Temple Mount Riots
“The confluence of the Jewish holiday of Passover, the Moslem holiday of Ramadan and the Christian holiday of Easter did little to usher in a period of peace on earth and good-will towards men,” said one pundit.
The pundit continued, “After a series of vicious, murderous terrorist attacks using everything from knives, handguns and automatic weapons, Israel let loose the dogs of war. The apogee of attacks came when a lone gunman opened fire on Israelis sitting outdoors at a popular pub on Deizengoff street in the heart of Tel Aviv.
“In response, the Israeli army, using elite commando units mixed with Border Patrol special forces raided West Bank Palestinian village after village, most surrounding the city of Jenin and the crowded refugee camp.” According to the Ha’aretz newspaper, Jenin has “become a hub of terror…”
Israeli media reports that firefights between suspected Palestinian terrorists and IDF (Israel Defense Force) soldiers were frequent. Israel’s raids on the West Bank took place both in typical middle-of-the night actions and in daring daytime arrests. Police apprehended scores of suspected terrorists and captured hundreds of weapons.
Analysts said that Israeli authorities worried that the onset of the Moslem 30-day Ramadan holiday, when religious fervor ran high, would bring about even more attacks, especially on the eve of seven-day Passover holiday when Jewish families gathered to mark the exodus of the Hebrews from Egypt approximately 3,600 years ago.
Observers point out that what did happen were attacks on Israeli police by Moslem youth gathered at the entrance to the Damascus Gate of Jerusalem’s Old City. Police were hit with rocks and flares and iron rods.
According to media reports, on Thursday night, over 1,000 Palestinian youth collected rocks and iron bars and slept on the Temple Mount and even inside the Al-Aksa mosque. on Thursday night, and on Friday morning began throwing stones down on Jews praying at the Western Wall just below the Temple Mount.
The youth reportedly gathered after rumors that a group of ultra-right wing Jews were going to ascend the Temple Mount and carry out animal sacrifices that were specified as part of the Passover holiday back when the Temple Mount housed King Sol Temple and later Herod’s temple thousands of years ago.
Palestinians with stones inside the Al-Aqsa mosque
The Chief Rabbi of the Western Wall said that these Jewish extremists planning animal sacrifices were hardly worth mentioning, and numbered only a few people, “less than a minyan,( 10 men”) he said. Israeli police arrested four of the men who were suspected of planning the animal sacrifice well before they could execute their plans.
As the rocks fell on Israeli worshipers gathered at the Western Wall, Israeli police poured onto the Temple Mount and confronted the Moslem youth. Over 150 Moslems were reportedly injured and nearly 400 arrested. Police Minister Bar Lev said that the government would do whatever necessary to protect Jews.
However tens of thousands of Palestinians dispersed peacefully on Friday afternoon after Moslem prayers on the Temple Mount’s Al-Aqsa compound.
According to David Horowitz, editor of the TimesofIsrael,”…the midday worshippers had genuinely gathered to say their prayers on the second Friday of Ramadan,….The young Palestinians who rioted hours early, by contrast, had come to fight.”
Horowitz also pointed out that those who came to fight were wearing shoes inside the mosque, in violation of Moslem tradition, and were standing near a pile of stones they ultimately used to bombard Jews praying in the courtyard below the Al-Aqsa compound.
Inside the Al-Aqsa mosque. Men with shoes, circled. Stones ready for attacks.
On Shabat (Saturday), 185 Palestinians were reportedly injured on the Temple Mount and 170 arrested for rioting.
Israel came under harsh criticism for the police raid on the Al-Aqsa compound from leaders of countries like UAE, Bahrain, Jordan, Turkey and Morocco. Some analysts consider the gathering of the Palestinian youth a chess move aimed at bringing international condemnation on Israel. Other observers said that outside actors hoped that Israeli police action would result in the abrogation of the Abraham Peace Accords Israel had reached with moderate Arab states.
Also on Sunday morning, over a 2-hour period, ten Israeli buses driving through East Jerusalem towards the Old City were attacked by Palestinian youths hurling stones through the bus windows injuring 7 passengers. Later, Police reportedly had gone onto the Temple Mount to protect Jewish visitors to the area.
Rioting continued on Sunday morning with hundreds of Palestinian youth confronting police. Reportedly, 17 Palestinians were treated for injuries, five were taken to the hospital, and nine were arrested.
Israel’s prime minister Neftali Bennett said that Israeli forces have “free rein” to maintain security.. According to police sources, “Alongside the visits, freedom of worship will continue to be fully preserved for the worshipers on the Temple Mount… The Israel Police will continue to act against lawbreakers and rioters.”
Israeli police came under criticism by Israeli pundits for not exercising restraint and, some said, needlessly bursting into the Al-Aqsa mosque.
On Monday, Bisher al-Khasawneh, the Jordanian prime minister, thought that the Arab League should be convened to deal with Israeli “aggression” He called the Israeli action “provocative,” and a desecration of the Al-Aqsa mosque. He spoke to the Jordanian parliament and said, “I salute every Palestinian…who…hurls stones at all the Zionists who defile Al-Aqsa.”
Analysts point out that the Al-Aqsa mosque has become a symbol of resistance to Israel presence on the Temple Mount. “Anything that happens near the mosque,” said one observer, “is like a dentist poking a raw nerve.”
According to Ynetnews, the Jerusalem riots are the result of a reshuffle of the Hamas terrorist organizations hierarchy in Jerusalem. Hamas reportedly is careful not to directly attack Israel since the Israeli authorities have increased the number of Palestinians allowed to cross from Gaza to work in Israel. Israel has also not enforced a closure of the Gaza/Israel border during the Ramadan holiday. Thus, Hamas is looking for other ways to attack Israel.
