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Thursday, Sep. 29 '16, כ"ו באלול תשע"ו
HEADLINES:
1. BILL CLINTON PAYS HIS FINAL RESPECTS TO SHIMON PERES
2. JIHADI BRIT: 'IF THEY'LL BOMB ME THEY'LL BOMB ME'
3. RABBI PINTO WILL NOT SEE EARLY RELEASE
4. KATZOVER: I WON'T ATTEND PERES' FUNERAL
5. NISSIM ZE'EV REMEMBERS PERES AS A MAN WHO RESPECTED TORAH
6. AMNESY INTERNATIONAL: SUDAN USED CHEMICAL WEAPONS ON OWN PEOPLE
7. HIS SECURITY DETAIL NEVER LEFT HIS SIDE
8. KNESSET FLAGS LOWERED TO HALF-MAST
1. BILL CLINTON PAYS HIS FINAL RESPECTS TO SHIMON PERES
by Arutz Sheva Staff
[video:2019673]
The coffin of the 9th President of Israel, Shimon Peres, has been placed at the central Knesset Plaza in Jerusalem. It will lie in state from 9:00 until 21:00, for the public to pay their final respects to a man who served the country as President, Prime Minister, and in numerous other government positions over the years.
Peres' coffin, which will lie in state at the central Knesset Plaza, will be visited by people from Israel and around the world. They will come to pay their respects and to honor Shimon Peres who dedicated his life to the State of Israel and to his vision for creating a better world.
Former President of the United States Bill Clinton arrived at the Knesset, and after a short meeting with Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein passed by Peres' coffin accompanied by Edelstein and President Reuven Rivlin. Clinton then proceeded to the President's residence for a meeting with Rivlin.
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Some of the political leaders who will pay their respects this morning include: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Reuven (Rubi) Rivlin, Speaker of the Knesset Yuli Edelstein, ambassadors from around the world, mayors from across the country, international delegations coming specifically for this occasion, young Jewish and Arab participants from all of the Peres Center for Peace's main programs, members of the Israeli Youth Movements, representatives of communities and development towns, students from schools across the country, and Israeli artists.
As part of the mourning over the death of the 9th President, the Israeli flag has been flying at half-mast at all government buildings in Israel and Israeli diplomatic missions around the world. The Israeli Knesset lowered the flag to half-mast yesterday.
Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein told Kol Yisrael radio this morning that one can feel full solidarity with the state and with political opponents within it while not giving up on one's principles and positions, and Shimon Peres did this.
Edelstein says that this may be Peres' most important legacy. The Speaker emphasized that he always has and continues to disagree with Peres' views on everything to do with the Oslo Accords, but it's important to say that violence and personal animosity is never the way to resolve issues in a democratic society.
Shimon Peres will be buried on Friday in Mount Herzl in Jerusalem. The ceremony and eulogies will begin at 9:30 a.m. and the burial ceremony will begin at noon.
The roads surrounding the Knesset have already been closed, and the roads surrounding and leading up to Har Hertzl are expected to be closed from 7:00 Friday morning.
Preparations have been completed at Ben Gurion airport for the arrival of the flights of the many foreign leaders and dignitaries arriving to take part in the funeral.
President of the United States Barack Obama, who has confirmed his intention to attend the funeral, has ordered that flags be lowered to half-mast at American government buildings around the world as a sign of mourning for Peres. A White House statement said that the flags will be left at half-mast until Friday evening.
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2. JIHADI BRIT: 'IF THEY'LL BOMB ME THEY'LL BOMB ME'
by Arutz Sheva Staff
[youtube:2019677]
3. RABBI PINTO WILL NOT SEE EARLY RELEASE
by Arutz Sheva Staff
The Central District Court decided that Rabbi Yoshiyahu Pinto, head of Mosdot Shuva Israel, will not be released early. This decision came after the State Attorney pleaded with the court not to shorten Rabbi Yoshiyahu Pinto's jail sentence.
The prosecution claimed that the Parole Board made a mistake when it decided that Pinto had proven himself worthy of parole. In their opinion, the severity of Pinto's crimes, coupled with the confidential information that the police were provided with, creates a situation in which parole would be dangerous.
According to the State Attorney, in this situation, the Parole Committee has not given enough weight to the facts that were put on the table, and has not properly balanced the two sides of the issue. This creates a situation in which the lack of certainty requires the State Attorney to interfere in the legal proceedings.
