A building used by fishermen in the Ottoman period, containing fishhooks and fishing weights, was exposed in an archaeological excavation conducted in Ashkelon, north of the Gaza Strip.

Young residents of Ashkelon and the vicinity who were employed by the Israel Antiquities Authority in an archaeological excavation in the city, recently uncovered buildings that were once used by local inhabitants who were engaged in fishing along the Mediterranean coast. The excavation was carried out for the Ashkelon municipality, at the initiative of the Ashkelon Economic Company, in an area where a new neighborhood is slated to be built, in the northern part of the city.

As part of a project being led by the IAA and aimed at educating young people about their past, dozens of boys and girls were engaged in the challenging work of unearthing the coastal city’s past.

The finds that were discovered: metal fishhooks, dozens of lead weights, a large bronze bell.

According to the excavation directors, Federico Kobrin and Haim Mamliya, “Two of the buildings that we uncovered are very curious, and it seems they were used as a fisherman’s house and a lookout tower, possibly a lighthouse, dating back to the Ottoman period (1299 to 1922 CE). The tower was situated on a lofty hilltop, and it looks out over the Mediterranean Sea. From the tower one could signal and direct ships that were sailing between the ancient ports in Ashkelon and Ashdod-Yam.”

Kobrin adds, “The fisherman’s house is divided into three rooms, and a wealth of artifacts was discovered in it that are indicative of its use: metal fishhooks, dozens of lead weights, a large bronze bell, and even a stone anchor. The building’s entrances were fixed in the north in order to prevent the high winds and sea storms from entering into it.” According to the archaeologists, “this is the first time that a building was exposed in Ashkelon that we can attribute with certainty to the fishing industry.”

Federico Kobrin, excavation director on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority, near the lookout tower.

Kobrin noted that “working with youth was both a challenge and extremely satisfying. The young people participated in uncovering part of their city’s past; they labored diligently and conscientiously, showed their interest and curiosity regarding the finds, and it was a pleasure to work with them.”

The fisherman’s house will be preserved and incorporated in the development of the neighborhood and strip of beach for the benefit of the residents and to create a connection between them and those who lived and fished there in the past.

President Obama intends to veto a bill which allows families of 9/11 victims to sue the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in US courts, White House press secretary Josh Earnest told reporters on Monday.

“The president does plan to veto this legislation,” Earnest said, reiterating, “I do anticipate the president will veto the legislation when it is presented to him. It hasn’t been presented to him yet.”

According to The Hill, this could be the first time Congress would be able to override an Obama veto. Democratic lawmakers have been pressuring the Administration to leave the bill alone for the sake of the 9/11 victims’ families, and for the sake of their reelection come November. Democratic lawmakers are concerned the veto would ignite a showdown between the White House and Congress that would damage the president and make him less effective on the serious issues, namely the fight over the budget in the lame-duck session of Congress. The bill passed unanimously by a voice vote in both the House and Senate.

Earnest cautioned that “this law actually opens up the United States to the risk of being hauled into court in countries around the world,” and added that “the president will continue to explain his opposition to this legislation … up until Congress decides whether to override his veto.”

The Saudi dominated, six-member Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), announced on Monday that the proposed law “contravenes the foundations and principles of relations between states and the principle of sovereign immunity enjoyed by states,” possibly assuming this sovereign immunity includes the right to plot an attack on major civilian centers of the host country.

GCC Secretary General Abdullatif al-Zayani also said in an unveiled threat that “such laws will negatively affect the international efforts and international cooperation to combat terrorism.”

The Israeli Supreme Court on Sunday denied an appeal against the demolition of the Dura village house belonging to one of the terrorists who carried out the drive by shooting that killed Rabbi Miki Mark and injured his wife and children.

The appeal was submitted by The wife of Mohammad Majid Amaira, 38, from Dura, a member of the Palestinian security forces. Amaira was detained for questioning three days after the murder and confessed he was the driver during the attack, while Mohammed Jabarah al-Fakih, 29, also from Dura, fired at the Mark family car.

