Thread by @PorazDan

I’m an avid history geek 🤓 and I got this idea from @GippersChutzpah!
My follower count is currently stuck in the mid ages. I’ll tweet some Jewish history milestones from along the years, according to my follower count. So come on, I’m 4 followers short of the first story...

On 13/12/1204, Moshe Ben Maimon AKA #Maimonides (Greek) and Ha’Rambam (Hebrew), died at 69 in Egypt.
A Philosopher, Physician, Astronomer and one of most important #Jewish Scholars of all times.
Buried in Tiberias @Israel, upon final request to be buried in the ancient homeland

WOW! 3 followers away from yet another milestone of #JewishHistory!
So far we learned about some pogroms 😠(1171 France, 1190 England) and Maïmōnídēs dying 😢(1204 Egypt).
JewishHistory is filled with sorrow and darkness but it gets better in the 2nd half of the 20th century 😉

The ‘Trial of the Talmud’ was a disputation that took place in Paris 12/6/1240. Christian clerks accused the Jewish Talmud of being blasphemous. 4 Rabbis tried to defend the Talmud against accusations. The (Christian) Jury wasn’t convinced and ruled for the burning of the Talmud.

In the 4 years to come, the French Monarchy confiscated all available Talmud books. In 1244 it took 48 hours to burn 40 horse carriages piled with Talmud books.

Gimme 15 more followers and I’ll tell you something that would have shaken you up, if you were a Jew living in 13th century Europe.
#FollowerCountAndJewishHistory

Not stopping this til I reach 2019 followers!
Well, when the Black Plague hit Europe in 1347, killing 1/3 (!) of the continent’s population, guess who was blamed for this apocalypse?
That’s right. The #Jews were accused of poisoning water wells creating this disastrous epidemic.

Between 1348-49, thousands of #Jews were murdered for this vicious blood libel especially in #Germany, #France and #Switzerland. Almost all Jews in Western Europe were ethnically cleansed fleeing to Eastern Europe.

The many Jewish refugees from Western Europe were the basis for the establishment of large communities in Eastern Europe, especially in #Poland, which gave the Jews refuge.
In #Hebrew, ‘Poland’ is sometimes pronounced ‘Po-lan-Ya’, which translates into “here dwells god”.

And then, in 1364, Casimir III the Great, king of #Poland, officially opened up the kingdom’s borders to the tens of thousands of #Jews that were ethnically cleansed out of Western Europe. Over the centuries, the Jewish community of Poland grew to be the biggest in the world.

Up to The Holocaust, there were 3.5 million (!) #Jews in Poland, making it the biggest Jewish community in the world. The community was almost entirely exterminated by the Nazis - more than 90% of it were murdered. Only 50,000 survived.

Some “Polish” #Jews (me included 😁) became world famous. Without giving in the names - here’s a sample. Reply if you managed to identify all these 9 outstanding Polish Jews 😗

Another outstanding Polish #Jew worth mentioning, is Simcha “Kazik” Rotem who passed away yesterday at the age of 94. Kazik courageously fought the Nazis at the #WarsawGhettoUprising. Simcha survived The Holocaust and moved to mandatory Palestine in 1946 to help build Israel 🇮🇱.

https://twitter.com/israelmfa/status/1077820347683127298?s=21

1391 was a bad year to be a Jew in #Spain. From June that year, all across the Ibariain peninsula, #Jews were massacred, forced to convert to Christianity and exiled. Although numbers are unknown, low estimates are that thousands of Jews were murdered at Spain that year.

The main cause for the pogroms, in addition to general 14th-century-black-plague-anti-Jewish-sentiment, is thought to be increasing hostilities between monarchy and nobility. The events began in #Seville, on June 6, when enraged masses looted, burnt and murdered some 4,000 #Jews.

Two days after the Seville pogrom broke, violence reached #Córdoba. The Jewish community of Córdoba was entirely exterminated. Those who were not murdered were forced into Christianity. Next to suffer were the Jews of #Toledo. Then #Barcelona, on August 5, 300 Jews were murdered.

Among death, exile and forced conversions, many #Jewish communities, especially the Sevillian and Córdoban, practically disappeared that year.
1391 also resulted in mass Jewish immigration to #Portugal and North Africa. In a century’s time, Spain would become entirely Judenrein.

There’s a conception that #Jews in the MidAges were persecuted only in Christian countries. It’s false.
I’m in #Granada now and although not exactly sticking to my follower count - On the night of 30/12 1066, an incited #Muslim mob massacred more than 4,000 of the City’s #Jews.

Not morbid, but still a #Jewish milestone -
1475: first #Hebrew book ever to be printed! (Print was invented only 20 years earlier by Gutenberg in Germany).
The book was Rashi’s commentary on the Heb Bible and was printed by the Soncino family in Reggio, Italy. Recommend read.

Happens that I’ve reached 1,485 followers AND I’m at Ronda RIGHT NOW!
Ronda was under #Islamic rule from 713 until occupied by the Christians in 1485!
The #Jewish population of Ronda, then capital of the Caliphate of Córdoba, was expelled that year by the #Christian conquerors.

Oops 😬, forgot to connect the following to this thread. Here it is 👇🏻

https://twitter.com/porazdan/status/1081138043896193026?s=21

https://twitter.com/porazdan/status/1082309227757080577?s=21

https://twitter.com/porazdan/status/1081138043896193026?s=21

Haven’t tweeted Jewish History for like 3 decades!
Anyone by any chance have a #Jewish milestone from the late 16th century to share?
#JewishHistoryTweets

Not 16th century but nevertheless I’ll pin this here for when I’ll reach the 20th.
And seriously, interesting thread 👇🏻

https://twitter.com/andrewgetraer/status/1083558301873377280?s=21

1636 - the first synagogue in America!
‘Sinagoga Kahal Zur Israel’ (pictured) was founded by #Dutch #Jews in the city of Recife in the Dutch colony in #Brazil. Most of those Jews were decedents of the Jews expelled from Portugal in 1497.

Meet the first Rabbi to ever set foot in America!
In 1642, Isaac Aboab da Fonseca from #Amsterdam was sent by his community to serve as a Rabbi at the Kahal Zur #Israel Synagogue (first synagogue in America, remember?), this making him the first Rabbi in the new world! Respect.

The Jewish community in Recife was estimated to be of around 2,000 people. Together with rest of the Dutch, the #Jews were deported from Brazil when it was conquered by the Portuguese in 1654. Most of the Jews fled north, settling in A New Amsterdam, later to become...🗽🍎

1648 was a bad year for #Jews in #Ukraine. During the uprising of the Cossacks led by Bogdan Khmelnitsky (illustrated) or "Khmil the Evil", as he was called by the Jews, against the Polish–Lithuanian State.
Some communities were completely destroyed and some 20K Jews murdered.

The #Jews, of course, had very little to do with Khmelnytsky’s hurdle with the Poles. That didn’t stop him and his Cossacks from burning, ravaging, raping, torturing and killing thousands of them.
That’s how it is when you’re a defenseless minority in a foreign land.

The Jewish prayer “El Malé Rachamim” (“Merciful God”) was first commonly recited in many #Jewish communities after the 1648 riots. Since then, it’s used to commemorate and pray for the souls of our departed ancestors.

Nathan Hannover was a #Jewish Historian from #Ukraine (then under Polish rule), lived during the 1648 riots. His book, Yeven Mezulah (1653), gives an authentic (& horrifying) description of the riots.
Hannover fled to to Romania/Czechia, where he was killed in a riot in 1683.

Another book worth mentioning in this regard is Issac Bashevis Singer’s masterpiece from 1962, ‘The Slave’. The book tells the story of Jacob that was enslaved after the 1648 riots. Jacob the slave falls in love, god forbid, with a ‘Goya’, a non-Jewish woman.

Mentioning Bashevis Singer, here’s a nice quote from him:
“The #Jewish people have been in exile for 2,000 years; they’ve lived in hundreds of countries, spoken hundreds of languages and still they kept their old language, #Hebrew...they kept their books; they kept their faith”

1/9 Possibly one of the saddest episodes of #JewishHistory ended in 1666 when this man, Shabbtai Zvi, converted from Judaism to #Islam.

2/9 Zvi was born in 1626 in Izmir, the Ottoman Empire. From young age, he was intrigued by #Kabbalah and Jewish mysticism which became increasingly popular among #Jewish scholars of the time. But it was only in his early twenties when he had the revelation -
he was the #Messiah.

3/9 At first, his “revelation” was shared only with a few of his close followers. It was only when Nathan of #Gaza, a Gazan #Jew claiming to be a prophet, affirmed Shabbtai was in fact the Messiah, when the whole thing went viral.

4/9 Jews from all over the world, started getting the news - the #Messiah has finally arrived to save and liberate the Jewish people!
When you’re desperate, and #Jews were especially desperate after the 1648 riots, you’ll believe anything.

5/9 Here’s an image from #Germany, 1666, depicting Nathan of #Gaza marching the Jewish people back into the promised land.

6/9 In 1666, there were probably more #Jews who endorsed Shabbtai Zvi as a #Messiah than Jews who rejected him. Here’s an image depicting Shabbtai Zvi crowned as the Messiah. From #Amsterdam, 1666.

7/9 When SZ arrived at #Istanbul early 1666, the Ottomans had him arrested for treason. He was sentenced to exile and imprisonment in #Gallipoli.
Still, this did not discourage the Jewish masses who kept believing and kept following him.
Here’s A 1701 Woodcut of him in prison.

