Outgoing Mayor Bhalla issued an official statement later in the day, clarifying that the initiative was undertaken at the request of residents of Palestinian descent and that it reflects a longstanding tradition in the city. "I want to be clear that the act of raising this flag is not, in any way, shape or form, intended as a political statement by the City of Hoboken," he wrote. "Celebrating diversity is a part of Hoboken's character." Bhalla emphasized that no one at city hall noticed the sensitive date on which the event was scheduled and that the flag was removed immediately after the matter was brought to his attention. "I want to state unequivocally that this association was not known when the scheduling was approved."

According to reports, the flag was raised in the morning hours and removed later in the day after the city hall received concerned inquiries from residents and community activists. Jabbour, who was elected mayor and will assume office next year, wrote on social media that the decision was made without public discourse. "An official flag raising outside City Hall should be a message of welcome and celebration," she wrote. "However, today we see the consequences of decisions made without broad community dialogue and without any involvement from my council colleagues."

#Hoboken pic.twitter.com/lyj20zUxIH

— Tiffanie Fisher, Councilwoman (@Tiffanie_Fisher) December 9, 2025

She further emphasized that the fact that the flag was raised on the day marking the outbreak of the First Intifada is "insensitive" and pledged to reexamine the city's flag-raising policy in the future.

Jewish City Council member Phil Cohen also addressed the incident. He emphasized that "neither I nor any of my council colleagues were updated about the decision" and noted that "December 9 is the anniversary of the First Intifada, something that would have been revealed had there been more transparency or dialogue with community leaders." According to him, "Had they asked me, I would have urged the mayor not to raise the flag today, especially when the Israeli flag was not raised at city hall this year." Cohen added that he spoke with Mayor-elect Jabbour, and they both agreed there is a need "to rethink flag-raising ceremonies and cultural events, in a transparent and unifying manner for all parts of the community."

Roy Feuerstein, a Hoboken resident, described a large, cohesive, and growing Israeli and Jewish community in the city. According to him, "There is currently an estimate of approximately 400 Israeli families" and he describes entire areas in the city where dozens of families are concentrated. "We live in an area called 'the kibbutz,' we're talking about roughly fifty Israeli families." Feuerstein emphasized that there is extensive community activity such as children's groups, Independence Day events with participation of more than a thousand people, and a close connection that has strengthened since October 7 between Israelis and the local Jewish community. "A kind of connection was created, there is a joint WhatsApp group of Jews and Israelis, and the community is very mobilized."

Regarding the flag incident, Feuerstein recounted that "someone posted a picture that suddenly a Palestinian flag was placed at the City Hall building" without advance notice, which sparked "a flood in all the Israeli groups." He describes a massive outreach from residents to city hall, and after a few hours "suddenly someone announced that the flag came down."

Feuerstein described the community's response as unequivocal. "There was relief because we managed within two to three hours to reverse such a thing." According to him, the incident reflects not local hatred toward Israelis but politics. "This is purely about a mayor thinking about his political career... he finishes this month and moves to be in the county representative in New Jersey, and is trying to court the Arab vote." Roi emphasizes that despite the event, Hoboken is still "a place where the Israeli community is very established, the environment is very supportive" and that it is "a very nice place to live."

Nevertheless, this move continues a series of controversies surrounding flags in the city. In November 2024, a ceremony of raising the PLO flag sparked public debate, and an Israeli flag raised at city hall about two months after October 7 was stolen three times, according to reports in local media.

Ahead of the change of administration at city hall, Jabbour promises to formulate a transparent and clear policy that will prevent recurrence of such incidents and allow Hoboken residents to celebrate their heritage without harming other communities.

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In a precedent-setting decision, the Jerusalem District Court has ordered the Palestinian Authority to pay approximately 46 million shekel ($12.3 million) in compensation to three siblings whose family members were killed in the 2001 Sbarro restaurant bombing in Jerusalem. The ruling marks the first implementation of a new Israeli law mandating punitive damages for terror victims.

Sixteen people were killed in the Sbarro attack, including five members of the Schijveschuurder family: Mordechai, 43; Tzira, 41; Ra'aya, 14; Yitzhak, 4; and Hemda, 2 (two parents and three minors). Two other daughters were injured in the attack. Three brothers who were not with the family at the time identified the bodies.

Judge Arnon Darel split the proceedings, addressing the murder of the three siblings first. The remaining matters pending before the court concern the murder of the two parents and the personal damages suffered by three surviving siblings who experienced severe psychological trauma.

While Israel's Supreme Court had previously established the Palestinian Authority's responsibility for terror attacks, it initiated about two years ago a Supreme Court ruling, which determined its responsibility for terror attacks even when it was not the initiating party, due to payments made to families of terrorists. However, the majority opinion rejected the argument that it should pay punitive damages for its "pay-to-slay" policy.

In March 2024, the Knesset reversed this position by legislating that any entity rewarding terror would pay $2.7 million in punitive damages for each person killed and $1.35 million in punitive damages for each person injured. No rulings have been issued based on this law until now, and the Palestinian Authority has argued that it is unconstitutional and void.

The plaintiffs were represented by attorneys Dr. Asaf Posner, Nathaniel Posner, and Gilad Lesser from the Dr. Asaf Posner law firm. For the first time, Jerusalem District Court Judge Arnon Darel is implementing the law and requiring the Palestinian Authority to pay $2.7 million for each victim. Additionally, Judge Darel ordered the Palestinian Authority to pay for "classic" damages, including pain and suffering, shortened life expectancy, and lost wages during the lost years, amounting to an additional $5.4 million, plus attorney fees and expenses.

Following the current lawsuit, attachment orders were issued several months ago, freezing funds that Israel holds for the Palestinian Authority. The plaintiffs' attorneys have approached state authorities demanding immediate transfer of the money to the plaintiffs, whose case has been pending in court for over 20 years.

