Subscribe to TNS Weekly Report by e-mail! Weekly News of Faith in Israel Week ending Shabbat, January 21, 2006 21 Tevet, 5766 Hevron Jews Stand Strong: Violence broke out in Hevron (Hebron) Sunday morning for the second straight day, as the army prepared to evict eleven families from their homes in Jewish-owned land that is connected to the Avraham Avinu (Abraham our father) neighborhood. The same afternoon army and police forces arrived in the neighborhood for the stated purpose of making arrests. More violence erupted as a result. Contrary to a Jerusalem Post report, which stated that the Jews are resisting "the forcible evacuation of Jewish families living in 'Palestinian' homes," the land in question was never used for Arab homes. The truth is Chaim HaMitzri purchased it on behalf of the Jewish community around 1807. Jewish residents had lived there for 250 years before that. The purchase contract referred to the "Street of the Jews." In 1929, however, Arab residents massacred their Jewish neighbors, murdering sixty-seven. Survivors were hurriedly evacuated and the Jewish houses and synagogues were abandoned. An Israeli Supreme Court ruling did not deny that the land was Jewish-owned, but ordered the Jews to be moved out in order that "sinners not go unpunished." This statement was referring to the Jews having moved into the buildings without Israeli Defense Force [IDF] permission. Hevron spokesman Noam Arnon said at the time, "The Supreme Court recently decided that the land should be given to the Arabs, even though it is clearly Jewish land that was robbed from us... The Court simply ignored the fact that this is Jewish land." A mother of ten children and the great-granddaughter of Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak HaCohen Kook, Tzippy Shlissel said, "No one can understand why a simple legal understanding is not reached enabling us to live in our homes." Other residents said, "This is not Gush Katif, and we have no intention of hugging and kissing the forces who come to throw us out of our homes." Monday morning hundreds of IDF soldiers and special policemen entered the Jewish Quarter of Hevron (Hebron) and took over rooftops, as well as the Betar building. David Wilder, spokesman for the Hevron Jewish Community (pictured right) said, "They've come simply to provoke us, to scare us and to show their strength. They have come with a tremendous show of force - soldiers, police, Yassam, Border Guard, and horses - and they're just standing and watching. I don't think there's been one arrest. They're simply waiting for someone to attack them. They went into the Betar building, right in the middle of the Avraham Avinu neighborhood," Wilder said, "and declared the people standing on the roof as an illegal assembly - even though I never heard of such a thing on private property... They're also blocking off the ancient Avraham Avinu synagogue and not letting people into that area." Noam Arnon, another spokesperson said, "We convened the youth this morning, and informed them that the stage [of violence] of the past two days has ended. The police, however, ignore this, and came here today to stage a provocation." Security sources said acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert approved the deployment of army and police commandos to expel and dismantle the "unauthorized" Jewish neighborhood. The commandos will be employed to overcome what is expected to be fierce Jewish resistance. "The decision reflected the priority of the government over the next two weeks," a security source said. "The government has based its credibility on the destruction of this 'illegal' outpost." Tuesday morning Police and IDF soldiers set up roadblocks and checkpoints in an effort to remove protestors who have gathered there to prevent the destruction of Hevron's Shalhevet neighborhood. According to the military order enacted Monday night, non-residents will have to request special permission from the army to enter Hevron until January 22. Yesha Council chairman Bentzy Lieberman verbally attacked the young protestors who have converged on Hevron, telling Army Radio [Tuesday morning] that residents of Hevron must "vomit out the youths, who are undermining and ruining the chances of the people of Israel hearing the very justified arguments for Jewish presence in the Shalhevet neighborhood." The Yesha Council is made up of the mayors of various municipalities in Judea and Samaria, in addition to functionaries chosen by members. Although it was formed in order to provide logistical support for Jewish residence of Judea, Samaria, and Gaza, it led the struggle against the Disengagement plan, and declared the acceptable ways to struggle for their biblical birthright to the land. Wednesday tension ran high as the threat of eviction remained. One of the eleven families slated for eviction, the Shlissels, turned to the Beit Shemesh Magistrates Court, demanded and received a temporary stay. The Shlissels maintained that a family that is about to be evicted from their home deserves a legal hearing and that this had not been done. Rabbi Yisrael Shlissel said, "The famous Supreme Court case that everyone is talking about did not rule that we must be thrown out. Rather, Arabs turned to the Court against us, and the Court asked the State what its position was, and the State said it would throw us out. This was not a Court decision, but rather a State decision - specifically by Menachem Mazuz." By Thursday morning the barriers around the residents' homes were removed. It was also noticeable that the massive security presence of the previous few days had dropped gradually. Then, Mrs. Tzippy Shlissel (pictured left and identified above) was brutally arrested. Rabbi Menashe Naki of Ramat Beit Shemesh said, "I saw Tzippy Slissel standing in the Avraham Avinu neighborhood, praying, and when she finished, she saw my guest from Malta, and began coming over to see him. Suddenly, four policemen jumped on her, threw her to the ground, grabbed her hands and legs and beat her as she lay on the ground." Rabbi Naki failed to note that she was carrying her less than one-year-old baby at the time. Both of them were placed inside the narrow police van with four