Posted: 11/20/2014 at 9:10am | IP Logged

JERUSALEM, ISRAEL (ANS) -- Zidan Saif, a 30-year-old police officer from the Druze village of Kfar Yanouch in the Galilee, died Tuesday evening, succumbing to wounds he suffered when responding to the terrorist attack at the Kehilat Bnei Torah Synagogue in Jeruslam’s Har Nof neighborhood earlier in the day.

Israeli police officer Zidan Saif died from injuries during the synagogue attack (Photo courtesy ICEJ).

The International Christian Embassy Jerusalem (ICEJ) says his death brings the death toll from the attack to five. Additionally, Yanouch’s wife and four month old daughter join the wives and 24 children of the four rabbis who were slain in the attack to the list of surviving family members.

ICEJ says Rabbi Aryeh Kopinsky, 43, Rabbi Avraham Shmuel Goldberg, 68, and Rabbi Calman Levine, 55, all from Har Nof, and Rabbi Moshe Twersky, 59, were identified as among those murdered in the attack. Seven other men were wounded in the attack, including four who were still fighting for their lives in area hospitals on Wednesday.

The killers, identified as Abed Abu Jamal, 22, and Ghassan Muhammad Abu Jamal, 32, were killed in a shootout with police at the synagogue’s entrance.

“If you look at today, basically, ordinary Israelis cannot find a sanctuary in a synagogue,” Israeli Ambassador to the UN Ron Prosor told CNN. “I have to tell the American people, and everyone else, Israel is on the front line in countering terrorism. If you’re not with us today, you'll find terrorism on your doorstep tomorrow.”

“Jerusalem bows its head in pain and sorrow on this difficult morning,” Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat said. “Jerusalem residents peacefully praying in a synagogue in the heart of Jerusalem were cruelly slaughtered in cold blood while wearing their prayer shawls. I promise Jerusalem residents that we will continue to fight terror with full force and we will do everything in our power to restore peace and security to Jerusalem.”

The mayor continued: “I call on Israel’s national government and security forces to provide Jerusalem with all of the support necessary to fight terror. I call on the international community to strongly condemn this horrific act. We will not surrender to terror. We will stand strong and defend our city from those who try to disturb the peace of our capital.”

The US Branch of the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem (ICEJ) condemned in strongest terms the barbaric slaughter of innocent Jewish worshippers Tuesday in a Jerusalem synagogue. Wielding guns and meat cleavers, two Israeli Arab citizens murdered four rabbis and injured thirteen others who were peacefully engaged in their morning prayers.

In a statement, ICEJ said: “Sadly, there have been numerous attacks of this nature recently, some using vehicles, in which Arabs have intentionally targeted innocent Israeli civilians, in one case even killing a three-month-old baby. Since October 23rd, 2014, eight Israelis have been murdered and another thirty-six injured in the ongoing attacks.

“The Palestinian Arab leadership should be held responsible for their incitement of such violence through their calls for ‘days of rage’ against Israelis, their glorification of murderers as heroic martyrs and their fabricated accusations of Jewish desecration of the Temple Mount. It’s time the world stops turning a blind eye to this alarming trend and its dangerous consequences.”

“Our hearts go out to the victims’ families and we pray they will know the comfort of the Almighty during this difficult time,” said Susan Michael, US Director of ICEJ. “Our sincere condolences for their losses hardly seem sufficient, yet we are compelled to let them know how much we care for them and that we stand with them in full solidarity at this time.”

The ICEJ also called upon the U.S. Congress to cut all funding to entities that condone these killings or honor those who carry them out. “American taxpayer money should not be used to prop up regimes and organizations which in any way support the cold-blooded murder of Jews,” ICEJ stated.

“We pray for the peace of Jerusalem and call upon all American Christians to join us in not only beseeching Heaven for intervention but to stand up for Israel now more than ever in her hour of distress.”

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed a harsh response. He ordered the homes of the attackers to be destroyed and called for the people of Israel to stand together in the face of a "wave of terror."

ICEJ explained that Jerusalem has seen weeks of unrest, partly fuelled by tension over a disputed holy site.

Three of the victims were dual Israeli-US nationals, the US state department has confirmed, while the fourth was a dual Israeli-UK citizen. The funerals of the four men - all rabbis - have been held in Jerusalem, with thousands in attendance.

Israeli television showed footage of armed police running to the scene of the attack.

A bloodied prayer book at the scene of the attack (Photo via BBC website)

Netanyahu said this was a "terrible attack at a time of prayer" and condemned what he termed the "shouts of joy" from the Palestinian-controlled Gaza Strip after the attacks. He said he was strengthening security on the streets of Jerusalem, without giving details.

Netanyahu called on the people of Israel to "stand together as one" but added that it was "forbidden for anybody to take the law into their own hands, even if their blood is boiling."

Earlier, the office of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas issued a statement saying: "The presidency condemns the attack on Jewish worshippers in their place of prayer and condemns the killing of civilians no matter who is doing it."

US President Barack Obama also condemned the attack, saying: "There is and can be no justification for such attacks against innocent civilians."

The Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades, the military wing of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, said it had carried out the attack.

In analysis by Kevin Connolly, BBC News, Jerusalem, the BBC said Jerusalem has been a place of division fiercely contested by rival religious traditions for many hundreds of years.

The BBC said in the last few weeks, tensions have risen sharply -- largely as the result of the revival of an ancient dispute over rights of worship at a site within the walls of the Old City.

The BBC explained that Muslims call the site al-Haram al-Sharif and believe it is the place where the Prophet Muhammad ascended into heaven -- to Jews it is Temple Mount and marks the place where the sacred temples of their faith stood in ancient times.

By a long-standing tradition, Muslims alone have the right to pray at the site, although people of other faiths may visit, the BBC said.

It went on to state the issue is of such sensitivity that even when Israel captured the Old City of Jerusalem during the war of 1967 it handed control of the compound back to an Islamic religious authority which continues to administer it to this day.

The BBC said in recent times, some religious Jews have begun to argue for a change in the status quo which would also allow them to pray there. Any hint of such change is viewed with deep anger in the Islamic world.

The BBC added the attack happened at the Bnei Torah Kehilat Yaakov synagogue and religious seminary site on Harav Shimon Agassi Street -- home to a largely Orthodox Jewish community in the Har Nof neighborhood.

The victims were Moshe Twersky, 59, head of the seminary, Arieh Kupinsky, 43, and Kalman Levine, 55, all of whom also held US passports. The fourth victim, Avraham Goldberg, 68, was also a UK citizen.

Police say there was a shoot-out with the attackers when officers reached the scene.

The BBC also said pictures posted online by an Israeli military spokesman show a bloodied meat cleaver and bodies lying between desks and chairs on a bloodstained floor, their faces covered with their prayer shawls.

"I tried to escape. The man with the knife approached me. There was a chair and table between us... my prayer shawl got caught. I left it there and escaped," one of the surviving Israelis told Channel 2 television.

In the Gaza Strip, some people distributed sweets to celebrate. Hamas, which controls Gaza, and another militant group, Islamic Jihad, praised the attack.

Hamas said it was in revenge for the death of a Palestinian bus driver found hanged inside a vehicle in Jerusalem on Monday.

Israeli police said it was a case of suicide, but the man's family did not accept the post-mortem findings.

Israeli security officers next to the synagogue in Jerusalem Israeli forces rushed to the scene of the attack, which happened during morning prayers. Israeli emergency personnel cleaned the site outside of the Jerusalem.

A Palestinian woman was seen distributing sweets (candies) to children in Gaza after the attack (Photo via Fox Twitter).

A Palestinian woman was seen scattering sweets at celebrations in Rafah in the Gaza Strip. In the Gaza Strip, Palestinians distributed sweets in celebrations, some holding aloft an image of the attackers.

After the attack, there were reports of clashes in the Jabal Mukaber district of East Jerusalem, as Israeli security forces moved in to make arrests that included some members of the attackers' family.

Police are also investigating reports that a Palestinian man was stabbed in the leg by three Jewish attackers in central Jerusalem.

Tensions in the city have risen in recent weeks, with two deadly attacks by Palestinian militants on pedestrians in the city and announcements by Israel of plans to build more settler homes in East Jerusalem.

US President Barack Obama said: "We condemn in the strongest terms, these attacks"

Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev commented: "There can be no justification for this wanton violence"

Palestinian official Mustafa Barghouti stated: "Today is a failure of the international community"

The BBC said the Jerusalem compound that has been the focus of much of the unrest -- known to Jews as the Temple Mount and to Muslims as al-Haram al-Sharif -- is the holiest site in Judaism, while the al-Aqsa Mosque within the compound is the third holiest site in Islam.

The BBC said Orthodox Jewish campaigners in Israel are challenging the long-standing ban on Jews praying at the compound.

It also reported that Palestinians want East Jerusalem, occupied by Israel since 1967, as the capital of a future state.

Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) Explained:

** Palestinian militant group founded in 1967, committed to the destruction of Israel
** Carried out high-profile attacks in 1960s and 1970s, including airline hijacking; assassinated Israeli Tourism Minister Rehavam Zeevi in 2001
** Lost influence with its rejection of the 1993 Oslo peace accord, and the rise of Islamist groups like Hamas
** Leader Ahmed Saadat was imprisoned by the Palestinian Authority in 2002, but was seized by Israeli troops in 2006 and taken to Israel
** Has continued to attack Israeli forces on the frontier with Gaza and to launch rockets into southern Israel

Source: Assist News Service