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Terrorism Tag

Posted by William A. Jacobson on October 08, 2015 11 Comments
It's far from clear that there is a "Third Intifada" in Israel. But there are multiple attacks daily by Palestinians, usually involving rock throwing and knives. It's a very personal type of attack fueled by incitement in Palestinian and some western social media over the Temple Mount / Al Aqsa Mosque. Many of the rock attacks on the roads are attempted lynchings, hoping to stop the vehicle in order to kill the driver, such as this incident:
Lev Ohayon was on her way to work in Jerusalem from her home in Tekoa, when she was ambushed by a group of rock-wielding Palestinians, who shattered her car’s windows. One of them began to beat her, while trying to pull her out of the vehicle.

Posted by Amy Miller on October 07, 2015 2 Comments
Today, the House Homeland Security Committee released a "Terror Threat Snapchat" detailing the growing threat of Islamic terrorism against targets both in the United States and abroad. So far this year, officials have identified 61 total ISIS attack plots against western targets. This represents a 2x increase in attack plots since 2014. 17 of those plots focused on the United States, and authorities have arrested 55 people this year in ISIS-specific attack cases alone. “Islamist extremist groups are consolidating their control over crucial terrain and seizing the initiative to expand their global footprint," said committee Chairman Michael McCaul in a statement accompanying the report. "Destabilizing aggressors, from the Putin regime in Russia to the world’s leading state sponsor of terror in Iran, are filling the void of American withdrawal to disastrous effect. This global surge in radicalism and instability has directly contributed to the elevated threat level here at home. We need decisive American leadership that starts with shoring up our defenses and advancing a credible strategy to stop the threats at the source.” Key takeaways (as per the Committee's report) include:

Posted by Doron Goldberg on October 03, 2015 6 Comments
Dear Roger Waters, Often in the past you have written detailed letters to colleagues in the music business, encouraging them not to perform in Israel because it supposedly is an apartheid state. Having read your latest letter to Bon Jovi, I won’t waste my time drawing the differences with Apartheid South Africa and the moral stand that so many artists took then, and the immoral stand some artists are taking now in the face of decades of Israeli attempts to protect themselves. I know you cannot be convinced. http://www.salon.com/2015/10/02/roger_waters_to_jon_bon_jovi_you_stand_shoulder_to_shoulder_with_the_settler_who_burned_the_baby/ Attempts to protect again and again against the Arab violence while successfully maintaining the only democracy in the Middle east. A democracy which ensures freedom of speech, women rights, gay friendly society, and minorities equality - an island of sanity in an ocean of madness, violence and hate for all of these things. So the die is cast, you are determined to proceed with your attempts to isolate Israel by blaming artists for any and every act of violence. You are making your stand, so with whom do you stand shoulder to shoulder?

Posted by Miriam Elman on September 27, 2015 38 Comments
This Thursday Israel’s 10-member security cabinet unanimously voted to approve a series of tougher measures against Palestinian rock and firebomb throwers. The new measures are being adopted following a heated debate this past week over what the government and police can and can’t legally do (shoot them with live fire? lock them in jail for longer periods? penalize the parents?) to crack down on Palestinian youth who hurl stone and petrol bombs onto highways and city streets with increasing impunity. There are no easy answers here, or simple solutions. According to experts familiar with these cases, rock-throwing is mostly being perpetrated by unorganized and leaderless young men, making it hard for Israel’s security and intelligence forces to prevent impending attacks. These angry Palestinian kids probably aren’t usually receiving direct orders to terrorize Jews. But they’re acting within an ideological environment that encourages and condones these attacks. In addition to incitement by the Palestinian Authority and Hamas, Israeli Arab leaders incite violence by spreading falsehoods about the Al Aqsa Mosque:

Posted by Mike LaChance on September 25, 2015 5 Comments
Islamists in Bangladesh have published a hit list of bloggers and writers which includes people in Europe and America. The image above is of people in Bangladesh protesting the murder of a blogger earlier this year. Jethro Mullen of CNN reports:
Extremists in Bangladesh publish global hit list of bloggers and writers Islamic extremists in Bangladesh appear to be taking their war on secular writers and bloggers beyond the South Asian country's borders. A hit list purporting to be from the militant group Ansarullah Bangla Team has been sent out threatening people in Europe and North America. "Let Bangladesh revoke the citizenship of these enemies of Islam," a statement accompanying the list says. "If not, we will hunt them down in whatever part of God's world we find them and kill them right there." The list contains nine people in the United Kingdom, eight in Germany, two in the United States, one in Canada and one in Sweden. CNN isn't reporting any of the names on the list.