policemen, "totally doubled over, on the knees of one of the policemen sitting inside. She did not resist arrest at all, not physically and not verbally. Slamming the door, which closed on her foot, the jeep sped away." For pictures and a video of part of the arrest, see Hebron.com. Meanwhile, Acting Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert (pictured right) declared war on the illegal settlers in the Hebron wholesale market area and ordered the Israeli army to demolish the nine homes in what they keep referring to as the "illegal" outpost of Amona. Editor's note: Not in my bible! It looks as though nearly 4,000 security and military forces will be assembled to carry out the evacuation. The Israeli Secret Service "Shin Bet" has said that the settlers of Amona have been particularly hostile and have taken a militant line toward the soldiers. "They see Amona as the place where they'll defeat Israel," Chief of Staff Dan Halutz said. "There are increasing voices calling for establishing the state of Judea and eliminating the State of Israel." Editor's note: I have wondered for some time what it will take for the "Maccabees" to arise! Hamas Terrorist Killed in Tul Karem: Tuesday morning Israeli Defense Force soldiers moved in to make the arrest of Hamas terrorist Thabet Salah a-Din, a resident of Tul Karem. When Salah a-Din was called out of the building in which he was hiding, he ran out, firing both an AK-47 and an Uzi at troops. One soldier was wounded before Salah a-Din was shot and killed. IDF forces found an explosives laboratory and manufacturing workshop in the building. A-Din had been trained in Shechem in the production of suicide bombing vests and large explosive devices. According to the IDF, he was responsible for the planning of suicide bombing attacks from 2003-2004, which were foiled by security forces, including an attempt by Hamas in Ram-allah and Shechem to dispatch a suicide bomber to cross into Israel's pre-1967 borders [November 2003] and another attempt to carry out a double suicide attack in Rosh Ha'ayin [June 2004]. Army intelligence identified that a-Din was sent by Hamas back to Tul Karem with the intent to strengthen the Hamas infrastructure in the city, which is located close to Israel's coastal population centers. The army said the weapons shop had been around for months. Four additional wanted Hamas terrorists were arrested in Tul Karem during the night and fourteen wanted terrorists were apprehended elsewhere throughout Judea and Samaria. Tel Aviv Suicide Bombing: Hours after a suicide terror attack in Tel Aviv Thursday, Israeli Defense Minister Sha'ul Mofaz said it was a "direct result of the terror axis between Iran and Syria. Iran supplied the money, and Islamic Jihad headquarters in Damascus sent operative instructions to the organization's terrorists in Shechem." Thankfully, only the attacker was killed and only one person was wounded seriously. Mofaz identified that Israel's security establishment has proof of the Syrian-Iranian connection with this attack. He noted that President Ahmadinejad of Iran was meeting in Damascus with Syrian leader Assad at precisely the same time the blast occurred. The two immediately issued a statement in support of "Palestinian" terrorism. Islamic Jihad's "Jerusalem Brigade" claimed responsibility for the explosion, which was carried out by a terrorist from Shechem. Apparently this was the first attack to have been initiated from Shechem in about a year, directly a result of intense army and police pressure on the terrorist apparatus in Shechem and the surrounding Arab communities in Samaria. Itzik Sharon, 36, owner of the shawarma stand blown up by the bomber said, "This is a miracle, its proof that there is a creator of the universe." Security authorities believe that not all of the explosives detonated in the attack. Editor's note: The photo on the bottom right is the young man from Shechem who blew himself up. What a horrible waste. Irrepressible Truth: The Moslem Wakf has been constructing an illegal underground Mosque since 1999 on the southern portion of the Temple Mount. While performing this illegal construction they have been using heavy tractors to excavate the dirt. The intention behind the Wakf's actions has been to "create facts" on the ground that render the Mount a "Moslem only" site, and to destroy all archeological evidence of both the first and second Holy Temples, which once stood on the Mount. This is consistent with the policy of the "Palestinian" Authority, denying that the Holy Temple(s) ever existed. Many people have protested this intimidating assault on this, the holiest of sites for Jews, the Israeli government has consistently "turned a blind eye." Archaeologist Zachi Zweig, however, refused to just stand by and watch it happen. Along with Dr. Gabriel Barkay, Zachi arranged and oversaw the transfer of the debris from the Kidron Valley, where it had been illegally dumped, to another location. There a crew of volunteers has been painfully sifting through the dirt and rubble looking for anything connecting to the past. The Wakf's attempts to destroy any remaining physical evidence of the Holy Temple have actually enabled Zachi and Dr. Barkay to uncover priceless links to the past. Of course, the Wakf's destructive actions have severely impaired the archeologist’s ability to properly analyze the discoveries resulting from them being removed from their original location. Of course, archeologists are not able to study remnants that were pulverized into dust by the bulldozers. Despite these conditions, significant discoveries have been made from both Temple eras. Bronze coins dating from the Great Revolt against Rome in 70 A.C.E. have been uncovered. Other discoveries have followed, including three remarkable remnants now posted on the Temple Institute web site. Please Sign the Petition: The Unity Coalition for Israel has written a petition and is asking you to "JUST SAY NO to a Palestinian Terrorist State." I you agree then please sign the petition. Tzemach News Service [TNS] is a ministry of: Tzemach Institute for Biblical Studies This week's sources: Arutz Sheva, Israel Today, The Lekarev Report, The Temple Institute, Unity Coalition for Israel.