According to the compensation law, beyond direct collection from the Palestinian Authority, damages can only be collected from funds that Israel has frozen under law due to the Palestinian Authority's payments to terrorists' families. Regular tort damages can be collected, beyond direct collection from the Palestinian Authority, from any amount held by the state, including ongoing payments transferred by Israel to the Palestinian Authority from tax revenues it collects on its behalf.

Dr. Asaf Posner noted this was a first step, welcoming the court's application of the Knesset's legislation meant to exact a significant price from the Palestinian Authority for rewarding acts of terror. He expressed hope that now, with an explicit law in place, terror victims would receive swift justice going forward.

The post Court orders PA to pay $12.3 million to Intifada victims appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

In a bold act of protest, pro-Palestinian activists vandalized the royal palace in Amsterdam, splashing red paint and scrawling "Intifada" on its walls, according to Spiegel Ausland. The group Palestine Action Amsterdam claimed responsibility for the incident, stating it was a message to the Dutch government regarding its support for Israel's actions in Gaza.

Large red splotches and the word "Intifada" in yellow paint are visible on a palace wall in the center of the Dutch capital. The action was intended as a message to the government, the group Palestine Action Amsterdam wrote on Instagram. The red paint stands as a symbol "for the blood of Palestinians flowing through the streets of Gaza." The activists accuse the Dutch government of supporting Israel in, among other things, "genocide" and "settler colonialism."

Pro palestinian activists vandalise royal palace ( paleis op de Dam) in Amsterdam, Netherlands

They used during the night red paint to vandalise the front and paint red triangles and with yellow paint they painted the word intifada.

Cleaning crews are cleaning the walls of… pic.twitter.com/ullJYuy0rW

— Brian BJ (@iamBrianBJ) July 29, 2024

 The royal palace in Amsterdam is used only for ceremonial purposes. However, the choice of target for the paint attack was apparently not random. "This superfluous building symbolizes the colonial system of our nation-state," the activists stated.

The royal family was apparently not directly affected by the incident, as their residence is located in The Hague. This is not the first time pro-Palestinian demonstrators have defaced public buildings in Amsterdam. In November, the Rijksmuseum and the Van Gogh Museum were also vandalized.

According to the newspaper De Telegraaf, the building's administrator, the State Property Agency, responded firmly. "This is vandalism, and that is a criminal offense, so we are reporting it," a spokesperson said.

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Allan Tannenbaum's photography career began almost by accident. A nice Jewish boy, he was born in 1945 in New Jersey and raised in the relatively conservative atmosphere of the 1950s and even began studying engineering. But then came the 1960s, and Jack Kerouac's "On the Road," became a must-read for every young American, including Tannenbaum. And so in 1964, after two years of college, he decided he had had enough and it was time to drive a 1940 Studebaker across the United States. 

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"California was just 'happening' at the time, and places like Los Angeles and San Francisco were too appealing," Tannenbaum recalled. "I brought my parents' camera and went on a journey across the country, at the end of which I arrived in San Francisco and lived there for a while. During this time I made a living from and taught myself photography.

"During this time, I realized that photography was my true calling, so more or less in the mid-60s I returned to New York, put together a portfolio, and started going to newspapers and offering my services, but that did not go so well. At the same time, I worked as a taxi driver and hung out in clubs, mainly in the SoHo area, which was the cultural and artistic center of New York at that time. I got to know artists, philosophers, and musicians, and by and large I enjoyed life and continued to photograph as much as I could, for example, Jimi Hendrix in concert, and more.

"One night at Kenn's Broome Street Bar, I saw a stack of 'Soho Weekly News' on top of a cigarette vending machine. Back then, it was a small eight-page newspaper, which covered the cultural and art scene of the neighborhood, which had just become a significant part of the world cultural scene as well. I got very excited, went to the editor, walked into his office, and said, 'Hello, I want to photograph.' The editor took my portfolio, stopped at Hendrix's pictures, and muttered, 'Okay, you know how to take pictures, I'll pay you $40 a week.' I left his office and said 'YES, this is it!'"

Within a few years, "SoHo News" became a respected culture magazine and Tannenbaum got to photograph some of the most well-known artists of the world, including musicians and bands like the Rollings Stones, John Lennon with Yoko Ono, Patti Smith, the Clash and the Ramones, and artists such as Andy Warhol and Keith Haring. 

An exhibition featuring approximately 200 original works of Haring's is currently being held in Herzliya, with Tannenbaum having been invited as the guest of honor. 

"Since in SoHo and Manhattan in general everyone in the art and culture scene knew everyone, I had free and direct access to the backstage of reputed clubs like Studio 54 and The Bottom Line", Tannenbaum said. "In 1973, I went to the editor of the magazine and asked to be the owner of the negatives of the photos I took. To my surprise, he agreed, and also made me the chief photo editor of the magazine."

A few years later, as the club scene began to die down, Tannenbaum decided to transition into news photography. 

"The New York scene has faded a bit and I felt that I wanted new thrills and also to develop in another field of photography," he said. "The photographs I saw from major events around the world filled me with inspiration, and I really wanted to be a part of it.

"At that time, in the late 1970s, I already had some renown as a photographer. I approached the New York branch of the Sygma photo agency, offered my services, and they agreed. We had a deal that if they sent me to an event, they would pay for the expenses, and if I suggested an event and the photos were good, they would pay, but if the photos were bad, that would be on me.

"That's how I started traveling around the whole world. I photographed, for example, a terrible disaster of a volcanic eruption in Colombia that buried a town of 25,000 people, the never-ending caravans of refugees fleeing Rwanda, the American forces in the invasion of Iraq during the Gulf War, and Nelson Mandela being released from prison and waving with his wife Winnie." 