Amaira’s wife, his daughters and HaMoked, an Israeli NGO assisting PA Arabs in their troubles with the Shabak, filed the appeal jointly.

According to NGO Monitor, Hamoked’s annual budget as of 2014 was $2,617,980, provided by Norway, the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), Human Rights and International Law Secretariat (jointly fundded by Sweden, Switzerland, Denmark and the Netherlands), UNDP (one of whose officials has just been indicted for being a Hamas agent), Finland, CCFD (France), Misereor (Germany), Trocaire (Ireland), Oxfam-Novib (Netherlands), and AECID (Spain).

Rightwing movement Im Tirtzu praised the Supreme Court’s decision to authorize the home demolition, and condemned the “torrent of judicial appeals” submitted by HaMoked on behalf of terrorists.

Im Tirtzu CEO, Matan Peleg, said in an email statement: “Im Tirtzu welcomes the Supreme Court’s decision to authorize the home demolition of the terrorist who murdered Rabbi Miki Mark. This decision sends a clear message to European governments, which fund radical Israeli NGOs to submit appeals to Israel’s Supreme Court aimed at damaging the IDF’s deterrence capabilities.”

Peleg added: “Im Tirtzu will continue leading the fight against this phenomenon. The Israeli public has a right to know who’s defending terrorists.”

The Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, Maj. Gen. Yoav (Poly) Mordechai, expressed sharp criticism in his meeting Thursday evening with senior staff of World Vision, who are currently in Israel. The Coordinator conveyed the need for the organization to publicly condemn the incident and assume responsibility immediately.

The Coordinator presented to the organization the findings and confession from Mohammed El Halbi’s interrogation regarding his exploitation of the organization’s donations for Hamas’s military wing. The WV representatives emphasized that it renounces any support, direct or indirect, for Hamas, and intends to operate transparently and in coordination with COGAT, as required.

But World Vision Australia chief executive Tim Costello told the Guardian Thursday that his charity was “mystified” by the charges, because independent audits had found the charity’s programs in Palestine were “clean.”

Costello told Guardian Australia: “I want to reassure Australians that World Vision’s money in Gaza is being spent on reducing poverty for Palestinian people, not terrorism.”

Knesset Speaker MK Yuli Edelstein on Monday hosted six current and former US Congressmen. “We thank you for your contribution and efforts for the sake of Israel’s security,” Edelstein told his guests, Joe Wilson (R-SC), Steven Palazzo (R- MS), Randy Neugebauer (R- TX), Billy Long (R- MO), John Larson (D-CT) and former Michigan Republican Congressman Mike Rogers. They are all known for supporting Israel and many are members of important congressional committees such as the Appropriations Committee, the Committee on Armed Services and the Ways and Means Committee.

The head of the American delegation, former Congressman Mike Rogers, told his hosts: “The need for security in Israel is clear and there are no disputes. We shall continue assisting you on the matter.” His statement were echoed by the Congressmen at the meeting. “Sadly, the United States is also experiencing terror, and we are all together fighting against it with all the means at our disposal,” Edelstein told his guests. He also addressed the Iranian threat and stated that “all there is to do now is to try to get as much as possible from the agreement that was signed with Iran. But also, if only one percent of the money that Iran acquires will reach Hezbollah, we are speaking of huge amounts of money and must prevent it as much as possible.”

MK Michael Oren (Kulanu), chairman of the Subcommittee for Foreign Policy, participated in the meeting and added that “we thank you more than can be described for your efforts for the benefit of Israel, also for [Congress’] approval of the funding for the Iron Dome [missile interception system]. But in the next war, if it occurs, we will need from you a diplomatic ‘Iron Dome’ as well.”

The good news is that Meir Ettinger, grandson of the late Rabbi Meir Kahane, is expected to be released on Wednesday, June 1, following 10 months of solitary confinement in administrative detention, meaning he never committed any crime, but former Defense Minsiter Meir Ya’alon was convinced he was going to commit bad things if only he were allowed to roam free. And so, in the same vein, although Ettinger will presumably be allowed to leave jail, he won’t be doing a lot of roaming, Hakol Hayehudi reported Monday.

