Below is a breakdown of events that have happened in Jerusalem in the past six months:
June 30, 2014 – Bodies of three abducted Israeli teenagers, one with American citizenship, were found in Hebron. Their murders were from an armed wing of Hamas.
July 2, 2014 – Palestinian teenager was torched to death by a fanatic Jewish attacker.
August 4, 2014 – A Palestinian worker used a backhoe to attack Israelis, murdering one.
September 9, 2014 – Clashes break out in Arab East Jerusalem as a result of the death of a Palestinian teenager shot by Israeli police during violent protests the previous week.
October 13, 2014 – Israeli police and Palestinian protesters engage in a skirmish at Temple Mount in Jerusalem.
October 22, 2014 – Palestinian man drives his car into a light-rail stop, killing two people. One of the victims was a 3-month old baby girl with American citizenship.
October 29, 2014 – Rabbi Yehuda Glick, a proponent for Jews praying on Temple Mount, was shot by a Palestinian.
November 5, 2014 – One Israeli died after a repeat car attack at a Jerusalem light-rail stop, at the hands of a Palestinian man.
November 10, 2014 – Two separate incidents: An Israeli soldier was killed at a train station in Tel Aviv, the attacker was Palestinian. An Israeli woman was murdered in the West Bank by a Palestinian driver.
November 18, 2014 – Two Palestinian attackers killed four Jewish worshipers and one police officer at a synagogue in Jerusalem. Three of the victims held dual Israeli-U.S. citizenship, while the fourth was a British-Israeli national.
November 21, 2014 – Two Israeli seminary students were attacked and injured by Palestinian attackers in East Jerusalem.
When we hear of the horrific events happening in Israel each incident comes across as a random, sporadic, isolated event, when actually each terrorist attack in Israel is a part of a bigger terror strategy. So in this blog we are going to connect the dots to try to explain why terror is currently reigning in Jerusalem.
Back in June 2014 Hamas (the government controlling the Gaza Strip) and Fatah (the party governing the West Bank) reconciled with one another, creating a new Palestinian unity government. This happened after Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip in 2007 and these two parties (Hamas and Fatah) separated from one another, creating a divide between Fatah and Hamas for almost seven years. The U.S., EU, UN, and China approved of the unity government and promised to work with them as long as they vow to advance peace with Israel.
As soon as the unity government was formed Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu urged world leaders not to recognize the newly formed Palestinian government, stating that it would “strengthen terrorism” since Hamas seeks the destruction of Israel.
President Abbas responded to Netanyahu’s statement saying that his fears were “unfounded.”
Each party in the unity government is using its newfound reconciliation as a way to advance its own agenda, so to call it a unity government is quite ironic. President Abbas, of Fatah, views the unity government as his ticket to regain a foothold in the Gaza Strip he lost seven years ago, while Hamas is using the unity government as a way to incite more terror in the West Bank, to gain more recognition and support.
So were Netanyahu’s fears “unfounded,” as Palestinian Authority President Abbas insisted? Since June eight terror attacks have happened killing 14, five of them had American citizenship. Jake Tapper of CNN recently tweeted:
Back in September Shin Bet (Israeli Security Agency) revealed that Hamas was planning to topple the already weakened Fatah party to gain complete control in the West Bank through a series of terrorist attacks in the West Bank and Jerusalem. So much for that unity government.
These horrific terror attacks are not separate random events, but rather, a unified terror advancement in Jerusalem and the West Bank being organized, instigated, and welcomed by Hamas. Netanyahu warned the world leaders of the dangers of supporting the unity government. Now the Israelis are paying the price.
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