World View: Jerusalem Synagogue Attack Raises Arab-Israeli Violence to New Levels

This morning’s key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com

• Jerusalem synagogue attack raises Arab-Israeli violence to new levels
• Spain’s parliament calls for recognition of State of Palestine
• Obama could order combat troops into Iraq and Syria
• NATO and OSCE see Russian military buildup on both sides of Ukraine’s border

Jerusalem synagogue attack raises Arab-Israeli violence to new levels

Israeli security forces run in front of the synagogue that was attacked on Tuesday

The spiral of violence that began last Spring with the kidnapping ofthree Israeli teenagers who were later found dead took a new leapupward on Tuesday when two Palestinians wielding a gun and butcherknives attacked a Jerusalem synagogue during morning prayers, killingfour rabbis and a policeman. Three of the rabbis were American,and the fourth was British.

The extremely brutal attacks have drawn comments from both sides thatare likely to enrage the other side further.

Palestinian Authority (PA) president Mahmoud Abbas, also known as AbuMazen, condemned the attack, but blamed Israel for inciting it:

It is time to end this occupation, to end all causesof violence and tension; we are committed to the two-statesolution, and implementing all related international legitimacyresolutions.

Recently, Abbas called for an end to the “contamination” of theJerusalem holy sites by Jews.

Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu blamed Abbas and he blamedthe international community as well:

This is a direct result of incitement led by Hamasand Abu Mazen, incitement that the international community hasbeen irresponsibly ignoring.

We will respond with a heavy hand to the brutal murder of Jews whocame to pray and were killed by lowly murderers.

Netanyahu said that the homes of the perpetrators would be demolished,an act that Palestinians say punishes innocent people living in thesame homes.

The attack follows a death by hanging earlier this week in eastJerusalem of Yusuf Hassan al-Ramouni, a Palestinian bus driver. Thedeath was apparently a suicide, but Palestinians are claiming, withoutconfirmation, that he was killed by Israeli settlers. However, anautopsy performed jointly by Israeli and Palestinian coroners found noevidence of foul play.

A Hamas spokesman called for more attacks on Israelis:

Jerusalem attack is a reaction to the execution ofthe martyr al-Ramouni and the ongoing Israeli crimes at al-Aqsa.Hamas calls for the continuation of acts of revenge.

There are increasing fears of a so-called “third intifida,” a generalviolent uprising of Palestinians against Israelis. International Middle East Media Center (Gaza) and International Business Times and Latin American Herald Tribune

Spain’s parliament calls for recognition of State of Palestine

On the same day as the synagogue attack in Jerusalem, Spain’sparliament passed a resolution calling on the government torecognize the State of Palestine:

The Spanish parliament urges the government toencourage the recognition of Palestine as a state… Thisrecognition should be the consequence of a process negotiatedbetween the parties that guarantees peace and security forboth.

This was actually a version that was watered down at the last moment,possibly because of the Jerusalem attack.

European Union leaders have been expressing frustration about Israel’scontinuing settlement-building program in the West Bank. Palestiniansclaim that the settlements are being built on Palestinian land, makingthe two-state solution impossible. Israelis claim that the newsettlements are being built only on land that would be part of Israelin a two-state solution. Reuters

Obama could order combat troops into Iraq and Syria

President Obama has repeatedly said that he would not permit Americancombat troops into Iraq or Syria to fight the Islamic State of Iraqand Syria (IS or ISIS or ISIL), but on Sunday he said:

If we discovered that [ISIS] had gotten possession ofa nuclear weapon, and we had to run an operation to get it out oftheir hands, then, yes. I would order it.

This is reminiscent of Obama’s “red line” promise to attack the regimeof Syria’s president Bashar al-Assad if it used chemical weapons.Obama immediately backed down when al-Assad attacked his own peoplewith Sarin gas. Al-Assad is still using chemical weapons — barrelbombs packed with explosives, metals, and chlorine gas, which he’susing against innocent civilians with impunity. So it seems unlikelythat anyone will take this new red line very seriously.

On Tuesday, the al-Assad regime dropped multiple barrel bombs on acivilian neighborhood in Aleppo, killing at least 14 people, includingmothers and children. ABC News and AP

NATO and OSCE see Russian military buildup on both sides of Ukraine’s border

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg says that information fromNATO and OSCE (Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe)and other sources indicates that Russia is in the midst of “seriousmilitary buildup” on both sides of the Ukraine border. According toStoltenberg:

“[We see] a military buildup…inside Ukraine, but wealso see a military buildup on the Russian side of the border.

And we speak about troops, we speak about equipment, and we speakalso about artillery and very modern air-defense systems so thisis a serious military build-up. …

We see that Russia is still destabilizing Ukraine, we see themovement of troops, of equipment, of tanks, of artillery and alsoadvanced air defense systems and this is in violation of thecease-fire agreement. And we call on Russia to pull back itsforces from eastern Ukraine and to respect the Minskagreement.”

Germany’s Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier is practicingRussia-Ukraine war. RFERL

KEYS: Generational Dynamics, Israel, Jerusalem, Benjamin Netanyahu,Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, Abu Mazen,Hamas, Yusuf Hassan al-Ramouni,Islamic State / of Iraq and Syria/Sham/the Levant, IS, ISIS, ISIL,Iraq, Syria, Bashar al-Assad, Aleppo,Ukraine, Russia, Nato, Jens Stoltenberg,Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, OSCE,Germany, Frank-Walter Steinmeier
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