Jerusalem Arabs Still Simmering as Silwan Residents Firebomb a Jewish Vehicle Overnight

Police are reporting that three Arab residents of the Silwan were arrested overnight as a result fo a targeted operation.  The three are suspected of being responsible for throwing molotov cocktails at a Jewish security vehicle in the neighborhood.  Although the vehicle burned, the security team escaped unharmed.

“Immediately after the incident, a targeted operation was carried out in the village. The area was closed and evidence was collected from the site. Investigators and police detectives soon arrived to identify the suspects and arrested them while they were at home.,” a statement from the Israeli police said.

Incidents in the Yeminite Village now renamed Silwan by the neighborhood’s Arab squatters have increased since the beginning of the riots over the Temple Mount.  The neighborhood was built in the 1880s by Jews coming from Yemen. The Yemenite Village ultimately destroyed by marauding Arabs in the riots of the 1920s and 1930s.  The British colonists agreed to eventually return the Jewish population, which never happened.

Build Jerusalem Fund Banner

In recent years Jews have begun to move back into the neighborhood, most times under great difficulty and danger. Despite this, the Jews of the Yemenite Village have succeeded in reclaiming a number of buildings as well as the original Synogogue built in the 1880s.

Daniel Luria, Executive Director of Ateret Cohanim said the following concerning the incident:

“Why the silence from the authorities when the Jewish residents Shiloach (Silwan neighbourhood)  which number over 100 of the Shiloach in the heart of Jerusalem near the Temple Mount, Ir David and the Old City, are under constant attack from some of the local hate-driven, violent and intolerant Arabs? I say enough is enough.”

The latest attack comes after five Jewish vehicles were firebombed in recent weeks.  Despite the neighborhood being a national landmark, the government has never put in the kind of infrastructure needed to ensure the violent Arab clans would have less leverage on the residents.

“The time has come for a major switch in thinking in the heart of Jerusalem near the Old City. If we are truly the sovereign body here in united Jerusalem, then a message of strength and conviction must be given to the Arabs in these neighbourhoods. The weakness and capitulation recently shown by the Government has not helped in the slightest and in fact has caused great damage,” Daniel added.

BREAKING NEWS: Arab Terrorist from Silwan Shoots 8 at Jerusalem Light Rail

An Arab terrorist, a squatter living in the Yemenite Village, a formerly Jewish neighborhood now called Silwan, shot 8 Jews at two different light rail stops today. Two of the injured have been pronounced dead and another is in critical condition.

The attacker who was released from jail last year first shot at bystanders at the Ammunition Hill train stop, which is across the street from the Jerusalem police headquarters and then drove to the next stop at Shimon HaTzadik and kept shooting.

He reached the the Sheik Jarrah neighborhood where he was said to be eliminated by a special police task force.

map-teror-attack

[huge_it_share]

 

Break the BDS

Ain’t Dividing Jerusalem!

Seemingly in connection with the upcoming 49th anniversary of the liberation of Jerusalem in the Six Day War of 1967, Israeli Channel 10 has put out a program “investigating” the current possibility of redividing and abandoning Jerusalem. This is despite the fact that hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of Jews around the world view the reunification of Jerusalem under Israeli sovereignty as a miraculous event. (However, not as “miraculous” as the fact that Channel 10 still exists regardless of the fact that no one watches it.)

