To the Jewish Press Staff, amv"sh
Moadim LeSimcha!
In light of last weeks Jewish Press front page news of JTA, and "Anonymous" comment on Shemittahrediscovered.blogspot.com defending the front page news article as "middle of the road reporting", rather than being a mouthpiece for IDF's new policies, I would like you to read the following posts that paint the IDF in a less positive light. . I suspect that the Jewish Press considers ARUTZ7 as "propaganda" and will therefore not report these items or report it in a censored manner while sticking purely to the "facts". Unfortunately It takes a terror attack on the level of the Fogel Massacre to present Arutz7 or another right winger on the front page of the Jewish Press and even then some of the facts might be censored by JTA or presented as "claims of the right wing Settlers" rather than as facts. .It is not only the Jewish Press that fails to understand that a media war is enabling our enemies to win the War on the Ground against pious Breslov Jews who want to daven in Kever Yosef simply because it is our Land and we should be able to do so freely w/o fear of our enemies in our Land.
To all my readers, please write the Jewish Press editors above and voice your opposition to using JTA a mouthpiece for a leftist agenda on their front page. While the Jewish Press considers this "middle of the road reporting"many consider JTA reporting as a mouthpiece for "Peace Now".
For a more comprehensive analysis and overview on the IDF's recent decisions to protect Palestinian civilians please read:
-Todays News as reported in Artutz7
Palestinian Police Kill 24 year old Breslev Chasid Ben Yosef Livnat nephew of Likud Minister Limor Livnat and father of four. PA Arabs Celebrate Murder by Desecrating Joseph's tomb. IDF Judea and Samaria Cmdr., Brig. Gen. Nitzan Alon, regrets but does not Condemn Killing.
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Headlines
- Palestinian Authority Police Kill Israeli near Joseph's Tomb
- Min. Livnat 'Stunned' by Nephew's Murder
- PA Arabs Celebrate Murder by Desecrating Joseph's Tomb
- PA Spokesman: Settlers Are not Normal People
- IDF Judea and Samaria Cmdr. Regrets but Does Not Condemn Killing
- EU Panel Chooses Passover to Approve Anti-Semitic Food Labeling
- A Strong Israeli Army Marches on a Healthy Stomach
- Assad is 'World's Most Dangerous Man' says Joel Brinkley
1. Palestinian Authority Police Kill Israeli near Joseph's Tomb
Palestinian Authority police Sunday morning shot and killed one Israeli and wounded four others after they prayed at Joseph's Tomb (Kever Yosef) around 6 a.m. Sunday (11 p.m. Saturday night EDT). The murder victim (pictured below) was identified as 24-year-old Ben Yosef Livnat, a nephew of Likud Minister Limor Livnat and father of four children.
Arabs attacked the funeral procession with rocks as it proceeded from his childhood home of Elon Moreh to Jerusalem, where he lived with his wife and four children. At least one car windshield was broken in the rock attacks, but no one was injured. People from Elon Moreh stood by the highway in dozens of cars as the funeral procession passed.
One of the three who were wounded in the shooting attack is in serious condition, and Army helicopters evacuated the injured to a hospital for emergency care. A group of 15 worshippers from the Breslov Chassidic sect had driven to the site and were returning when they were gunned down by Palestinian Authority police in a jeep.
The PA security forces continued to fire at the cars as they fled.
The IDF hurriedly issued a statement that the trip to Kever Yosef was not coordinated with Israeli security forces, and military spokesmen referred to the murder as an "incident" and not an attack.
Kever Yosef is a Jewish holy site that was supposed to be under Israeli control and open to worshippers as stated in previous agreements. However, the government has surrendered the area to Palestinian Authority control, and local Arabs have desecrated it several times.
The Breslov group was known to Palestinian Authority authorities as people who frequently prayed at Kever Yosef without any other intentions, according to Gershon Mesika, chairman of the Shomron (Samaria) Regional Council. He called the shooting attack a "massacre at close range."
