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Tuesday, Dec. 06 '16, ו' בכסלו תשע"ז
HEADLINES:
1. BDS ACTIVIST STOPPED AT BEN-GURION AIRPORT
2. VIDEO CAMPAIGN LAUNCHED IN SUPPORT OF FACEBOOK SUIT
3. SUPREME COURT LIGHTENS TERRORISTS SENTENCES
4. MONEY FROM IDF SUBMARINE DEAL WILL REACH IRANIAN HANDS
5. WATCH: IDF SOUTHERN COMMAND SIMULATES TERRORIST INFILTRATION
6. IRANIAN THEME PARK TEACHES WAR AND VIOLENCE TO CHILDREN
7. NETANYAHU: FATAH IS RADICALIZING HATRED
8. WATCH:THREE MOLOTOV COCKTAIL THROWERS CAUGHT REDHANDED
1. BDS ACTIVIST STOPPED AT BEN-GURION AIRPORT
by Uzi Baruch
Dr. Isabel Phiri, Associate General Secretary for the World Council of Churches for Public Witness and Diakonia (serving the poor and oppressed), was blocked on Monday from entering Israel after landing at Ben-Gurion Airport with a tourist visa.
The World Council of Churches (WCC) established several highly biased and politicized groups including the Ecumenical Accompaniment Program in Palestine and Israel (EAPPI), which brings activists to Israel to gather images and stories of Israeli Jews oppressing Palestinians. Through various organizations and campaigns, the WCC promotes BDS and demonizes Israel for its "apartheid," "collective punishment," "war crimes" against Palestinians, and "illegal occupation of Palestinian lands."
After consultations between the Interior Minister Aryeh Deri, the Immigration Authority, and the Strategic Affairs Ministry, Deri decided to refuse entry to Phiri.
This is the first time the State of Israel has refused entry to someone with a tourist visa for promoting boycotts against it.
Minister Deri said that the authority given to the Interior Ministry in this area was specifically intended for situations like this in which passengers arrive in Israel disguised as tourists, when they are in fact trying to promote anti-Israel activity. "To approve the entry of activists like Phiri would strengthen their unacceptable activities, and I have no intention of giving this to them. I will use all my authority to prevent damage to Israel."
Strategic Affairs Minister, Gilad Erdan, who is responsible for the government's anti-BDS operations, concurred in the decision, saying, "We will continue to work to prevent the entry of BDS activists into Israel, as their purpose is to harm the State of Israel by gathering information and presenting it in a false and distorted manner in order to harm Israel in the world. These activists need to remain outside the borders of Israel, and we will continue to work in every possible way to prevent them from entering our country."
2. VIDEO CAMPAIGN LAUNCHED IN SUPPORT OF FACEBOOK SUIT
by Arutz Sheva Staff
[youtube:2021773]
The Israel-based civil rights organization, Shurat Hadin, today released a YouTube video in a campaign to support a pair of major lawsuits against Facebook for inciting terrorism.
The video comes shortly after a stabbing and car-ramming attack by a Muslim Ohio State University student last week shortly after the student had published a rant on his Facebook page.
That attack and video underscore Shurat HaDin's lawsuits against Facebook, which are pending in a district court in Brooklyn, New York. A hearing to decide whether those cases can proceed to trial is scheduled for January 19, 2017.
The video, "Who's Behind Terror? Rewind!," inspired by the movie "Memento," opens with a slow-motion replay of a terrorist bomb attack in New York City, then rewinds time 10 minutes, then two hours, then 24 hours, then three months, to show the key moments when Facebook helped incite the terrorist to act.
"Facebook and other social media platforms have become a crucial component for international terror, the same as guns, bombs and money," said Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, the founder of Shurat HaDin – Israel Law Center. "For years now, Facebook has continued to provide a platform for terrorist incitement despite repeated warnings. This has become one of today's top global threats. Social media platforms want to believe terror has nothing to do with them and that they have unlimited immunity and can do whatever they want. We are going to put an end to it."
Shurat HaDin's first case against Facebook, Cohen v. Facebook, was filed after the wave of stabbing attacks in 2015 to stop allowing Palestinian terrorists to incite violent attacks against Israeli citizens and Jews on its internet platform.
In this case, Shurat HaDin seeks to shut down terrorist pages on Facebook not because of their content but because by allowing this content, Facebook allegedly facilitates terrorism by providing services to terrorists. The case seeks an injunction forcing Facebook to actively monitor and block such pages, similarly to how banks block transactions with known terrorists.