As a Jew, Tannenbaum felt a special connection to Israel and visited the country many times and became close to well-known Israeli photographers Ziv Koren and the late David Rubinger. 

"I think that all in all, I've spent about a year in Israel," he said. "I photographed demonstrations in support of the peace agreement with Egypt here, but also the events of the Intifada in the territories. In the late 1980s, there was a time when I knew the streets of Ramallah and Nablus better than my neighborhood in New York."

And even today, at the age of 78, nothing is holding Tannenbaum back. He presents his works at exhibitions worldwide, sells prints, gives lectures, and travels around the world, without ever removing his Canon camera from his neck. 

"Something can always happen around here, so I want to be prepared," he said. 

When asked whether the role of a photojournalist was still relevant in the digital age, where photos and videos from events are distributed globally in real-time, Tannenbaum smiled and replied, "True, today it is much more immediate, and I am very happy that I had the opportunity to photograph for most of my career before the age of smartphones. But even now I think there is no substitute for the eye of a professional photojournalist. They will always know how to find the most interesting angle, oftentimes at great personal risk, and bring readers and viewers added value that ordinary citizens in these areas do not know how to bring."

The Black Box exhibition featuring Haring's works has already appeared in New York, Florida, and Italy. 

Haring has gone down in history as one of the world's most prominent pop art artists. Having died of AIDS-related complications at the age of 31 in 1990, he's been the subject of several international retrospectives and his works can be seen in the exhibitions and collections of major museums around the world.

"I met Keith and photographed him in his studio, painting murals outdoors, and at his gallery exhibitions," Tannenbaum recalled. "Since he actually worked while filming, I didn't have to ask for too much. The colorful background of the paintings, along with his special character as a person, just did the job."

Tannenbaum recalled photographing James Brown, saying, "We were shooting a studio portrait and as a big fan I wanted to get some less formal shots. At one point I said to James, 'Let's go outside.' We were walking down Broadway, I asked him to jump – and the frame happened."

As part of his work for "SoHo News" magazine, Tannenbaum visited all the prestigious clubs in New York, including backstage.

"Two of my best photos were taken in these clubs," he said, smiling. "And both of them feature Mick Jagger, of course. I took the first one at a chance meeting between him and Dolly Parton in the dressing room of the well-known club The Bottom Line, and the second, with the whole band, at the Danceteria club. In the second meeting, you see that Keith Richards is holding a bottle of Jack Daniels, and when they got up to perform he left the bottle there. I immediately 'slipped' it into my camera bag and took it home and enjoyed it for the rest of the night."

"I met Andy Warhol in the New York club scene already in the 1970s, from clubs like Studio 54 and others, I've always loved photographing him, and one of his photos that I like best is the photo with the singer of the band Blondie, Debbie Harry, with whom he had a special, artistic and personal relationship. 

"And he also once said about her, 'If I could choose a face for myself, I would choose hers.' This photo also shows the use of the 'innovative technology', a Commodore computer with which Warhol worked, when on the screen you see a drawing he made of Debbie's face and in the background other drawings of her, the fruit of his fertile imagination."

"I was lucky and had the great pleasure of photographing John and Yoko several times, including nude shots in their bed and also on the streets of New York. The photograph at the entrance to the prestigious Dakota apartment building in Manhattan, where they lived, became very special for me because only a few months after I took it, John was murdered in the exact same place. Both John and Yoko were people who loved the camera and devoted themselves to it, and as a photographer, you couldn't ask for more".

"I heard about Nelson Mandela a long time before he was released from prison, of course. And for me, he was a symbol of human rights and the rights of black people in the world. I visited South Africa when he was imprisoned and documented the riots there, and when he was about to be released – I knew it was an event I could not miss. Upon his leaving prison, thousands of people gathered and it was very difficult to squeeze through the crowd and get a good angle, but in the end, I managed to take a picture that is considered quite iconic, where you see Mandela and his wife Winnie waving and celebrating the joy of freedom and the victory of freedom."

Recalling the Gulf War, Tannenbaum said, "We were in Kuwait with a lot of media people, and I decided that I would get a jeep and join the forces of the US Army. Together with a Dutch journalist, we managed to do this and simply drove by the advancing forces in the desert. The photo I took symbolizes for me the two 'ships of the desert' that joined together – the camels with the humps, who didn't quite understand what happened, and the war machines made of steel that rushed forward."

The eruption of the Nevado del Ruiz stratovolcano in Tolima, Colombia, on November 13, 1985, buried the town of Armero, killing 20,000 residents and destroying 29,000 buildings in the process. 

 "As soon as I heard about this disaster, I knew I had to go there," Tannenbaum recalled. "I saw some of the most difficult sights I've ever seen in my life there. Thousands of bodies were pulled from the mud and entire villages disappeared under it.

In the photo I took there was a glimmer of hope because the girl, Omaira Sanchez, who was trapped there was alive, but I cannot forget the despair and sadness on her face." When I went back the next day, she was dead.

For Tannenbaum, the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, began with kissing his wife in their Manhattan apartment, when they heard the roar of jet engines and a loud bang as suddenly a massive explosion shook the air. "We looked out of the window and saw a huge fireball on one of the twin towers," he recalled. "Without even thinking about it twice or understanding the magnitude of the event, I grabbed my cameras and ran there, six blocks away from my house."

"There were crowds of people running in front of me who were running away from the inferno, but I ran toward it. I took a lot of pictures in this attack, including the second plane hitting the tower and the buildings going up in flames. But one picture stuck in my memory in particular, of firefighter Tim Duffy, who was at home when the attack happened, donned his heavy equipment and rode to the scene on his Harley Davidson to assist the citizens. After that, I met with Tim and we became friends."