National Union Knesset Member Dr. Michael Ben-Ari indirectly blamed the American government for having "trained and armed the enemy army that is called the 'Palestinian Authority police' and is directly responsible for the murder at Kever Yosef."
He called on the Israeli government to restore the Od Yosef Chai Yeshiva to Kever Yosef and to confiscate weapons from the Palestinian Authority
The attack on the morning before the last day of the Passover holiday comes less than a month after the savage stabbings of Rabbi Udi Fogel, his wife Ruthie and three of their six young children, including a three-month-old baby, in community of Itamar, also located in Samaria.
Residents of Judea and Samaria frequently have warned that the removal of roadblocks and checkpoints in the area would make it easier for Arab terrorists to stage attacks and would encourage PA police to attack Jews. Defense Minister Ehud Barak has argued that the easing of security measures are "goodwill" measures that strengthen PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas's popularity and help him fight terror.
2. Min. Livnat 'Stunned' by Nephew's Murder
Minister of Culture and Sport Limor Livnat expressed her shock Sunday at the murder of her nephew, Ben-Yosef Livnat, at the Tomb of Joseph in Shechem.
A formal announcement issued by the minister's bureau said that "Minister Limor Livnat is stunned by the murderous terror attack that killed her nephew, Ben-Yosef Livnat z"l, at Joseph's Tomb this morning."
"A young man whose sole purpose on the eve of the second Pesach holiday was to pray, was vilely murdered in cold blood, and left behind a wife and four orphans," she stated.
Ben-Yosef Livnat's funeral began at about 11:00 A.M., proceeding from Elon Moreh in Samaria toward the To'eh BaSadeh meit midrash (study hall) and from there to the Shamgar funeral home in Jerusalem. Livnat was to be buried at the Mount of Olives Cemetery.
3. PA Arabs Celebrate Murder by Desecrating Joseph's Tomb
Palestinian Authority Arabs set fire to Kever Yosef near Shechem Sunday morning several hours after PA policemen gunned down Jewish worshippers, killing one of them. Eyewitnesses saw smoke billowing over the tomb, which Arabs have frequently desecrated in the past.
The murder victim, 24-year-old Ben Yosef Chai, a nephew of Likud Minister Limor Livnat, was buried Sunday afternoon, several hours before the beginning of the last day of the seven-day Passover holiday Sunday evening.
PA police killed Livnat and wounded four others by opening fire on their cars after they prayed at Kever Yosef and were returning home.
Defense Minister Ehud Barak condemned the murder and said that the lack of coordination did not justify the Palestinian Authority police attack. He demanded that the PA investigate the shooting. Pictured is a bullethole in one of the vehicles targeted by the PA.
Many coalition Knesset Members are up in arms over the PA police attack. Cabinet Science minister, MK Prof. Rabbi Daniel Hershkowitz, chairman of the Jewish Home party that is part of the coalition, said the attack "unmasked the PA's true face" and called for the return of the IDF to the holy site, where previous agreements guaranteed Israel control and the freedom of worship to Jews.
Israel since has surrendered Kever Yosef to the PA.
National Union chairman MK Yaakov Katz called on Israelis to remember that it was Israel that first armed the PA with rifles as part of the ill-fated Oslo Accords, signed in 1993. Livnat's name is added to "the long list of 1,500 Jews who have been slaughtered by PA weapons," MK Katz added.
The Shomron (Samaria) Residents Committee stated, "The murder this morning at Joseph's Tomb illustrates the danger of relying on the Palestinian police. Every Palestinian policeman is a potential terrorist whose hatred of Jews" is always present.
Likud MK Ze'ev Elkin and National Union MK Aryeh Eldad said, "There can be no room for any concession on the need for total control and freedom of action for the IDF in all regions of Judea and Samaria."
The Human Rights Organization of Judea and Samaria declared that the murder provides further proof that contradicts a recent report that the Palestinian Authority is ready to become an independent country.
