Rioting In Jerusalem

On Weds night, Rabbi Yehudah Glick, a prominent right-wing Jewish activist, was shot at point blank range four times by a man on a motorbike as he was exiting the Mechachem Begin Center in Jerusalem after a meeting.  Police suspicion immediately fell on Moatez Hejazi, an employee of the Center, who was a convicted terrorist belonging to the Islamic Jihad organization, who had spent 11 years in prison for security offences.  How he came to be working there is a mystery that only they can clarify.  When the police went to his home to arrest him they were met by gunfire and shot back, killing Hejazi. The shooting was claimed by Islamic Jihad.  This was of course after the killing of two Israelis last week, including a small baby, by a terrorist who drove his car deliberately into a line of people waiting for the light rail train in Jerusalem.

The death of Hejazi and his funeral led to further rioting that has been going on for months around the Arab suburbs of Jerusalem.  These Palestinians are so hostile to Israel and all Jews that the very thought of their having their own sovereign entity adjacent to Israel is anathema.  It should be mentioned that islamic Jihad is a Palestinian terrorist proxy of Iran, fully supported and trained by the Iranian National Guard.  In response to the increased violent rioting the police decided to close the Temple Mount to all Arabs and Jews.  A group to Jewish supporters of Rabbi Glick tried to force their way onto the Temple Mount and were stopped by the Israeli police.  Palestinian youths continued to throw stones and petrol bombs onto visitors to the western wall plaza. 

The highest authority in the PA, Pres. Abbas first called on the rioters to prevent Jews from ascending to the Temple Mount and then described Israel's decision to close the Temple Mount a "declaration of war" against the Palestinian people.  This is the man that the Obama Administration has called a "man of peace" and a "peace partner."  However, he has never shown any actual inclination to make peace with Israel, and currently is pursuing a unilateral policy of trying to obtain Palestinian statehood without Israeli agreement.  By contrast, PM Netanyahu called for calm and responsible behavior, while bolstering the security presence in Jerusalem to prevent further outbreaks of violence.  The Temple Mount was opened to Arabs age 50 and older and women for Friday prayers.

It should be noted that the big question being asked by all analysts is: is this the beginning of a "third intifada"?  Intifada is an Arabic word meaning essentially "uprising," and the second intifada from 2000-2003 was the worst period of terrorism and suicide bombings within Israel, although it was largely overcome by improved Israeli security and the building of the security fence around the West Bank.  Most analysts agree that Israel does not want an intifada, while it appears that Abbas does, in order to bolster his appeal to the UN and his allies to establish a Palestinian State.  Israel will not and cannot allow that to happen without its agreement, in other words without agreement on borders, security arrangements and much else.  Without any agreement Israel will continue to build in the regions of Judea and Samaria and there will be an ever greater likelihood of conflict.  Those who support the Palestinians without reference to Israeli interests are in fact reducing the chance of peace rather than increasing it.  That is what the Swedish Government and some who might follow them has done by recognizing a Palestinian State.  I call upon all Jews to boycott Sweden, to stop buying Swedish produce and visiting the country.  Let them know that we fight for our rights.  Meanwhile Rabbi Glick is still alive and fighting for his life.