At the signing ceremony of the Cairo Agreement Tannenbaum arrived with all of the world media. 

"I remember very well what happened minutes before the signing, when Yasser Arafat suddenly did not want to sign and only relented after he was greatly pressured. In the photo I took you can see that Rabin is not really happy with the situation, and also on the faces of [Hosni] Mubarak, [Shimon] Peres, and Arafat you can see some concern".

In the spring of 1979, just before the signing of the historic peace agreement between Israel and Egypt on the lawns of the White House, Tannenbaum was on a press tour of Israel. 

"They took us as a group to all kinds of places like Masada and the Dead Sea and one evening when we were in Tel Aviv I was a little bored, and I decided to separate from the group and go see what was interesting in the city. I knew that the peace agreement with Egypt was about to be signed and passers-by told me that there was a demonstration of support, so I went there and discovered thousands of people with signs. Today, I can say that when there are leaders of stature, history can still be made in any field, even when it seems impossible."

"As a photographer, I have always been drawn to battle scenes and disasters, and when the First Intifada broke out, I had no other option but to go cover the events. The night before this photo was taken, we were told that it was going to be wild in Nablus, but the IDF declared the city a closed military area. It wasn't my first time in the territories, and with the help of Palestinian friends I sneaked into the city with another photographer and we went to the mosque. It was at noon on a Friday, and when the worshipers came out – all hell broke loose. One of the moments that I photographed and that stuck in my head was when some soldiers dragged a Palestinian boy who was throwing stones to arrest him, in all the fire and inferno around. It was crazy."

"I had never photographed Jack Nicholson before, so I was quite excited about the opportunity. But the ice quickly broke when we discovered that we had both been born in New Jersey and exchanged experiences about the familiar places where we grew up. In photographing him, I tried to convey the atmosphere of madness that he broadcasts in this film, as in his other previous films, for example, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, and I think that behind the serious face he makes in the picture there is definitely something hidden from the 'madness' he brings to the screen and his powerful presence."

In March 1980, after they released their masterpiece album "London Calling", The Clash band arrived for a well-publicized concert tour in the US. Many members of the media were already waiting for them at the airport, but Tannenbaum chose an unconventional approach. 

"I waited at the exit, where I knew the taxi taking the band would pass, and as they passed me I shouted to lead singer Joe Strummer: 'Joe, turn around!' He stuck his head out the window and smiled, and I got a great picture. By the way, in a new film of the Clash arriving at JFK, there's a shot of Joe Strummer entering a Checker cab. There's one camera flash. It was my flash."

"Bob Marley for me is an icon and a symbol. He symbolizes freedom, liberty, and a free spirit, and I also really, really like reggae music, so I was very happy when I got to photograph him. I took this photo in a hotel room before his performance, and it shows the unmediated approach I received as a photographer to artists when they are in a natural environment and freer. I worked hard to get this attitude, and it helped me a lot in my career."

"We got Patti Smith in 'SoHo News' before she became very famous, so I was able to photograph her right in her natural environment in her small and messy New York apartment with her cat. This photo, like the one of Bob Marley, shows the free access I had to the artists and musicians of the time, who were also a kind of friends."

The post Allan Tannenbaum, in a class of his own, captured some of history's most memorable moments appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

The Israel Police and the Shin Bet security agency are still exercising caution and are not calling the last eight stabbing and shooting attacks in Jerusalem – and dozens of other attacks and attempted attacks nationwide in the past 10 weeks – a wave of terrorism. The Israeli public, on the other hand, has been forced to acknowledge that "shahada" – a martyr's death – is seeing a renaissance in Palestinian society. 

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The many terrorist attacks have led to greater focus on the "shahid" and their qualities in Palestinian media and social media. This focus never shifted, but is now taking up more space. The relevant Quran quote is also being thrown around frequently: "And do not say about those who are killed in the way of Allah, 'They are dead.' Rather, they are alive, with their lord, and they have provision."  

Now Israel Hayom is exposing the wills of the terrorists, both those who were killed during the attacks and those who lived through them, and their motives. The wills teach us about the harsh terminology that arises from their last letters and social media posts – what they leave behind. 

Former mufti of Jerusalem Sheikh Ikrama Sabri explained during the Second Intifada that "the Muslim loves death and martyrdom like the Jews love life." The wills of the latest two shahids who, unfortunately, managed to carry out their plans, illustrate Sabri's remark. They both wanted to die. Mohammed Shawkat Salima, who last Saturday fell on Haredi youth Avraham Elmaliach near Damascus Gate in the Old City of Jerusalem and wounded him badly before he was fatally shot by security forces, posted on his old Facebook page a post in which he defined himself as "a martyr on the waiting list." 

"May Allah soon bring me to him," Salima wrote alongside a picture of another Palestinian, Sab Abu Abid, who was killed in clashes with the IDF in 2017. 

Fadi Abu Shkhaydam, who murdered Eliyahu Kay near the Western Wall, was also fatally shot. Before leaving to carry out his planned attack, he left a much more detailed will than Salima's, in which he claimed that "after years of work, study, and teaching, there is no choice but to let the ship said on our blood and serve as a practical example in the field of jihad." 

Until recently, Abu Shkhaydam, a member of Hamas, had a working relationship with high-ranking members of the Muslim Waqf on the Temple Mount and only four months ago finished running a course offered by the Waqf titled "The Battalion of Resilience and Ribat." 

He also took care to integrate "ribat" – an Islamic term that describes taking one's place at the front of a holy war against infidels – in his will, in which he wrote, "The best path for us in light of the abuse of our mosque [Al-Aqsa Mosque – N.S.] is to redeem it with our blood. We have no honorable life so long as our mosque undergoes one failure after another and so long as the assaults against it increase. Therefore, prepare yourselves for ribat, for jihad, for sacrifice, and to give your life and throw off the bonds of this world." 