4. PA Spokesman: Settlers Are not Normal People
Jewish settlers in Israel "are not normal people" and therefore there is no need to apologize for the murder of a Jew who prayed at Kever Yosef (Joseph's Tomb) Sunday morning, according to Palestinian Authority security forces' spokesman General Adnan Damiri.
He also claimed the victims of Kever Yosef attack may have been armed.
In an unusually provocative interview with Voice of Israel government radio, he said he could not confirm or deny eyewitness reports that Palestinian Authority policemen shot at five Jews who were on their way home from praying at Kever Yosef (Joseph's Tomb) early Sunday morning.
"We have not said they were or were not" PA policemen, Damiri said, contradicting all reports in both Arab and Israeli media, where the attackers were identified as PA policemen.
Asked if the PA will apologize for the murder of Ben Yosef Livnat, he answered, "You know that settlers are not normal people. Every day, they shoot at innocent Arabs." This, of course, is a blatant untruth, as the news anchor realized.
News anchor Estie Peres, who may agree with the usual Voice of Israel's criticism of Jewish presence in most of Judea and Samaria, responded that she could not agree with his statement that "settlers are not normal" and asked Damiri if there was justification in shooting at people who had been praying and were on their way home.
"Maybe they were armed," Damiri responded.
Further questioned if the PA will "make peace with settlers," he declared, "There is no room in the Palestinian Authority for settlers."
The Bethlehem-based Ma'an news agency turned the story around and told its readers that "dozens of armed ultra-Orthodox settlers entered the Joseph's Tomb site…, pulled out their own guns and pointed them toward Palestinian officers. " This is the same agency that claimed that the Fogel family of Itamar were killed by a Thai worker, well knowing that the town of Itamar allows employment of Jewish workers only.
There was no indication from Israeli authorities that the worshippers were armed.
5. IDF Judea and Samaria Cmdr. Regrets but Does Not Condemn Killing
The Commander of the Judea and Samaria Division, Brig. Gen. Nitzan Alon, addressed this morning's shootings of Israeli worshippers near Joseph's Tomb in Shechem by Palestinian Authority security forces without any noticeable emotion, and did not say one word blaming the PA for murdering an unbillegerent Israeli citizen at close range.
The IDF statement issued together with Brig.-Gen. Alon's short video statement said: "The shooting killed one Israeli, Ben Yosef Livnat, and wounded four others. The IDF expresses its condolences to the Livnat family."
"Visits to Joseph's Tomb must be coordinated in advance so that Israeli security forces may provide proper arrangements for the safety of worshippers. Arriving at the Tomb independently without prior coordination is extremely dangerous."
INN Editor comments: Does this mean that the cold blooded murder of a man going to pray was justified? Is it par for the course when the perpetrators are Arabs? One could almost infer that from the lack of any condemnation of the murderers on the part of Gen. Alon.
The need for coordination is a security measure aimed at Israelis. The act of murder is a barbaric deed in itself whether or not it was made easier by lack of coordination with the IDF. (R.S. INN editor).
Sincerely,
Robin Ticker
This email is L'Ilui Nishmat Yisrael ben David Aryeh ob"m (Izzy - Kaplan) a great activist and lover of Eretz Yisroel, Am Yisroel and the Torah. Yehi Zichrono Baruch.
This will be posted on Shemittahrediscovered.blogspot.com
Professor Avi Bell holds multiple degrees from Harvard and the University of Chicago, clerked for the Supreme Court of Israel, and has taught courses on the laws of war and the legal aspects of the Arab-Israeli conflict. 
J.J. Surbeck is a Swiss-educated attorney who worked for 16 years for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), which many have called the "Guardian of the Geneva Conventions." He has lectured and taught widely on the Geneva Conventions and their Additional Protocols, also called International Humanitarian Law. He is currently Executive Director of 
Rick Richman is a graduate of Harvard College and NYU Law School. His articles have appeared in American Thinker, Commentary, the Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles, the Jewish Press, Pajamas Media, and the New York Sun. He blogs at Contentions and edits 