8/9 But then someone convinced the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, Mehmed IV (illustrated), that Shabbtai Zvi was plotting against him.
SZ was given a choice - convert to #Islam or die. He chose life and was given the Islamic name ‘Aziz Mehmed Efendi’.

9/9 The conversion of the Jewish ‘messiah’ shocked and embarrassed the masses, who felt betrayed and returned to their previous lives.
Shabbtai Zvi died ten years later (1676) but this episode remained an open wound for decades, leaving a significant mark on #JewishHistory.

“If you want the present to be different from the past, first study the past”.

Quote by #Jewish groundbreaking Philosopher Baruch Spinoza who died #OnThisDay (and follower count) 1677. Spinoza is considered the greatest Rationalists of 17th century Philosophy.

First EVER synagogue in North #America, the Mill Street synagogue, was founded in New York (then New Amsterdam) in 1730.
Today the ‘Shearith Israel’ congregation have their synagogue at Central Park West.

https://twitter.com/porazdan/status/1087998083860963329?s=21

With the alarming rise of #antisemitism across Europe, it’s worth remembering that this ugly phenomenon is nothing new.
Here’s a short thread of an incident that happened in #Europe 280 years ago. This incident became a symbolic example of European demonization of ‘the Jew’.
1/4

Joseph Süss Oppenheimer was a #Jew from #Stuttgart who was tried and (with no evidence) executed in 1️⃣7️⃣3️⃣8️⃣
Oppenheimer was close to nobility and had many enemies who just waited for the right moment to get him.
That moment came when his protector, Duke Karl Alexander, died. 2/4

While imprisoned, Oppenheimer was pressured to convert to #Christianity. He refused. His last words before being hanged were ‘Shema Yisrael’.
His tormented corpse was displayed for 6 years after the execution as a warning from the “Jewish threat on Christian civilization”.
3/4

The tragic injustice intrigued future thinkers and artists, and over the centuries there were several novels and screenplays about Oppenheimer. A notable example is a 1925 novel titled ‘Jud Süss’.
An #antisemitic Nazi propaganda film with the same title was made in 1940.
4/4

1️⃣7️⃣7️⃣7️⃣ was when hundreds of Hasidic #Jews moved from Belarus to the land of #Israel, settling in the Galilee. This historical event is known as “The Hasidic Aliyah”.
The new immigrants joined the thousands of Jews living in the land ruled then by the Ottoman Jazzar Pasha.

The 18th century approaches its end, giving way to a new century.
The 19th century is when some Jewish European scholars realized that #Jews, like any other people, have the right to self determination in a national home.
This is the century of The Zionist idea.

Rabbi Judah Alkalai, THE FIRST ZIONIST, was born in 1️⃣7️⃣9️⃣8️⃣ in #Sarajevo.
Together with Polish Rabbi Zvi Kalischer, Alkalai is considered to be a pioneer in developing the idea to establish a #Jewish homeland in the Land of #Israel.
Dedicated his life to promote this vision.

The “Perushim Aliyah” refers to hundreds of #Jews who immigrated from #Lithuania in 1️⃣8️⃣0️⃣8️⃣ to settle in #Israel, then under Ottoman rule. The Lithuanian Jews followed the instructions of the Vilna Gaon, who himself attempted, but failed, to immigrate to the promised land.

In 1️⃣8️⃣3️⃣4️⃣, the Jewish community of Tz’fat (Safed) suffered an attack by an #Arab mob. The attack came during an Arab revolt against Egyptian conqueror Muhammad Ali and lasted 33 days. The community’s property was looted, the synagogue destroyed and many #Jews raped and killed.

EARTHQUAKE!
In 1️⃣8️⃣3️⃣7️⃣ a massive earthquake hit the city of Tz’fat (Safed) in what today is 🇮🇱. Tz’fat, which had a flourishing #Jewish community, was destroyed. A Tsunami 🌊 from the Sea of Galilee flooded the city of Tiberias. At least 5,000 people were killed.

”𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐊𝐄𝐑𝐒 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐋𝐃, 𝐔𝐍𝐈𝐓𝐄!”
Not #JewishHistory per se, but still, he was a #Jew.
On this follower count, 1️⃣8️⃣4️⃣8️⃣, #KarlMarx published his revolutionary 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐶𝑜𝑚𝑚𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑠𝑡 𝑀𝑎𝑛𝑖𝑓𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑜.

#Jerusalem has been the holiest city for the Jewish people ever since King David made it capital of #Israel 3,000 years ago.
But it was not until 1️⃣8️⃣6️⃣0️⃣ that the first #Jewish neighborhood called ‘Mishkenot Sha’ananim’, was built outside the walls of the old city.

The FIRST EVER #Hebrew newspaper to be published in Eretz #Israel was “Le Libanon”, ‘The Lebanon’.
The first edition came out on this follower count February 27 1️⃣8️⃣6️⃣3️⃣.

Did you know that the iconic American author Mark Twain visited the holy land??
In 1️⃣8️⃣6️⃣9️⃣ Twain published his "Great Pleasure Excursion" describing his holy land expedition. Twain was one of the most famous travelers to 19th century Ottoman ruled Palestine.
1/2

Twain describes a desolated land:
"There is not a solitary village throughout its whole extent – not for thirty miles in either direction. ...One may ride ten miles hereabouts and not see ten human beings." ...these unpeopled deserts, these rusty mounds of barrenness..."
2/2

The 1️⃣8️⃣8️⃣1️⃣ anti Jewish pogroms in #Russia were triggered by the assassination of Tsar Alexander II for which some blamed “foreign influence agents”, implying the #Jews. The pogroms were fueled by vile #antisemitism among both the intellectual elite and the clerics. 1/3

The pogroms began #Kropyvnytskyi and quickly spread out to #Kiev, #Chernihiv, #Poltava, #Kherson, #Dnipro and #Odessa - all in modern day Ukraine.
Homes were burned down, Jewish property looted, thousands assaulted and hundreds raped. At least 40 #Jews were murdered. 2/3

The 1881 pogroms had an immense effect on Jewish people all over the world. The tragedy boosted the emerging idea of #Zionism i.e #Jews having the right to be masters of their own fate, in their ancestral homeland 🇮🇱, and to no longer live or die under the mercy of others. 3/3

BILU, one of the pioneering Zionist movements, was founded in 1️⃣8️⃣8️⃣2️⃣ in Russia.
The goal was to settle Ottoman ruled #Israel.
The first BILU Zionists did in fact settle in Israel that year, to establish 3 new Jewish settlements: Rishon Le’tzion, Zikhron Ya'akov and Rosh Pina.

The idea that the Jewish people, like any other people, has the right to self determination in its ancestral homeland came in the 1860’s. But it was only in 1️⃣8️⃣9️⃣0️⃣ when the term #Zionism was introduced by Jewish philosopher Nathan Birnbaum. #Zion, is a synonym to #Jerusalem.

The 1st Zionist Congress took place in 1️⃣8️⃣9️⃣7️⃣ in Basel, Switzerland. Initiated and chaired by Theodor Herzl, father of political #Zionism and visionary of 🇮🇱. 208 Jewish delegates under the slogan “The only answer to the Jewish question is the establishment of the Jewish state”

The play “The melting pot” was staged for the first time in 1️⃣9️⃣0️⃣8️⃣ in Washington.
Written by Yisrael Zangwill, the play depicts the life of a Russian Jewish family that survived the pogroms and immigrated to the U.S.
Zangwill was a devoted Zionist and a close partner of Herzl.

One of the greatest achievements of the Zionist Movement, second perhaps only to the establishment of the state, was the 1️⃣9️⃣1️⃣7️⃣ Balfour Decleration. 1/3

In 538 BC, Cyrus the Great Emperor of Persia, recognized the #Jews’ right to return to their homeland in #Zion and allowed them to rebuild the Jewish temple in #Jerusalem.
The British Empire, in 1️⃣9️⃣1️⃣7️⃣, recognized the same. 2/3

Named after foreign minister Arthur Balfour, the declaration states:
“His Majesty's government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the #Jewish people, and will use their best endeavours to facilitate the achievement of this object”. 3/3

1️⃣9️⃣2️⃣0️⃣ in San Remo Italy, the Intl. Community officially adopts the Balfour Declaration:
“The Mandatory will be responsible for putting into effect the declaration...by the British Government...in favor of establishment in #Palestine of a national home for the #Jewish people”

Same year, 1️⃣9️⃣2️⃣0️⃣, riots broke in #Palestine. An incited Arab mob who did not accept the idea of Jews having a state, raged for few days. 7 Jews were murdered and 216 injured. Some mark this as the 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 incident in a century-long-conflict between #Arabs and #Jews.

The following year, 1️⃣9️⃣2️⃣1️⃣, more riots broke this time 47 #Jews killed by #Arab rioters.
48 Arabs were killed, most by gunfire of British troops. Jews began to realize that they’ll have to learn to defend themselves. The ‘Haganah’, that later became the @IDF, was established.

1️⃣9️⃣2️⃣4️⃣, @TechnionLive opens its gates in @haifacity to welcome young #Jews of #Palestine to study science & engineering. @AlbertEinstein who visited in ‘23 was appointed president of the board.
The Technion was the first university in 🇮🇱 and is a synonym of academic excellence.

And the second university in 🇮🇱, @HebrewU, was inaugurated in #Jerusalem #OnThisDay, April 1st 1️⃣9️⃣2️⃣5️⃣.
At the ceremony, speeches were given by Zionist leader Chaim Weizmann, Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook, poet Hayim Nahman Bialik and High Commissioner for #Palestine Herbert Samuel.