The written statements the killer left behind are unusual when compared to the wills of other murderers of his profile, because Abu Shkhaydam went beyond background and explanation for his planned action and actually instructed the hundreds of pupils he left behind to prepare themselves for similar acts in the future. 

Half leave wills

Nor are Abu Shkhaydam and Salima alone. A look through dozens of wills reveals not only the terrorists' motives, but also their need to share their "legacies" with large audiences and win legitimacy for their deeds. 

For Israel's security forces, the wills are a treasure trove that enables them to heighten the precision of the system that tracks hundreds of thousands of internet users and social media participants each day, hoping to thwart similar attacks. Authorities think that hundreds of attacks have been prevented this way. 

The scope of the tracking and location work is enormous, especially at times of tension around the Temple Mount. In a single day after the shooting attack on the Mount itself in July 2017, over 500,000 posts from the PA territories and the Arab world went up discussing the situation on the Mount. Many intended or directly called for terrorist attacks. 

The wills, however, often tell a story that is not religious or nationalist, but one of personal distress that led the attacker to carry out their plan. Mohammad Younis, who last week ran his car into a security guard at the Te'enim checkpoint, is believed to have argued with his father before taking his car without permission and deciding to become a martyr. 

Other times, the motive is revenge or identification with other shahids, what the Shin Bet calls "copycat attacks" or "infection." In the case of Tharwat Ibrahim Salman Al-Shawari, 72, a mother of five who tried to run down soldiers near Halhul, the attacker had a sense that her death was approaching. She had told her relatives that if she was going to die, it would be better to do so as a shahid rather than "in bed," as she called it. 

Some 50% of terrorists who carried out attacks or attempted to in the last few years left behind some kind of will. The most common motive documented in the wills is the situation of Al-Aqsa Mosque and the desire to defend it from "Jewish invasion," a reference to Jewish visits to the Mount. In Palestinian society, the Al-Aqsa shahids are considered the elite, celebrities in every sense, and guarantee themselves a place of honor in the Palestinian pantheon of martyrs. Their wills are according popular. 

This is the kind of fame that came to Abu Shkhaydam, who wrote to his "brothers and comrades in dawa and Islamic activity" that "our blessed words and dawa, with which we have been busy since we were young, demand that we sacrifice and give our lives so that our words will not stay dead or without life." (Translation courtesy of MEMRI). 

Abu Shkhaydam even appealed directly to his students: "In every meeting I was sorry [to hear] that someone had beat me to Paradise by attacking [the enemy]. I would tell you stories about them, from friends of the Prophet to the lions of Islam of our time. Long live Allah. I never ceased to weep when I would tell you about them, but I would prepare myself and prepare to join them and follow their path … I command every one of you to adhere to this path." 

One of the "lions of Islam" about whom he taught his students was Mesbah Abu Sabih, who left behind a chilling will of his own. Abu Sabih, known to his admirers as the "lion of Al-Quds," murdered Levana Malichi and Yosef Kirma in a shooting attack at the light train station on Bar Lev Blvd. in Jerusalem in October 2016. 

Abu Sabih was also a member of Hamas. He also wanted to prevent Jews from visiting the Temple Mount. Like Abu Shkhaydam, he taught the Quran at a mosque and the writings he left behind before he was fatally shot while carrying out his attack predicted what was to come, but were not identified in time. 

'A revolution has begun in Jerusalem'

Abu Sabih, whom Abu Shkhaydam admired, admitted he envied shahids and wanted to be like them. Among other things, he wrote that "Al-Aqsa Mosque is awash in blood," "was burned every day for 47 years and awaits someone who will put it out … do not abandon Al-Aqsa Mosque." In his will, he pleaded, "On Judgment Day, we will be asked what we did for Al-Aqsa Mosque to keep it part of the faith of every Muslim in the world." 

Without Al-Aqsa, he warned, "There will be blood. There are men who will redeem Al-Aqsa with their blood. Jerusalem sits on the mouth of a volcano that is about to erupt. Al-Aqsa Mosque is closed and the murderers of children invade it every day." But, he wrote, "In Jerusalem, a revolution has started that is not a revolution of rocks alone."

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Abu Sabih, who was a violent type with a criminal past, and Abu Shkhaydam, supposedly more learned and gentle, wrote nearly identical things. So did Mohammed Tarayreh, 19, who murdered Hillel Yaffa Ariel, 13, while she was sleeping in her bed in her home in Kiryat Arba in June 2016. 

Omar Al-Abed, a resident of Kobar who stabbed three members of the Salomon family as they were gathered around the Shabbat table in their home in Halmish, left a "last will and testament" on Facebook an hour and 40 minutes before leaving to kill. His writings also dealt with the "bitter fate of Al-Aqsa." 

"The mosque is being defiled and we sleep," Al-Abed scolded. "It is a disgrace for us to sit and do nothing. You, who pull out guns only at weddings and celebrations, are you not ashamed of yourselves? … All I have is a honed knife and it is answering the call of Al-Aqsa. I am going to Paradise, my home is there. I want nothing beyond that. Allah will judge whoever does not carry out my will. Put a band of Al-Qassem around my head and on my chest, a picture of Abu Amar [Yasser Arafat]. I will take them to the grave with me." 

'The noose is around my neck'

But it's not all about Al-Aqsa. Ibrahim Halas, who in April 2020 ran down a police officer at a checkpoint in Abu Dis and was fatally shot at the scene, connected his act to criminal trouble, writing, "They set the entire world against me, they ruined my life. The noose is already around my neck. From the time I was young, I drank alcohol and used drugs, but I am an honest and fair person and want to divorce my wife for these reasons, which have brought me to the edge." 

