11 Av 5779
12 August 2019
The News On The Israeli Street
On the Gaza border . . .
*Another armed Palestinian terrorist attempting to infiltrate the security fence was stopped overnight.
*The scourge of fires continues with at least 4 occurring yesterday as a result of explosive balloons sent from Gaza by Palestinian terrorists. The places hit were: the Sha’ar Hanegev area, the Eshkol region, and the Negev; the photo below was taken near Yakhini:
The “balloon” exploded near the road.
The Temple Mount . . .
So what in the world just happened on the Temple Mount?
Yesterday, your humble servant wrote this just after the Israeli police announced that no Jews would be allowed on the Temple Mount for Tisha B’Av:
“What is the sickening message from the Temple Mount this morning? Simple. According to the Netanyahu government, Israel has no longer has sovereignty over our holiest place. It is no longer Jewish; it belongs first and foremost to the Muslims. What a perversion on Tisha B’Av.”
As it turned out, your humble servant was not the only one harshly castigating our government for its kowtowing to the Muslims; numerous politicians on the “Right” led by Bezalel Smotrich were saying the same thing.
Apparently, PM Netanyahu was listening and did not want to be outflanked on the “Right” on this issue with the election looming 5 weeks now–and especially since Netanyahu is currently engaged in a campaign to try to poach votes from the United Right Party.
So, about an hour after the announcement that the Mount would be closed to Jews came the news that the Police had decided to let Jews on the Mount after all. And so they did for 5 minutes.
But then they closed it again, only to open it again around lunch time for another hour and a half or so.
During this entire time of opening and closing, riots took place on the Mount with Muslims attacking Police and the Jews who made it up to the top.
At the end of the day, we still didn’t know exactly what took place.
Minister of Internal Security Gilad Erdan blathered: “I would like to thank Jerusalem District Commander Doron, a friend who managed the events on the Temple Mount responsibly and courageously and implemented the policy we decided last week: to allow every Jew and every visitor to ascend to the Temple Mount . . .”
Say what? Do you believe that the closure, and the opening, and the closure, and the opening were all planned in advance?
Adding to the confusion, a spokesman for the police claimed on Israeli television last night that “200 Jews” had gone to the Mount yesterday; however, by this morning, the police said that the actual number was 1,729, an increase by more than 300 over last year. The police went on to say that this was remarkable given the fact that the Mount was open to Jews for 4.5 hours last year and only 2 hours this year.
So what are we to make of all of this?
Your humble servant believes that we have a number of people to thank for Jews on the Mount yesterday starting with the Women in Green who put the issue of sovereignty at the head of the agenda each Tisha B’Av, continuing with spokesmen from the United Right such as Smotrich who will not be silent in the face of government kowtowing, and finishing with bloggers on the ground who are able to increase public pressure on officials via social media.
TODAY’S BLOG:
Sovereignty:
Our Trip To Eastern Jerusalem with Ateret Cohanim
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Part 3
In the end, it is all about sovereignty.
Everything that your humble servant has done in the last week has been all about establishing Israeli sovereignty in Area C of Judea and Samaria, on the Temple Mount, and over the entire city of Jerusalem.
When we took our trip with Ateret Cohanim five days ago, what we saw were the remarkable efforts of that organization to reestablish Jewish neighborhoods in places where Jews were thrown out decades and even centuries ago. And to establish new neighborhoods to solidify the Jewish presence in eastern Jerusalem.
When I last left you in Part 2, we had just finished visiting Ma’ale HaZeitim. From there we went to Kidmat Zion where the first houses have been built which hopefully one day will be transformed into a full blown neighborhood.
Always be aware of red warning signs when traveling in Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria.
As you can see, our route took us past a warning sign of where we were going because we were essentially on a partially undeveloped road that runs parallel to the security fence that separates Jerusalem from Abu Dis.
The road is now being developed, complete with a roundabout, because of Ateret Cohanim’s buildings further down the road.
After a short drive, we arrived at Beit Sara, a heavily guarded outpost on the edge of Jerusalem.
As you can see, Beit Sara is up on a hill.
Why is the outpost named Beit Sara?
The plaque at the top of the stairs.
Sara Blaustein, a 53-year-old resident of Efrat, was murdered by Palestinian terrorists in a drive-by shooting on May 29, 2001 while she was on the way to Jerusalem. The plaque reads that Jerusalem is “the city she loved and the city she worked tirelessly to rebuild & reclaim for the Jewish people.”
Who lives in Beit Sara?
A wonderful family with children who shall remain nameless. While we were there, the wonderful mother of the family served us lemonade and sweets.
So why is this area called Kidmat Zion?
Because it is the goal of Ateret Cohanim to develop the land that extends from Beit Sara all the way down the hill into the valley into a new (and the largest) Jewish neighborhood in eastern Jerusalem.
Where exactly is Beit Sara?
Again it is just across the security fence from Abu Dis. Here is a photo looking back toward Jerusalem. Note what is directly under the straight line (its gold dome barely visible):
Once again, as I noted when writing about Abu Tor and other places in Judea and Samaria, the absolute courage of the people living in these areas is astonishing.
Tomorrow, we will conclude our visit with Ateret Cohanim with our trip to a Jewish compound and several residences in the “old Jewish quarter” of the Old City. You may be surprised to find out where that is.
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.