October 5, 2009 Temple Mount Riots- Again

Israel took a risk today and arrested Sheik Ra’ad Salah, the head of the Islamic Movement's Northern branch, for incitement. Salah has been the leading Muslim leader “fighting on behalf” of Al- Aksa Mosque in Jerusalem. He has been giving daily speeches claiming that Israel wants to destroy the mosque and his incitement has been growing. As I wrote yesterday, however absurd the claims are, the incitement cannot be ignored since it has clearly led to bloodshed in the past. Will arresting him solve the problem? No, but allowing him to continue to call on Palestinians to riot is also problematic as the line between free speech and calling fire in a theater has always been a difficult one.

Israeli engineers unveiled a new invention today: a method of generating electricity from the pressure caused by cars driving on a highway. The system, developed by a company named Innowattech together with the Technion University, uses Piezoelectric materials to convert the mechanical energy provided by the car riding over the strip in electric energy. When one of the TV news shows highlighted the invention, they reviewed some of Israel’s earlier successful inventions. These inventions include the solar water heater, which saves 4% of Israel’s potential energy usage, drip irrigation, which is now exported to 100 countries, cherry tomatoes, and the Thumb Drive. This is without mentioning all of the military technology invented in Israel.