Zionist Federation defends #IsraeliLivesMatter demonstration plans following criticism

Kobi Gideon/GPO/Israel Sun 13-10-2015 Please credit Kobi Gideon/GPO ONLY Two terrorists boarded an Egged bus on Olei HaGardom Street in East Talpiot, a neighborhood also known as Armon HaNetziv, armed with a gun and the other with a knife. They started shooting and stabbing passengers while the bus kept moving, killing a man in his 60s and wounding four others. One of the wounded was later declared dead at the hospital. A security guard at the scene was able to overpower one of them and shoot him. The terrorist then tried to get up and resume his attack, but the security guard shot him again. The second terrorist locked the bus' doors in an attempt to stop security forces from boarding, as well as stopping passengers from fleeing. Policemen opened fire at him from outside the bus. One of the terrorists was killed, while the other was wounded and neutralized. Eye-witnesses said one of the terrorists took over the driver's seat in an attempt to kidnap the bus. Golan Cohen-Gabai, one of the eye-witnesses, said he used his car to block off the bus and stop the terrorist from taking it. "Then he opened the doors and wanted to come at me with a knife. I closed the windows, so he ran back and returned with a gun.... I held him here for two minutes and then police forces arrived," he said. An MDA paramedic who arrived at the scene of the attack described it as chaotic, saying gunfire was heard as rescue teams arrived. זירת פיגוע בשכונת ארמון הנציב אוטובוס קו 78 שני מחבלים ביצעו פיגוע באמצעות סכין ואקדח *** Local Caption *** / — Medics clean up blood from the scene of today’s bus attack. (Kobi Gideon/GPO/Israel)

The Zionist Federation has defended its plans for its #IsraeliLivesMatter protest, following a letter of criticism sent yesterday, writes Jack Mendel.

The open reply by the ZF’s chief executive Paul Charney responds to a stinging rebuke signed by over 140 British Jews, attacking the Board of Deputies and ZF for a rally against ‘Palestinian incitement and violence’ due to be held in London today.

Signatories wrote: “To take what are presented as as uniquely Jewish troubles and lay them at the door of the Palestinian Mission creates a wholly unnecessary ‘Us v Them’ narrative, which cannot possibly foster the good relations necessary for peace.”

“To ‘protest the incitement and commemorate the victims’, solely in the framework of the importance of Israeli lives, itself incites hatred towards Palestinians, and shows no empathy towards their losses.”

The open reply defends the use of the hashtag and the organisation of the demonstration.

“The Israeli community that feels that the threats to their lives are being ignored, and their deaths downplayed or even justified,” said Charney.

“There are now numerous examples of misleading headlines and stories that focus on Palestinians killed, rather than the Israelis they were trying to kill.

The “appalling reaction from many Palestinians to this spate of violence, and the related indifference of the Palestinian Authority.”

The Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) told Israeli cabinet ministers that “senior PA and Fatah officials are involved in the incitement that is fanning the violence,” said Charney.

“This is the reason why we have decided to hold our event outside the Palestinian Mission – the de facto Palestinian embassy. We wish to hold the Palestinian Authority to account, a decision that you describe as “itself incit[ing] hatred towards Palestinians.”

He adds: “The ZF condemns both violence and racism… Were the Palestinian leadership as willing to join us, we would not feel the need to hold this protest. Sadly, as it stands, we do.”

It is understood that there will be a significant counter-protest, but the ZF has discouraged supporters from engaging.