Here is a link to their program: http://10tv.nana10.co.il/Article/?ArticleID=1190486
I thought it would be helpful to go through some of the various inaccuracies and faults in the piece and then provide a more accurate (albeit brief) description of the current situation.
In the piece, 2 leftist reporters travel to a few mixed neighborhoods in Jerusalem – Maale Zeitim/Ras al-Amud, Kfar Teimanim/Ir Dovid/Silwan and the Old City. They speak with both Jews and Muslims along the way to understand the “real situation”.
Cost of Security:
One of the issues that seems to really bother the “reporters” is the cost of security for the Jews living in the mixed neighborhoods. First of all, I’m not sure we put a price limit on security – it’s pretty important. However, if one would want to, it’s not the simplest of sciences. For example, ,leftists complained about the supposed high cost of securing the Gaza Strip and its Jewish residents before the “disengagement”. However, this pales in comparison to the cost of having the airport for the entire country closed for days and for the Iron Dome batteries that are now necessary as a result of that disastrous policy.  Would these “security experts” prefer that the residents defended themselves? I think its safe to say that they would be at least slightly more aggressive and costly than the current system.
Legal Extortion Claim:
While in Ir Dovid, the “investigators” suggested that if Jews are unable to purchase specific houses from arabs, they seek legal action to have the arabs evicted. This is preposterous. Does anyone really believe that Jewish activists simply file frivolous legal cases against random Arabs in an attempt to steal their legally owned houses? It only gets more and more absurd!
Niso Shacham vs. Arieh King:
Next, after taking shots at all of the Jewish residents of the area, they decide to take aim at one particular resident – Arieh King. One doesn’t have to agree with all of King’s ideas, but he is a member of City Council, the head of a non-profit organization and not accused of any crimes. This is in stark contrast to the infamous and disgraced Niso Shacham, who is brought in to malign Mr. King. Shockingly (even to me), nothing is mentioned of Shacham’s dishonorable removal from the police force for a whole slew of crimes, such as sexual harassment, fraud and indecent acts. This guy is a pariah, not a source of credible information. This is beyond pathetic!
Arab “Testimony”:
Of course its only reasonable to hear from the arab residents. So we get to hear from Mr. Rajabi in Kfar Teimanim/Silwan. Its remarkable that Mr. Rajabi finds time to breathe in between all the lies and nonsense he is spouting. He owns everything and there is no terror. Wow. This is not even questioned by our seasoned reporters. They could have easily researched the number of attacks on Jews in Silwan – in the thousands – before speaking to this known liar and instigator. They even complain about the lack of cooperation they receive from the Jewish residents to provide proof of the attacks – while standing in front of a door covered in paint and ash from numerous attacks! Nobody is this stupid. The agenda is clear.
Borders:
When examining the previous, and what they hope is the future border dividing Jerusalem, there is no mention of previously Jewish neighborhoods, like Shimon HaTzadik/Nachalat Shimon and Nissan Bek, that existed and again exist on the “wrong side of the border”. So they bring in an “expert” – Danny Tirza – the famed planner of the “Separation Fence/Wall that is “protecting” us from terror. Of course he is unable to conclude that his life work is a total waste of time and inconsequential and therefore posits that Jerusalem can still be redivided, despite the efforts of those trying to prevent that. However, he does say one important thing: If Jews build in “Abu Dis”/ Kidmat Tzion, then the whole scheme will have been scuttled. I can’t think of a better pitch to be used by those trying to attain support for this project. G-d willing, success is right around the corner!
Conclusion:
The major failure of the program is the lack of focus on MOMENTUM. Where is the momentum? Clearly, the momentum is on the side of those strengthening the Jewish Presence in all of Jerusalem. The successes of Ateret Cohanim, Ir Dovid/ELAD, Arieh King and others in just the past few years is staggering. And there is no reason to believe that the pace will do anything but increase. As lawsuits conclude – in our favor! – and as more and more Arabs see the financial incentive to sell (like just a few weeks ago in the “Muslim Quarter”), the number of Jews living in these areas will increase dramatically. Another glaring example that will prove the point (but of course was was ignored in the leftist propaganda news report), is Kfar Teimanim. The number of Jewish residences has more than doubled in the last 2 years and will likely double again in the next year or so. Additionally, the historical Yemenite Great Synagogue has been reclaimed and is in the process of full renovation. The number of new Jewish residents in Ir Dovid in the past few years has also skyrocketed. The Shepherd Hotel Project, next to Shimon HaTzadik neighborhood, is nearing completion. Additional building projects are awaiting approval in Shimon HaTzadik, Beit Hanina, Silwan, the Old City, and of course, Kidmat Tzion.
The leftist dream of a divided Jerusalem is turning into a nightmare very quickly. They are just too asleep to realize. “Jerusalem, if I forget you…”
Yom Yerushalayim Sameach!
Ben Packer
Old City, Jerusalem

