Syrian Captors Free NBC News’ Chief Foreign Correspondent
December 18, 2012 13:51 by Pesach Benson
Everything you need to know about today’s coverage of Israel and the Mideast. Join the Israel Daily News Stream on Facebook.
Today’s Top Stories
1. UPI: Syrian rebels claim control of the Yarmouk refugee camp. Reuters/Maan News reports 95 percent of the Palestinians fled the camp. Many already reached Lebanon.
2. NBC News announced that its news crew in Syria, including chief foreign correspondent, Richard Engel, were released from captivity. So far, the abductors remain unknown.
Engel disappeared on Thursday, but NBC blacked out the news. Turkish media first reported the abduction, and as the news started to spread on Twitter, Gawker made itself part of the story by breaking ranks and publishing its own article.
3. What would happen to world oil prices if Iran becomes a nuclear weapon state? A Wall St. Journal op-ed (click via Google News) written by Dennis Ross, Charles Robb, and Michael Makovsky take a stab at that. Their conclusions in a nutshell:
- Due to instability, oil prices would rise 10-25 percent within a year, and 30-50 percent within three years.
- Gas prices would rise 10-20 percent within a year, and more than 30 percent within three years.
- Within three years, the US gross domestic product would fall 2.5 percent ($360 billion) with bad spillover effects on the unemployment rate.
Israel and the Palestinians
• Bungled Headline of the Day award goes to the Times of London:

You have to read Sheera Frenkel’s report to find out that the approved plans are actually within already-existing Jerusalem neighborhoods.
• NY Times reporter Steve Erlanger visited E1.
• Lead Screed: Paul Younger (The Scotsman) blames unjustified Israeli water use as the root of much evil.
• The UN’s resident Israel-basher, Richard Falk, is now a member of Human Rights Watch’s board of directors. I liked Hillel Neuer’s letter to HRW.





Dany
7:54 pm
Dec 18, 2012
When you think about it, east Jerusalem, is in the minds of the Palestinians, has no limits geographically as their lies have no end. Tamar Shlomo is in the geographical north in terms of the geographic Jerusalem. Ramat Shlomo is a well established northern quarter of YERUSHALAYIM, the reunited capital metropolis of ERETZ YISRAEL, this include the center, the north, the east, the south and the west. The small square of the eastern old city where the future temple will be erected and on which the illegal mosque is temporarily located is the only place referred to as east Jerusalem + a few streets inhabited by Arab squatters who own illegally houses that have been rehabbed with mostly stolen construction materials from hebrew sites. Please people of the world stop believing these lies and beware of the Muslims who are hard at work conquering your own countries using to their advantage your democracy, human rights, political system and your social services!
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Pastor Ortiz
8:37 pm
Dec 18, 2012
Dany; right on, people of the world wake up!!!!
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Gary Katz
8:11 pm
Dec 18, 2012
The Richard Falk letter was great, but overlooks the fact that all the anti-semitic traits of Falk are probably considered positive attributes by certain high officials at Human Rights Watch.
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R. Cross
8:54 pm
Dec 18, 2012
I doubt if anyone is going to take heed of Hilel Neuer’s letter. There are too many deaf ears and too many who pay lip-service to the detractors and, as long as the name of that Falk is big enough and bright enough, his position on the HRW will continue to be assured. What has happened to people who actually care about justice, fair-dealing and respect? Do decent people become so frustrated with wrong-doers that they themselves start resorting to draconian means to remove people like Falk? Oh, please, God forbid!
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Deavman
10:51 pm
Dec 18, 2012
Good news, the Neuer letter got the message through.The HRW sacked the bastard
http://www.unwatch.org/cms.asp?id=3665777&campaign_id=63111
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The Young David
2:11 am
Dec 19, 2012
search on google or yahoo for that yahoo article:
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Facebook rejects German demand
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: ” … German privacy rules have posed a legal headache for Facebook, Google and other web giants in recent years … ”
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GERMAN privacy rules. While still and again, too many authorities do in fact NOTHING against ULTRAVIOLENT neonazis, in this other regard, IT IS FACESHMUCK FACEBOOK AND CO who CLEARLY are ABUSIVE:
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” BERLIN (AP) — Facebook will fight a German privacy watchdog’s demand to allow users to register with fake names, insisting Tuesday that its current practice fully complies with the law. …”
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“Facebook” is 100 % abusive — even FASCIST. NAZI. period. abolish this FB !!
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The Young David
2:16 am
Dec 19, 2012
I will always ONLY pose under FALSE nicknames EVRYWHERE online. I HEREBY ON MY LIFE REFUSE and WILL UNDER NO TORTURE obey ANY command whatsoever. My hatred against the nazis is too big. I would kill myself now, would I know, that ALL racists would die with me.
so facebook forces people — wants to force people- to use their real name on facebook.
that is the EXACT same as tattooing a NUMBER on a per nazi-definiition “lower” race member, on the forearm of a JEW. as the nazis did to six million of us.
facebook is hitler. kill hitler.
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The Young David
3:27 am
Dec 19, 2012
ON THE INTERNET, THERE IS AND NEVER WILL BE ANY, ANY “OBLIGATION” WHAT-SO-EVER WHICH WOULD GO ” PAPERS, PLEASE !!! ”
I DO NOT SHOW MY PAPERS !!! SURELY NOT ON THE INTERNET, and more than THAT:
Even in the real world, there is NO legal obligation to give in to ANY abusive demands from WHO EVER. WHO EVER. PERIOD.
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Syrian Captors Free NBC News’ Chief Foreign Correspondent | Blogs about Israel aggregation
10:08 am
Dec 19, 2012
[...] Continued on Page 2 [...]
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Dany
11:25 am
Dec 19, 2012
Where were, all the persons calling themselves Palestinian refugees, living before the reestablishment of ERETZ YISRAEL? It is almost a miracle that so many of them lived in the land in so few existing buildings at the time! Looking back in recent history, they were fewer than half a million Arabs and now miraculously there are almost 4 million of then, in Judea & Samaria & Gaza!! If a count is made of all those Arabs calling themselves Palestinian refugees outside these areas, we may face a population of gigantic proportion. WHERE DID THEY COME FROM? Even at a birth rate of great proportion they could never be what they call themselves! The real reason that they identify themselves as Palestinian refugees is economic and not national. They have been milking UNWRA far too long and the UN has had enough apparently of this situation and therefore explains the deeply negative votes against Israel, in every topic that came up at the UN.
Why should the UN and the EU be concerned by the construction business in Israel? Why should they be and are in favour of dividing our capital? The real reasons may never be known, so Israel go it alone, quit the UN, repeal all signatures on global pacts and agreements, piss on international tribunal that are biased anyway and return to trust Hashem, there is none other than HIM.
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Jeffrey
3:36 pm
Dec 19, 2012
I wonder how many of the genuine refugees now tragically forced to leave their homes in Syria will end up drifting to existing “refugee camps” in Lebanon and miraculously becoming re-registered as Palestinian refugees thus increasing dishonest propaganda against Israel and ensuring their own permanent status as second class non-citizens of Lebanon.
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UN Passes 9 Israel-Bashing Resolutions, But Palestinians Still Lose | Blogs about Israel aggregation
9:59 am
Dec 20, 2012
[...] For more, see yesterday’s Israel Daily News Stream. [...]
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UN Passes 9 Israel-Bashing Resolutions, But Palestinians Still Lose « American Infidels
7:02 am
Dec 21, 2012
[...] For more, see yesterday’s Israel Daily News Stream. [...]
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