PRC threatens to kill kidnapped teen
Early Wednesday morning, the Palestinian Popular Resistance Committees
threatened to kill Eliyah Asheri, an 18-year-old resident of Neve Zuf in the
Samarian Mountains. On Monday, the PRC issued a claim that it had kidnapped
Asheri.
The defense establishment is taking very seriously the possibility
that Eliyahu Asheri, a student at the Yeshiva of Itamar missing since Sunday,
has been kidnapped by the Popular Resistance Committees. With that, members of
the PRC have yet to follow through on their vow to present evidence that they
have "abducted an Israeli settler."
The 18-year old yeshiva student was last seen at 8 pm on Sunday at the French
Hill junction in Jerusalem.
The PRC said they were "holding a settler" in a Palestinian city. The
group said it would soon announce what its demands of Israel are to
gain the release of what is said to be another kidnapped Israeli.
Israel Radio 28.06.2006 10:09
[Galilee Institute Note: There are currently many conflicting reports
regarding Mr. Asheri's whereabouts. Different PRC reps are both taking credit
and denying his kidnapping. Asheri spent Shabbat and Sunday with the head of his
Yeshiva system, Rabbi Haim Drukman, at the rabbi's home and was in good spirits
upon departure. After leaving a friend's house in Beitar Elite just south of
Jerusalem he was seen several times, including at the popular northern Jerusalem
hitchhiking post near the French Hill. He was supposed to be heading home to
Neve Zuf in the Samarian Mountains but never arrived.
The announcement below by the PRC rep is concidered credible because
he used Asheri's middle name, Pinchas, a name that was not made public by Israel
or the family.
We will do all in our power to keep you informed on this breaking
story without transmitting actualy baseless rumor. If we err, we will
attempt to do so on the side of caution.
To send a message to the Asheri family please visit http://www.gogalil.com]
=======================================================
PRC threaten to 'butcher' Asheri on TV
---------------------------------------------------------------------
By Rebecca Anna Stoil and JPost.com Staff
THE JERUSALEM POST Jun. 27, 2006
---------------------------------------------------------------------
According to a Palestinian Resistance Committees statement Wednesday
morning, the group claimed it was holding, "Eliyahu Pinchas Asheri,"
the 18-year-old Itamar resident who went missing on Sunday.
A spokesman for the group, known only as Abu Abir, told Al-Jazeera
satellite TV early Wednesday that Asheri would be "butchered in front
of TV cameras" if the IDF operation in Gaza did not stop. "Our
patience is running out," said Abu Abir.
"I am announcing for the first time that the kidnapped Zionist Israel
is searching for is the same settler who is being held by us. He is
aged 18-and-a-half... and is a soldier in a pre-military academy,"
said Abu Abir, the terrorist group's mouthpiece. The claim was being
taken very seriously by security forces because Asheri's middle name,
Pinchas, had not been revealed to the public.
The PRC also said that no more information about Asheri would be given without a
price.
Two days after IDF soldier, Cpl. Gilad Shalit, was captured by
Palestinian terrorists near Gaza, security establishment officials
began assessing on Tuesday evening that the 18-year-old had, in fact,
also been kidnapped by Palestinian terrorists.
Sources had revealed the assessment was based on circumstantial
evidence, while the IDF and Shin Bet had no concrete proof, Israel
Radio reported.
Asheri, a yeshiva student and resident of the Samarian town of
Itamar, was reportedly seen twice on Sunday night, both times
attempting to hitchhike. Rabbi Avihai Ronsky of Itamar told The
Jerusalem Post that Asheri, a student at the Neveh Tzuf pre-military
academy, was last seen near Beitar, attempting to hitchhike home.
A fellow student at Neveh Tzuf told police that he had spotted Asheri
trying to hitch a ride at the French Hill hitchhiking post in
Jerusalem on Sunday night.
Asheri's father arrived at the Ariel police station to report his son
missing on Tuesday afternoon. According to police, the youth's parents had been
under the impression that their son was at Neveh Tzuf, and that in Neveh Tzuf,
Asheri's companions believed that he was with his family.
Asheri's disappearance was coupled with a number of alarming
announcements and intelligence leads coming from Palestinian terror
organizations that led security officials to fear the worst.
Shortly before midnight on Monday evening, the Palestinian Resistance
Committees issued a statement announcing that they had kidnapped an
Israeli settler in the West Bank, saying that the kidnapping was part
of an operation called "Horsemen's Rage," intended to avenge the
targeted killing of the group's leaders by Israel.
"One of our elements in the West Bank succeeded in kidnapping the
settler as part of a chain of reactions against the Zionist attack,
and as revenge for the blood of Palestinian martyrs," said the
statement, which was issued by the Salah al-Din Brigades, the PRC's
military wing.
"We have information about the attack, but we will not pass it on at
this point in order to keep the ball in the Zionist court, and so that the
Zionists continue in their confusion. We will allow actions on the ground to
speak for us." The group also had formed a special unit to kidnap IDF soldiers
and settlers in the West Bank, PRC spokesman Abu Abir said.
According to Abu Abir, the new unit, which consists of several dozen
gunmen, is called Knights of Rage. "We will continue our attacks on
Israel until the leaders of Israel are brought to their knees," he
said. "[Prime Minister Ehud] Olmert and [Defense Minister Amir] Peretz must know
that we will never be defeated and that we will continue to fight for our
rights."
In addition, security sources claimed that they had received two
independent pieces of intelligence information, one indicating that
Palestinians had killed an Israeli on Sunday night, and one indicating that
Palestinians were holding the body of an Israeli. On Tuesday night, IDF forces
were reportedly combing villages in the Ramallah area.
Meanwhile, in Itamar, Asheri's neighbors were trying to do their best
to search for clues that could help locate the missing teenager. In
the early evening, a busload of residents, adults and youth, were sent out to
comb busy intersections on Route 60, the north-south road
transecting the West Bank, carrying pictures of the missing youth in
the hopes that a traveler would recall seeing the student.
Other Itamar residents held a prayer vigil for Asheri, the oldest of
six children, described by a neighbor as "a smiling, nice boy."
"There is a feeling here of unknowing, of concern, of wanting to do
something," said resident Orit Deri. "We just discussed the fact that
God tests us because he knows we can stand the test. We are strong and we are
unified."
Eliyahu Asheri's father, an immigrant from Australia, and mother are
veteran members of the close-knit Itamar community.
The IDF confirmed that ever since the attempted kidnapping of two
teenage girls near the Tapuah Junction ten days ago, security forces
have been received general warnings of kidnapping attempts in the West Bank. The
IDF spokesman's office said that they had been working
together in recent days with settlements' security officers in order
to warn settlers as to the danger of kidnapping attempts.
====================================================
Posted with permission by Dr. Mike Cohen http://www.gogalil.com
====================================================