Pinto, who expressed deep regret for his actions, has said that he feels "like a criminal."
"A number of people left religion because they saw a rabbi who gives bribes. I am no longer a rabbi and I will pay for my mistakes. I have left public life and I am not a rabbi of any sort until I will feel myself worthy again, and that will definitely not happen in the next year or two," Pinto said.
Pinto has also declared that he will not continue to serve as a rabbi. He added, "My shame and disgrace are genuine as I went and smashed my entire life. I ruined everything that was important to me. I say to the parole board what I told Judge Brown, I stand by my word when I say that I am embarrassed at my behavior. I expressed my regret from the depths of my heart and sat with the social worker for 50 meetings....There is no rabbi Pinto anymore, I do not exist in the world. I have expressed my deepest regret and I want to repent."
4. KATZOVER: I WON'T ATTEND PERES' FUNERAL
by Arutz Sheva Staff
Benny Katzover mentioned Peres' good deeds at the beginning of his career but has a hard time forgetting the damage he did saying, "right after the Oslo Accords, my neighbor, Menachem Felix, lost his daughter."
Former Director of the Shomron Council, Benny Katzover, in an interview with Arutz Sheva, mentioned that Peres contributed greatly to Israel's defense at the beginning of his career but that he cannot forge the damage he caused afterwards.
"He was a man of the Greater, biblical, Israel in 1971 when we moved to Kiryat Arba he came to visit us. The Labour Party constructed 250 homes in Kiryat Arba," he explained saying that Peres helped provide an infrastructure for the residents. "He developed the national post in Kiryat Arba and created special stamps for the community," Katzover said.
In his statement, Katzover explained that Peres had a heavy hand in shaping the settlements and that his involvement in the settlements is felt even today.
"Peres supported the settlement of Elon Moreh," Katzover said, "and he made sure that within a week we had public transportation there and he fulfilled all his promises. It's too bad no one says today what Peres would say then which is that the Shomron is more important strategically than the Golan Heights. He said that those who opposed Jewish settlement in the Shomron are anti-Semitic."
In spite of that, Katzover will not be attending the funeral and stated that, "they asked me and I said that I can't participate in the funeral of anyone who signed the Oslo Accords. My neighbor, Menachem Felix, lost his daughter immediately after Oslo."
Katzover compared Peres to Former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon saying, "he is quite like Sharon in that regard, a cow that provides milk and then kicks the bucket over. Over the years, I lost touch with Peres," But several years go when he shook his hand, "I reminded him that I have prime property in Shomron he smiled and I saw that he had a smile of contentment."
"I am pleased that, despite all the damage he did, there is someone above is who managing the world despite the Oslo Accords, we have grown from being two hundred thousand to four hundred and fifty thousand settlers in Judea and Samaria. He himself knew that the new Middle East was not so new anymore as he had previously hoped. He saw very well what was happening around him," Katzover said.
5. NISSIM ZE'EV REMEMBERS PERES AS A MAN WHO RESPECTED TORAH
by Emily Rose
Former Shas Party MK, Nissim Ze'ev, in an interview with Arutz Sheva, estimates that in his last years, Shimon Peres changed his views on the Middle East.
"He was a man who believed in the vision of a new Middle East, he thought there was a chance for change but then turned around when he became president, maybe at that point he understood more of what the people of Israel have been through. He understood that returning land wouldn't necessarily bring peace once he saw what was happening to our neighbors in Syria and Egypt, I'm sure he changed his views."
"But despite all that he was a true protector of the State of Israel and the current Prime Minister relied upon him for his opinions because his wisdom was accepted all over the world," Ze'ev told Arutz Sheva.
Ze'ev praised Peres for his Torah knowledge saying that he was knowledgeable in such a vast range of subjects and had true respect for Jewish heritage. He explained that Rabbi Ovadia Yosef voted for Peres as president because of his stance on yeshiva students saying, "Peres increased the number of yeshiva students who could receive a deferment from the army from 400 in Ben Gurion's time to 4000 and even more than that."
"We never heard him attack those who study Torah the way other politicians do, including past prime ministers, at every chance they get, who say that Torah students are just a burden on the state. Peres thought that enlistment needed to be gradual and through dialogue. He never used his status in order to slander the world of Torah," Ze'ev said.
