Saturday Updates: A Brawl Between Muslims and Druze; Hypocrisy At the U.S. State Department

UPDATES 6 pm Israel time, Saturday, November 15 2014:

—>There was a significant outbreak of violence at a high school in the Western Galilee yesterday in the Israeli-Arab city of Abu Sinan.

The city and the high school has a mixed population of Muslims (about 60%) and Druze (about 40%).

What happened at the high school was that a large group of Muslim students came to school wearing keffiyehs and waving PLO flags.  It was too much for the Druze, many of whose fathers serve in the IDF, to take, and a fierce brawl ensued.

45 students, mostly Muslims, were injured–9 seriously when a Druze student apparently threw a grenade into an advancing group of Muslims.

As of this morning, quiet has returned to the city, but high schools throughout the region have been temporarily closed.

While not commenting on the grenade, your humble servant would like to applaud the Druze students for standing up for Israel!

—>The Mamilla Mall, which is just across the street from the Old City in Jerusalem, was the scene of a terrorist attack last night as two terrorists assaulted a security guard with a broken bottle. The terrorists escaped, and the security guard is in “fair” condition this evening at the hospital in Ein Kerem.

TODAY’S BLOG:

As you know dear reader, the Egyptian government has demolished hundreds of homes along the Egyptian-Gaza border in an attempt to stem the flow of terrorism coming out of Gaza. At the same time, Israel has announced that it is demolishing the homes of three terrorists who have killed Israelis in and around Jerusalem during the last month.

Yesterday, John Kerry’s spokesman Jen Psaki was asked about the demolitions. Here was the exchange in Washington with a reporter:

———-

QUESTION: Meanwhile – hold on. I just – because I want to ask now about Egypt and home demolitions, because yesterday or earlier this week, there were – the Egyptian Government demolished several hundred homes in the Sinai. Do you take the same view of those home demolitions as you do of the Israeli demolitions?

MS. PSAKI: Well, every – as we often – as I often like to say, every situation is different, Matt. And as you know, there have been some serious security challenges in the Sinai. We respect Egypt’s concern about their security in the area and support its right to self-defense. We also expect that they will ensure the rights of those being displaced are respected and that they are adequately compensated. That continues to be what we have conveyed to the Egyptians.

QUESTION: So you don’t regard that as being counterproductive to the cause of peace or fighting extremism, these home demolitions?

MS. PSAKI: Well, it’s an entirely different scenario, Matt.

QUESTION: All right. But you would not argue that – I mean, you say that there are serious security problems in the Sinai for the Egyptians. Are there not also serious security concerns and security problems for the Israelis?

MS. PSAKI: Well, they’re not – Egypt is not predetermining what borders would be by taking these steps. It’s a different scenario.

QUESTION: Oh, I understand it’s a different scenario, but it’s the same tactic, as it were, to fight what is believed to be by a government to be terrorism or extremism.

MS. PSAKI: With entirely different context.

QUESTION: Yeah, but it’s not okay for the Israelis to demolish homes, but it’s okay for the Egyptians to demolish homes?

MS. PSAKI: We believe it’s counterproductive to their stated goals. In Egypt, we understand their concerns about their security. We’ve seen recent threats to that in the Sinai, as you all have reported on. I think I’m going to leave it at that. They’re different scenarios.
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———-

The double standard here is breathtaking.  In the view of John Kerry and Barack Obama, it is perfectly acceptable for the Egyptians to fight terrorism by demolishing hundreds of homes of non-terrorists, but it unacceptable for Israelis to fight terrorism by demolishing three homes of terrorists. 

Can you believe this?

But wait Psaki wasn’t finished. Here’s what she had to say about the Israel’s plan to return to the situation before 2001 and install metal detectors that all Muslims who are entering the Temple Mount will have to pass through (Jews and Christians already have to pass through metal detectors).

The exchange with a reporter:

———-

QUESTION: Sorry, Jen. Very quickly – you always talked about maintaining the status quo ante, things as they were, but the Israelis are introducing metal detectors that each worshiper has to go through. Do you have any comment on that? Was that something that was discussed?

MS. PSAKI: Well, as we stressed, it’s obviously absolutely critical in our view that all sides uphold the status quo regarding the administration of the Haram al-Sharif/Temple Mount and take affirmative steps to prevent provocations and incitement. We appreciate the prime minister’s commitment to uphold the status quo. We’ll see what happens. I know that step was referenced and reported, but obviously it hasn’t happened at this point in time, Said.

QUESTION: Okay. So you would discourage them from doing so?

MS. PSAKI: I think – obviously, the status quo does not include that.

———-

Can you believe this? In the name of the status quo, Israel is not supposed to apply the same security checks on Muslims that Jews and Christians already have to go through?

It is simply amazing.

We will close this blog today with a cartoon that appeared yesterday that perfectly expresses the absurd situation concerning the status quo: