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AJC Lauds Courage
On Detroit Flight
New York The American Jewish
Committee praised the crew and pas-
sengers traveling on a Northwest Airlines
flight from Amsterdam to Detroit. They
prevented a bombing attack by an alleged
Al Qaeda operative. The plane landed
safely after the terrorist, Abdul Farouk
Abdulmutallab, a Nigerian national said
to be studying in London, was subdued.
"As we approach the end of a decade
defined by the experience of 9-11, this
attack — thankfully foiled through the
sheer courage of those on board the plane
— is a painful reminder that the struggle
against Islamist terrorism continues:' said
AJC Executive Director David Harris.
Harris said that while Al Qaeda has been
dealt a significant blow
in Iraq, it continues to
operate elsewhere in the
Islamic world, in coun-
tries like Afghanistan,
Pakistan, Somalia
and Yemen, where
Abdulmuttalab is said to
David Harris
have collected his device.
"Americans will be struck that the
massacre at Fort Hood, which occurred
in November, was carried out by an army
officer who was in close contact with an
Al Qaeda cleric also based in Yemen:'
Harris said. "There will be similar con-
cerns over the fact that Abdulmuttalab
was allowed to board in Amsterdam with
a valid U.S. visa, despite appearing in a
database listing those with significant
terrorist connections:'
Harris urged governments, intelligence
services and airlines to review security
procedures in the wake of the foiled
attack. "We came perilously close to a
terrible massacre on Christmas Day. We
need to know why Abdulmuttalab was
able to board the plane carrying explo-
sives and how similar assaults will be
prevented in the future on the ground,
and not in the air," Harris said.
Harris said the attempted attack was
another display of the violent jihadi ideol-
ogy associated with Al Qaeda."Theirs
is an ideology that seeks to destroy the
freedoms of democratic societies. When
executed, it does not discriminate between
men and women, non-Muslims and
Muslims, those steeped in riches and those
A Sunday Fast
New York Sunday was the 10th of Tevet,
a minor fast day.
In Israel, Kaddish is recited on this day
for people whose date or place of death is
unknown. Consequently, many rabbis have
designated it as a day of remembrance for
the Holocaust, according to the Orthodox
Union.
The 10th of Tevet — on which the siege
of Jerusalem began — was the begin-
ning of the whole chain of calamities that
ended with the destruction of the Temple.
"The essential significance of the fast
of the 10th of Tevet, as well as that of the
other fast days, is not primarily the grief
and mourning which they evoke said the
Rambam."Their aim is rather to awaken
the hearts towards repentance; to recall to
us both the evil deeds of our fathers and
our own evil deeds, which caused anguish
to befall both them and us and thereby to
cause us to return towards the good."
The fast began, as do all the public fasts
with the exception of Tisha B'Av and Yom
Kippur, at dawn. These four public fasts
— the 10th of Tevet, the Fast of Gedaliah,
the 17th of Tammuz and the Fast of Esther
— also are alike in that there do not apply
any additional physical constraints, such
as the prohibition of washing or of wear-
ing leather shoes.
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mired in poverty. That is
why the jihadis are the
enemy of all of us."
Added Kari Alterman,
the Bloomfield
Township-based AJC
Detroit director, "While
complete information
Kari Alterman
about the recent act of
terrorism is still being uncovered, it is clear
that the attempted attack only reinforces
the fear of and negative bias toward the
entire Muslim community. AJC Detroit
works closely with a number of Muslim
and Arab partners, and is gratified that
many of them have spoken out forcefully
against the attack, demonstrating once
again that a few extremists do not repre-
sent the Muslim community as a whole."
Israel Kills Terrorists
Jerusalem/JTA Israeli soldiers killed
three Palestinian men allegedly involved
in the shooting death of an Israeli motor-
ist in the West Bank.
Israeli soldiers entered Nablus last Friday
night in an attempt to arrest the men
responsible for the previous night's murder
of Meir Avshalom Hai, a 45-year-old father
of seven near the northern West Bank
settlement of Shavei Shomron. The men
were killed in their homes while resist-
ing arrest, according to the Israel Defense
Forces (IDF).
The army spokesman said Sunday that
a ballistics test on a weapon found in the
home of one of the terrorists matched the
bullet that killed Hai.
"Our policy against terrorism is clear.
We
will continue to respond aggressively
Israel Boosts Security
against
any attack on Israeli citizens and
jerusalem/JTA Israel's Ben-Gurion
against
any
firing of rockets or missiles at
International Airport increased security
Israeli
territory,"
Prime Minister Benjamin
following an attempted terrorist attack on
Netanyahu
said
at
the start of Sunday's
a flight to the United States.
Cabinet
meeting."
Airline passengers traveling from Israel
Noting that one of the terrorists
to the United States will also be subjected
involved
in the attack had been released
to additional questioning, according to
from
Israeli
prison, Netanyahu said, "This
reports.
is
precisely
the
consideration standing
Last Friday, Abdul Farouk
against
the
Shalit
deal. The issue of our
Abdulmutallab, 23, a Nigerian native cur-
citizens'
security,
particularly
in the West
rently studying in London, attempted
Bank,
is
a
cardinal
consideration
in the
to detonate explosive devices while on
negotiations
for
Shalit's
release.
We
want
board a Northwest Airlines flight from
our
prisoners
returned,
but
at
the
same
Amsterdam to Detroit. He was subdued by
crew and passengers and the plane landed time, we must minimize the risk to our
citizens:'
safely.
On Friday, two Palestinian terrorist
Abdulmutallab was listed in a U.S.
groups,
Islamic Jihad and the Al-Aksa
terrorism database last month after his
Martyrs
Brigades, the military wing of
father contacted U.S. State Department
Palestinian
Authority President Mahmoud
officials because he was worried about
Abbas'
Fatah
party, claimed responsibility
his son's connections to extremist Muslim
for
killing
Hai.
reported.
groups, the Washington Post
Abdulmutallab said he was trained by
al-Qaida in Yemen, according to reports.
—
—
Roundup on page 12