Latest news with #BeitarJerusalem
Middle East Eye
3 days ago
- Politics
- Middle East Eye
Israeli press review: MP glorifies killed contractor for ‘wiping out' Gaza homes
Killed contractor lauded for destroying Gaza The Israeli army announced on Thursday that David Libi, a 19-year-old heavy equipment operator, was killed in an explosion during a military operation in the northern Gaza Strip. Libi, from the settlement of Malachi Shalom in the occupied West Bank, was employed by the Israeli army through Libi Construction and Infrastructure, a company recently sanctioned by the UK. Zvi Sukkot, a member of the Israeli parliament from the Religious Zionist Party, paid tribute to Libi, calling him a 'friend' and praising his role in the destruction of Palestinian homes. 'He fell bravely today fighting against the Nazis in Gaza at the age of 19,' Succot wrote on X, adding: 'With God's help, the State of Israel will avenge his blood.' New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters Sukkot emphasised the importance of Libi and other heavy equipment operators in the military campaign, describing them as 'directly responsible for the greatest achievement of the war in wiping out tens of thousands of homes that endangered our fighters and changed the face of the Gaza Strip'. He noted that while they may not receive the same recognition as pilots, 'they are among the people to whom the entire nation of Israel owes the most'. Sukkot also highlighted that many of the operators come from settler communities. In a separate eulogy shared in a settler group chat, Libi and others were described as sending a message to Gaza's residents: 'You have nothing to look for here anymore. The best thing for you would be to find a boat or raft and try to sail to Greece, Europe or Morocco. Because here, you have no future.' Palestinian drivers attacked by football fans Two Palestinian bus drivers were attacked in Jerusalem by Beitar Jerusalem fans on Thursday, following their team's defeat in the Israel State Cup final. Footage of the attack circulated online, but police have yet to arrest any suspects, according to Haaretz. Israeli hooligans provoke clashes in Amsterdam after chanting anti-Palestinian slogans Read More » Ahmad Karain, one of the drivers assaulted, told Haaretz that dozens of Beitar fans 'realised I was an Arab after speaking to me and suddenly began shouting 'Death to Arabs', cursing and attacking me. More and more joined in constantly'. Beitar Jerusalem is a football club known for its association with the Israeli right wing. According to Karain, another driver, Muhammad Sayaj, came to his aid and was also attacked. 'The police only arrived after 20 minutes, maybe even half an hour, and they rescued me from there. 'I was terrified; I feared I might not survive. This isn't the first time drivers have been attacked, but it was the most brutal incident.' In recent years, and especially since the start of the war in Gaza, attacks on Palestinian drivers in Israel have increased. Koach LaOvdim, a workers' union, warned of escalating violence against drivers. 'Every day brings us closer to the murder of a driver or inspector.' Palestinian 'murdered in racist attack' by Jewish Israelis Fouad Alyan, a resident of Beit Safafa in occupied East Jerusalem, was killed last week after allegedly being run over by a Jewish driver. According to eyewitness accounts, Fouad and his cousin were attacked by two Israeli Jews while sitting in a public park in Jerusalem. How racist discourse fuels Israel's settler colonial genocide Read More » Fouad's cousin, Alaa Alyan, told Haaretz: 'Someone came with a cane and started threatening us. We left the park, but they began chasing us in a car and tried to catch us.' The two attempted to escape on Fouad's motorcycle, which was forced on to the pavement. 'The man chasing us accelerated, mounted the pavement and ran us over,' Alaa said. Fouad was critically injured and pronounced dead at the scene, while his cousin sustained minor injuries. Initially, the police treated the incident as a criminal matter rather than a racially motivated attack. Relatives of Fouad told Ynet that the two 'were sitting in a public park when Jewish individuals approached and told them Arabs were not allowed there'. They expressed their 'hope the truth will be known, and that the real story behind this murder, racism, will not be ignored'. Family members described Fouad as 'a respectable man who had good relations with everyone who knew him' and said he was 'murdered in cold blood'.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Israeli military say another rocket intercepted from Yemen
The Israeli military stated on Thursday that it has once again intercepted a rocket fired from Yemen. In several areas of Israel, including the coastal metropolis of Tel Aviv and other locations in the centre of the country, alarm sirens sounded. According to official reports, there were initially no reports of injuries or significant damage. Due to the rocket alarm, the final of the Israeli football cup had to be interrupted. According to the Israeli TV channel N12, about 30,000 football fans were in the Bloomfield Stadium in Tel Aviv. A few minutes after the alarm, the players from the teams Beitar Jerusalem and Hapoel Be'er Sheva were able to return to the pitch and continue the match. In recent days, there have been repeated alarms in various locations in Israel due to rockets launched from Yemen. Most of these are intercepted. However, three weeks ago, a projectile hit near the international airport by Tel Aviv for the first time. Since the beginning of the Gaza war in October 2023, the pro-Iranian Houthi militia has been regularly attacking Israel with rockets and drones, which they claim is an expression of their solidarity with the Palestinian Islamist Hamas movement. After the end of the ceasefire in mid-March, the attacks increased. Israel's air force responded with airstrikes on militia targets in Yemen, such as in the port city of Hodeidah.