HISTORY THREAD:
1/7
The 1️⃣9️⃣2️⃣9️⃣ massacres resulted in the murdering of 133 #Jews, the wounding of hundreds and the destruction of entire Jewish communities throughout British ruled #Palestine.
↓

2/7
Violence erupted after vile anti- Jewish incitement was coming from the #Arab leadership, and in particular, from the grand Mufti Amin al-Hussaini. False claims that the #Jews plan to take over the Al-Aqsa Mosque instigated the masses “to take action”.
↓

3/7
In few of his sermons, al-Hussaini was quoted saying: “a place in heaven is promised for those who kill the Jew”.
Attempts by the British authorities to reach calm failed. Violence began in #Jerusalem, where 19 Jews were murdered. Homes and synagogues were burnt down.
↓

4/7
Hebron was the worst. 67 Jews were brutally murdered by an incited Arab mob. Homes were looted then burnt. The Jewish community of Hebron, that existed there for centuries, disappeared overnight. Here’s a testimony from a Palestinian woman who remembers 👇🏻

5/7
Another community that was ethnically wiped out, was the Jewish community of #Gaza. The pogroms also reached Tel Aviv and Haifa, but there the Jews stood up and fought back. 6 were killed in Tel Aviv and 7 in Haifa. In Tz’fat they were defenseless and 18 were murdered.
↓

6/7
Many other communities, villages and congregations were attacked, massacred, looted and burnt. 27 Arab rioters who took part in the massacres of Tz’fat and Hebron, were sentenced to death by British authorities. All appealed and eventually 3 were hung.
↓

7/7
The events of 1929 left a traumatic mark on the Jewish population in Palestine and deeply effected Jews all over the world. The British, also shocked by this outburst of hostility and hatred, appointed a commission of inquiry.
May the memory of the victims be a blessing.

The Nazi boycott of Jewish businesses was the first nationwide official action taken by the Nazi government against #Jews on April 1st 1️⃣9️⃣3️⃣3️⃣.
Signs saying "Don't Buy from Jews!" and "Go to #Palestine!" were posted.

The infamous #NurembergLaws were introduced by the German Reichstag in 1️⃣9️⃣3️⃣5️⃣. The laws were made for “the Protection of German Blood and German Honor”, denouncing German citizenship from the #Jews of the Reich. They also prohibited intermarriage between Jews and Germans.

1️⃣9️⃣3️⃣9️⃣. This year changed history, and opened the darkest chapter in #JewishHistory.
On Sep 1st Nazi Germany invaded Poland, which marked the beginning of WWII.
More than 90% of Poland’s #Jews were murdered by the Nazis. That’s more than 3 million Polish Jews.

Tel Aviv was heavily bombarded in 1️⃣9️⃣4️⃣0️⃣ by the Italian Air Force.
Fascist Italy, allied with Nazi Germany, was in war with the UK so British ruled Palestine was a “legitimate target”. 132 people, mostly Jewish residents of Tel Aviv, were killed in these bombings.

The ‘Farhud’ (Arabic for looting) is the name given to a 1️⃣9️⃣4️⃣1️⃣ pogrom against the #Jews of #Baghdad, Iraq. At least 179 (some historians estimate 3 times more) Jews were brutally murdered by a blood thirsty mob. Thousands were wounded. Property was looted from 50,000 people.

WWII ends. The Nazi death camps and concentration camps are liberated by The Allies. Dozens of millions perished in the deadliest war in history. Among them, 6 million Jews in the Holocaust. There were 16 million Jews in the world in 1939. In 1️⃣9️⃣4️⃣5️⃣ there were 10 million left.

The Holocaust has ended but murderous hatred did not. On November 4, 1️⃣9️⃣4️⃣5️⃣, the #Jews of Tripoli suffered a pogrom from their #Arab neighbors. 132 were murdered, thousands wounded. Synagogues were burnt and homes looted. Thousands of Jews were left homeless.

Polish Holocaust survives returned from the death camps to their homes in the city of Kielce.
In July 1️⃣9️⃣4️⃣6️⃣, a medieval bloodliable accusing the #Jews of killing a Christian child using the blood for a ritual, led to the lynching to death of 42 Jewish Holocaust survivors.

1/3
1️⃣9️⃣4️⃣7️⃣: the UK decids to return its mandate on #Palestine to the international community which votes in favor of parting Palestine into two states for two peoples - one for the #Jews, one for the #Arabs.
The Jews in Palestine vote and accept the plan. The Arabs reject it.

2/3
The Arab delegate to the #UN said that “The partition line will become a line of blood and fire”. And indeed, the day following the vote at the UN, 30/11/47, a civilian bus was attacked by Arabs with guns and hand grenades. 5 Jewish passengers were killed.

3/3
This attack marks the beginning of the 1st Israeli-Arab war, the war for #Israel’s independence. The war that broke due the Arab leaders’ uncompromising rejection of the establishment of a Jewish state, ended after more than a year and a half, in July 1949. Israel triumphed.

🇮🇱🇮🇱🇮🇱THE👏🏻MOMENT👏🏻WE’VE👏🏻BEEN👏🏻WAITING👏🏻2,000👏🏻YEARS👏🏻(and 781 followers)👏🏻FOR🇮🇱🇮🇱🇮🇱

Israel was born out of the ashes. In 1️⃣9️⃣4️⃣9️⃣ the war of independence is over. The Jewish state survived against the odds after 5 Arab armies invaded, with a clear and declared goal - to undo history. The price was high: 10% of the the population was killed in the war.

❄️ In 1️⃣9️⃣5️⃣0️⃣ it snowed in @TelAviv ❄️
Never happened since.

In 1️⃣9️⃣5️⃣2️⃣ Israel and West Germany signed a Reparations Agreement according to which 🇩🇪 will pay 🇮🇱 money covering costs of resetting around a million #Jewish refugees, and compensation to individual Jews for loses of lives and property. >>

<<The internal debate about this agreement was one the fiercest the Israeli society has EVER known. Opposers cried out against the disgrace of the Germans “buying” Jewish forgiveness. Supporters claimed reparations money might literally save Israeli economy and secure the future.

Late President Shimon Peres once said that in the MiddleEast there are two types of countries, “Holy lands” and “Oily lands”. Israel was never among the later. But in 1️⃣9️⃣5️⃣5️⃣, an oil discovery in the Negev brought lots of optimism with it. Unfortunately, very very little oil.

In 1️⃣9️⃣5️⃣6️⃣ Egypt closed the Suez canal and the Straits of Tiran to Israeli ships. It was against intl. agreements, in violation of the 49 armistice agreement, and a cause for the Sinai War. The war resulted in Egypt being defeated and the Gulf of Eilat reopened for Israeli ships

Adolf Eichmann, senior Nazi war criminal that was among the ones responsible for managing and facilitating ‘the final solution’, was brought to trial in #Jerusalem in 1️⃣9️⃣6️⃣1️⃣. He was captured by the @TheMossadIL in Argentina in @OperationFinale. Eichmann was executed in 1962.

1/2
Shmuel Yosef (Shai) Agnon wasn’t the first Jew to win the @NobelPrize but he was the first #Israeli. In 1️⃣9️⃣6️⃣6️⃣ he won it in literature “for his profoundly characteristic narrative art with motifs from the life of the #Jewish people". >>

2/2
"As a result of the historic catastrophe in which Titus of Rome destroyed #Jerusalem and #Israel was exiled from its land, I was born in one of the cities of the Exile. But always I regarded myself as one who was born in Jerusalem".
Full speech here👇🏻
nobelprize.org/prizes/literat…

The Six Day War thread.
2 decades after ‘48, the Arab world still wasn’t willing to accept #Israel. They still hoped to undo the Jewish state using military means. In 1️⃣9️⃣6️⃣7️⃣ Egypt mobilized military to Sinai and closed the Straits of Tiran for Israeli ships >>

#Egypt then demanded UN peace keeping forces out of Sinai. At the same time, #Syria and #Jordan also mobilized their armies towards their borders with #Israel. Iraqi military was granted permission to enter Jordan and join the efforts >>

In June ‘67, A military coalition of #Egypt-#Syria-#Jordan-#Iraq was ready to “amend” history and undo Israel, for once and for all >>

Remember - the West Bank was then part of Jordan (hence the name: the ‘West Bank’ of the Jordan river) and the #Gaza Strip was ruled by Egypt. No “occupation”.
Still, the ‘Palestine Liberation Organization’, #PLO, already existed from 1964. (‘Liberation’ from what then?) >>

When asked about the fate of the #Jews after the ‘67 war, PLO leader Ahmad Shukeiri answered that the ones born in #Palestine and will survive the war will be permitted to stay but he believed “none of them will survive” >>

Another interesting quote from Shukeiri, from ‘56, when he was Saudi Arabia’s delegate to the UN:
"It is common knowledge that #Palestine is nothing but southern Syria."
Here’s a map from early 19th century explaining his claim.