Nimer Mahmoud Jamal, who was 37 when he murdered three Israelis on Har Adar in September 2017, also did so because of personal problems. He had a long string of violent criminal offense, mostly domestic violence, and in his will he told his wife that she should not be troubled because of his actions. "You have nothing to do with what I am about to carry out. I was a bad husband and a bad father and you were a good wife and a caring mother. I tried to mend my ways, but I never could. You deserve a better life than the life you had with me." 

There are also attackers inspired by a desire to mimic or get revenge. Ayman Kurd, 20, who stabbed two police officers near Damascus Gate after his cousin Ramzi died in a shooting in Hebron, wrote to his mother: "Be sure that I did not do this because of anyone, but of my own will. I thought about it even before my 'brother' Ramzi died a martyr's death … Bury me in the shahids' graveyard near my brother Ramzi." Kurd even asked that his death be celebrated: "I want them to have a party for me." 

Longing to die 

Abada Abu Ras, the son of a senior Hamas official who was deported to London in the early 1990s, was responsible for a terrorist stabbing in Givat Zeev in January 2016. Two weeks earlier he had written: "I long for an event in which I will lose my life." Abu Ras posted a picture of his inspiration – Mohand Halabi, who murdered Nechemia Lavi and Aharon Benita three months earlier. 

Fuad Abu Rajab a-Tamimi from Issawiya in east Jerusalem, who opened fire on two police officers and was killed at the scene, left an explanation that he wanted to become a martyr. "My death was to sanctify and glorify Allah… Don't spread hatred in the hearts of my brothers after my death. Let them discover the religion and their own path, so they can die for the purpose of being a shahid and not as revenge." 

Qutaiba Zahran, 17, from the Tulkarem region, who stabbed a Border Police officer near Tapuah Junction and was shot and killed on the spot, wrote a long post on Facebook titled "The will of a shahid," in which he bid farewell to his family and explained that the attack he was about to perpetrate was to avenge the blood of "Palestine's shahids." 

The many wills and posts that the attackers prepare show that most assume they will die trying to carry out their plans. The catchy message that Yasser Arafat made popular years ago, "Millions of shahids are marching toward Jerusalem," is being voiced again now. If this is the case, it's hard to discuss deterrence, and what's more, Palestinian society for the most part embraces the martyrs and even praises them. In a reality like this, security forces' main focus is on preventing attacks through human intelligence as well as electronic means, and by being on the alert – as we have seen at Damascus Gate.

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Google Maps has announced that it has removed the label "Apartheid Wall" from a road adjacent to the security barrier on the outskirts of eastern Jerusalem.

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While it is unclear how it came about, the company called it "inappropriate" and removed the label after being alerted by Jewish News Syndicate.

"We have taken swift action to update this inappropriate error," a Google spokesperson told JNS.

The unnamed road appears to be a military route that runs alongside the security barrier not far from the Bethphage church on the eastern slopes of the Mount of Olives and the Tomb of Lazarus east of Jerusalem.

Erected after the wave of Palestinian suicide bombings during the years of the Second Intifada from 2000 to 2005, the security barrier has been seen as an effective tool in order to prevent infiltrations from the West Bank by terror groups, with the number of such bombings dropping dramatically following its construction.

Still, it has drawn criticism from the international community, which sees the barrier as evidence of Israel's intent to annex land and undermine the Mideast peace process.

As a result, critics have accused Israel of being an "apartheid state" to describe its policies towards Palestinians in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, also applying the term to the barrier.

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Jewish groups, including the Anti-Defamation League, say that the "apartheid label would seem to question the legitimacy of the world's only Jewish state and its continued existence."

 Reprinted with permission from JNS.org.

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A number of Jewish organizations have submitted a friend-of-the-court brief last week asking for the US Supreme Court to review a case involving a British bank accused of helping fund Hamas terrorist in activity in Israel during the Second Intifada.

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The brief was submitted in the case of Weiss v. National Westminster Bank, representing 200 Americans victims of Hamas terrorism during the intifada that lasted from September 2000 to February 2005.

The brief, which was filed by Justin Danilewitz of the Philadelphia-based Saul Ewing Arnstein & Lehr LLP, was joined by 10 Jewish organizations, including the Lawfare Project, Agudath Israel of America, the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America, Anti-Defamation League, American Association of Jewish Lawyers and Jurists, StandWithUs, Zachor Legal Institute, Jerusalem Institute of Justice and the Israeli-American Civic Action Network.

It calls into question an April decision by the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit that dismissed the case, claiming that Interpal had carried out some charitable work; that the money channeled through National Westminster Bank (NatWest) was not specifically for terrorist attacks or to recruit terrorists to carry out attacks; and that Interpal did not indicate to NatWest that the transfers were for terrorist purposes.

This decision led the plaintiffs to appeal to the Supreme Court to clarify how courts should apply liability under the Anti-Terrorist Act (ATA), passed by Congress in 2001 and the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act (JASTA), passed in 2016 to strengthen the ATA and which imposes civil liability on anybody who "aids and abets" an act of international terrorism.

"The Supreme Court has previously underscored that terrorist organizations don't maintain legitimate financial firewalls between the funds they raise for civil, nonviolent activities and those ultimately used to support violent, terrorist operations, but the federal courts of appeal have not taken a uniform approach to this issue, and the Supreme Court hasn't yet clarified the scope of civil liability," said Gary Osen, managing partner of Osen LLC, which represents one of the plaintiffs, in a news release on Thursday.

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The circuit court's decision went against its own previous ruling in 2014, which held that there was sufficient evidence from which a jury can conclude that "NatWest had knowledge that, or exhibited deliberate indifference to whether Interpal provided material support to a terrorist organization."

