UPDATES 9 am Israel time, Monday, July 7 2014:
**So much for the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas that was reported on israelstreet yesterday as being on the verge of taking place. Apparently that agreement fell apart at the last minute over Hamas demands to release the Gilad Shalit prisoners who have been rearrested in the last two weeks and the ending of the Israeli naval blockade of Gaza.
There have been 9 missile and mortar attacks on southern Israel since your humble servant wrote yesterday’s blog–many involving volleys of numerous missiles and mortars. More than 30 have exploded in Israel in the last 24 hours, mostly in the Eshkol and northern Negev regions. Again, there are reports of shrapnel wounds and emotional trauma.
Finally, however, the IDF has acted. Nine terrorists were killed in Israeli strikes last night–7 were members of Hamas’ military wing (six of them died in a tunnel collapse) and two were members of Islamic Jihad.
**Arab riots related to the murder of Muhammed Khedair continue increasing in intensity with major altercations overnight in Jerusalem, Tamra, Hebron, Ramallah, Nazareth, Tulkarm, Qalqilya, Shechem, Bethlehem, Hawara, and Cana.
Numerous Palestinians, Israeli Arabs, and Israeli security officials have been wounded.
These riots will undoubtedly continue today.
TODAY’S BLOG:
It has been a sickeningly gruesome week of murder news here in Israel.
First, one week ago on June 30th, the nine year old “cold” murder case of Rinat Ruas was finally solved. Back in May of 2005, the 20-year-old Ruas was walking home from work here in Ashdod when she was kidnapped.
Rinat Ruas.
Days later her battered and bruised body was found dumped near a construction site in the city. Not only had she been savagely bludgeoned but also she had been brutally raped.
Last Monday, Bilal Sachar from the Arab village of Bu’eine Nujeidat in northern Israel was arrested for this heinous crime. Now 30 years old, Sachar had been a 21-year-old construction worker in Ashdod back in 2005. He might never have been arrested had it not been for the fact that after being arrested last month for his involvement in a fight, a DNA swab was taken. The DNA gathered matched the DNA found on Rinat Ruas’s body.
Of course, there has been little to no reportage about this gruesome murder in the international or even domestic Israeli media–except as a point of interest about the use of DNA. There has been no reaction in the Arab community whatsoever except to defend Sachar, and no Israeli Jewish demonstrations in the street against Arabs.
Where is the international outcry from governments and politicians about Ruas’ murder?
Second, also last Monday, the decomposing bodies of Eyal Yifrach (19), Gilad Shaar (16), and Naftali Fraenkel (16) were found in a shallow grave north of Hebron.
Eyal Yifrach, Gilad Shaar, and Naftali Fraenkel.
Even though the official forensics report has yet to be published, various sources have reported that the two Hamas murderers gruesomely shot the teenagers in the head, and then laughed and sang songs on their way to the “burial” site.
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In this case, there has been widespread reportage of the kidnappings and murders themselves, but little to no reportage of their hideous nature. To this date, there has been virtually no voice in the Arab community condemning these gruesome murders, but there have been calls on the streets of Jerusalem and elsewhere from Israeli Jews for revenge.
Third came the news three nights ago of the horrid murder of Arab teenager Muhammed Khedair and the accompanying appalling news last night news that six Jewish young men have been arrested in connection with it. According to a leaked forensics report (yet to be officially published) Khedair was still alive when his body was set on fire.
Mohammed Abu Khedeir.
The reaction of everyday Jewish Israelis to Khedeir’s gruesome murder has been one of universal disgust. Every Israeli leader has condemned the murder and called for full prosecution under the law. As for the Arab reaction, as noted in today’s updates, there has been massive rioting in the streets.
International governments and politicans have rushed to the microphone to demand justice for Khedeir and to condemn Israel.
Fourth came the news yesterday that Shelly Dadon‘s murder has been solved. In case you never heard about her death (and why would you since it was barely reported in any media), the 19-year-old Dadon left her home in Afula for a job interview in Migdal Ha’emek on May 1–a little over two months ago.
She never made it. The next day her body was found in a parking lot in the Ramat Gavriel industrial park. She had been barbarically and brutally stabbed 17 times.
Shelly Dadon.
It was announced last night that Dadon’s taxi driver, 34-year-old Hussein Yousef Khalifa had been arrested and had confessed to the butchery. According to Khalifa, he killed her because she was a Jew.
There has been little to no reportage of Dadon’s gruesome murder in the international media, no Arab condemnation of the Arab murderer, and no Israeli Jewish demonstrations in the street.
Where is the international outcry from governments and politicians about Dadon’s murder?
In sum, what is there left to say? We can be mortified, and we can condemn, but the fact is that Ruas, Yifrach, Shaar, Fraenkel, Khedair, and Dadon were all young people who were gruesomely murdered just as their lives were beginning.
Their murders are tragedies for all of Israel.
A student from Malawi, who had worked with an Israeli health volunteer in his country battling AIDS, came up to us as we walked down the street in the UC-Davis Picnic Day Parade and wanted to carry the Israeli flag.