On the eve of war, Jordan positioned 7 brigades in the West Bank, Egypt positioned 7 divisions in Sinai, and Syria positioned 7 brigades in the Golan Heights. The Iraqis also positioned heavy forces east of the Jordan river. Israeli citizens were digging trenches >>

Iraq’s president, Abdul Rahman Arif, said on the eve of war “Israel’s existence is an error we must amend. This is our chance to abolish this disgrace...our goal is clear: to wipe Israel from the face of the earth. We shall meet, god willing, in Tel Aviv and in Haifa” >>

Israeli intelligence revealed an Egyptian offensive planned for 27/5/67. The @IsraelMFA warned the White House, which warned the Kremlin. The Soviets demanded the Egyptians to abort the attack plan 24 hours before it was supposed to be carried out >>

Morning of 5/6/67, the Israeli Air Force carried out a preventive attack completely neutralizing the Egyptian Air Force. After Syria and Jordan attacked, their air forces were crippled too. On the first day of the war, more than 370 Arab airplanes were destroyed by the IDF >>

The war was basically over before it began. In 6 days Israel defeated 4 Arab armies that actively fought against it. Israel conquered the Golan Heights from Syria, the Sinai Peninsula, Gaza and the Straits of Tiran from Egypt, and the West Bank and East Jerusalem from Jordan >>

9 days after the war, the Israeli government sent a message to the Arab governments that Israel will be willing to withdraw from most of the conquered territory in return for a peace agreement. This offer was rejected >>

Later that year, Arab leaders gathered in an Arab League summit in Khartoum, the capital of #Sudan. The summit resulted in 3 resolutions:
No to recognition of Israel;
No to negotiations with Israel;
No to peace with Israel.

The first hijacking of a commercial flight by Palestinian terrorists took place in 1️⃣9️⃣6️⃣8️⃣. 3 PFLP terrorists hijacked an EL AL flight making its way from @HeathrowAirport to #Israel. After 40 days as hostages in Algeria, the 48 passengers and crew were released unharmed >>

In return, #Israel submitted to the demands and agreed to release 24 terrorists from prison.
It quickly turned out that negotiating with terrorists and giving in to their demands, breeds more terror.

Palestinian terrorism doesn’t just target Israeli citizens inside of Israel.
1️⃣9️⃣7️⃣0️⃣ was the first time, and sadly not the last, an Israeli diplomat (like yours truly) was a victim of terror >>

34 year old Edna Pe’er, from Israel’s embassy in #Paraguay, was shot to death when 3 #Palestinian #Fatah terrorists broke into the embassy planing to kill the Ambassador who was luckily unharmed >>

Since Edna was killed in 1970, 15 more Israelis were killed while on duty in @IsraelMFA.
May their memories be forever blessed.
mfa.gov.il/MFA/AboutTheMi…

The 70’s were a decade of terrorism.
1️⃣9️⃣7️⃣2️⃣ in particular, was a bad year.
Here’s a thread mentioning some of the infamous Palestinian terror attacks from that year >>

🔘 On May 8, a Sabena Flight making its way from Brussels to Tel Aviv was hijacked by 4 armed Palestinian terrorists. They landed the plane in Tel Aviv and threatened to blow it up while demanding the release of hundreds from prison >>

In a courageous operation, Israeli special forces dressed up as Airport technicians broke into the plane and rescued 109 passengers and crewmen. One of the passengers was unfortunately killed. Out of the 4 terrorists, 2 were killed and 2 captured >>

One of the most famous @IDF officers that took part in that ballsy operation, and was wounded from gunfire, was no other than Benjamin @netanyahu, later to become the @IsraeliPM >>

🔘 3 weeks later, 3 Japanese terrorists acting on behalf of the PFLP, opend fire and through hand grenades in Israel’s international airport. 24 people were killed and 71 wounded. One of the 3 terrorists was shot and killed, another killed himself and the third was captured >>

🔘 On September 5, during the summer Olympics in Munich, 8 armed Palestinian terrorists broke into the Olympic Village headed to the quarters of the Israeli team. The terrorists killed 2 Israeli athletes and held 9 more as hostages for more than 19 hours >>

A failed attempt by German police to free the hostages tragically resulted with the death of all hostages who were executed during fire exchanges between the police and the terrorists.
Of the 8 terrorists, 5 were killed and 3 captured alive.
These were the 11 Israeli athletes >>

🔘 Few weeks later, a diplomat at @IsraelinUK, Ami Shchori, opened an envelope addressed to him. It was a letter bomb and Ami was killed. The letter was one of many letter bombs sent by Black September terrorists that day.
Ami was the agricultural attaché at the embassy >>

🔘 On December 28, 4 armed Palestinian terrorists broke into the Israeli embassy in Bangkok. They held staff members hostage for 20 hours. Thanks to the direct involvement of the King of Thailand, the hijackers agreed to release the hostages in return to a safe passage to Egypt.

Yom Kippur War Thread -
1️⃣9️⃣7️⃣3️⃣
One of the most traumatic years in collective Israeli memory.
On Yom Kippur, the Jewish day of atonement; the holiest day of the year, a coalition of Arab armies headed by #Egypt and #Syria, launched a surprise attack on #Israel >>

On that Saturday, October 6, 13:55, the Syrian and Egyptian armies carried out a coordinated surprise attack that included hundreds of air raids against Israeli targets. This colossal failure of Israeli intelligence to predict the war echoed for years later >>

In the first few days of the war, things were looking very bad. The @IDF, still in shock, struggled to fend off the Syrian invasion into the Golan Heights. Even more alarming was the Egyptian storming offensive in the Sinai >>

Palestinian terror groups, namely the PLO, were in Southern Lebanon at the time after being expelled from Jordan 3 years earlier. During the war those Palestinian militias bombed Israeli communities relentlessly. 42 towns and villages in Northern Israel were under rocket fire >>

Attempts to reach cease fire failed. Egypt was feeling it was wining the war and rejected an American truce deal. Egyptian President Sadat threatened to destroy Tel Aviv if Israel dared to bomb Egyptian cities. Threats were backed up with batteries of Soviet missiles >>

But at one point, the @IDF began to gain the upper hand. From a defensive war, Israel started an offensive. The Syrian army was fended back up to the point that Damascus was in Israeli artillery fire range >>

The Egyptian army was also forced to withdraw, and by the end of the war the @IDF was merely 101 km away from Cairo.
On October 22, after 16 days of war, the UN voted in favor of resolution 338 calling for a complete cease fire >>

Israel officially accepted the resolution, but the fighting went on for 3 more days.
The war lasted 19 days and resulted in an Israeli victory. The price though, was extremely high >>

In 19 days, 2,569 Israeli soldiers were killed. 7,251 injured. 294 soldiers fell captive.
One of the most significant outcomes of this war was that the Arab countries understood that Israel cannot be militarily defeated, not even with the best starting point they could have >>

The 1973 war was the last attempt by the Arab world to militarily undo the Jewish state. It planted the seeds to a dramatic political changeover in Israel, and to an historical peace agreement with Egypt >>

‘Who by fire’ is a song written by Leonard Cohen based upon his experience singing in front of Israeli soldiers in the front line of the Yom Kippur war. It is inspired by a Jewish prayer recited on Yom Kippur.

The Ma’alot Massacre. Thread.

May 13, 1️⃣9️⃣7️⃣4️⃣, 3 Palestinian terrorists, members of an organization called the ‘Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine’ (DFLP), infiltrated into Northern Israel from the Lebanese border >>

At first they ambushed a passing by car, opening fire and killing one of the passengers. The wounded driver courageously managed to keep driving, savings the lives of the other passengers and informing the police about the shooting >>

Police and army began an extensive search after the terrorists. For hours and hours they were not found >>

It the middle of the night, the 3 terrorists knocked on the door of the Cohen family’s house in the town of Ma’alot. Behind the door, they pretended to be policemen in pursuit of the terrorists. That’s how they were let in >>

Inside the house, they murdered The father, Yossef Cohen, his pregnant wife Fortuna, and their 4 year old son Moshe. The 5 year old daughter was shot but survived.
After this massacre the 3 terrorists left the house >>

At 4:00 at night the 3 reached a school and planned to ambush the children coming to school in the morning.
To their surprise, there was a group of children from out of town, on a field trip, sleeping in the school >>

The armed terrorists woke the children up. 102 boys and girls sleeping in different classrooms, accompanied by 10 teachers. All the hostages were put together in one of the corridors. Some kids managed to jump out of the windows and escape. 85 hostages were less fortunate >>

The terrorists released one of the kids giving him a note with their demands - release 20 terrorists from Israeli prisons by 18:00 tomorrow or we start executing the hostages >>

Large forces surrounded the school and a negotiating team started to tire down the terrorists while special forces were getting ready to break in. One of the soldiers surrounding the school was shot from one of the windows by one of the terrorists, and was killed >>

45 minutes before the deadline, on 17:15, special forces broke in. Tragically, the forces miscalculated were the children are being held hostage.
In a split second, the terrorists understood what’s going on and started spraying the hostages with gunfire and hand grenades >>

It took the soldiers 30 seconds to break into the right class and kill the 3 terrorists. But those were 30 seconds too late.
22 children were murdered.
In total, 27 Israelis, most of them children, were murdered in the Ma’alot Massacre. May their memory be a blessing.

On 1️⃣9️⃣7️⃣6️⃣, an elite @IDF unit carried out a heroic operation and rescued 102 hostages from the #Entebbe Airport in #Uganda, more than 3,500 km away from #Israel.
The hostages were on board an #AirFrance flight to #TelAviv when it was hijacked to Entebbe >>

The hijackers demanded the release of 40 terrorists from Israeli prisons and of 13 more from prisons in Europe. During the operation, 4 Israelis were killed - 3 hostages and the commander of the special unit, Yonatan Netanyahu >>

Michel Bacos was the captain of that @airfrance flight. When the hijackers released all the non-Jewish hostages, he refused to abandon his passengers behind, knowing that this decision might cost him with his life. Capt. Bacos was rescued by the @IDF together with the hostages >>

As a token of gratitude to his admirable bravery, Bacos was awarded with the Légion d'honneur by the French government, and a Medal of Honor by @IsraeliPM at the time Yitzhak Rabin.

