Wednesday, 19 November 2014

Jerusalem ramps up security





  • NEW: Wounded Canadian-Israeli man in a coma, CTV reports

  • Two Palestinian cousins entered a Jerusalem synagogue with knives and a gun

  • Four worshipers and a policeman were killed; seven other people were wounded

  • Palestinian Authority President condemns the attack; Israeli PM says it's "not enough"




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Jerusalem (CNN) -- Jerusalem ramped up security after two Palestinian cousins wielding a gun and butcher knives attacked a synagogue during morning prayers, killing four worshipers and a police officer and wounding several others.


Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed a strong reaction to Tuesday's killings. He characterized the attack, which drew condemnation from around the world, as the result of a "blood libel" fanned by Palestinian leaders.





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Aftermath of killings inside synagogue

Even after Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas condemned the attack, Netanyahu said his response was "not enough."


Addressing reporters Tuesday night, the Israeli Prime Minister called for national unity against "those human animals who committed this massacre" and against those -- singling out Hamas and the Palestinian Authority -- who he claimed "disseminate libels against the state of Israel."


The terror attack -- the deadliest in Jerusalem since 2008 -- came at a particularly tense time in region. It follows recent deadly stabbings and vehicle attacks which, while not the same as the large-scale suicide bombings that defined last decade's second intifada, have left Jerusalem on edge.


At the heart of the unrest is the holy site in the Old City of Jerusalem, known as the Temple Mount by Jews and Haram al-Sharif (the Noble Sanctuary) by Muslims.


Pope Francis condemned the attack and said he's praying for the region.


"From the bottom of my heart, I appeal to all the parties involved to put an end to the spiral of hatred and violence, and to take courageous decisions for reconciliation and peace," the Pope said. "To build peace is difficult but to live without it is torment."


Who were the victims?


Gruesome scene


Photos taken after the attack Tuesday inside the synagogue in West Jerusalem's Har Nof area, and released by Israeli officials, showed a grim scene. Lifeless bodies sprawled on the floor; a shattered pair of glasses; holy books, prayer shawls and walls soaked with blood.


The pictures did not relay the full scope of the brutality. "It was much worse," Israeli police spokesman Mickey Rosenfeld said.


Three dual U.S.-Israeli citizens and a British-Israeli citizen died in the attack before police shot and killed the two assailants. The four victims were all rabbis, the Israeli Foreign Ministry said.


Hours after the attack, a policeman who was shot during the rampage while pulling a woman to safety died from his wounds, a hospital official said.


The four worshipers killed were Avraham Shmuel Goldberg, 58; Aryeh Kupinsky, 43; Moshe Twersky, 59; and Kalman Levine, 55. Goldberg was a dual British-Israeli citizen, and the other three were U.S.-Israeli citizens.


"When four great men, wonderful men, wise in Torah study, are slaughtered while praying in public, there is no public grieving greater than that," said a rabbi who eulogized the men later Tuesday, before their burial.


Seven others were wounded, including three who were seriously hurt, according to the Israeli Foreign Ministry.


One of the wounded is a Canadian-Israeli dual citizen who was stabbed in his head, eyes and arms, CNN partner network CTV reported. Howard Rothman, 53, formerly of Toronto, was in a medically induced coma Tuesday, according to CTV.


"He was trying to fight off the attackers. He's in a coma -- he's in critical condition," Toby Trumpter-Kraman, a family friend, told CTV.


Jerusalem terror attack 'strikes at soul' of Jews worldwide


Order to demolish attackers' homes


Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat -- whose city is about two-thirds Jewish and one-third Arab -- said the synagogue attack was incited by Hamas and terrorist organizations who use "rumor and misfacts" about how Palestinians are treated in the city.





Attackers kill 4 at Jerusalem synagogue




Obama condemns Jerusalem terror attack




Palestinian reaction to synagogue attack

The Palestinian news agency Ma'an identified the two attackers as Ghassan Abu Jamal and his cousin, Udayy.


While no group claimed responsibility for the attack, Israeli officials say the attackers came from East Jerusalem, where Palestinians can move more freely about the city than those living in the West Bank and Gaza, who must pass through stringent checkpoints.


Israeli authorities moved into the attackers' East Jerusalem neighborhood of Jabel Mukaber to demolish their homes on Netanyahu's order. The Palestinians' official WAFA news agency reported 13 people were arrested.


Witnesses said that early Wednesday, Israeli security forces destroyed the home of a Palestinian man who drove his car into a light rail station last month, killing a baby.


Mark Regev, Netanyahu's spokesman, said authorities were beefing up security around Jerusalem after Tuesday's attack.


"We've got to make sure there are no copycat attacks," Regev said. "We also want to make sure that there's no hothead on the Israeli side who decides he wants to take the law into his own hands and conduct a vigilante counter attack."


The U.S. consulate in Jerusalem warned Americans that disturbances in East Jerusalem were possible.


"While we cannot predict where and when attacks may take place, we have consistently seen a cycle of violence in East Jerusalem neighborhoods following incidents like the one today," the consulate said Tuesday on its website.


Experts: No third intifada yet -- but little hope, either


Netanyahu accuses Palestinian leaders of 'incitement'


Netanyahu accused the Palestinian Authority of inciting violence, although he hedged his words about its leader.


