Islamic Terrorists Planned To Attack Israeli Embassy In Berlin

Jerusalem – Members of the Islamic terror cell who were arrested in Germany at the beginning of September had planned, among other things, to carry out a terror attack against the Israeli embassy in Berlin, reported the news weekly Focus.

The cell was arrested following lengthy monitoring, which included wiretapping and penetrating the computers of three of its members, two German youths who had converted to Islam and one youth of Turkish origin. “We will set the world on fire,” boasted one of the terrorists, who had planned to carry out terror attacks on Sept. 11 this year to mark the sixth anniversary of the terror attacks against the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and one intended for the White House.

On Sept. 4, German police raided a villa in the small village of Oberschelden, where they found 12 barrels of liquid material to produce bombs. The German police spokesman said that the raid was conducted after it became clear that the cell members had obtained detonators and had planned to begin to assemble the bombs.

On Sunday, the Neue Presse Internet site reported that the cell had also planned to blow up other Israeli installations in Germany. This information turned up in a transcript of a conversation conducted in their hiding place. Now it also turns out that the Israeli embassy, which naturally has heavy security, was also on the list of targets.

Israeli Soldier Killed

In Gaza During

IDF Operations

IDF forces operating ceaselessly both in the Gaza Strip and Samaria conducted difficult battles at dawn. A reserve force encountered exchanges of fire south of the Sufa crossing in the Gaza Strip. One Israeli soldier was killed and two other Israeli soldiers were wounded by shrapnel.

Another force that was arresting wanted men in the UNRWA Ein Beit Ilma refugee camp in Nablus encountered armed Palestinians, and exchanges of fire ensued. One IDF soldier was wounded by shrapnel in his neck and evacuated in stable condition to Beilinson Hospital in Petah Tikva.

Over the past week, IDF soldiers killed 16 Palestinian terrorists during exchanges of fire near the border fence in the Gaza Strip.

Israeli Army Southern Command officials praised the activity of the reserve battalion, which killed four terrorists last week when they went into the Gaza Strip, pursued the terrorists, and shot them in close encounters. An Israeli military source told the Israeli media that “The purpose of the activity in Palestinian territory is to repel plans by terrorists to infiltrate Israel to attack Israelis, and to locate terrorist infrastructures such as plans to dig tunnels and place bombs.”

“There is daily fighting along the border fence in the Gaza Strip,” an Israeli Southern Army Command spokesman told the press. “The terrorists try to come close to the fence to attack IDF soldiers and infiltrate into Israel.”

Bedouin Girl Heads Israeli Student

Council In Tiberias

Her dream is to be a doctor, but for now Shari Sawayed, a 14-year-old Bedouin girl from Tiberias, is settling for the title of chairperson of the student council at the local junior high school Ort Bamaale.

The 550 pupils of the junior high school chose Shari to head the student council, thereby making history – for the first time, a Bedouin was chosen chairperson of the student council at a high school in a Jewish community.

“I worked hard to be elected, and I am proud of myself and of the pupils who picked me,” said Shari, a ninth-grader at the school, who ran as leader of the “Akhla” group (a [Hebrew] acronym for “We Are Here for the Pupils”).

She said, “I intend to work on behalf of everyone, including those who didn’t vote for me. I am excited and feel a sense of responsibility and commitment, especially in light of the fact that I am a proud Bedouin.”

For two weeks, Shari staged an election campaign, and was determined to win. “We gave workshops, prepared signs with slogans, spoke with pupils and made promises, like filling recess with new content and publishing a newspaper,” Shari told Israel Hayom.

“I am glad that at the end of a close race, we managed to win. I was educated at home to believe that it doesn’t matter if you are a Jew, a Muslim or a Christian, it is important for you to be first and foremost a decent human being and to respect others. I have always behaved this way, so I am not surprised that I was elected to the important post,” she explained.

Shari Sawayed, a relative of the late Staff Sgt. Omar Sawayed, the Bedouin Israeli soldier who was kidnapped and murdered seven years ago by Hezbollah in Lebanon, is accustomed to volunteer work. In the Second Lebanon War, while many residents of Tiberias abandoned the city because of the volleys of Katyusha rockets that fell on it, Shari chose to go to the shelters and help residents in need.

She also gave out Israeli flags at major intersections in the city in order to raise people’s morale.

“This is a one-year position, and I hope to succeed in it and to contribute to the pupils. In the future, I hope to serve in the IDF and learn medicine,” Shari summed up.

Ariel Sharon

Back In The News

It was revealed this week that Israel’s National Fraud Squad has been conducting an investigation against Gilad Sharon, son of former prime minister Ariel Sharon, for three years now in connection with allegations that he received $1.8 million from the Israeli American businessman Aryeh Ganger.

This is yet another aspect of the continuing criminal investigations having do with financing Sharon senior’s election campaign.

Because of Ariel Sharon’s terminal medical condition, the media has tended to downplay reportage of these investigations.

The new affair has to do with a lawsuit presented by Dalia Ganger, ex-wife of Aryeh Ganger, to a New York court in which she claimed that the profits of a realty deal in the sum of $1.8 million was fraudulently taken out of her and her husband’s joint account, and that the money made its way to companies under Mr. Sharon’s control.

Gilad Sharon was interrogated by police, but as in his previous investigations he maintained his right to silence, and refused to cooperate. In addition, inquiries were conducted in the U.S. and Canada in connection with the transfer of the money.

On Sunday, the Israeli newspaper Ha’aretz reported that the money came from the profits of two realty projects in Montreal carried out by the AG Properties company, which was under Mr. Ganger’s de facto control. Mr. Ganger is an associate of the Sharon family and was one of the main donors to Mr. Sharon’s political endeavors.

In a twist of irony, the head of the new United Nations Foundation, Ted Turner, former head of CNN, arrived in Israel this week with former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan in order to dedicate a park and landmark in honor of Ariel Sharon. However, the place that they chose, a hill known as Hiriya, is known as the most polluted garbage dump in Israel, whose fumes can be smelled for miles around.

The fact that this spot was chosen by Ted Turner was not lost on Israel’s pundits, who reminded the Israeli public that one of Mr. Turner’s parting shots before leaving CNN was that “Israel is guilty of terrorism.”

In a June 2002 interview with the British newspaper The Guardian, Mr. Turner said, “The Palestinians are fighting with human suicide bombers, that’s all they have. The Israelis … they’ve got one of the most powerful military machines in the world. The Palestinians have nothing. So who are the terrorists? I would make a case that both sides are involved in terrorism.”

Daniel Seaman, the head of the Israel Government Press office, responded at the time by saying that “My only advice to Ted Turner is if people assume you are stupid, it is best to keep your mouth shut rather than open your mouth and confirm everyone in that view.”

Mr. Turner’s statement was broadcast the morning after Palestinians blew up a bus in Jerusalem, murdering 11 men, women and children.

©The Bulletin 2007