In a second lawsuit, Force v. Facebook, Shurat HaDin seeks $1 billion in damages on behalf the families of five Israeli victims of the terrorist group Hamas. This case, under the U.S. Antiterrorism Act, charges Facebook with providing material support and resources to Hamas – a "foreign terrorist organization" – in the form of Facebook services that the group used to carry out terrorist actions.
"One cannot transfer even one dollar to Hamas because banks know not to permit transactions with terrorists, but Hamas and known Hamas officials can open Facebook pages, and use Facebook to recruit terrorists and aggrandize terrorism," said attorney Robert J. Tolchin, who represents the plaintiffs in Brooklyn as the local counsel for Shurat HaDin.
"Facebook's sophisticated platform and services are used by terrorists for communication, logistics, intelligence, fundraising and even prestige," Shurat HaDin said in filing the first lawsuit. "Facebook has the data and the capability to cease providing services to terrorists, and it has chosen not to do so."
Shurat HaDin, the Israel Law Center, is an Israel-based civil rights organization which combats terrorist organizations and the regimes that support them in the courtroom via lawsuits on behalf of the terror victims. Shurat HaDin seeks to bankrupt the terror groups and grind their criminal activities to a halt – one lawsuit at a time.
3. SUPREME COURT LIGHTENS TERRORISTS SENTENCES
by Ido Ben Porat
Supreme Court justices Hanan Meltzer, Noam Solberg, and Uri Shoham reduced by several months the sentences on the six Arab youth from the village of Emek Hefer who threw Molotov cocktails at cars on Highway 6.
The incident took place in October, 2015 between the Nitzanei Oz and Baqa interchanges. The Arabs walked onto the pedestrian bridge over the highway and threw burning Molotov cocktails onto the highway, forcing cars to veer out of their lanes at high speed. Thankfully, no one was injured.
The District Court sentenced the youth to between 12 and 33 months in prison, but the Arabs appealed to the Supreme Court, which reduced each of their sentences by several months based on the lighter sentences that had been given to other youths from the same village who had also been convicted of throwing Molotov cocktails.
The Supreme Court justices explained that their decision "should not be taken as a general rule for such cases, because the sentence should reflect the level of punishment appropriate to the particular circumstances and because there are significant differences between the two cases. However, we have come to the conclusion that there is room for some lessening of the punishment of the appellants in order to moderate to some extent the gaps between the sentences of the two groups."
4. MONEY FROM IDF SUBMARINE DEAL WILL REACH IRANIAN HANDS
by Eliran Aharon
Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman (Yisrael Beytenu) responded in the Finance Committee to the revelation that some of funds spent on the new submarine deal with Germany will end up in the hands of Iran.
The German company, ThyssenKrupp, is the contractor both for the submarines and for the "Saar-6" warships currently under construction. According to recent reports, the Iranian government owns 4.5% of the company, from which it has earned over $2 billion in dividends.
"The issue of Iran's share in the submarine's manufacturer has been known since long before I took office," said Lieberman.
According to Lieberman, "The issue was already known and discussed in the cabinet and in the National Security Council and the reality is quite a bit different than the way it's been portrayed in the media. There was no alternative for the State of Israel. The company is run by its board and management, and Iran's share is negligible."
Lieberman appeared before the Finance Committee for the presentation of the defense budget for the years 2017-2018. The budget will be the biggest ever, amounting to $18.6 billion in 2017 and $18.5 billion in 2018, not including the aid from the United States.
5. WATCH: IDF SOUTHERN COMMAND SIMULATES TERRORIST INFILTRATION
by Kobi Finkler
[youtube:2021772]
At 2.A.M Tuesday morning the Southern Command conducted an extensive exercise in the Gaza strip area, including the cities of Ashkelon, Sderot, Ofakim and Netivot.
"The exercise was planned ahead and involved a number of scenarios prepared as part of implementing the lessons from the Protective Edge campaign.
The exercise involved three events which simulated terrorist infiltrations via tunnels using motorcycles.
"The exercise was built in a way that there was no prior warning of the terrorist infiltration which involved terrorists taking surprise control of villages," said a senior officer. "We examined various defensive scenarios including tunnels, surface infiltrations, and naval and aerial infiltrations.