'Letting decision stand would create loophole in laws'

The lawsuit against NatWest was first filed in 2005 under the Anti-Terrorism Act, made up of claims from estates and family members of American citizens who were killed or injured in terrorist attacks by Hamas. The plaintiffs alleged that NatWest held accounts for Interpal – a United Kingdom-based organization that describes itself as a charity, but was later designated as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist organization by the US government.

The U. Treasury Department has previously called Interpal a fundraising organization of Hamas.

From December 2001 to January 2004, according to the plaintiffs, NatWest was accused of transferring millions of dollars to Hamas-controlled entities on behalf of Interpal during the Second Intifada, which saw waves of suicide and other terrorist attacks on Israeli civilians by Hamas and other Palestinian terrorist organizations.

"We are confident that the Supreme Court will hear this case and reverse the Second Circuit. As the Supreme Court has already recognized, terrorist organizations are so tainted by their criminal conduct that any contribution to such an organization facilitates that conduct," wrote Gerard Filitti, senior counsel at the Lawfare Project in an email. "Letting this decision stand would create a significant loophole in anti-terrorism laws, allowing terrorist organizations to raise money simply by creating nominally 'charitable' arms."

Another friend-of-the-court brief supporting a Supreme Court review of the case was submitted on Oct. 8 by 10 US senators, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Bob Menendez (D-NJ), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Rob Portman (R-Ohio), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), James Inhofe (R-Okla.) and Benjamin Cardin (D-Md.).

Reprinted with permission from JNS.org.

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Over 150 families who have lost loved ones to Palestinian terrorist attacks are reaching out to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to demand that he stop the planned reopening of a US consulate in Jerusalem to provide services for Palestinians.

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After Blinken announced that the US would "move forward" with the process of opening the Jerusalem consulate as part of its efforts to deepen ties with the Palestinians, the bereaved families are warning that if the US reopens its Jerusalem consulate, the move will reignite terrorism in the city.

In a letter to Blinken, the families wrote: "Who like the residents of Jerusalem have experienced Palestinian terrorism first hand. There is no reason to re-create it. This is a complete Trojan horse. The US is Israel's friend and ally. Don't hurt us. Instead of encouraging the world the divide Jerusalem and turn it into a city plagued by terrorism, you must send a clear message to the world at large: Jerusalem belongs to the Jewish people."

The signatories to the letter included Yael Shevach, the widow of Rabbi Raziel Shevach, who was murdered in Samaria; Geula and David Malka, the parents of Hadas Malka, who was murdered in a terrorist attack in Jerusalem; Herzl and Miriam Hajaj, the parents of Lt. Shir Hajaj, who was murdered in a car ramming attack in Armon Hanatziv in the city; and dozens more bereaved parents, siblings, and children of Jews murdered in terrorist attacks. Most of the signatories are members of the Choosing Life Forum, an organization that represents bereaved families and works to promote increased Israeli deterrence against terrorism.

The letter continued: "For thousands of years, Jews' eyes were turned toward Jerusalem. The Jewish wedding ceremony is the only one in the world in which the groom connects his fate to the fate of a city. The Jewish groom says, 'If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand wither…' If the US wants to set up a consulate or any other permanent diplomatic mission for the Palestinians – please do it in Ramallah. Why are you insisting on opening this consulate in the capital of Israel, of all places?"

Another signatory to the letter is the Zionist movement Im Tirzu, which also initiated the idea of sending it.

"If the secretary of state wants to promote 'peace,' the last thing he should do is set up a special American consulate for Palestinians in the capital of Israel,'" said Im Tirzu chairman Matan Peleg.

"Apart from the fact that this tramples Israeli sovereignty and lacks any minimal respect for a friendly nation, it also signals to the Palestinians that the path of recalcitrance and resistance is acceptable, and pays off. This step will encourage nothing but terrorism," Peleg said.

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Israeli police clashed with Palestinian protesters at the Temple Mount compound Monday, the latest in a series of confrontations that is pushing the contested city to the brink of eruption.

Despite a calm that set in around noon, the riots continued around 4:30 p.m. as hundreds of teens celebrated Jerusalem Day with the traditional Flag Dance that included a march throughout the city. As a result, the Israel Police cleared the Damascus Gate area, where many of the riots were taking place.

Around 2 p.m., shortly after the clashes subsided on the compound itself when rocks were hurled on a bus carrying yeshiva students on their way to the Tower of David. The bus was damaged, but the passengers suffered only minor wounds due to glass shards. This, as the main prayer service at the Al-Aqsa Mosque, ended without incident and with 5,000 Muslim worshippers taking part.

The heightened tensions have led to speculation that the traditional "flag dance" to celebrate the reunification of Jerusalem in the Six-Day War might be canceled, but the Israel Police later said it would continue as planned despite fears that its route might stir more clashes, but in a last-minute change it ordered that it won't pass through the Damascus Gate in the Muslim Quarter as this might stir more controversy and lead to bloodshed. The event took off around 3:30 p.m. with beefed-up security, as the clashes intensified.

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Palestinian medics said at least 300 Palestinians were hurt in the violence at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, including at least 80 who were hospitalized. Rioters threw fireworks and rocks at police, who responded with riot control measures, including tear gas, stun grenades, and warning shots.

Police said protesters hurled stones at officers and onto an adjoining roadway near the Western Wall, where thousands of Israeli Jews had gathered to pray.

In a statement, police alleged extremists were behind the violence and said it would "not allow extremists to harm the safety and security of the public."

The latest clashes in the sacred compound came after days of mounting tensions between Palestinians and Israeli authorities in the Old City of Jerusalem, the emotional ground zero of the conflict. Hundreds of Palestinians and about two dozen police officers have been hurt over the past few days.