Yahoo
24-05-2025
- Yahoo
A young Israeli diplomat was returning home to propose. Now they dig his grave
As locations for a proposal go, it doesn't get much better than the picturesque village of Beit Zayit. Set in the steep, wooded Judean mountains to the west of Jerusalem, it was here that Yaron Lischinsky, a gifted young diplomat at Israel's Washington embassy, intended to fly on Sunday with his American girlfriend Sarah Milgrim, another embassy staffer, to introduce her to his parents and get engaged. Instead, on Friday afternoon, a workman mopped the sweat from his brow as he stood over Mr Lischinsky's freshly dug grave in the small cemetery on the edge of the village. The couple were murdered two days earlier in the US capital by a gunman shouting 'free Palestine' – an act of political and racial violence, which shocked the world and led Israel to partly blame world leaders, including Sir Keir Starmer, for condemning Israel's new Gaza offensive. The revulsion and grief are exacerbated by the fact that the victims were so obviously in love and, just as obviously, at the start of glittering careers. Yaron Lischinsky, 30, knew from a young age that he wanted to be a diplomat. Born in Israel, his family emigrated to Germany before returning when he was 16. It meant that when he first attended Mae Boyar High School in Jerusalem, he was initially quiet among his classmates due to his hesitancy in speaking Hebrew. But even then, his personality stood out, according to Mr Lischinsky's former PE teacher. 'I remember his character was very special,' Yoram Menachem told reporters. 'He was a wonderful student.' Swiftly finding his feet in a radically different environment to Germany, the young Lischinsky, who is understood to have three siblings, was aided by his talent for football, which eventually saw him picked for the youth side of Beitar Jerusalem, a professional club. 'I remember that he was really, really good at it,' a friend of Mr Lischinsky's older brother, who asked not to be named, told The Telegraph. 'In Germany he had played in decent teams and when he came to Israel he found the level was not nearly so good, so he thrived.' By the time he left school, Mr Lischinsky's exposure to multiple languages had become an asset, and he began to learn Japanese as part of his degree in international relations and Asian studies at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. 'His dream was to become a diplomat,' Nissim Otmazgin, the dean of humanities at the university told CNN. 'In many ways, I think for me he symbolises the hope of Israel. Young people, idealistic, that are going abroad, studying about different cultures, and trying to do good for their country. 'So in this sense, it is not only a personal tragedy – it's also kind of a public tragedy.' The professor described diplomacy as not just a career ambition, but a 'calling' for the Israeli-German citizen, who had completed his military service in the IDF. Another friend from his university days, Jakub Klepek, described him as a 'man of purpose', who loved nothing better than discussing politics, religion and books. Mr Lischinsky was a founding member of a sister organisation to the German-Israeli Society, promoting joint projects between young people from both countries. According to friends, this approach was inimical to his concept of diplomacy: not just promoting Israel's message abroad, but trying to build partnerships and understanding. As a researcher in the Middle East division of the Washington DC embassy, this took the form of passionate advocacy for the Abraham Accords, the set of agreements brokered by the first Trump administration that normalised relations between Israel, the UAE and other Arab states. In doing so, he appears to have been building links on the Right of the US foreign policy establishment. Indeed, Zineb Riboua, a research fellow at the Conservative think tank the Hudson institute, posted on X this week that it was at an event hosted by the Republican Senator Ted Cruz that Mr Lischinsky met the love of his life, a 26-year-old Jewish US citizen from Kansas who helped organise missions and visits by delegations to Israel. On Friday, the former presidential candidate posted an emoji of a shattered heart, saying: 'Absolutely heartbreaking. Two beautiful lives murdered by unmitigated evil.' For her part, Ms Riboua, said: 'Yaron Lischinsky was the finest friend I've ever had, brilliant, kind and endlessly thoughtful. 'A devout Christian and a gifted linguist, he spoke German, Hebrew, and Japanese. 'He was full of curiosity and always brimming with ideas. 'I don't think we ever had a conversation that didn't leave me inspired to write something new.' On his LinkedIn profile, Mr Lischinsky described himself as an 'ardent' believer in peace-building. Others were swift to point out that the event at the Capital Jewish Museum outside which he and Ms Milgrim were so ruthlessly gunned down had been to discuss how multi-faith organisations can bring aid to war-torn regions such as Gaza. Son of a Jewish father and a Christian mother, the diplomat was an enthusiastic member of a sect described by some as Messianic Jews, those who self-identify as Jews but who accept the divinity of Jesus Christ and the concept of salvation – beliefs that put them firmly in the Christian camp, according to mainstream Jews. He worshipped weekly at the Melech Ha'Melachim in Jerusalem, where a friend, David Boskey, described him as 'softly-spoken but not timid. Always smiling. Always volunteering.' Ronen Shoval, the dean of the Argaman Institute for Advanced Studies in Jerusalem, where Mr Lischinsky participated in a year-long course in classical liberal conservative thought, told The New York Times: 'He was a devout Christian, but he had tied his fate to the people of Israel.' Due to the actions of a lone fanatic, Mr Lischinsky's fate was not to walk arm-in-arm with his beloved Sarah through the ancient groves of his youth, perhaps even to propose to her there – he had already bought the ring. Instead, at 6pm local time on Sunday, just up the hill from the birthplace of John the Baptist at Ein Karem, he will be buried there. Meanwhile, Sir Keir Starmer, along with other world leaders who recently criticised Israel's actions in Gaza, faces the uncomfortable accusation that, in doing so, he fed the 'incitement' that leads to anti-Jewish hate. 'They are both gone. And the loss is immeasurable,' wrote Ms Riboua. 'The world has lost two extraordinary souls. And I have lost a dear friend who made every moment brighter.' Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