An administrative decree signed by OC Central Command Maj. Gen. Roni Numa bans Ettinger from Judea and Samaria for a period of one year. Another decree, signed by GOC Home Front Command Maj. Gen. Yoel Strick, bans Ettinger from Jerusalem and from the community of Yad Binyamin.

In addition, Ettinger must obey a night curfew for the next four months, and he has been banned from contacting a list of 92 acquaintances.

Ettinger is the second rightwing activist banned from contacting a long list of his friends — another young man was served last Friday with a decree running 87 names he is forbidden to contact.

Stay tuned for a solidarity with Meir Ettinger event his friends are organizing, which suggests that they’d be contacting him via YouTube.

Jewish activists Meir Ettinger and Evyatar Slonim were placed in administrative detention—an old British Mandate “temporary” regulation which is being employed by Israeli courts to incarcerate security risks whose alleged crimes cannot be proven—last August. They were then transferred to the security wing of Eshel prison near Be’er Sheva in early October.

Ettinger’s uncle, Binyamin Kahane, was killed with his wife Talya in a shooting attack near the settlement of Ofra in December 2000.

During his stay in isolation, his attorney, Sima Kochav, wrote: “They keep [Palestinian] security prisoners in this wing, which means the IPS is violating its mandate and risking the life of a prisoner needlessly. Not only have they damaged his conditions unreasonably, disproportionately and contrary to the ordinance, but they are, at this moment, risking his life in a tangible way. The [Arabs’] cells are adjacent to his cell.”

Kochav also pointed out that “while the prisoners exit to the yard, they knock on his cell doors, talk into his cell window, and threaten his life. Likewise during the outings, when the prisoners are in the yard, the detainee (Ettinger) is showered with curses, insults, and, worst of all, death threats. In addition, the prisoner in the cell next to Mr. Ettinger’s is banging on the walls throughout the night and shouting, in order to disturb and harm Mr. Ettinger.”

Several dozen rabbis, many of them Haredi and Hasidic, on Sunday attended an emergency conference at the study hall of the Bostoner Rebbe, Rabbi Meir Alter Horowitz, in the neighborhood of Har Nof in Jerusalem, Kippa reported. Dubbed “emergency conference for the security of Israel in the Holy Land,” the assembly ended with a uniform call against a national unity government with the Zionist Camp (Labor) or with any other politicians who declare openly that they want to hand over areas of historic Israel.

Besides the host, the Bostoner Rebbe, the conference included Haredi “celebrities” such as the Chief Rabbi of Bnei Brak, Rabbi Moshe Landau, the Chief Rabbi of Tsfat, Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu, and the head of the Temple Institute, Rabbi Yisrael Ariel.

The statement the assembled rabbis issued after their conference said in no uncertain terms that there must be no negotiations over territory across the “green line,” nor any mention of the “two state solution.” The announcement suggested that “the only way to uproot the wave of terror by Arab murderers in the Holy Land would by through a firm stand of the Israeli government that there will never be a negotiation over parts of the Holy Land, by expressing regret for past withdrawals and regret for the ‘miserable declaration’ of two states for two peoples.”

The assembled Haredi rabbis also said that “the areas of Judea, Samaria and Jerusalem are all part of the Land of Israel and we must continue to build there in accordance with the needs of the population without interruption. The rabbis have ruled according to Halakha that maintaining the security forces’ deterrence is more important than any holy object.”

The Haredi rabbis also mentioned what they called “stupid” statements by senior officials in government and the military which, they said, dishonor the nation of Israel and the IDF soldiers—referring to Deputy Chief of Staff General Yair Golan who compared the behavior of some IDF soldiers to that of German Nazis in the 1930s.

The rabbis added that every Arab terrorist must be executed. “Every Arab terrorist who leaves his house with the intent to hurt Jews has lost his right to live and must be shot without needless calculations,” they stated. They noted that whomever refuses to follow their directions should not be placed in charge of the security of Israel, citing Deut. 20:8 — “What man is there that is fearful and fainthearted? let him go and return unto his house, lest his brethren’s heart faint as well as his heart.”