The Palestinian Red Crescent said at least 80 people injured in the skirmishes at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound required hospitalization. One was in serious condition. Amateur video footage posted on social media showed police stun grenades and tear gas inside the mosque during skirmishes between officers and Palestinian protesters.

On Monday morning, officers fired tear gas and stun grenades and protesters hurled stones and other objects at police. Police said protesters threw stones from the mosque compound onto an adjoining roadway near the Western Wall, where thousands of Israeli Jews had gathered to pray. Palestinians said police fired stun grenades into the compound.

Palestinians at the scene reported that dozens of people had been wounded, and that police were attacking journalists.

The IDF's Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, Maj. Gen. Ghassan Alian, issued a warning to the Palestinians: "Israel will not tolerate attacks on its security or law and order, or the violation of stability. It's a shame that violence and terrorist activity hijack the agenda from people's welfare and the economy."

The rioting began after Israel Police Commissioner Yaakov Shabtai decided, following a round of consultations with the chief of the Jerusalem District Police and other security officials, that Jews will not be permitted to visit the Temple Mount on Monday (Jerusalem Day) due to the spiraling violence in Jerusalem.

Starting early Monday, thousands of police officers and Border Police personnel were patrolling Jerusalem as a whole and the Old City in particular after another night of clashes in east Jerusalem.

Video: Israel Police Spokesperson

The Israel Police announced that freedom of worship would remain in place on the Temple Mount, but that rioting would not be accepted.

Right-wing NGO Im Tirzu denounced the police for the decision to ban Jews from the Temple Mount on the day that marks the reunification of the city, calling it a "capitulation to terrorism and threats by Arab rioters."

"A government that doesn't know how to defend law-abiding citizens, and gives prizes to attackers paves the way for continued violence. It's sad to see how the Israeli government is forgoing sovereignty on the Temple Mount, even on Jerusalem Day."

#Jerusalem: An Israeli driver and a passenger were attacked following a car accident Monday morning near the Old City pic.twitter.com/sGQnlYp913

— i24NEWS English (@i24NEWS_EN) May 10, 2021

Yamina MK Amichai Shikli voiced his outrage over Shabtai's decision, calling it "a capitulation to Palestinian violence and terrorism. This isn't how we win."

MK Itamar Ben-Gvir, leader of the far-right Otzma Yehudit, was also furious, and said, "Violence and barbarism have won. The heads of the security establishment, whose policy of accepting every attack on Jews, which in the past day have become pogroms, are at fault. But more than they, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Public Security Minister Amir Ohana [are], for allowing the police to fold. Whoever folds when it comes to the Temple Mount, folds when it comes to the Land of Israel as a whole."

On Sunday, Attorney-General Avichai Mendelblit secured a deferment on Sunday of a court hearing on planned evictions of Palestinians in Jerusalem due to the escalating violence of recent weeks.

The Supreme Court had been due on Monday to hear appeals against the planned evictions of several Palestinian families from the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood.

A lower court had found in favor of Jewish settlers' claim to the land on which the Palestinians' homes are located.

But in a last-minute legal move, the appellants asked the court to seek a legal opinion from Mendelblit, opening the way for Monday's session to be postponed and the possibility he could argue against the evictions.

A spokesman for Mendelblit said the court agreed to receive a future submission from the attorney general and that a new session would be scheduled within 30 days.

"I'm very optimistic because of the court's decision," said Nabil al-Kurd, 77, one of the Palestinians facing eviction. "We are sitting here in our country, in our land. We will not give up."

After the iftar meal that breaks the Ramadan daily fast, he and a group of elders sat and watched as young Palestinian protesters sang and chanted slogans at settlers across the road, shouting "Freedom, freedom" and "Palestine is Arab."

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The Israelis did likewise, singing and dancing, with police in riot gear and on horseback keeping them apart. At the settlers' house across the street, Yaakov, 42, said the court postponement was "a disgrace."

"They should have made a stand and shown that anyone who commits violent acts in Israel is immediately punished and is not rewarded for their bad behavior," he said, declining to identify himself further.

Elsewhere on Sunday, US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan on Sunday expressed "serious concerns" to his Israeli counterpart about the violent clashes in Jerusalem.

In a phone call with National Security Adviser Meir Ben-Shabbat, Sullivan "encouraged the Israeli government to pursue appropriate measures to ensure calm during Jerusalem Day commemorations."

Ben-Shabbat informed Sullivan that Israel was handling the events in Jerusalem from a position of "sovereignty, responsibility, and consideration, despite the provocations."

According to an Israeli official, Ben-Shabbat stressed that "International intervention is a prize for the rioters and their handlers, who hoped to have pressure applied to Israel," and told Sullivan that it would be helpful if international attention were to address the sources of the incitement.

Ariel Kahana contributed to this report. 

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Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi, the former spiritual leader of the Muslim Brotherhood movement and who approved Palestinian suicide terrorist attacks on religious grounds, has contracted COVID-19, according to a message on his official Twitter page posted Saturday.

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The Islamic religious scholar now lives in Qatar. His advanced age, 94, puts him in a high-risk group for the virus. The Twitter message said Qaradawi was still in good health and that he was under medical observation.

In 2018, Qaradawi announced he was resigning as head of the International Union of Muslim Scholars. For years, Hamas viewed Qaradawi as its religious authority

In 2001, after the outbreak of the Second Intifada, Qaradawi published a ruling that specifically allowed Muslim men and women to perpetrate suicide attacks against Israeli civilians, claiming that such attacks were an act of "sacrifice" and that the bombers were sacrificing themselves for the sake of the Muslim religion and nation in a war against Israel.

Over 10 years later, Qaradawi stepped back from this position, arguing that the Palestinians had rockets and other forms of weaponry, rendering suicide bombings unnecessary.

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