In a later interview, Bacos said “without going into Politics, I think #Israel should defend itself and its citizens. Submitting to terror will encourage more terror” >>

Captain Bacos passed away last month in his home at #Nice. Upon his request, the Israeli National Anthem, ׳Ha’Tikva׳, was played at his funeral.
We salute you Captain. May the memory of all the heroes be forever a blessing.

Two historical events of 1️⃣9️⃣7️⃣8️⃣: ✅ #Israel and #Egypt sign on a #peace agreement; Israel in return withdraws from the Sinai Peninsula conquered a decade earlier.
✅ And...Israel wins, for the FIRST time, the @Eurovision song contest with Izhar Cohen’s ‘A-Ba-Ni-Bi’.

UNBELIEVABLE!
One year after #Israel wins @Eurovision for the first time in ‘78, it wins it AGAIN in 1️⃣9️⃣7️⃣9️⃣ in #Jerusalem with ‘Hallelujah’.
Will history repeat itself 40 years later?

🇮🇱 is a young country but already had 3 different currencies.
In 1️⃣9️⃣8️⃣0️⃣ the ‘Old Israeli Shekel’ (then simply just ‘Shekel’) replaced the ‘Israeli Pound’, a currency inherited from 🇬🇧. The Shekel however, was 100% Sabra🌵and named after the biblical silver coin.

Saddam Hussein was building a nuclear bomb.
In 1️⃣9️⃣8️⃣1️⃣, 14 @IDF fighter aircrafts bombed and destroyed the Iraqi Osirak reactor, more than 1,100 km away from #Israel.
The successful operation put an end to the Iraqi nuclear program >>

The operation was approved by @IsraeliPM @MenachemBegin after he was convinced that the time to eliminate the reactor, without the risk of radioactive fallout, is running out >>

10 years later, during the 1991 Gulf War, Saddam would fire dozens of missiles at #Israel. Just imagine a reality in which Israel would have faced a nuclear threat.
Thanks to the ‘81 operation it didn’t have to >>

U.S Secretary of Defense at the time of the war, Dick Cheney, sent a special greeting to David Ivri, Commander of the Israeli Air Force in 1981.
The greeting was handwritten on a black and white satellite image of the ruins of the Iraqi nuclear reactor. This is what it wrote >>

"For Gen. David Ivri, with thanks and appreciation for the outstanding job he did on the Iraqi nuclear program in 1981 - which made our job much easier in Desert Storm.
Dick Cheney".

An open Israeli wound.
In 1️⃣9️⃣8️⃣6️⃣, Ron Arad, a WSO in the Israeli Air Force and his co-pilot, had to eject from their Phantom fighter jet over #Lebanon. The pilot was rescued but Arad was captured by militants from the Shiite Amal Movement. His fate remains unknown ever since.

1️⃣9️⃣8️⃣7️⃣ was a notable year in the history of the 🇮🇱-🇵🇸 conflict. On April, 🇮🇱 and 🇯🇴 signed the London agreement, aiming to restore Jordanian sovereignty over West Bank. Later that year, the 1st Intifada broke and Jordan relinquished any claim to sovereignty over the West Bank.

That year, the #radical #Islamist #genocidal #antisemitic #Hamas terror organization was founded in #Gaza, as a local Palestinian #MuslimBrotherhood branch. From the very beginning Hamas was clear about its goal and mission💀
Read its 1️⃣9️⃣8️⃣8️⃣ charter:
avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/h…
>>

In 1️⃣9️⃣8️⃣9️⃣ #Hamas carried out one of its first murderous actions when militants kidnapped and murdered two Israeli soldiers, Avi Sasportas (left) and Ilan Saadon (right). Ilan Saadon’s body was found only 7 years later.
May their memory be a blessing.

Oslo Accords THREAD (long).
The Oslo Accords were signed in 1️⃣9️⃣9️⃣3️⃣ between the Israeli government and the PLO, which the Israeli government decided to exclude from its terror list and to recognize as the legitimate and sole representative of the Palestinian people >>

In return, and after decades of denial, the PLO recognized Israel’s right to exist. Yasser Arafat, PLO’s chairman, agreed to amend the organization’s charter that explicitly called for Israel’s destruction.
The problem with Arafat was that he was literally using doublespeak >>

In English, he was speaking peace but in Arabic, it was a total different ballgame.
In 1994, just a few months after Oslo was signed, Arafat held his infamous ‘Johannesburg speech’.
The Oslo agreement, Arafat said, was no different than the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah >>

The Treaty of Hudaybiyyah was a truce agreement between Prophet Muhmmed and his followers, and the Quraysh tribe of Mecca.
The treaty was annulled by Muhmmed, two years after it was signed so Muhmmed’s Islamic army conquered Mecca. Not the best example of a respected agreement >>

Arafat also explained how Oslo is merely one step of PLO's ‘Ten Point Program’, a way for ultimately achieving the end goal:
a free Palestine, “from the river to the sea”, i.e, no Isreal. Just like all the green in the organization’s logo >>

In that speech, on the eve of “an era of peace”, Arafat denied any Jewish claim to Jerusalem and stated that Jihad is the only way to liberate Jerusalem from the occupiers >>

But even before the Johannesburg speech -
on the very same day Oslo was signed (13.09.93), Arafat, in a radio broadcast, promised the Palestinian people that the agreement with Israel is nothing more than a strategic maneuver and a piece in the ‘10 Point Program’>>

Most chose to listen to the Arafat speaking English, because we wanted peace. And so, most chose to cover their ears and mute Arafat in Arabic.
“It’s a cultural gap”, some tried to explain the doublespeak >>

Oslo did not bring peace but rather introduced an emerging phenomenon - the suicide bomber.
On 19th of October, 1️⃣9️⃣9️⃣4️⃣, a Hamas suicide bomber detonated himself inside a crowded bus. 22 Israelis were killed. A total of 38 were killed in suicide attacks that year >>

The following year, 40 Israeli citizens were murdered in suicide bombings.
At this point, for some Israelis ‘Oslo’ still meant a hope for peace, but for others ‘Oslo’ was starting to mean blown up busses, shattered cafés, terror, death and misery >>

The sad fact was that more innocent Israelis had died in terror attacks in the 3 years after the signing of the Oslo Accords, than in the 3 years prior to signing them. The hope for peace had gradually transformed into a reality of violence and despair >>

Shamefully, there were also Jews who crossed all lines of legitimacy and used violence to thwart Oslo.

“Violence erodes the basis of Israeli democracy” said late PM Yitzhak Rabin >>

In 1994, Baruch Goldstein, an Israeli physician, walked into the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron, a holy place for both Jews and Muslims, and opened fire on innocent Muslim worshipers. 29 were killed before Goldstein himself was >>

This was the deadliest act of terror ever to be carried out by a Jew, and an event that left the Israeli society in deep shock. The horrendous act was immediately condemned by the entire political spectrum in Israel. The government appointed a special commission to inquire it >>

On November 4, 1️⃣9️⃣9️⃣5️⃣, a Jewish extremist law student assassinated PM Yitzhak Rabin during a peace rally in Tel Aviv.
The assassin, Yigal Amir, opposed the government’s policies, especially the Oslo Accords >>

The assassination of the PM was a national trauma leaving wounds, some have not yet been healed.
Following the assassination, Foreign Minister Shimon Peres was sworn as the new PM, committed to keep implementing the Oslo Accords on the path to peace >>

But terror kept raging.
In the elections of 1️⃣9️⃣9️⃣6️⃣, the Likud party won, and Benjamin Netanyahu became PM.
Although opposing the Oslo Accords from the beginning, Netanyahu made a commitment that his government will respect all agreements signed by the previous >>

And indeed, in 1️⃣9️⃣9️⃣7️⃣, Netanyahu’s government signed the Hebron Protocol according to which, the IDF will withdraw from 80% of the city and transfer responsibilities to the PLO. The remaining 20% is were the ancient Jewish community of Hebron has been living for centuries >>

A blame game was going on. While the Palestinians blamed Israel for not withdrawing from all territories in line with the agreement, Israel blamed the Palestinian Authority, namely Yasser Arafat, for not doing anything to prevent terror and violence >>

In the elections held in 1️⃣9️⃣9️⃣9️⃣, Labour Party led by Ehud Barak won over Netanyahu’s Likud.
PM Barak implemented all the withdrawals Israel committed to in the Accords >>

“We’ll fight terrorism as if there is no peace and we’ll make peace as if there is no terrorism”, Yitzhak Rabin said.

And all those years terror was raging.

On February 25, ‘96, a Palestinian suicide bomber blew himself up on a bus in Jerusalem. 26 passengers were killed >>

A week later, on March 3, the same bus line in Jerusalem blew up again, this time leaving 19 dead. The next day, March 4, a suicide bomber blew himself up near Dizzengof Centre in Tel Aviv. 13 people were killed >>

On March 21, ‘97, a Palestinian suicide bomber blew himself up in a café in Tel Aviv. 3 young women, including the mother of this baby, were killed.
On July 30, 2 Palestinians blew themselves up in the Mahane Yehuda Market in Jerusalem, killing 16 >>

On September 4, three suicide bombers blew themselves up in downtown Jerusalem.
5 Israelis were killed.
The last 2 years of the millennium were relatively calm with no major terror attacks, thus allowing Israel and the PA to negotiate again towards a final agreement >>

Israeli PM Barak and Palestinian chairman Arafat met in Camp David in July 2000. Barak came with a clear objective to reach a final peace agreement. All issues were on the table - territory, Jerusalem, refugees >>

During the Camp David Summit, the Palestinians rejected every single draft proposal the Israelis presented. Arafat showed no intention to end the conflict. Rejecting on the one hand, and not putting forward any counter proposals on the other >>

Shlomo Ben Ami, who served as Israel’s Foreign Minister at the time told how “President Clinton became boiling mad and started shouting terribly. He told Abu Ala that this wasn't a speech at the UN, and that the Palestinians had to come up with positive proposals of their own” >>

Years later, Clinton said he had “killed himself to give the Palestinians a state” he explained the deal included “all of Gaza, 97% of West Bank, compensating land in Israel, you name it. We had all of the Muslim countries willing to normalize relations with Israel” >>

But an agreement was not reached and Arafat took a calculated decision to go back to the path of violence. Unlike the years between Oslo and Camp David, in which Arafat claimed he was making efforts to fight terror, after 2000 Arafat was directly coordinating and promoting it >>

The second Intifada broke, and all hell broke loose with it. In less than 5 years, around 1,000 Israelis were murdered in terror attacks. Violence had reached frightening peaks and the optimism of Oslo had become into a staggering tragedy >>

Still, Oslo did change reality on the ground in a most profound way -
Since 1996, more than 90% of the Palestinians in the West Bank are self governed by a Palestinian government; And since 2005, 100% of Palestinians in Gaza are self governed.

