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Generational Dynamics Web Log for 10-Nov-2014
10-Nov-14 World View -- Israel raises alert level as protests surge

Web Log - November, 2014

10-Nov-14 World View -- Israel raises alert level as protests surge

Jerusalem becomes epicenter of new protests

This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com

Video of Israeli police shooting sparks outrage and protests
Israel raises national alert level, as protests continue in Jerusalem

Video of Israeli police shooting sparks outrage and protests

Israeli-Arab protesters clash with police in northern Israel on Sunday (AP)

Israeli-Arab protesters clash with police in northern Israel on Sunday (AP)

On Friday evening, an Israeli policeman shot and killed Kheir Hamdan, 22, an Arab-Israeli citizen living in the northern Israeli town of Kfar Kana. Police said that they shot Hamdan after he brandished a knife and slammed his fist on the windows of a police van, after a relative was arrested for using a stun grenade. Police said they feared they were in danger.

Palestinian witnesses to the event say that the police unit shot Hamdan dead, for no reason whatsoever, and that Hamdan neither held any knife, nor tried to attack the policemen.

Subsequent to the shooting, a surveillance video emerged that appeared to contradict the police story. Hamdan is seen banging with an object on the window of the police van containing Arab detainees. When a police officer tries to open the back door of the van to confront him, Hamdan lunges at him with the object, forcing the officer back inside. Hamdan begins to walk away, officers emerge from the van and one shoots him as he retreats.

At least 20 Arab-Israelis were arrested during riots in Kfar Kana on Saturday, during protests against the killing. Riots were also taking place in other Arab-Israeli cities.

Israel's prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu took a hard line:

"We will take determined action against those who throw stones, firebombs and fireworks, and block roads, and against demonstrations that call for our destruction. We are not prepared to tolerate more demonstrations in the heart of our cities in which Hamas or ISIS flags are waved and calls are made to redeem Palestine with blood and fire, calling in effect for the destruction of the State of Israel.
“I have instructed the interior minister to use all means, including evaluating the possibility of revoking the citizenship of those who call for the destruction of the State of Israel."

Rioting continued on Sunday in Kafr Kana in northern Israel. Hundreds of extra police officers have been deployed to the district.

Israeli-Arab officials declared a nationwide strike on Sunday to protest the killing. Hundreds of students at Tel Aviv University and Haifa University staged demonstrations, with some changing "Israel is a terrorist state." Jewish Telegraphic Agency and International Middle East Media Center (Gaza) and Jerusalem Post

Israel raises national alert level, as protests continue in Jerusalem

As one studies world history, one remarkable fact becomes apparent: Almost every major "world war" affecting the West since Old Testament times has centered on or been heavily involved with Jerusalem as an epicenter. Jerusalem is a holy city to the four major religions of the West and Mideast: Judaism, Islam, Catholic/Protestant Christianity, and Eastern Orthodox Christianity.

As I've been reporting, there has been a clear trend line of increasing violence in and around Jerusalem, ever since the bodies of three Israeli teenage settlers were found weeks after they were abducted on June 10 by terrorists that Israelis believe were commissioned by Hamas. This was followed by a spiral of violence, as well as the Gaza war. Tensions and violence continue to increase almost every day, and violence between Jews and Arabs is the worst it's been in over a decade.

Tensions escalated sharply in Jerusalem last week, with increased violence between Palestinians and Israeli security police around the Temple Mount, the holiest site in the Jewish religion, which is part of the Al Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem, the third holiest site in Islam (after Mecca and Medina). When Israel temporarily shut down access to the Al Aqsa mosque compound for two days last week, Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas called it "tantamount to a declaration of war."

Israeli police raised alert levels nationwide on Sunday, as angry clashes and demonstrations took place across Israel.

Jordan's Prime Minister Abdullah Nsur said the ongoing tension over Jerusalem’s flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque / Temple Mount compound was inflicting a "stab wound" on the peace treaty between Jordan and Israel. Jordan recalled its ambassador to Israel last week.

There's a growing trend illustrated by the fact that almost every day there are new stories about international condemnation of Israel for the "occupation" of the West Bank and the Gaza war. Some of these condemnations are a revival of popular World War II anti-Semitism of the kind that led to the Holocaust. Others are genuine expressions of concern for the Palestinians. But either way, it seems that hostility to Israel grows every day, and Jerusalem may again be the epicenter of the next world war. Daily Star (Beirut) and Al Bawaba / Ma'an

(Comments: For reader comments, questions and discussion, see the 10-Nov-14 World View -- Israel raises alert level as protests surge thread of the Generational Dynamics forum. Comments may be posted anonymously.) (10-Nov-2014) Permanent Link
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Generational Dynamics Web Log for 10-Nov-2014 10-Nov-14 World View -- Israel raises alert level as protests surge

Video of Israeli police shooting sparks outrage and protests

Israel raises national alert level, as protests continue in Jerusalem

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Generational Dynamics Web Log for 10-Nov-2014
10-Nov-14 World View -- Israel raises alert level as protests surge