Four Rabbis and Druze policeman assassinated in Jerusalem

[TonyGosling]

Kerry blames Jerusalem synagogue attack on 'incitement' by Palestinian leaders
Secretary of state decries ‘irresponsibility’ of calls for ‘days of rage’
Obama: Palestinians and Israelis should work together to lower tensions
http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2014/nov/18/kerry-blames-jerusalem- attack-incitement-palestinian-leaders-fatah-hamas

The US secretary of state, John Kerry, blamed Palestinian leaders for the death of three American rabbis in Jerusalem on Tuesday, suggesting the brutal murders in a synagogue were “a pure result of incitement” by groups like Hamas and Fatah.

The three rabbis, all dual US-Israeli citizens, were killed along with a British-Israeli in a brutal attack on Jewish worshippers during early morning prayers.

Two Palestinian militants, who rampaged through the synagogue in the ultra-orthodox Har Nof district of west Jerusalem, armed with axes, knives and a pistol, were shot dead by police at the scene.

The American-Israeli victims, were Moshe Twersky, 59, Aryeh Kupinsky, 43 and Kalman Ze’ev Levine, 55. Twersky came from a prominent Jewish family; his father founded Harvard’s Center for Jewish Studies and his grandfather was one of the originators of the Modern Orthodox movement. The British-Israeli victim was Avraham Shmuel Goldberg, 68.

Barack Obama called on Palestinian leaders and ordinary citizens “to work cooperatively together to lower tensions” in a statement released by the White House. “There is and can be no justification for such attacks against innocent civilians,” the US president said.

Speaking in London hours earlier, Kerry went further, linking the attack – one of the deadliest in recent years in Jerusalem – to repeated calls by Palestinian leaders for people to express their anger.

“To have this kind of act, which is a pure result of incitement, of calls for ‘days of rage’, of just irresponsibility, is unacceptable,” he said. “The Palestinian leadership must condemn this and they must begin to take serious steps to restrain any kind of incitement.”

Kerry added: “Innocent people who had come to worship died in the sanctuary of a synagogue. They were hatcheted, hacked and murdered in that holy place in an act of pure terror and senseless brutality and murder. I call on Palestinians at every single level of leadership to condemn this in the most powerful terms.”

Although Kerry did not mention any Palestinian leaders or groups by name, the secretary of state’s remark about “days of rage” refers to calls by Palestinian leaders in recent months for citizens to express their anger on streets.

[outsider]

Here is an appeal from Palestine Solidarity Campaign for people to email their MP re the situation in Israel/Palestine.
http://ymlp.com/zRSWXY

Kerry, in good Bonesman style, hammers the Palestinian leadership for 'incitement', but totally ignores Netanyahu's incitement against the Palestinians, and illegally (do they EVER do anything legally???) calls for collective punishment (just as the Nazis did in Occupied France and elsewhere).
Your MP may be an absolute *?<@^~", like mine, but you can still email him/her/it:


'As we have reported over the last few weeks, tensions have been incredibly high in Jerusalem. As David Hearst puts it, ‘The red line in this battle is al-Aqsa in particular and Jerusalem in general. There is no question in the minds of the Palestinians of East Jerusalem but that Israel has already crossed this line. Attacking places of worship has alas become commonplace. Since June 2011, 10 mosques in Israel and the West Bank have been set on fire by presumed right-wing Jewish extremists. No charges have been filed. Over 63 mosques were destroyed and 153 partially damaged in Israel's attack on Gaza.’

Israeli State incitement against Palestinians has included closing and limiting access the Al Aqsa Mosque, and vindictive measures such as spraying skunk water into quiet streets and schools. In the wake of the horrific killings of Israelis and Palestinians over the past few days, it appears the situation is deteriorating quickly. Gun rules for Israelis are to be eased, and the Mayor of Ashkelon has banned Palestinians with Israeli citizenship from working on building works in Kindergartens. Violence is surging against Palestinians. On Sunday, 32-year-old bus driver Yusuf Hasan al-Ramuni was found hanged inside his bus – Israeli police were quick to dismiss his death as suicide, but a Palestinian doctor, who attended the autopsy, said the father of two was strangled to death. Osama al-Ramuni, the victim's brother, said Yusuf’s body had bruises on it, suggesting he had been tortured before his death.

Yet again, Prime Minister Netanayahu has been inciting violence, calling for a 'heavy hand' and describing it as a 'fight for Jerusalem', announcing plans for aggravated punitive measures against the families and communities of the men responsible for attacks against Israelis.

At this time of absolute emergency, please call on your MP to speak in the debate about Palestine on Monday 1st December. Ask them to raise the issues of Israel’s violations of international law and Palestinian human rights, and to call for the government to take action on East Jerusalem, an arms embargo, a block on settlement trade, and an end to the siege on Gaza.'