END THRRAD OSLO ACCORDS.

Sad thread.
The Second Intifada.
Half a decade of terror.

This thread will go through most suicide bombing attacks carried out by Palestinian terror organizations in 2001; a macabre intro to the gloomy years of the second Intifada.

This too is part of #JewishHistory >>

The 2nd Intifada wasn’t a spontaneous break of violence.
The failure of Camp David in July 2000 gave Palestinian chairman Arafat the excuse to plan, organize and execute a terror campaign against Israel. More than 1,000 Israelis, mostly civilians, were Killed in this campaign >>

In early 2️⃣0️⃣0️⃣1️⃣, Arafat ordered the immediate release of all #Hamas and #PIJ terrorists from Palestinian prisons. Most of these were arrested by Arafat in the first place, as a “gesture” to Israel after being involved in murderous terror attacks during the #Oslo years (90’s) >>

Unlike the suicide bombings of the 90’s, which Arafat claimed he couldn’t fight against, the 2nd Intifada terror was okayed, sponsored and in many cases carried out by Arafat’s people. Like this guy, Marwan Barghouti, sentenced to 5 life sentences in prison for murder >>

The first suicide attack of 2001 was on March 4. A #Hamas terrorist blew himself up while crossing a busy street in the city of Netanya. 3 innocent people were killed. Among them was Naftali Dean, the mayor of Tel Mond and his niece, Shlomit Ziv. May their memory be a blessing >>

Later that month, on March 27, a #PIJ terrorist blows himself up next to a bus in #Jerusalem. Luckily, nobody is killed except for the suicide bomber.
2 people are critically injured >>

The following day, March 28, a #Hamas suicide bomber blows himself up when close to a group of teenagers waiting for a their school bus in the city of #KfarSabba.
13 year old Naftali Lantzkorn and 14 year old Eliran Rosenberg were killed. May their memory be a blessing >>

Less than a month later, on April 22, a #Fatah (the moderates) terrorist blew himself up next to a bus in Kfar Sabba.
Dr. Mario Goldin, a 53 year old physician, was murdered.
Dr. Goldin was heading the trauma center at the Loewenstein Hospital. May his memory be a blessing >>

A few days later, on April 29, a #Hamas suicide bomber blows himself next to a school bus in Shavei Shomron. Luckily, nobody was killed >>

On 18th of May, a #Hamas suicide bomber attempts to get into a mall in #Netanya. The security guard suspects him and asks him to wait. The terrorist blows himself up at the entrance killing five, 3 women and 2 men. Tragically, this won’t be the last suicide attack at this mall >>

May 24, #Hamas sends a member of theirs to blow himself up next to a group of soldiers at a checkpoint near #Gaza. A few soldiers are wounded but luckily nobody killed >>

The next day, May 25, a car full of explosives exploded at the #Hadera central bus station. 60 people were injured in different degrees. The 2 dead were later confirmed to be the #PIJ suicide bombers.
The same location suffered a suicide attack in 1994 in which 5 people died >>

On the same day, 25/5, a truck exploded not far from a group of soldiers near Gaza.
Some injuries but luckily, nobody was killed >>

June 1st. Friday night. Kids are out.

Dolphinarium Discotheque Massacre

A #Hamas suicide bomber stands in queue, waiting to get into a night club in #TelAviv. At 23:27 decides to blow himself up in queue.

21 murdered. 17 die instantly and 4 more die later in the hospitals >>

While the news of ‘The Discotheque Massacre’ were met with celebrations in Ramallah, they were strongly condemned by world leaders including US President George W. Bush, @UN Secretary General @KofiAnnanFdn, the EU, and even Kuwaiti Foreign Minister (that later became the Emir) >>

21 people killed. Most teenagers.

Marina Berkovizki, 17 years old.
Roman Dezanshvili, 21.
Yevgenia Haya Dorfman, 15.
Ilya Gutman, 19.
Anya Kazachkov, 16.
Katherine Kastaniyada-Talkir, 15. Aleksei Lupalu, 16.
Mariana Medvedenko, 16.
Irena Nepomneschi, 16.
Yelena Nelimov, 18.
>>

Yulia Nelimov, 16.
Raisa Nimrovsky, 15.
Diez Normanov, 21.
Sergei Panchenko, 20.
Simona Rodin, 18.
Ori Shahar, 32.
Liana Sakiyan, 16.
Yael-Yulia Sklianik, 15.
Maria Tagilchev, 14.
Irena Usdachi, 18.
Jan Bloom, 25.

May their memory be a blessing.

>>

On June 22nd, 2 @IDF soldiers were killed when they approached a car near #Gaza. The car driver waved at them, pretending he was having a problem with the car. When the two soldiers came to help, the driver detonated the car, killing the two. #Hamas claimed responsibility >>

On July 16, a #PIJ terrorist blew himself up at the train station in Binyamina. 20 year old Avi Ben Harush and 19 year old Hanit Arami were killed from the explosion.
May their memory be a blessing >>

On August 9 2001, #Hamas and #PIJ joined forces to carry out one of the deadliest attacks to date.
Just before 14:00, a suicide bomber stepped into a restaurant in #Jerusalem. After ordering pasta, he detonated a bomb hidden inside a guitar case >>

The results were catastrophic.
15 killed, 7 of them children. One family in particular, in a split second, was shattered.
43 year old Mordechai Schijveschuurder, his wife Tzira, 14 year old daughter Raya, 4 year old son Avraham and 2 year old daughter Hemda, were all killed >>

2 other children from the Schijveschuurder family were critically injured.

Arafat refused to arrest the ones responsible for the attack and spontaneous celebrations were spotted in the #WestBank and in #Gaza. Eventually, the ones behind the attack were all arrested by Israel >>

Ahlam Tamimi was one of those responsible for planning the attack. She escorted and guided the suicide bomber to the restaurant, while disguised as a Jewish tourist. She was sentenced for 16 life sentences but released in 2011.
This is what she had to say in a later interview >>

The mastermind behind the attack, and the man who made the bomb was #Hamas operative Abdullah Barghouti. Barghouti was arrested in 2003 and sentenced to 67 life sentences - one of the most severe penalties in Israeli legal history >>

Barghouti was found to be directly responsible for the killing of 66 Israelis.
He is still in prison and he is still receiving a monthly salary from the Palestinian Authority >>

On September 9, 3 people were killed when a #Hamas suicide bomber exploded at the train station in #Nahariya. This was the first time that an Arab Israeli citizen carried out a terror attack against Jews. The attack was condemned by Arab members of the Israeli Parliament >>

On the same day, there were two more attacks. Another suicide bombing at HaSharon junction in which 12 people were injured, and a shooting attack on a civilian vehicle that resulted in the death of 2 passengers >>

On 29/11, a suicide bomber blew himself up on bus 823 driving from Nazareth to Tel Aviv. 3 passengers were killed. Both #Fatah and PIJ claimed responsibility.
This won’t be the last time this bus will suffer terror. 2 future attacks on this bus line will result in 8 more dead >>

December 1st was a Saturday night. Busiest night of the week in one of Jerusalem’s busiest streets - Ben Yehuda street.
Just before midnight, a suicide bomber blew himself up next to a group of teenagers. After a few short seconds, second suicide bomber exploded 40 meters away >>

The horror was not over.
As medical teams were rushing to treat the wounded, 20 minutes after the first bombing, a car bomb exploded in the scene.
11 people were killed, the youngest being 14 and the oldest 21.
May their memory be a blessing >>

On the next day, December 2nd, a suicide bomber blew himself up on a packed bus in Haifa.
15 of the passengers were killed and dozens injured. The terrorist was a member of #Hamas >>

In the month left to the end of 2001, Palestinian terror organizations, namely #Hamas and #PIJ, with the consent and support of the P.A, managed to carry out 4 more suicide bombings.

A total of 84 people had lost their lives in suicide attacks that year.
2002 was much worse.