"(Abbas) does not send out terrorists, he doesn't directly encourage acts of terror, and this is good," Netanyahu said, echoing an assessment by an Israeli security chief. "On the other hand, the incitement of the Palestinian Authority -- and he heads the Palestinian Authority -- and even some things he says ... encourage terrorism, in terms of incitement (of) tensions that run high."


There was no such equivocation about Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that controls Gaza. It's been at odds with Israel and also with Abbas' Fatah movement, which controls the West Bank.





Stopping violence in Jerusalem








Israeli statesmen David Ben-Gurion and Yitzhak Rabin lead a group of soldiers past the Dome of the Rock in June 1967, during a victory tour following the Six-Day War. The dome in Jerusalem is part of the Temple Mount, the holiest site in Judaism and the third-holiest site in Islam. The Temple Mount, which Muslims know as Haram al-Sharif (the Noble Sanctuary), also includes the al-Aqsa Mosque and the Western Wall.Israeli statesmen David Ben-Gurion and Yitzhak Rabin lead a group of soldiers past the Dome of the Rock in June 1967, during a victory tour following the Six-Day War. The dome in Jerusalem is part of the Temple Mount, the holiest site in Judaism and the third-holiest site in Islam. The Temple Mount, which Muslims know as Haram al-Sharif (the Noble Sanctuary), also includes the al-Aqsa Mosque and the Western Wall.



Israeli soldiers are seen in front of the Dome of the Rock in October 1990.Israeli soldiers are seen in front of the Dome of the Rock in October 1990.



Ariel Sharon, then a candidate for Israeli prime minister, is flanked by security guards as he leaves the al-Aqsa Mosque compound in September 2000. The Second Intifada, a five-year Palestinian uprising, was sparked by Sharon's visit, Palestinians say. Sharon insisted that his visit was not intended to provoke Palestinians, but many saw it as an attempt to underline Israel's claim to Jerusalem's holy sites.Ariel Sharon, then a candidate for Israeli prime minister, is flanked by security guards as he leaves the al-Aqsa Mosque compound in September 2000. The Second Intifada, a five-year Palestinian uprising, was sparked by Sharon's visit, Palestinians say. Sharon insisted that his visit was not intended to provoke Palestinians, but many saw it as an attempt to underline Israel's claim to Jerusalem's holy sites.



Jewish women pray behind a barrier at the Western Wall in February 2004, following a collapse of the wall into the prayer area.Jewish women pray behind a barrier at the Western Wall in February 2004, following a collapse of the wall into the prayer area.



Pope Benedict XVI stands in front of the Dome of the Rock in May 2009.Pope Benedict XVI stands in front of the Dome of the Rock in May 2009.



The al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock overlook a neighborhood in East Jerusalem in March 2010.The al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock overlook a neighborhood in East Jerusalem in March 2010.



A Palestinian worshipper who was prevented from reaching the al-Aqsa Mosque prays outside Jerusalem's Old City while Israeli forces stand guard in March 2010. Police had temporarily limited access.A Palestinian worshipper who was prevented from reaching the al-Aqsa Mosque prays outside Jerusalem's Old City while Israeli forces stand guard in March 2010. Police had temporarily limited access.



Israeli police detain activist Noam Federman after he tried to enter the Temple Mount on Thursday, October 30, in Jerusalem. Israel says it temporarily closed access to the Temple Mount "to prevent disturbances" after the drive-by shooting of controversial activist Rabbi Yehuda Glick. Israel partially reopened access to the Temple Mount for Muslim prayers Friday.Israeli police detain activist Noam Federman after he tried to enter the Temple Mount on Thursday, October 30, in Jerusalem. Israel says it temporarily closed access to the Temple Mount "to prevent disturbances" after the drive-by shooting of controversial activist Rabbi Yehuda Glick. Israel partially reopened access to the Temple Mount for Muslim prayers Friday.




Temple Mount: Holy site for Jews, Muslims

Temple Mount: Holy site for Jews, Muslims

Temple Mount: Holy site for Jews, Muslims

Temple Mount: Holy site for Jews, Muslims

Temple Mount: Holy site for Jews, Muslims

Temple Mount: Holy site for Jews, Muslims

Temple Mount: Holy site for Jews, Muslims

Temple Mount: Holy site for Jews, Muslims



Photos: Temple Mount holy sitePhotos: Temple Mount holy site



Hamas did not claim responsibility for the synagogue attack, though it didn't back away from it either. Sami Abu Zuhri, a spokesman for the group, instead linked the attack to the discovery Sunday of a Palestinian bus driver hanged in his bus not far from where Tuesday's attack occurred.


Israeli authorities say the bus driver's death was a suicide, but his family disputes that, claiming he was attacked.


Senior Hamas official Ghazi Hamad predicted to Al Jazeera International that "there will be more revolution in Jerusalem, and more uprising."


"Hamas in general supports action against the occupation," Hamad said. "Hamas supports any military action against the occupation anywhere it can be carried out."


Obama condemns 'horrific' Jerusalem terror attack


CNN's Chelsea J. Carter reported and wrote from Atlanta; Jethro Mullen reported and wrote from Hong Kong; CNN's Ben Wedeman reported from Jerusalem. CNN's Greg Botehlo, Michael Schwartz, Kareem Khadder and Rachel Kitchen contributed to this report.



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