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Still light on documentation - dates and names of news ; could use more video

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Demise of the Palestinian Authority is only a matter of time

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Demise of the Palestinian Authority is only a matter of time

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B5 12-17-15 The Times of Israel

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Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas tried this week to explain the motives behind the unprecedented phenomenon - referred to by many as the "third intifada" - that we have been witnessing over the past two and a half months.

To date, more than 130 terrorists have taken part in attacks or attempted attacks against Israeli targets. If you add the number of terrorists who have carried out attacks to those who were arrested preemptively by the Palestinian Authority and the Israeli security services, you get to a quick estimate of around 200-250 Palestinians who were ready to die in order to kill Jews - in the short period of 75 days.

So, a rough average of around three terrorists a day - a figure that is both unimaginable and deeply dangerous. Abbas has claimed that despair about the Israeli occupation and the dashed prospects of a two-state solution brought these youngsters to do what they did; Israel blames incitement.

Prime Minister Netanyahu this week rushed to attack Abbas and quoted surveys carried out in the West Bank that show the Palestinian public's opposition to a two-state solution. He did not note that the Palestinian Authority itself prevents attacks of all kinds against Israelis almost every day.

The problem is that neither Abbas's explanation ("the occupation") nor Netanyahu's ("the incitement") fully sheds light on this sick phenomenon. It may also be that through our Western eyes, we can never really understand how hundreds of youngsters are willing to die without a second thought in order to stab Israelis.

Taha Katnani, the father of Ashrakat, a 16-year-old terrorist who last month tried to stab Jewish passersby at the Hawara checkpoint near Nablus (she was run over by Gershon Mesika, who was passing by chance, and then shot dead by security forces), is a known figure in the Islamic Jihad terror group. In recent years, he's been the imam of one of the mosques in the Askar refugee camp on the outskirts of Nablus.

In an interview with a Palestinian TV station identified with Islamic Jihad, he said that his daughter had told him before she died that in the event she was killed ("martyred"), "if the occupiers try to barter with my body, don't agree to it."

He went on to describe a subsequent meeting he had with Israeli security officials at Hawara. "They tried to understand if there had been a crisis, if she had been in a crisis, or I had, or [aunt] Yassin... In other words, they tried to understand the motive."

"But the occupiers don't understand," the father added, tearfully. "They're deluded. Ashrakat lived in her home, with a high standard of living, doing what she wanted. Whoever knows us - everyone knows the warm relations between myself and my children. Everyone is moved when they see my approach and my relationship with them," he added. In short, Ashrakat presumably grew up in a home and an environment profoundly hostile to Israel, but did not have family or psychological problems.

Many commentators had warned of a blow-up but none of them predicted the way this "third intifada" would develop. Certainly not the Israeli political echelon, which continues to exist in its bubble, waiting for the storm to pass... and it is refusing to pass. The withholding of terrorists' bodies, and the threat to destroy their families' homes, are supposed to prevent the next terror attack. But these techniques don't stand up to the reality test.

The flood of attacks isn't letting up for a moment. It's emphatically not always related to family crises, or to what emerges as a psychological problem. It is at least partly an expression of despair and frustration, as Abbas said, but it also relates to the Palestinian Authority and all the Palestinian factions and even to the older generation in general, which has disappointed the younger generation.

A large majority of the attackers have not belonged to any kind of organization, were not known to the security services, and had not received an order to carry out their attack.

Most of these young people come from the Palestinian cities, some are more religious and some less, most are single. They are not simply fed incitement from the social networks and certainly not only from the Palestinian Authority's official media networks. They also get their hatred almost intravenously, in the internet cafes, the mosques, the billiard clubs, from the family - in almost every place.

And for such a phenomenon, it's difficult to find one single convincing explanation - or a solution that will stop the epidemic.

On the Israeli side, there is no credible plan for calming the tensions. During a meeting between senior Israeli and Palestinian security personnel, the Palestinians demanded a "political road map" that they argued would bring about calm on the streets. The Israelis demanded that the PA first stop the violence.