[Podcast] Leaving Our Mental Exile

Daniel Luria and I discuss the mental exile that plagues the leadership in Israel. We touch on security issues and the focus of Ateret Cohanim’s work in helping to reclaim stolen Jewish property and the settling of strategic areas in Jerusalem. Daniel and I also touch on some of the deeper and more positive facets of Jewish Nationhood.

Weekly Update: Security Deterioration, Court Cases, and More

[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/223267754″ params=”auto_play=true&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&visual=true” width=”100%” height=”450″ iframe=”true” /]

In this podcast Daniel and I cover the week’s events. I have to say you can literally feel the growing intensity in many of the neighborhoods in and around the Old City of Jerusalem.  Of course what is known as the Jewish the Quarter has remained calm, yet the Yemenite Village, Abu Tor, the Old Jewish Quarter (Muslim Quarter) and the City of David have experienced a tremendous uptick in terrorism.

Daniel and I also cover the current court cases and rulings on the newest Jewish acquisitions.

 

Great News from Kfar HaTeimanim

Very early Thursday morning…a few hours ago (TO AVOID UNNECESSARY FRICTION WITH SOME OF THE LOCAL ARABS DURING THE DAY) Jewish families and Yeshiva students entered a large premises, which is located in the old Yemenite Hekdesh in the Shiloach, on the slopes of Mt Olives overlooking the City of David and the Old City with Temple Mount.

The building is to be caled Beit Rachel.

The significant building complex is located in close proximity to all other Jewish buildings in the old Yemenite Village. (Beit HaDvash, Beit Yehonatan, Beit Frumkin and Beit Ovadia. It is also only a minutes walk from the recently redeemed sections of the original Yemenite Beit Knesset- Ohel Shlomo-Heichal Yonatan.(Named for Jonathan Pollard)

Some Basic History of the Area:
Yemenite Jews first arrived to Jerusalem in 1882. Kfar Hateimanim in the Shiloach was established. (BEFORE A SINGLE ARAB WAS LIVING IN THE AREA, which is today called Silwan by some people) At its peak 144-150 Yemenite Jewish families wereliving in the thriving and successful Yemenite Village on the slopes of Mt Zion overlooking the City of David, the Shiloach springs, the Temple Mount and the Old City.
1/ Attempt by extreme Arab elements including the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem Husseini to “ethnically cleanse” Jerusalem and Israel of Jews in the 1920’s and 1930’s. Pogroms and riots throughout Jerusalem was the result.
2/ British authorities who were not willing and incapabe to protect the Jews of Shiloach, evacuated the last remaining 35-40 Yemenite families in August 1938 (77 years ago), with a promise that the JEWISH REFUGEES could shortly return to their homes. British promise never kept.
3/ Arabs squatted in private Yemenite homes and squatted in Hekdesh properties.
4/ Arabs desecrated the Yemenite Synagogues and destroyed many of the buildings in the area. (even taking stones from buildings, roof tiles, floor tiles, taps, doors, wondow frames.
In 2004 the first Jewish families returned to the old Yemenite Village.
TODAY: After 77 years, Jews have returned home, including to properties owned legally (and ratified by all Israeli courts) by the Heldesh Benvinisti.
It is hoped that Jews and Arabs will be able to live side by side with each other in peace and coexistence, like can be seen when Arabs legally move into predominantly Jewish neighbourhoods like Pisgat Zeev, Ramat Eshkol, French Hill, Armon HaNetziv.