December 10, 2009

Jerusalem
JTA Wire Service

A Jewish father and daughter were arrested for allegedly praying on the Temple Mount, according to reports.

An Arab policeman arrested the two visitors to the mount Wednesday morning as they were being shown around the site by a relative, who is a volunteer tour guide at the site.

David Kirschenbaum took his daughter to visit the Temple Mount on the day before her wedding, The Jerusalem Post reported. Kirschenbaum told the newspaper he was pointing out sites in Jerusalem from the site and police took his daughter’s nodding for praying.

Non-Muslims are not permitted to pray on the Temple Mount, including moving their lips in silent prayer.

The two were taken to the Kishla police station near the Jaffa Gate in the Old City of Jerusalem. They were not charged with a crime.

Rightists Protest in Jerusalem Against Settlement Freeze

Thousands of right-wing activists converged on Jerusalem to protest against the construction freeze in the West Bank.

The protest, called “Break the freeze—Continue to build,” was held Wednesday evening in Jerusalem’s Paris Square, located near the prime minister’s official residence.

“When Netanyahu speaks of a settlement freeze, he means a disengagement,” lawmaker Aryeh Eldad of the National Union Party told the protesters. “Jews are not popsicles; you don’t freeze us so fast.

“The people of Israel are telling you today: We are not frozen so fast and we are not beaten so fast.”

Hundreds of buses from throughout the country, including from West Bank settlements, brought protesters to the demonstration. Settler leaders and mayors, Knesset members and Israelis affected by the construction ban were set to speak at the event, which was organized by a coalition of right-wing organizations.

On Nov. 25, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced a 10-month building freeze on all housing starts in Jewish West Bank settlements in an effort to bring the Palestinians to the peace negotiating table.

Fayyad Rejects Unilateral Statehood Declaration

The Palestinian Authority prime minister in a meeting with Jewish Council for Public Affairs leaders said he opposed a Palestinian unilateral declaration of statehood.

Salam Fayyad told a group of 15 JCPA leaders visiting Israel this week that he did support Palestinians unilaterally building infrastructure and political institutions in preparation for future statehood, and compared those efforts to the work of the founders of Israel before its statehood in 1948.

The JCPA group also has met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli leaders on the weeklong trip.

Trial of Alleged Jewish Terrorist Opens

The trial of alleged U.S.-born Jewish terrorist Yaakov (Jack) Teitel opened in Jerusalem.

Teitel is charged with two counts of murders, five counts of attempted murders, incitement, weapons violations and one count of arson. His trial began Wednesday in Jerusalem District Court.

He reportedly refused when the judge requested that he stand. The only words he uttered in the courtroom, according to reports, was “God is King.”

Teitel, 37, was arrested Oct. 7 in a joint police-Shin Bet operation. Along with allegedly killing two Palestinians and attempting to murder five Jews and Arabs, he also allegedly assembled a package bomb that seriously injured the son of a messianic Jew and set up a pipe bomb near the home of prominent left-wing professor Ze’ev Sternhell.

A Florida native, Teitel made aliyah in 2000 and is a resident of the Shvut Rachel outpost in the northern West Bank. He has four young children.

Several relatives of Teitel’s victims attended the hearing.
This story reprinted courtesy of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.