Dramatic political moves may be essential to achieve long-term calm. But what are the Palestinians demanding within the framework of a "road map" ahead? A freeze in settlement building and an agreement in principle to negotiate on the basis of creating a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders. These are unrealistic in light of the current coalition makeup in Israel and the policy of the person at its head. It's an impasse: The Palestinian Authority isn't capable of calming the street without dramatic political steps that Israel has no intention of taking.

What does this say for the PA and Abbas? That in all likelihood, they're living on borrowed time. Or, as a senior figure from the Authority said in his office in Ramallah, "The game is over." Does this mean the dismantling or crumbling of the PA in the near future? It seems so.

Security cooperation is wearing thinner with each passing day - after each Palestinian terror attack, and each Israeli security operation in the field (such as the operation Tuesday night in the village of Qalandiya, during which Israeli forces looking for terrorists killed two Palestinians who, in separate incidents, tried to ram their cars into Israeli soldiers). It's like a countdown whose end is hard to predict but which will clearly stop at some point. Thus the demise of the PA is a question of when, not if.

On the Palestinian side, too, there are also no real plans.

There has been much talk over recent weeks about the PLO committee that is supposed to convene to discuss halting security and economic coordination with Israel. Will Abbas gather the PLO leadership by the end of the year and lead it to a dramatic about-face decision on relations with Israel or security cooperation? In the run up to the next Fatah Day on January 1, senior figures from the movement will doubtless try to take a step of one kind or another to bring Fatah and the Palestinian agenda back to the global forefront.

Saeb Erekat, general secretary of the PLO, has been scattering threats right and left over recent days, talking repeatedly about canceling the recognition of Israel and the Oslo Accords.

It's not clear whether this will happen. But it has to be said that not a few of Erekat's unsuccessful recommendations over the past year - e.g., joining the International Criminal Court in The Hague last year, on the anniversary of Fatah's founding - were warmly received by the president.

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Demise of the Palestinian Authority is only a matter of time

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Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas tried this week to explain the motives behind the unprecedented phenomenon - referred to by many as the "third intifada" - that we have been witnessing over the past two and a half months. To date, more than 130 terrorists have taken part in attacks or attempted attacks against Israeli targets.

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Israeli supermodel held for tax evasion revealed to be Bar Refaeli

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Israeli supermodel held for tax evasion revealed to be Bar Refaeli

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B5 12-17-15 The Jerusalem Post

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It was revealed Thursday, that the Israeli supermodel who was summoned by tax authorities in Tel Aviv on Wednesday was none other than Bar Refaeli. The supermodel was detained in order to answer questions over possible financial irregularities.

The tax authorities have declined to confirm or deny the reports, but a source told The Jerusalem Post's Hebrew-language corporate sister newspaper Ma'ariv that the supermodel was questioned for several hours until midnight by investigators.

"There are few things that need to be determined, and we are in the initial stages of an investigation," the source said. "That is why nobody will divulge details at this point. We will respect her and we will continue to probe things that did not add up during a review of records."

She is expected to be released on bail today, in accordance with the decision taken by the Tax Authority.

The Tax Authority agreed to allow her to send a representative to court instead of having to make the appearance herself. The authorities will carry our their investigation with the supermodel's representative and not with the model herself.

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Israeli supermodel held for tax evasion revealed to be Bar Refaeli

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It was revealed Thursday, that the Israeli supermodel who was summoned by tax authorities in Tel Aviv on Wednesday was none other than Bar Refaeli. The supermodel was detained in order to answer questions over possible financial irregularities.

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Israeli violations of international law (03 – 09 December 2015

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Israeli violations of international law (03 – 09 December 2015

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Israel, Palestinian Territories Suffering Worst Period Of Unrest In Years

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Israel, Palestinian Territories Suffering Worst Period Of Unrest In Years

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Palestinian men armed with knives and a gun killed at least three people and wounded several others in a string of attacks in Jerusalem and near Tel Aviv on Tuesday, police said, on a "Day of Rage" declared by Palestinian groups.

With the worst unrest in years in Israel and the Palestinian territories showing no signs of abating, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called a security cabinet meeting for 3 p.m. to discuss what police said would be new operational plans.