Palestinians clashing with police on Temple Mount
Analyst Elior Levy said that the police believe that the hundreds of Palestinian youths who have been clashing with Israeli forces are funded by the PA (Palestinian Authority), local contributions and money from Turkey, all who want Hamas to join the fight for Al-Aqsa by firing rockets into Israel.
One Arab Israeli Knesset Member, Ayman Odeh, called on Israeli Arabs serving in the Israeli Police to quit rather than face off against their Arab brothers. Sheikh Mohammad Salameh Hassan, the Moslem cleric who is the spiritual guide to the Arab Israeli Ra’am party called on Ra’am leader Monsour Abbas to quit the present coalition “For the sake of Al-Aqsa.” Ra’am, a made up of Israeli Moslems, is now part of the fragile Israeli government,
Ra’am leader Abbas took a diplomatic approach declaring he was “freezing” his participation in the government for two weeks. One Arab critic chided Abbas, saying the move was “like dieting during Ramadan.” (a holiday where the Moslem faithful fast from sunrise until sunset for thirty-days).
The rioting abated and peace held through Monday when Jews gathered at the Western Wall, beneath the Al-Aqsa compound, for the Priestly Blessings that usually gathered huge crowds. No stones were tossed on those Jews praying. Observers noted that the number of Jews who attended the priestly blessing ceremony was quite small compared to normal times.
On Easter Sunday, Christian services went on as normal, although the Russian Orthodox and Greek Orthodox celebrate Easter on April 24th.
However, Israeli police did enter the Temple Mount to quell rioting young Palestinians. 2 were arrested. 5 Israelis were injured by rocks thrown at a bus heading to the Old City and the Western Wall.
Israeli officials are hopeful that the remaining two weeks of the Moslem Ramadan holiday will end more peaceful than the previous two weeks.
Ukraine
According to the Associated Press Jewish organizations and spiritual leaders around the world worked hard to allow those Jews who remain in the Ukraine to celebrate the Passover holiday. 80% of Ukrainian Jews still reside in Ukraine while many have fled to Israel and Europe as part of the flood of over 5 million Ukrainians fleeing the war-torn country.
The JDC (Joint Distribution Committee) has, according to AP, “evacuated more than 11,600 Jews from Ukraine, shipped more than 2 tons of matzah, over 400 bottles of grape juice and over 700 pounds of kosher for Passover food for refugees in Poland, Moldova, Hungary and Romania. Chen Tzuk, the JDC director of operations in Europe, Asia and Africa said that the JDC’s social service centers and corps of volunteers are distributing nearly 16 tons of matzah to elderly jews and families in need.”
Other Ukrainian refugees celebrated Passover in Israel. Since Russian troops invaded Ukraine on February 24, nearly 24,000 Ukrainians have fled to Israel. In 2016, according to the World Jewish Congress, Ukraine had between 56,000 -140,000 Jews, making it the fourth largest Jewish community in Europe and the eleventh largest in the world. According the the JPR, Institute for JewishPolicy Research as many as 200,000 Ukrainians quality for Israeli citizenship under the Law of Return.
These Ukrainians have been joined by about 10,000 Russian. “Most of those are young graduates, from the urban middle class,” said an unnamed immigration official.
New immigrants greeted at Ben Gurion airport
Anyone with at least one Jewish grandparent is legally entitled to immigrate to Israel.
But not all of those who ostensibly immigrated to Israel plan to say, according to an AFP news agency report. “Here, we feel safe and we can sleep peacefully once more,” said one new immigrant. “My daughter, who is diabetic, is completely take care of.” However, she said, “But right now, we just want to live for the moment and recover from our emotions. Afterwards, we will see.”
Another new immigrant, a violinist who left Moscow for Israel with his wife, a pianist, and three children said, “I don’t know if we’ll stay here. We’ll probably go somewhere else.” ….
Another Russian new immigrant still pines for her birthplace. “I lost my country. It was stolen from me. It was taken by Putin and those KGB thugs.”
Also, research has found that only approximately 16% of those Ukrainians treated at Israeli field hospitals have been wounded in the fighting. The other 84 % are Ukrainians seeking Israeli medical treatment that is reportedly better than that offered in Ukrainian hospitals, and is also free of charge.
Covid
Israel reported 4,704 cases of Covid on Thursday April 14th, with a R ratio of less than 1. And for the first time since January 9, the number of serious cases has dropped below 200, with 196 serious cases and 74 patients on ventilators. 581 were hospitalized and of them 228 exhibited only light symptoms. Israel now has 40,428 active cases and has reported 10,612 deaths since the outbreak of the pandemic.
Around the world 504,807,758 cases were reported globally, with 6,223,267 deaths and 53,836,622 active cases. The USA still leads with 82,316,348 cases, 1,015,451 deaths, and 1,098,583 active cases.
China has seen a new outbreak with cities like Hong Kong and Shanghai showing a spike in cases.
In Israel, anti-vax protestors shouted insults at public health head Dr. Sharon Alroy-Preis as she walked her dog. Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz has called for increased security for health officials.
Light Onto The Nations
The Tel Aviv-Jaffa municipality has installed a special fabric spread over a wide frame that not only gives shade from Israel’s relentless summer sun, but also provides light once the sun has set. The Lumiweave fabric, created by industrial designer Anai Green, won the 2020 international Women4Climate competition. Green’s invention was installed in Tel Aviv’s Atidim industrial park, home to many of Israel’s leading hi-tech firms.
The soft fabric is embedded with solar, organic photovoltaics (PV) cells for off-the-grid light and shade. The system requires no external electrical source and can provide lighting at night for up to three days without sun.
Experimental Lumiweave shade that also provides light at night