The 2ⁿᵈ Intifada kept raging throughout 2️⃣0️⃣0️⃣2️⃣, reaching a record of Israelis killed in terror attacks that year:
451 ppl out of which, 225 in suicide bombings.
But it was one attack that forced #Israel to go out on a full scale military operation to stop terror. THREAD >>

March 27 that year was the day of Jewish Passover. Millions of #Jews all around the world celebrated by having the traditional Seder feast. So were the hundreds of people gathered in Park hotel at the city of Netanya >>

At around 19:15, a #Hamas terrorist dressed up as a woman entered the dining room were mostly elderly people celebrated the Seder meal. He blew himself up in the middle of the dining room causing much destruction and havoc >>

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐌𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐚𝐜𝐫𝐞 was the deadliest suicide bombing in the history of Palestinian terror.
30 people were killed and 160 injured. Some of the people killed were #Holocaust survivors. Some were married couples. Two were a father and his daughter >>

135 Israelis were murdered in terror attacks in March alone.
On 29/3, operation "Defensive Shield" was launched with the clear objective of eliminating terror infrastructure at the West Bank, were most suicide bombers came from. This was then the biggest military op since 1982 >>

The operation was successful after which #Palestinian #terror attacks inside #Israel were reduced substantially. During the operation, most Palestinian cities were occupied by the IDF. After 6 weeks of fighting and eliminating terror cells, the IDF withdrew from all cities >>

In #Jenin, the Palestinian industry of lies worked overtime reporting that soldiers had killed hundreds of civilians. Some sources claimed more than 3,000 Palestinians were killed by the IDF in Jenin. Palestinian officials such as @ErakatSaeb reported about a “massacre” >>

A @TIME story from June 2002 concluded that the claims about a massacre are completely false and that numbers were extremely exaggerated. A @UN committee determined that 52~56 were killed, most of them combatants.
23 Israeli soldiers were killed in the battle Jenin >>

Despite some international pressure due to Palestinian fallacies about alleged atrocities and fake massacres, Israel did in fact gain support and acknowledgement of its right and obligation to defend itself against Palestinian terror >>

“Black March” 2002, in which 135 Israelis were murdered in Palestinian terror, left no doubts about the neccassity of a thorough and effective military operation >>

”𝐃𝐞𝐟𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐒𝐡𝐢𝐞𝐥𝐝” was successful.
In a 6-week operation, Israel managed to severely harm terrorist cells in the West Bank. 7,000 terrorists were arrested, some sentenced to many years in prison for their involvement in terror acts >>

Many terrorists were killed in combat with @IDF. So was senior #Hamas militant Quase Aduann, the monstermind behind The Passover Massacre.
Aduann was responsible for the deaths of 77 Israelis killed in suicide bombings. He was also behind the Sbarro restaurant suicide bombing >>

https://twitter.com/porazdan/status/1133079324893044736?s=21

Confiscated documents showed how the P.A was sponsoring terror attacks, storing illegal weaponry and involved in massive weapon smuggling. The Karine A ship, for example, was found to be carrying 50 tons of weapons, including rockets, antitank missiles, and high explosives >>

This information convinced US president George W. Bush that Palestinian chairman Yasser Arafat, is deeply and personally involved in terror, encouraging violence and has no intention to lower the flames >>

From 47 suicide bombings killing more than 220 Israelis in 2002, the number dropped by almost 47% to 22 suicide attacks killing 142 in 2003. In 2004 there were 12 suicide bombings killing 55 Israelis. The numbers kept going down until the Intifada was gradually over.

Operation Defensive Shield, together with the beginning of the construction of the Security Barrier that year, in effect, saved numerous lives on both sides.

2️⃣0️⃣0️⃣3️⃣, the 1st (and so far only) Israeli Astronaut Ilan Ramon, died with rest of crew on board the Columbia space shuttle that disintegrated upon atmospheric entry.

In 1981 he was the youngest pilot taking part in Operation Opera. Read more here 👇🏻

https://twitter.com/porazdan/status/1121860485564063745?s=21

Important things happened in #JewishHistory in 2️⃣0️⃣0️⃣4️⃣, this is maybe the most joyous one 😃.
#Israel’s first (and so far only) Olympic Gold Medal 🥇 to Israeli windsurfer Gal Fridman at the Athens Summer Olympics. 🇮🇱 🏄‍♀️ 🌊 🏄🇮🇱
Time for a 2ⁿᵈ GOLD!
#Tokyo2020 here we come!

On September 2️⃣0️⃣0️⃣5️⃣, the Israeli government carried out a full withdrawal, military and civil, from the #Gaza Strip.
Thread about the 𝐈𝐬𝐫𝐚𝐞𝐥𝐢 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐆𝐚𝐳𝐚 that ended a 38 year long Israeli presence in the strip >>

Jews have been living in #Gaza for centuries. Some of the #Jews expelled from Spain in 1492 joined the already established Jewish community in Gaza.
I tweeted about it when I hit 1492 followers back in the day >>

https://twitter.com/porazdan/status/1081138043896193026?s=21

When my follower count reached 1666 I tweeted about the infamous fake Jewish Messiah Shabbtai Zvi, and his fake prophet Nathan of...#Gaza.
He too was part of the Jewish Community of Gaza. Here >>

https://twitter.com/porazdan/status/1091731952334442501?s=21

A 6th century AD synagogue was discovered in #Gaza in 1965. In ‘67 Gaza fell under Israeli control and the ancient synagogue was used as a visitor center. In ‘94, as part of Oslo Accords, governance over Gaza went to the PLO and #Jews were forbidden from visiting the synagogue >>

Jewish presence in #Gaza ended in 1929 after violent riots forced all Jews to flee the city.
When my follower count was 1929 this is what I tweeted >>

https://twitter.com/porazdan/status/1113863120974417920?s=21

In 1967, #Israel gained control over the Egyptian territory of the #Gaza Strip. The first Israeli settlement in the strip was founded in 1973. Over the years, 21 different villages, agricultural communities and Kibbutzim were established, most in the southern part of the strip >>

For 38 years, these communities, known as the ‘Gush Katif’ block, had a flourishing economy, especially in the agricultural industry.
Gush Katif farmers had thousands of greenhouses, producing around 140 million dollars worth of agricultural produce annually >>

The Gush Katif agricultural industry also provided livelihood to thousands of Palestinians from #Gaza and their families. The greenhouses were working places where #Jews and #Arabs coexisted in real life >>

On the eve of the disengagement from Gaza, there were 8,600 Jews living in the 21 different communities in the Strip.
During August 2005, they were all evacuated from their homes in what turned to be one of the biggest traumas in modern #JewishHistory >>

This time, the ethnic cleansing of thousands of Jews from the area, was not a result of pogroms or violence but rather done by the Israeli government out of the belief that the move was a right step towards a peaceful future.
It wasn’t >>

As a gesture of good will and out of hope for prosperity for the people of #Gaza, the Israeli decision was to leave the thousands of greenhouses intact.
Hours after the withdrawal, Palestinian mobs stormed all that remained, including all greenhouses.
Everything was ravaged >>

After the IDF withdrew all forces out of the strip (11/9/05), the Palestinian Authority started having trouble controlling armed militias in #Gaza, namely #Hamas and #PIJ.
Violence between Palestinian policemen and Hamas militants began to be more frequent >>

On January 2006 the Palestinian Authority had, for the first time since 1996, parliamentary elections.
#Hamas, a genocidal terror organization who’s stated goal is to destroy #Israel, won an overwhelming majority of seats.
There haven’t been elections since >>

The tensions between Abbas’s #Fatah, and #Hamas, increased further after the elections.
In June 2007, Hamas seized control over the #Gaza Strip after a violent military coup during which hundreds of Palestinians, from both sides, were killed.
Hamas has ruled Gaza ever since >>

Since then, more than 12,300 rockets have been fired from #Gaza at Israeli communities, towns and cities.
#Hamas has forced #Israel into 3 military operations: in 2008, 2012 and 2014. Even though the operations had weakened Hamas, they failed in crippling its rocket apparatus >>

#Hamas has been ruling #Gaza, with its population of two million, for 12 years now.
Apart from enhancing poverty, misery and despair among the people of Gaza, it has achieved absolutely NOTHING >>

The disengagement from #Gaza and it’s outcome had its effect on how Israelis view the conflict with the Palestinians.
It turned out to be that “ending the occupation” and “evacuating settlements” is no guarantee for peace. Sometimes it’s the opposite.

In 2️⃣0️⃣0️⃣6️⃣ the @UN Security Council unanimously adopted resolution 1701 calling for a ceasefire of what later was known to be The 2ⁿᵈ Lebanon War. Short thread >>

The resolution also demanded the disarmament of #Hezbollah, an Iranian proxy Shia Lebanese terror militia, and forbade any “armed forces other than @UNIFIL_ and Lebanese” from being positioned south of the Litani River >>

13 years passed and guess what - #Hezbollah is armed with some 150K rockets (more than all European @NATO members COMBINED), is much stronger than the Lebanese army, and completely controlling all areas “south of the Litani River” >>

On December 2018 Israel revealed that #Hezbollah has been digging, for years, assault tunnels crossing from southern #Lebanon into #Israel. The @IDF exposed 6 tunnels. One of them was 55 meters deep underground, 2 meter high, and had a railway to mobilize supplies and arms >>

#Hezbollah, or in other words the Ayatollahs in #Tehran, have hijacked an entire country - Lebanon, to fulfill its Islamic Revolutionary ideology.
In their pursuit for regional hegemony, #Iran plans to gain control over #Syria and #Iraq too >>

Hopefully the Ayatollah regime falls before another war breaks with #Hezbollah.
Not only for #Israel’s sake, but for the sake of all peoples in the region that are suffering this regime’s aggression and regional subversion in Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Lebanon, Gaza and other places.

ISIS could have had nuclear weapons.

Let that sink in.

Five tweet thread.