Posted by Miriam Elman on September 13, 2015 6 Comments
Yesterday we posted on Israel’s decision to outlaw as “unlawful organizations” two Islamic Movement-funded groups which for years have been harassing and intimidating non-Muslim visitors to Jerusalem’s revered Temple Mount, Israel Finally Outlaws “Temple Mount Screamers”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpNROFwrzAI As we noted, while the new policy comes as a welcome move for many devout Jews and Christians, merely banning some abusive hecklers from the sacred site does nothing to change the more pernicious problem: the flagrant disregard for religious pluralism and tolerance exhibited in the rhetoric and policies of the site’s Muslim authorities. Our post went live on Saturday evening (EST). Since it wasn’t yet being reported in the MSM, we were unaware that at that very moment Israel’s police and security forces were executing an operation in east Jerusalem in an attempt to avert a planned attack on Jewish worshippers ahead of the Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish New Year, which begins tonight). According to media reports released this morning (EST) and throughout the day, Israel’s security forces were searching for explosive devices that were believed to be hidden in east Jerusalem on Saturday night.

Posted by New Neo on September 11, 2015 5 Comments
On 9/11's 10th anniversary I wrote a post that contained this observation:
For those of us who were grownups when 9/11 happened, it’s also been transmuted—not to something that was always there, but to something that’s been incorporated into our view of the world. We’ve all done that differently. But for us, the shock and surprise and horror reoccurs (to a somewhat diminished extent, of course; there’s no shock like the first shock) whenever we see the footage, or when we think—really really think, without the protective shield of familiarity—of what actually happened on that day.
I believe that, in the four years that have passed since I wrote those words, 9/11 has been transmuted into something that was always there, something that no longer surprises. And although I haven't watched any footage today of the attack, I think there is less shock and no surprise. The reason for that is that a great deal has happened since I wrote those words four years ago. Since then, although we had responded in Afghanistan to 9/11 and then to Saddam Hussein's defiance of nuclear weapons inspections in Iraq, the Obama administration has purposely wiped out those gains, particularly in Iraq. When I wrote that 10-year anniversary piece in September of 2011, the US was poised on the brink of Obama's complete withdrawal from Iraq, which he was determined to accomplish against the opinion and advice of every military adviser. In the four years since that withdrawal, ISIS has risen up in the vacuum that was left, and it has wreaked horrors on civilian populations, barbarities that are of enormous scale and magnitude even compared to 9/11 and which have reverberated around the world with images of sadistic violence. Does anyone doubt for a single moment that the killers would wreak a thousand, ten thousand, a hundred thousand 9/11s on us if they could?

Posted by Mike LaChance on September 11, 2015 5 Comments
A new memorial center has been created in Shanksville, Pennsylvania to honor the people on United Airlines Flight 93 which crashed in a field on September 11th when passengers fought back against the terrorists. Here's an Associated Press report via FOX News:
Flight 93 memorial visitor center is dedicated A new visitor center has been dedicated on a Pennsylvania hill overlooking the site where United Airlines Flight 93 came down during the 9/11 attacks. The visitor center is at the Flight 93 National Memorial near Shanksville. It uses photos, video, artifacts and interactive displays to tell the story of how passengers and crew fought to regain control of the plane. The hijackers are believed to have wanted to crash it into the U.S. Capitol. An outdoor platform offers a commanding view of the crash site where 33 passengers and seven crew members were killed. U.S. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell said at Thursday's dedication that the center captures "the real honor of the 40 and what they did."

Posted by William A. Jacobson on September 11, 2015 19 Comments
At 8:46 a.m. in New York on September 11, 2001, the first airplane hit the World Trade Center North Tower. I was at my desk in Providence, RI, when I heard the first reports of a "small plane" hitting the World Trade Center. Seemed odd, but not out of the realm of possibility. Morning news shows interrupted coverage as the murky facts began to emerge. Slowly, it became clear it was no accident, as the South Tower also was hit (at 31:20 of video below). https://youtu.be/Nn9EVxueiyc?t=22m5s And then the Pentagon was hit And then the unthinkable, the Towers collapsed:

Posted by William A. Jacobson on September 04, 2015 11 Comments
For those of us of a certain age, The Munich Massacre is etched in our memories as much as almost any other historical event. At approximately 4:30 a.m. in the morning on September 5, 1972 in West Germany [still September 4 in the U.S.], Palestinian "Black September" terrorists took Israeli Olympians hostage at the Olympic Village in Munich, West Germany. Two of the athletes were killed there, and another 9 died at the airport in a failed rescue mission as the terrorists thought they were boarding a plane to take them and the hostages away. A German policeman also was killed. The Independent in Britain recounted the events in a 2006 look back which provides great detail:
Carrying assault rifles and grenades, the Palestinians ran towards No 31 Connollystrasse, the building housing the Israeli delegation to the Munich Olympic Games. Bursting into the first apartment, they took a group of Israeli officials and trainers hostage: Yossef Gutfreund, Amitzur Shapira, Kehat Shorr, Andrei Spitzer, Jacov Springer and Moshe Weinberg. In another apartment, they captured the Israeli wrestlers and weightlifters Eliezer Halfin, Yossef Romano, Mark Slavin, David Berger (an Israeli-American law graduate) and Zeev Friedman. When the tough Israelis fought back, the Palestinians opened fire, shooting Romano and Weinberg dead. The other nine were subdued and taken hostage. The Palestinians then demanded the release of 234 prisoners held in Israeli jails.
[caption id="attachment_141124" align="alignnone" width="481"][Israeli Athletes killed Munich Massacre] [Israeli Athletes killed Munich Massacre][/caption] The images of a hooded terrorist on the balcony where the hostages were being held are among the most iconic:

Posted by Mike LaChance on August 24, 2015 14 Comments
The three Americans who stopped a terror attack on a train in France over the weekend were given the Legion of Honor award by French President François Hollande. CNN reports:
France honors 3 Americans, Briton for stopping train attack Three days after they pounced on and subdued a gunman Friday aboard a packed train headed to Paris, American childhood friends Anthony Sadler, Spencer Stone and Alek Skarlatos received the Legion of Honor -- France's highest recognition. The Americans, who reportedly met in middle school in California, planned on spending the summer sightseeing together. It was Sadler's first trip to Europe, and National Guardsman Skarlatos was on a monthlong break after serving in Afghanistan. Stone is an Air Force serviceman. They will return to the United States celebrated for their courage and quick action, and for exemplifying teamwork and friendship... "By their courage, they saved lives," President François Hollande said. "They gave us an example of what is possible to do in these kinds of situations."

Posted by Mike LaChance on August 22, 2015 19 Comments
A member of the Air Force, a national guardsman and a college student, (all Americans) stopped a terror attack on a French train Friday night. This report from France 24 has the basic timeline of the incident:
Holidaying US servicemen foil French train attack Anthony Sadler, a student studying physical therapy at Sacramento State University, was travelling on a French train with two childhood friends ̶ Air Force serviceman Spencer Stone and Alek Skarlatos, a National Guardsman ̶ when the three heard a gunshot and breaking glass. "We heard a gunshot and we heard glass breaking behind us, and saw a train employee sprint past us down the aisle," Sadler said from France, describing the incident. They then saw the gunman entering their train car. "I didn't realise what was happening until I saw a guard run past. I looked back and saw a guy enter with a Kalashnikov. My friends and I got down and then I said, 'Let's get him'," said Skarlatos, 22, who returned from service in Afghanistan in July.

Posted by Mike LaChance on August 11, 2015 14 Comments
A Mississippi couple has been arrested for planning to join ISIS during their honeymoon in Syria. They were taken into custody as they were preparing to board a flight for Istanbul. CNN reports:
Feds: Mississippi couple planned to join ISIS in Syria Two Mississippi residents were arrested last weekend and charged with attempting to provide material support to ISIS, according to a law enforcement official. Muhammad Oda Dakhlalla and Jaelyn Delshaun Young were arrested at a Mississippi airport on Saturday. Authorities say they were planning to travel overseas to join the terror group. An initial court appearance from Monday was continued to today, when a criminal complaint will be announced. CNN obtained a copy of the criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court. Law enforcement sources confirmed it is genuine but said the final version of the complaint could change. According to the criminal complaint, Young and her soon-to-be husband were planning to fly from Mississippi to Europe, then travel to Syria and join ISIS.
Here's a video report from CBS:

Posted by Amy Miller on August 04, 2015 15 Comments
In June of last year, Ali Mohammad Brown shot 19 year-old Brendan Tevlin 10 times while Brendan was stopped at a traffic light in Essex County, New Jersey. The murder itself was underreported, and media watchdogs and activists took to social media to demand an explanation for the lack of coverage of such a violent, inexplicable crime. (You can read Legal Insurrection's coverage HERE.) They were right to do so. After Brown was caught and arrested, he told police that the murder was a “just kill” and said it was an act of “vengeance” to compensate for U.S. military killings in the Middle East. He was vocal in his opposition to American intervention overseas, emphasized multiple times the vengeful nature of the act---and yet the media did nothing to expose what could have been the next act of violent jihad come to America. The media's malpractice in this case has been well documented, yet outlets for the most part have only just begun to scratch the surface of what happened. True justice for Brendan, however, is in reach. Last Thursday, Brown was indicted on charges of terrorism, murder, felony murder, carjacking, and robbery, as well as multiple weapons offenses.

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on August 02, 2015 64 Comments
While Jeb's Telemundo interview this week has been getting attention for his statements about amnesty immigration reform, there is another interesting tidbit in there about Iran that sheds some light on his push back against Mike Huckabee's comments evoking the Holocaust. Personally, I'm not surprised that Jeb is promising action on immigration reform to Spanish-speaking audiences; he promises the same thing to English-speaking audiences and has been quite defiant about maintaining his position throughout the primary. Here's a transcript (translated from Spanish) of part of the immigration portion of the interview:
José Díaz-Balart: How do we resolve the problem of 11 million undocumented and what do you think is the formula for the border to be secured and deal with those those people who are here and contribute to the economy with their hard work? Jeb Bush: Look, first of all, to arrive here legally has to be easier than to arrive here illegally. So one must have a commitment with a border, and JUST as important, there’s 40 percent of the undocumented that arrived  here legally, that have a legal visa and they overstayed  And they don’t go back. We must have a plan to solve that. It’s not the most complicated thing in our country, we can do it. We can accomplish it. But for the 11 million people, I believe that they come from out of the shadows they get a work permit, they pay taxes naturally, they pay small fine they, learn English. They don’t get benefits from the federal government, but they come out of the shadows. And they obtain a legal status after some time. I believe that’s the place where one could obtain consensus to solve this problem.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on July 31, 2015 19 Comments
Today was one of those terrible days I'm glad I was traveling for. That seems to be a pattern for me; I was traveling on the day of the Newtown, CT school shooting, and other incidents that I don't have time to dig out of the archives. Very early, before 5 a.m. Eastern (when I left the house,) I saw tweets about a firebombing of a house near Nablus in which a very young child, Ali Dawabsheh (one and one-half) was murdered. While the perpetrators have not been captured as of this writing, the Israeli government and IDF are calling it an act of "Jewish terrorism." The word "revenge" was spray painted on the wall in Hebrew. Ali's father Saad and mother Riham, and 4-year-old brother Ahmad, are in the hospital in very serious condition with life-threatening burns. The attack was condemned by all facets of Israeli society including the Prime Minister and political leaders, as well as Jewish organizations around the world. There is a lot of soul searching going on.

Posted by Amy Miller on July 29, 2015 11 Comments
Today the Afghan government announced that it is investigating new reports of the death of Taliban leader Mullah Omar. Intelligence sources, as well as the Afghan government, previously reported that Omar had probably died "two or three" years ago, but are working alongside other officials in the region to confirm the new reports. More from the BBC:
A spokesman for Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said on Wednesday that the authorities were trying to verify the reports. "As soon as we get any more authentication... we're going to let the media and the people of Afghanistan know about that," Sayed Zafar Hashemi said. The Afghan government, elected last year, has embarked on a peace process with the Taliban.

Posted by Mirabelle Ward on July 25, 2015 12 Comments
The day after Secretary of State Kerry finished negotiating his disastrous nuclear agreement with Iran, President Obama asserted that, “ninety-nine percent of the world community” supports it. Like so many of the President’s statements on this topic, this one is both false and irrelevant. Our culturally closest friend, Canada, has already stated that it intends to keep its own sanctions on Iran in place. India’s defense establishment, meanwhile, is concerned and preparing for a Middle East arms race. Saudi Arabia may be the only Arab state that has openly opposed it, however, the other Persian Gulf nations have also indicated their disapproval. In Israel, opposition comes not only from Prime Minister Netanyahu, as Obama would have us believe, but from across the political spectrum.
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