets ‎don’t care because it’s no longer an extraordinary event. Even European travel stocks and French hotel ‎stocks are only down a couple of percent. Because continued terror attacks for years are already ‘priced ‎in.’ According to the stock market, France has now become Israel.”‎

The sentiment that France and Europe have “now become Israel” has become something of a trend on ‎social media in the wake of Nice. But it is very far from the truth.‎

Europe is a dying continent, one that is walking toward its own cultural suicide with eyes wide shut. ‎In Europe, self-loathing began to gain ground over most traditional Judeo-Christian ‎values as long as a century ago. We see the results of that long process today: Official Europe does not ‎believe in anything. The main European project in recent history has as its goal only a vague ‎multiculturalism and the working toward “an ever closer union,” a self-referential and self-serving ‎empty shell of a vision. Ostensibly, the EU was meant to prevent future wars in Europe, but while ‎Europe has lost its taste for war, war — now in jihad style — has not lost interest in ‎Europe. The problem is that Europe cannot fight jihadis — people who believe so strongly in their ‎cause that they will die for it — if it believes in nothing, least of all the legitimacy of its own fight against ‎them. This will not change, regardless how many reservist forces France now calls up to help ‎protect the country. The fight becomes especially tricky, tragicomically so, when it is fought while ‎intensely fearing the causing of any offence.‎

In contrast, Israel is a vibrant place of almost endless faith. Not just in the traditional and religious ‎sense but a general and secular faith in the worth and the future of the country pervades Israeli ‎society. Israel believes in itself and is more than willing to fight for itself, and this belief manifests itself in ‎myriad ways, not only in its military prowess and in the countless innovations for which it has become ‎so famous, but in its celebrations of its Jewish past, present and future at every given ‎opportunity. It is also evident in the high birth rate in the country, while Europeans are not having enough children to maintain their own populations.

Israel may be located in a neighborhood that is full of enemies and terrorists, but Israel is also ‎committed to dealing with those security issues, whatever it takes. Israel is here to stay, ‎and Israelis are determined to keep it that way, never even contemplating resigning themselves to whatever ‎malignant plans others may have in store for them.‎

No, Europe is not Israel. Not even close.