1/5
On September 6, 2️⃣0️⃣0️⃣7️⃣, the Israeli Air Force striked and destroyed a secret nuclear reactor located at Deir ez-Zor, #Syria >>

2/5
Turned out that the #Assad regime had been building this Plutonium reactor for years, with the good help of some friends from #NorthKorea and with some generous funding from #Iran.
The strike left the facility irrecoverable >>

3/5
Less than 4 years later, on March 2011, a civil war broke in Syria. Deir ez-Zor fell under the control of an unknown rebel militia.
The name of that militia was Daesh, aka the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant >>

4/5
If the IDF wouldn’t have neutralized that reactor back in 2007, it’s not unlikely to assume that ISIS would have had access to an operational nuclear reactor >>

5/5
Of course, in 2007 nobody predicted Syria will get torn apart and ISIS as we later new it didn’t exist. Nevertheless, the Assad regime proved more than once to have used chemical weapons against its own civilians.
Cruel tyrants and nuclear weapons is a bad combination.

After #Hamas took #Gaza in a violent coup in ‘07, rocket fire on Israeli towns and cities rapidly increased.
On 24/12 2️⃣0️⃣0️⃣8️⃣, more than 60 rockets were fired targeting the cities of Ashkelon (population of 150K), Netivot (35K) and Sderot (25K)

‘Operation Cast Lead’ thread >>

Operation Cast Lead was launched 3 days later with the objective of putting an end to #Hamas’s rocket fire, and to regain normality for hundreds of thousands of Israelis living in constant terror >>

One of the main challenges facing the @IDF was how to eliminate rocket launchers and other terror infrastructure, while avoiding civilian casualties as much as possible.
Turned out this issue became #Hamas’s strongest trump card >>

#Hamas’s war crime was a double one: they were deliberately firing rockets at (Israeli) civilian population and were deliberately doing it from highly dense (Palestinian) civilian population, knowing the @IDF will do its utmost to avoid civilian casualties >>

Hamas had taken over homes, “allowing” (forcing) the residents to stay, using these homes as rocket launching pads and the residents as human shields.
It gets worse >>

Check out this 2008 video for example. You can see a #Hamas militant firing rockets from a rooftop in #Gaza. Then you see a bunch of children get in the house and then the militant flees the scene surrounded by the children, using them as human shields >>

In 2008, the @IDF was probably the only army in the world that developed a practice of warning the enemy before attacking. This practice, known as ‘Roof Knocking’, was adopted later by the @USArmy and used in 2016 in #Iraq and #Syria >>

Roof Knocking includes texts and calls to civilians who are in a house from which rockets are being fired. The texts and calls give a few minutes of warning that the building is used for terror activity and must be evacuated immediately. Here’s an example for a text from 2014 >>

After the texts and calls, a non-explosive device is dropped on the roof signaling the residents that an attack is coming and that they must evacuate immediately.
This is how it looks like. Notice the non-explosive missile followed by the actual attack >>

More than 80% of all bombings used by the @IDF during operation Cast Lead were precision bombings. It means that when a target gets hit, minimum collateral damage is caused to the surroundings. This video shows how people who are outside the targeted building do not get hurt >>

The problem was #Hamas had forbidden civilians to evacuate their homes, knowing their lives are at serious risk. In a later interview, Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri stated that Hamas instructed people to disregard Israeli warnings and stay home. Listen to this guy >>

#Hamas also used hospitals, schools and mosques as headquarters, as weapon depots and as rocket launching pads.
In fact, #Hamas’s main HQ was located at one of the lower floors at the Al-Shifa Hospital, the biggest at #Gaza >>

Not only #Israel accused #Hamas of using hospitals for their terror activities. The Palestinian Authority did so too >>

#Hamas, the Palestinian branch of the #MuslimBrotherhood, has taken the people of Gaza hostage for their hatful pursuit to destroy Israel. In that holy war, everyone’s a martyr. 11 years have passed since ‘08, Israel’s still there and for people in Gaza, things have gotten worse.

2️⃣0️⃣0️⃣9️⃣ is when @TelAviv celebrated 💯 years!
This year my gorgeous hometown turned 110 and is still the hottest around.

12 Israelis were awarded the @NobelPrize since founded. This ranks 🇮🇱 #12 on list of laureates by country per capita.
Jews, 0.2% of world population, were awarded 202 prizes which is nearly 25% (!) of all Noble Prizes awarded.
In 2️⃣0️⃣1️⃣1️⃣ Dan Shechtman received it in Chemistry.

On July 18 2️⃣0️⃣1️⃣2️⃣, a #Hezbollah suicide bomber blew himself up on a tourist bus at the Burgas Airport In @Bulgaria.
5 Israeli tourists and the Bulgarian bus driver were killed in the attack >>

According to intelligence reports, the terror attack was planned and financed by the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (#IRGC) and carried out by the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence together with Iran’s Lebanese proxy #Hezbollah >>

This was not #Iran’s first terror attack against #Jews and Israelis. 20 years before the Burgas bombing, a car bomb exploded at the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires. 29 people were murdered, among them 4 Israeli diplomats. #Hezbollah took responsibility >>

2 years later, on July 1994, a car bomb driven by a Lebanese suicide bomber exploded at the #Jewish Community House in Buenos Aires, killing 85 people and injuring hundreds. This attack too was carried out by #Hezbollah >>

The Argentinian intelligence, in collaboration with the @CIA and the Mossad, conducted a thorough investigation of the attacks. In 2002, a report was published showing that the attacks were conceived in Tehran and authorized by the top leadership in #Iran >>

According to the Argentinian report, among the ones responsible for the attacks were #Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali khamenei that authorized them, Iran’s Minister of Intelligence at the time Ali Fallahian that ordered #Hezbollah to carry them out >>

#Iran’s Ambassador to Argentina those years Hade Soleimanpour who cooperated, the Embassy’s “cultural attaché” Mohsen Rabbani that was really coordinating the attack, and #Hezbollah’s Chief of Staff, the notorious Imad Mughniyah, who was responsible for executing the attacks >>

The @INTERPOL_HQ issued arrest warrants against several Iranian officials including former Minister of Intelligence Ali Fallahian and former IRGC commander-in-Chief Mohsen Rezaee >>

Since the ‘79 Islamic Revolution, the Iranian regime sees terror as a legitimate instrument to promote its political interests. #Iran has attempted, and in many cases succeeded, to carry out terror attacks, in all 5 continents >>

Just recently, French authorities thwarted an Iranian terror plot against Iranian dissidents in Paris >>
independent.co.uk/news/world/eur…

There are times when leaders of the free world have an historical responsibility to take a stand a stop evil. The time to #StopIran is NOW.

In 2️⃣0️⃣1️⃣5️⃣ there were 2 deadly anti-Jewish attacks in #Europe.
on January, a man who pledged allegiance to ISIS, shot and killed 4 #Jews inside a Kosher supermarket in #Paris.
On February an Islamic terrorist shot and killed a Jewish man at the Great Synagogue in #Copenhagen.

On January 2️⃣0️⃣1️⃣6️⃣, Dafna Meir, a 38 year old Israeli nurse and mother of four, was brutally murdered at her home in front of two of her children, by a 15 year old Palestinian.

Two days later, the murderer was arrested by Israeli security forces.

Here is his testimony >>

Transcripts of the investigation were published (in Hebrew) here news.walla.co.il/item/2970462

I’ll give you the highlights >>

“She struggled”, the 15 year old murderer told the investigators.
“I stabbed her until I couldn’t pull the knife out of her body” >>

“Why did you kill her?”
he was asked by the investigators.

“Israel is killing our youths. That’s why. I decided to do the same as other young Palestinians do...I realized I might get hurt but I had faith in god” >>

“I was hiding and watching a settler lady with two small kids. She had that Jewish head scarf. She was speaking on her cellphone...I waited until she stepped outside so I can murder her” >>

“She stepped outside, I ran 5 meters towards her and stabbed her in the stomach...she began screaming...her children saw me stabbing her and began screaming” >>

“...I stabbed her in the chest, 3 or 4 times...she struggled, trying to grab the knife...Kids were screaming and she kept struggling...
I tried to pull out the knife, and to keep stabbing her, but the knife was stuck. So I ran. I got back home around 18:30” >>

When he got home, he joined his family watching a documentary on TV. He didn’t tell them about what he has done.
“Then I went to bed. I didn’t leave the house until they came to arrest me” >>

“If you could have pulled the knife out, what would you have done?” the investigators asked.

“I would have kept on stabbing her. And if I would’ve seen another Jew, I would have stabbed and killed him too” >>

“...I would have kept on murdering Jews until I would’ve died as a martyr”.

“Why would you have wanted to die as a martyr?”
the murderer was asked >>

“Every Muslim hopes for a martyr’s death. I want to go to heaven and get 70 virgins.” >>

“...the liberation of Palestine is in the hands of the prisoners and the Shahids and heroes. We will return to Acre, Haifa, Tiberius, Jaffa and Nazareth” >>

“If I would’ve let you go right now, what would you do?” the investigators asked.

“I would go to Al-Aqsa, and on my way, I would kill as many Jews as I could”.

May the memory of Dafna Meir and all victims of terror be a blessing.

“All Jews must die” is what Robert Bowers, a white supremacist antisemite from Pennsylvania, yelled while shooting #Jews at a Pittsburgh synagogue last year. 11 died.
That 2️⃣0️⃣1️⃣8️⃣ event, although being so recent, is also a piece of #JewishHistory.

https://twitter.com/porazdan/status/1056245494048088065?s=21

It’s 2️⃣0️⃣1️⃣9️⃣.

I’ve been tweeting some milestones of Jewish history, along the route of my follower count. I’ve done this since 1171 AD.

It’s been a long and fascinating journey.
At times tragic, at other times uplifting, but always fascinating.

-END THREAD-

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