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Generational Dynamics Web Log for 19-Nov-2014
19-Nov-14 World View -- Jerusalem synagogue attack raises Arab-Israeli violence to new levels

Web Log - November, 2014

19-Nov-14 World View -- Jerusalem synagogue attack raises Arab-Israeli violence to new levels

Obama could order combat troops into Iraq and Syria

This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com

Jerusalem synagogue attack raises Arab-Israeli violence to new levels
Spain's parliament calls for recognition of State of Palestine
Obama could order combat troops into Iraq and Syria
NATO and OSCE see Russian military buildup on both sides of Ukraine's border

Jerusalem synagogue attack raises Arab-Israeli violence to new levels

Israeli security forces run in front of the synagogue that was attacked on Tuesday

Israeli security forces run in front of the synagogue that was attacked on Tuesday

The spiral of violence that began last Spring with the kidnapping of three Israeli teenagers who were later found dead took a new leap upward on Tuesday when two Palestinians wielding a gun and butcher knives attacked a Jerusalem synagogue during morning prayers, killing four rabbis and a policeman. Three of the rabbis were American, and the fourth was British.

The extremely brutal attacks have drawn comments from both sides that are likely to enrage the other side further.

Palestinian Authority (PA) president Mahmoud Abbas, also known as Abu Mazen, condemned the attack, but blamed Israel for inciting it:

"It is time to end this occupation, to end all causes of violence and tension; we are committed to the two-state solution, and implementing all related international legitimacy resolutions."

Recently, Abbas called for an end to the "contamination" of the Jerusalem holy sites by Jews.

Israel's prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu blamed Abbas and he blamed the international community as well:

"This is a direct result of incitement led by Hamas and Abu Mazen, incitement that the international community has been irresponsibly ignoring.
We will respond with a heavy hand to the brutal murder of Jews who came to pray and were killed by lowly murderers."

Netanyahu said that the homes of the perpetrators would be demolished, an act that Palestinians say punishes innocent people living in the same homes.

The attack follows a death by hanging earlier this week in east Jerusalem of Yusuf Hassan al-Ramouni, a Palestinian bus driver. The death was apparently a suicide, but Palestinians are claiming, without confirmation, that he was killed by Israeli settlers. However, an autopsy performed jointly by Israeli and Palestinian coroners found no evidence of foul play.

A Hamas spokesman call for more attacks on Israelis:

"Jerusalem attack is a reaction to the execution of the martyr al-Ramouni and the ongoing Israeli crimes at al-Aqsa. Hamas calls for the continuation of acts of revenge."

There are increasing fears of a so-called "third intifida," a general violent uprising of Palestinians against Israelis. International Middle East Media Center (Gaza) and International Business Times and Latin American Herald Tribune

Spain's parliament calls for recognition of State of Palestine

On the same day as the synagogue attack in Jerusalem, Spain's parliament passed a resolution calling on the government to recognize the State of Palestine:

"The Spanish parliament urges the government to encourage the recognition of Palestine as a state... This recognition should be the consequence of a process negotiated between the parties that guarantees peace and security for both."

This was actually a version that was watered down at the last moment, possibly because of the Jerusalem attack.

European Union leaders have been expressing frustration about Israel's continuing settlement-building program in the West Bank. Palestinians claim that the settlements are being built on Palestinian land, making the two-state solution impossible. Israelis claim that the new settlements are being built only on land that would be part of Israel in a two-state solution. Reuters

Obama could order combat troops into Iraq and Syria

President Obama has repeatedly said that he would not permit American combat troops into Iraq or Syria to fight the Islamic State / of Iraq and Syria (IS or ISIS or ISIL), but on Sunday he said:

"If we discovered that [ISIS] had gotten possession of a nuclear weapon, and we had to run an operation to get it out of their hands, then, yes. I would order it."

This is reminiscent of Obama's "red line" promise to attack the regime of Syria's president Bashar al-Assad if it used chemical weapons. Obama immediately backed down when al-Assad attacked his own people with Sarin gas. Al-Assad is still using chemical weapons -- barrel bombs packed with explosives, metals, and chlorine gas, which he's using against innocent civilians with impunity. So it seems unlikely that anyone will take this new red line very seriously.

On Tuesday, the al-Assad regime dropped multiple barrel bombs on a civilian neighborhood in Aleppo, killing at least 14 people, including mothers and children. ABC News and AP

NATO and OSCE see Russian military buildup on both sides of Ukraine's border

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg says that information from NATO and OSCE (Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe) and other sources indicates that Russia is in the midst of "serious military buildup" on both sides of the Ukraine border. According to Stoltenberg:

"[We see] a military buildup...inside Ukraine, but we also see a military buildup on the Russian side of the border.
And we speak about troops, we speak about equipment, and we speak also about artillery and very modern air-defense systems so this is a serious military build-up. ...
We see that Russia is still destabilizing Ukraine, we see the movement of troops, of equipment, of tanks, of artillery and also advanced air defense systems and this is in violation of the cease-fire agreement. And we call on Russia to pull back its forces from eastern Ukraine and to respect the Minsk agreement."

Germany's Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier is practicing "shuttle diplomacy," traveling between Kiev and Moscow to prevent a Russia-Ukraine war. RFERL

(Comments: For reader comments, questions and discussion, see the 19-Nov-14 World View -- Jerusalem synagogue attack raises Arab-Israeli violence to new levels thread of the Generational Dynamics forum. Comments may be posted anonymously.) (19-Nov-2014) Permanent Link
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Generational Dynamics Web Log for 19-Nov-2014 19-Nov-14 World View -- Jerusalem synagogue attack raises Arab-Israeli violence to new levels

Jerusalem synagogue attack raises Arab-Israeli violence to new levels

Spain's parliament calls for recognition of State of Palestine

Obama could order combat troops into Iraq and Syria

NATO and OSCE see Russian military buildup on both sides of Ukraine's border

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Generational Dynamics Web Log for 19-Nov-2014
19-Nov-14 World View -- Jerusalem synagogue attack raises Arab-Israeli violence to new levels