The arrival of additional forces was also tested as well as their entry into the affected areas and the various responsibilities of police, MDA and other emergency bodies.
The officer said that since the Protective Edge campaign there is much better cooperation between ground,sea and air forces and there is much better coordination between the IDF,police and the GSS.
The Army Spokesman's office published pictures from the exercise.
[album:open
6. IRANIAN THEME PARK TEACHES WAR AND VIOLENCE TO CHILDREN
by Shimon Cohen and MEMRI
Iran this year opened a special theme park in the city of Mashad for teaching children from aged 8-13 how to fight wars and shoot weapons at Iran's perceived enemies.
The park is called "The City of Games for Revolutionary Chidren." It operates under the Mashad municipality and is free of charge. According to Hamid Sadeghi, director of the cultural center that established the park, it is intended to teach children messages about "holy defense" and fighting Iran's enemies, including Israel and the US.
After registering, children don military uniforms and split up into groups of 8-10. They are accompanied by a "commander" whom they pledge to obey. They then go through 12 activity stations which include simulations of the Iran-Iraq war, a "Revolution chamber," defending various holy shrines, and traversing a minefield with barbed wire.
Along the way, they are told about the directives of the Imam (Ayatollah Ruhollah) Khomeini and Supreme Leader Khamenei.
"At the final station," said Sadeghi, "the children learn that the most important elements for attaining victory are wisdom and intelligence for fighting the enemy."
7. NETANYAHU: FATAH IS RADICALIZING HATRED
by Elad Benari
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Monday evening blasted the Fatah movement for electing Marwan Barghouti to the top spot on the Fatah Central Committee.
"This is the leader of a terrorist organization who encouraged and led terrorist attacks that killed and wounded dozens of innocent Israelis. Barghouti was convicted for his crimes in an Israeli court and sentenced to five life sentences. In electing Barghouti, the Fatah movement radicalizes the culture of incitement and terror, and condones a convicted terrorist," said Netanyahu.
He added, "Fatah is no longer satisfied with incitement in schools and naming streets and squares after murderers. Now it also places them in leadership roles. By doing this, the organization radicalizes the culture of hatred and distances peace."
Barghouti is widely believed to have planned the Second Intifada, which claimed thousands of Israeli lives from 2000 to 2005. He has continued inciting terrorism from his jail cell.
His election to the Fatah Central Committee came during the Fatah congress, which was held in Ramallah in recent days and was attended by representatives of the Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorist groups. They were invited directly by Fatah, despite the fact that Abbas is called a "moderate" by most of the Western world, while Hamas and Islamic Jihad openly call for the destruction of the state of Israel.
Addressing the congress last week, Palestinian Authority (PA) chairman and Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas launched a tirade against Israel, reiterating that Palestinian Arabs will continue to refuse to recognize Israel as a Jewish state and that the PA would continue its efforts to approve a Security Council resolution against "Israeli settlements".
8. WATCH:THREE MOLOTOV COCKTAIL THROWERS CAUGHT REDHANDED
by Reut Hadar
[video:2021757]
The IDF has declared war on terrorists who throw Molotov Cocktails at passing cars. On Monday night an observation post spotted three Palestinians nearing the wall adjacent to road 60, near the village of El-Hader in the Etzion region. The three were carrying Molotov Cocktails and intended to throw them on the road.
The Nitzan battalion placed an ambush in the area and managed to catch one of the offenders redhanded. He was transferred to the police for further investigation.
Last night IDF forces were also active in the Jebel Johar neighborhood which is under the jurisdiction of the Judean regional brigade, in response to a weapons sale which took place in the area and included weapon examinations and live fire.
In intensive searches conducted by IDF forces, sniper weapons were found in overgrowth in a back yard as well as corresponding bullets and cartridges. The weapons were confiscated.
In the area near the village of Adna, IDF forces confiscated thousands of shekels of money being used to fund terror.
The Efraim regional brigrade in conjunction with Border Police and civilian police confiscated thousands of shekels being used to fund terror activities in the villages of Na'alin, Hirbeta and Kibiya.
IDF forces in Shechem under the jurisdiction of the Shomron regional brigade discovered two guns and a pistol.
In other activities last night, IDF forces together with police from the Judean and Samarian division and GSS operatives arrested 10 wanted terrorists in Judea and Samaria. Six of the terrorists are suspected of involvement in violent disturbances and acts of nationalistic terror towards civilians and IDF forces.
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