1/5 On this day ,September 6 2007, 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.
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Just before 14:00, exactly 20 years ago today, a suicide bomber stepped into a Pizza place in #Jerusalem.
He ordered pasta.
Then he detonated a bomb hidden inside a guitar case and all hell broke loose.
Thread.
The results were catastrophic.
15 were killed, 7 of them children.
One family in particular, was destroyed in a split second.
43 year old Mordechai Schijveschuurder, his wife Tzira, 14 year old daughter Raya, 4 year old son Avraham and 2 year old daughter Hemda. Killed.
2 other children from the Schijveschuurder family were critically injured.
The Palestinian Authority refrained from arresting the ones responsible. Eventually, all behind the attack were arrested by Israel.
Now with the ceasefire, its important to remember that the fighting began 11 days ago, with Hamas taking a decision to fire rockets at Israel's capital.
Also important to refute claims that Hamas fired because of "the occupation".
There is no occupation in #Gaza.
THREAD >>
On September 2005, the Israeli government carried out a FULL withdrawal, both military and civil, from the #Gaza Strip.
The Israeli disengagement from Gaza 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 >>
Exactly 5 years ago today, Dafna Meir, a 38 year old nurse, wife, and mother of 4, was brutally murdered at her home in front of 2 of her children, by a 15 year old Palestinian.
Two days later, the murderer was arrested by Israeli security forces.
Here is his testimony >>
“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” >>
On Tuesday #Israel will sign on normalization agreements with two Arab states.
So why did normalization and peace with the #Palestinians never come about?
The Oslo Accords between Israel & the Palestinians were signed #OnThisDay in 1993.
THREAD about what went wrong >>
Basically, after decades of violent conflict, the Israeli government agreed to exclude the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) from its terror list and to recognize it 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 >>
"Allah willing, we will massacre the Jews like we massacred them in Hebron".
Testimony from elderly Palestinian woman who remembers. #OnThisDay in 1929, massacres resulted in murdering of 133 Jews and destruction of entire Jewish communities in British ruled #Palestine.
THREAD
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”. 2/7
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 on 23/8/1929.
19 Jews were murdered. Homes and synagogues were burnt down. 3/7
1/6 Just before 14:00 (local time), #OnThisDay in 2001, a suicide bomber stepped into a restaurant in #Jerusalem.
He ordered pasta.
Then he detonated a bomb hidden inside a guitar case.
Thread.
2/6 The results were catastrophic.
15 killed, 7 of them children.
One family in particular, in a split second, was destroyed.
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 killed.
3/6 2 other children from the Schijveschuurder family were critically injured.
Arafat refused to arrest the ones responsible and spontaneous celebrations were spotted in the West Bank and Gaza. Eventually, the ones behind the attack were all arrested by #Israel.