He added that "The world saw Peres as a source of wisdom, he represented Israel even though he was no longer Prime Minister, he was always treated as a leader and was given so much respect, even in the face of the waves of hatred against Israel. May he be of blessed memory."
6. AMNESY INTERNATIONAL: SUDAN USED CHEMICAL WEAPONS ON OWN PEOPLE
by Gary Willig
The government of Sudan has been carrying out multiple attacks using chemical weapons against its own civilians in what may amount to a war crime, according to a report issued today by Amnesty International.
Amnesty's investigation lead the organization to conclude that at least 30 chemical attacks have been carried out by government forces in the Jebel Marra region of Darfur since January 2016, killing between 200-250 people, including many children. The most recent attack is alleged to have occurred on September 9, 2016.
Hundreds more survived the attacks but developed symptoms including skin that changed color, rotted, hardened, and fell off, eye problems including a complete loss of vision, and respiratory and gastrointestinal problems.
Amnesty stated that it carried out its investigation "using satellite imagery, more than 200 in-depth interviews with survivors and expert analysis of dozens of appalling images showing babies and young children with terrible injuries."
According to eyewitnesses, the chemical agents were delivered via bombs dropped from planes and rockets. Eyewitnesses also reported that the smoke from the attacks would change color to a dark blue.
Two chemical weapons experts whom Amnesty presented its findings to concluded that vesicants, otherwise known as blister agents,were used in the attacks. This kind of chemical weapons includes mustard gas.
"This suspected use of chemical weapons represents not only a new low in the catalogue of crimes under international law by the Sudanese military against civilians in Darfur, but also a new level of hubris by the government towards the international community," said Tirana Hassan, Amnesty International's Director of Crisis Research.
Hassan added, "The use of chemical weapons is a war crime. The evidence we have gathered is credible and portrays a regime that is intent on directing attacks against the civilian population in Darfur without any fear of international retribution."
The allegations of attacks using chemical warfare come as the Sudanese regime is engaged in an offensive in Jebel Marra against the Sudan Liberation Army/Abdul Wahid (SLA/AW),which the government accuses of launching ambushes against soldiers and civilians alike.
The Sudanese government has denied all allegations that it used chemical weapons against civilians, dismissing all such claims as "rumours" to CNN.
Darfur has been the site of an ongoing conflict since 2003, when rebels groups took up arms against the government in Khartoum to address longstanding grievances over land and marginalization. The government responded with what many human rights groups have long termed a genocide. By 2008 the UN had estimated that 300,000 people may have been killed during the conflict in Darfur, a number that could have risen in the eight years since then.
7. HIS SECURITY DETAIL NEVER LEFT HIS SIDE
by Arutz Sheva Staff
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8. KNESSET FLAGS LOWERED TO HALF-MAST
by Hezki Baruch
[youtube:2019659]
Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein led the lowering of the Knesset courtyard flags to half mast Wednesday afternoon, as a sign of mourning for the passing of former President Shimon Peres. On Thursday, Peres will lie in state at the Knesset and members of the public will arrive to pay him their last respects.
A Knesset honor guard stood near the flags in the courtyard, and after the lowering ceremony, Speaker Edelstein spoke to the press.
"I went to visit Shimon Peres at the hospital last week and I was optimistic. How can you be anything else when you're standing next to Shimon Peres, the eternal optimist. I was sure that this time too, when the Knesset winter session opens, Shimon Peres will be sitting in the plenum as he always has."
He added that "Shimon Peres was an MK who served in the Knesset for an incredible amount of years. 48 years. I doubt anyone will ever even come close to that record. We're parting today from someone who wasn't just like a family member. We're parting from the head of the family. A man who looked to contribute his whole life. This is how we'll remember him forever."
In the Knesset, preparations are being completed for the arrival of the public tomorrow to pay their last respects to Peres, and estimates are that many thousands will come to the Knesset from all over the country. The coffin will be placed in the Knesset courtyard on Thursday morning and at 8:45 a.m., President Reuven Rivlin, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, and the Knesset Speaker will lay flower wreaths by the side of the coffin.
The public will be welcome to pass by the coffin and pay respects from 9:00 in the morning until the late hours of the evening.
Edelstein reciting a psalm in Peres' memory. The Knesset. (Photo: Knesset spokesperson)
Earlier, the Knesset Speaker said a psalm and lit a memorial candle placed in the Knesset near a portrait of Shimon Peres wrapped in black. The candle and the portrait were placed prominently near the entrance to the plenum.
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