Officials said Israel's public security minister was considering whether to seal off Palestinian neighborhoods in East Jerusalem, home of many of the assailants of the past two weeks, from the rest of the city.

Unlike their brethren in the occupied West Bank, Palestinians in East Jerusalem can travel in Israel without restrictions. Israel annexed East Jerusalem after a 1967 war in a move that is not recognized internationally.

Adding to a growing sense of Israeli public insecurity, two Palestinians shot and stabbed passengers on a bus in Jerusalem, killing two and injuring four, police said. One of the assailants was killed, an ambulance service spokesman said, and the other captured.

"We don't know what to do, or where to walk," Avi Shemesh, a witness to the attack, told reporters. "They are Israel-haters and they need to be eliminated."

Minutes later, another Palestinian rammed his car into a bus stop in the center of Jerusalem, then got out and began stabbing pedestrians, killing one and wounding six, police said. They said the attacker had been "neutralized", without saying what this meant.

Seven Israelis and 27 Palestinians, including nine alleged attackers and eight children, have died in almost two weeks of street attacks and security crackdowns.

The violence has been stirred in part by Muslim anger over increasing Jewish visits to the al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem, Islam's holiest site outside the Arabian Peninsula.

Credit: THOMAS COEX via Getty Images

In Raanana, just north of Tel Aviv, a Palestinian man stabbed and lightly wounded an Israeli on a shopping street during the morning rush hour, officials and witnesses said.

Amateur video distributed by police showed several men kicking and beating the alleged assailant as he lay on the ground. The ambulance service said he was seriously hurt.

A shopkeeper said that, after hearing shouting, he had grabbed a heavy wooden umbrella and run outside to confront the assailant.

"He started stabbing the guy. I hit him a couple of times and kicked him and the knife flew out of his hand," the store owner said. "I wish I had had a gun - I would have shot him."

Within an hour of that incident, another Palestinian stabbed and wounded four people in Raanana, police said.

The main Palestinian factions, including the Western-backed Fatah movement and the militant Hamas group, declared a "Day of Rage" on Tuesday across the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem, accusing Israel of "escalating its crimes against our people" and carrying out "summary executions".

The leaders of Israel's Arab community called for a commercial strike in their towns and villages.

The now-daily stabbings have raised speculation that Palestinians could be embarking on another uprising or intifada, reflecting a new generation's frustrations over their veteran leadership's failure to achieve statehood.

Palestinians also see increasing visits over the past year by Jewish groups and right-wing lawmakers to the al-Aqsa plaza, revered by Jews as the site of two destroyed biblical temples and Judaism's holiest place, as eroding Muslim religious control of the compound.

Netanyahu has said repeatedly that he will not allow any change to the status quo under which Jews are allowed to visit the site but non-Muslim prayer is banned, but his assurances have done little to quell alarm among Muslims across the region.

(Additional reporting by Maayan Lubell and Ori Lewis; Editing by Kevin Liffey)

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Israel, Palestinian Territories Suffering Worst Period Of Unrest In Years

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Palestinian men armed with knives and a gun killed at least three people and wounded several others in a string of attacks in Jerusalem and near Tel Aviv on Tuesday, police said, on a "Day of Rage" declared by Palestinian groups.

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B5

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Sarah Austin and Bear Kittay go to Israel to check out the western wall. They talk to their friend Adi who tells them all about it.

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Europe, after some hesitation, stands with Saudi dissident Raif Badawi

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Europe, after some hesitation, stands with Saudi dissident Raif Badawi

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ENSAF Haidar cut a brave, dignified and somehow lonely figure today as she received a standing ovation from the European Parliament and collected a highly prestigious human-rights award on behalf of her husband, the jailed Saudi blogger Raif Badawi, whose internet activities have earned him a horrific sentence of 1,000 public lashes.

Mr Badawi is the latest recipient of a prize named after the great Soviet dissident Andrei Sakharov, awarded annually since 1988. Previous recipients have included Nelson Mandela, the Soviet political prisoner Anatoly Marchenko (posthumously) and the protagonists of the Arab spring. Ms Haidar said she was very glad to see her husband added to the gallery of laureates, and that he had willingly agreed to receive the honour. But he might not hear much, immediately, about today's proceedings; that is because he had been transferred, last week, to a different jail where she had not managed to contact him. The transfer had taken place soon after Mr Badawi said he was beginning a hunger strike.

The latest signals from the Saudi authorities were contradictory, Ms Haidar said. On one hand, she had heard a few weeks ago that the king was reviewing her husband's case. On the other hand, his new place of incarceration is usually reserved for people about whom final decisions had been made.

Under the ghastly terms of his punishment Mr Badawi is supposed to receive his lashes in doses of 50 at a time. The first 50 were meted out in January but he was judged medically unfit to receive the next lot. Since then his family and supporters have lived in fear that the lashes might resume, but also in hope that the Saudi authorities might yield to international pressure and release him, allowing him to join his wife and three small children in Canada.

Today the European Parliament was unanimous in its approval of Mr Badawi and his wife; but members who support the Saudi dissident's cause complain that their initial attempts to pass resolutions condemning his harsh treatment ran into foot-dragging by the European People's Party, a bloc of centre-right movements which work together in the legislature.

Also under consideration for this year's prize were the slain Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov (posthumously) and the leaders of Venezuela's opposition; representatives of both were present at today's ceremony and received warm public mentions.

Ms Haidar was careful but unyielding in her comments. She declined to make any broad pronouncements about the political system in her country, or what if anything Western countries should do to encourage change. She stressed that her husband's online comments, for which he was suffering so terribly, had been circumscribed: "He did not criticise the kingdom of Saudi Arabia, he criticised the religious police." And she fully endorsed his words. Asked if she wished he had kept silent for the sake of a quiet family life, she replied: "I am very proud of what he did. My husband spoke out freely, elegantly, politely. I am extremely proud of him."

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Europe, after some hesitation, stands with Saudi dissident Raif Badawi

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ENSAF Haidar cut a brave, dignified and somehow lonely figure today as she received a standing ovation from the European Parliament and collected a highly prestigious human-rights award on behalf of her husband, the jailed Saudi blogger Raif Badawi, whose internet activities have earned him a horrific sentence of 1,000 public lashes.

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B5

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Ashdod may not be the first place you think of for a beach getaway. But this blue-collar town, built along the coast in the late 1950s, offers easy access to the sand and sun without the crowds and hubbub of Tel Aviv, Herzliya and even Ashkelon, its slightly upper-scale neighbor to the south.

There are plenty of options for how to spend a day here, in Israel's fifth-largest city. And, as long as you're not beach-averse, there's always the welcoming strip of sand and sea to walk or run along, or to sit and stare at.

12 p.m., indulge: Traveling with the family? Make everyone happy by filling their tummies at the Ben & Jerry's Israel factory store in Beer Tuvia. Nestled in the industrial environs of the town with an Astro-turfed front yard, wooden picnic tables and climbable cows, the factory store offers the full range of the Vermont ice cream company's choicest flavors, including some harder-to-find local options like Mint Cookies and Cream, or Chubby Hubby. There are also deals to be had on the pint-size containers (if you're heading straight home), and a full array of milkshakes and treats, like the Cappuccino Shake (two shots of espresso with vanilla ice cream) and the Vermonster, a bucket of 20 scoops covered with hot fudge, cookie crumbs and banana slices. You'll roll outta there. Ben & Jerry's, HaKatzir Street, Beer Tuvia, 073-2708720, open weekdays and Fridays.

2 p.m., work it off: It takes about 20 minutes to reach Ashdod from Beer Tuvia, an easy drive in midday traffic, and then to slowly make your way - unless you're in a 4-wheel drive - along the bumpy, sandy road to Sycamore and Big Dune Park, possibly the last place in the country where visitors can experience the sand dunes that once made up most of the coastal stretch from Gaza to Caesarea. This swath of land, on the southeast side of Ashdod, is one of the country's remaining dunes, reaching 35 meters high (115 feet), and stretching about 800 feet (almost 250 meters) long. It's punctuated by impressively full sycamore trees, which offer perfect shade during the hotter seasons of the year.

Our group arrived mid-afternoon, thinking we'd have the place to ourselves. Ha! Turns out that Friday afternoons at the dunes is akin to entering an alternate universe, that of ATVs and dune buggies, as track-suited locals saddled up to ride the dunes, clearly a weekly event. There must be a questionable environmental situation being created here, as the four-wheel drives spew carbon dioxide and who-knows-what-else along the lush, brown curves of the dunes. But there were those of us who admittedly enjoyed watching the buggies cruise along the ridges and valleys of the dune.

That said, we ended up choosing one of the smaller baby dunes, untouched by wheels of any kind, and spent a good hour rolling down and climbing right back up, bare feet sinking blissfully into the deep, soft sand.

There is supposedly wildlife in the park, but we didn't catch sight of any porcupines, deer, or jackals. They must have been more aware of the Friday visitors than we were. But heading back to the parking lot, we found one van selling snacks and sahlab, the perfect drink to cap off a sand-dune slide. To get there: From the Ashdod-Ashkelon road (Highway 4), take the southern Ashdod exit (Ad Halom). Turn west at the intersection when getting off the highway, and turn right again after the gas station. After 40 meters, there will be a left turn to the Ad Halom bridge, and then ample parking.

5 p.m., check in: There isn't a huge option of overnight accommodation available in Ashdod. Many a Google search will send seekers to the Holiday Inn in Ashkelon, an entirely unnecessary commute. Besides going the rental-apartment option, easily accomplished through the Airbnb or Tellavista websites, there are two good options in the city - the budget Orly Hotel, or the recently opened West Suites - both within easy access of the beach. The Orly has simple rooms that include a refrigerator, as well as breakfast - although it's a far cry from the traditional Israeli breakfast. Orly Hotel, 22 Nordau Street, 08-856-5380.

Down the road, the Tamares West Boutique Hotel is an upscale addition to Ashdod, located at the northern end of the city with a great view of the port, which is a fairly quiet and empty part of town. With very comfortable suites - which can easily sleep four adults, or two adults and two children, and include a spacious balcony, kitchenette and two TVs - the hotel offers the full array of facilities, including a gym, pool (not open in the winter), saunas and a well-stocked library in the lobby. Tamares West Boutique Hotel, Ashdod, 09-952-0808.

10 a.m., haul it to the harbor: Take some time at Ashdod's port of call, operating since 1965 and one of the country's two main cargo ports, which hauls in cars, shipping containers and passenger ships. The port boasts a recently renovated visitor's center, where groups can take an hour-and-a-half tour that includes interactive displays and activities about the port's history and its operation, as well as close-up looks at the massive cranes, ships and containers being moved around the port area. The free tour is geared for ages 9 and up, is only open to groups of 20 people or more, and must be reserved ahead of time, but it's worth calling and asking about individual groups as well. Call 08-851-7564 and check out the port website as well.

12 p.m., before heading out: There are more than a few well-reviewed restaurants in Ashdod, including French bistro Balzac (not kosher, a short walk from the West Hotel) and seafood specialists Idi and Daniel. There are also several restaurants near the West Hotel and the port, including Namaste, a kosher Indian restaurant that lacks atmosphere but is great for family gatherings and offers flavorful, plentiful Indian food right on the beach. Namaste, 20 Hatayelet, Ashdod.

If you're not done with Ashdod yet, there are a few more stops to be made. Walk along the beach, which can be done on the boardwalk, parts of which have been recently refurbished, from one end of Ashdod to the other. Head over to the Lachish Park and Zoo for a free visit with the zebras and ostriches, and climb in the playground. There's also the Ashdod Museum of Art - Monart Center overlooking the Ashdod marina, and the Corinne Maman Museum, an archeological collection of the Philistines, Ashdod's first pioneers.

Finally, you can always postpone your visit until the week of December 7, when the Ashdod Open Championships for ballroom and Latin dancing will be held in the port city, offering entertainment of a different kind. Olé!

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Dune buggies, stevedores and chutney on the beach

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Ashdod may not be the first place you think of for a beach getaway. But this blue-collar town, built along the coast in the late 1950s, offers easy access to the sand and sun without the crowds and hubbub of Tel Aviv, Herzliya and even Ashkelon, its slightly upper-scale neighbor to the south.

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Conflict in Israel and Palestine: Crash Course World History 223

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Conflict in Israel and Palestine: Crash Course World History 223

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B5- Crash Course Video 12:52

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Conflict in Israel and Palestine through 2015: Crash Course World History #223

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Lebanon rejects Syrian request to return Gadhafi son

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Lebanon rejects Syrian request to return Gadhafi son

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Lebanon rejects Syrian request to return Gadhafi son

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Lebanon's justice minister Wednesday rejected a Syrian request to return the son of deposed Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, Hannibal, who was detained last week over the case of a missing Lebanese cleric.

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Teenage Girl Assaulted by Arabs After Identifying as Jewish

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Teenage Girl Assaulted by Arabs After Identifying as Jewish

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Latest news from israel today, the definitive source for a truthful and balanced perspective on Israel

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Syria crisis: First 1,000 refugees have arrived in UK

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Syria crisis: First 1,000 refugees have arrived in UK

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The first 1,000 Syrian refugees have now arrived in the UK under the government's scheme to resettle vulnerable people living in refugees camps, David Cameron has said.

Charter flights have arrived in Glasgow, London Stansted and Belfast, and another is expected later.

The prime minister said he had met his pledge to bring the first 1,000 people to the UK by Christmas.

The UK government has promised to accept 20,000 Syrians over five years.

These will be drawn from established refugee camps, initially as part of the Vulnerable Persons Relocation (VPR) scheme.

More than 50 local authorities have taken a share those who have already arrived.
Migrant crisis explained in graphics From Syria to Bradford: A refugee family's tale
Alongside the VPR scheme, the UK has also granted asylum or other forms of protection to 1,868 Syrians in the year ending September 2015.

Councils in Yorkshire and the Humber will resettle around 1,500 Syrian refugees, it was announced

Fifty-one Syrian refugees who arrived in Belfast from Lebanon on Tuesday showed an "overwhelming" sense of gratitude, a charity which greeted them said

Last month, about 15 Syrian families arrived on the small Scottish island of Bute to make a new home

An additional 216 Syrian refugees were resettled under the government's VPR scheme between January 2014 and mid-2015.

'First great step'

At Prime Minister's Questions, Mr Cameron told the Commons: "I said that Britain would do its duty and with these thousand we have made a very good start."

He said the government was providing funding so the refugees get access to housing, healthcare and education.

The Refugee Council's head of advocacy Lisa Doyle welcomed the news, and said the refugees would have their lives "transformed, if not saved" by the UK resettlement programme.

However, she called on the government to also help resettle those who had risked the trip from Syria to Europe.

'Not enough'

Under EU rules, refugees are meant to claim asylum in the first European state they enter.

"What we now need to see is the same eagerness to welcome refugees shown by communities across the country reflected by Government policies," Ms Doyle said.

"Resettling Syrian refugees is a great first step but Britain also needs to come forward and offer to help refugees arriving in Europe a route to safety too."

David Cameron has argued that accepting people only from camps in Syria, Turkey and Jordan will provide a "direct and safe" route to safety - instead of encouraging them to make the journey across the Mediterranean by boat.

In response to questioning from MPs, Home Secretary Theresa May said all refugees would be subject to rigorous security checks to make sure Islamic State militants were not among them.

There have been criticisms from some high profile figures who believe the UK's response to the refugee crisis has not been enough.

Lord Phillips, former UK Supreme Court head, and Lord Macdonald, ex-director of public prosecutions, were among 300 who signed an open letter on the issue. One retired judge said the UK could cope with taking in 75,000 refugees a year.

25,771 people applied for asylum in the UK in the year to end June 2015

87% of Syrian requests for asylum were granted

145 Syrian asylum seekers have been removed from the UK since 2011

AP

Syria has been embroiled in a bloody armed conflict for nearly five years. More than 250,000 Syrians have been killed, and 11 million displaced from their homes - more than four million have already left the country.

Earlier this month, MPs voted in favour of UK military action in Syria, targeting so-called Islamic State, and a British bombing campaign began shortly after.

Updating the Commons on the situation in Syria, Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said there had been "no reports of civilian casualties" from RAF air strikes.

However, Russia - which is not part of the US-led coalition against IS, and is an ally of Syrian President Bashar al Assad - continued to target Syrian opposition forces rather than IS targets, he said.

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Syria crisis: First 1,000 refugees have arrived in UK - BBC News

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The first 1,000 Syrian refugees have now arrived in the UK under the government's scheme to resettle vulnerable people living in refugees camps, David Cameron has said. Charter flights have arrived in Glasgow, London Stansted and Belfast, and another is expected later.

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UN's Ban Ki-Moon accuses Israel of 'breeding' Palestinian terror attacks

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UN's Ban Ki-Moon accuses Israel of 'breeding' Palestinian terror attacks

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NEW YORK - In a message delivered on his behalf to a conference on the "Rights of the Palestinian people," UN Secretary- General Ban Ki-moon said the recent terrorist attacks by Palestinians against Israelis are "bred from nearly five decades of Israeli occupation."

"It is the result of fear, humiliation, frustration and mistrust," he said. "It has been fed by the wounds of decades of bloody conflict, which will take a long time to heal. Palestinian youth in particular are tired of broken promises and they see no light at the end of the tunnel."

In his message, which was delivered on Tuesday, Ban also blamed the "settlement enterprise" for the deterioration of the situation in the region.

"Jerusalem, one of the oldest cities in the world, holds shrines sacred to billions of people worldwide - Muslims, Jews and Christians alike," he added. "What happens in Jerusalem reverberates around the world."

Ban also referred to the situation on Temple Mount and said that despite several reaffirmations by the Israeli government that it does not intend to change the status quo at the holy site, "any action which could be interpreted as attempting to change the delicate balance, and particularly the status quo of the holy sites, carries with it the risk of conflict."

Ban also said there is an "urgent need for leaders to rein in incitement" and called on Israeli security forces to "ensure a calibrated use of force in response to incidents."

At the conference - held in Jakarta, Indonesia, and organized by the UN Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation on the Question of Jerusalem - Israel was also accused of conducting ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in Jerusalem. The accusation was made by Shawan Jabarin, director-general of Al-Haq, a Palestinian human rights organization.

Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon called the UN Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People "a body detached from reality."

He also addressed Ban Ki-moon's accusation and stressed that "there is no justification for terrorism."

"Instead of wasting your time trying to rationalize Palestinian terrorism, the United Nations should confront the Palestinian Authority to eradicate incitement coming from its highest echelons, permeating into the education system and social networks," Danon said.

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UN's Ban Ki-Moon accuses Israel of 'breeding' Palestinian terror attacks

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NEW YORK - In a message delivered on his behalf to a conference on the "Rights of the Palestinian people," UN Secretary- General Ban Ki-moon said the recent terrorist attacks by Palestinians against Israelis are "bred from nearly five decades of Israeli occupation." "It is the result of fear, humiliation, frustration and mistrust," he said.

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Nazareth man, 62, charged with threatening to kill mom

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Nazareth man, 62, charged with threatening to kill mom

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A 62-year-old Nazareth man who three times on Monday threatened to kill his mother is facing charges, borough police say in court papers.

Randy Lee Bruch, of the 500 block of South New Street, grabbed his mother by the shoulders and threw her into a sink about 7 p.m. in his home, police said.

After he made the trio of threats to kill her, his mother told police that she feared for her life and was afraid her son "was going to carry out his threats," police said.

Borough police arrested Randy Bruch and he was arraigned before on-call District Judge Nancy Matos Gonzalez on charges of terroristic threats, simple assault and harassment, all related to domestic violence, court papers say. Bruch failed to post $75,000 bail and on Tuesday morning remained in Northampton County Prison, online records show.
Tony Rhodin may be reached at arhodin@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @TonyRhodin. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.

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Nazareth man, 62, charged with threatening to kill mom

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A 62-year-old Nazareth man who three times on Monday threatened to kill his mother is facing charges, borough police say in court papers. Randy Lee Bruch, of the 500 block of South New Street, grabbed his mother by the shoulders and threw her into a sink about 7 p.m.