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. Shortly before Israel observes Holocaust Remembrance Day, Mahmoud Abbas called the Holocaust, “the most heinous crime to have occurred against humanity in the modern era.” Of course, no Palestinian condemnation of violence against Jews can stand without persnickety prevarication. Wafa, the PA’s official news agency quoted Abbas:
“The Palestinian people, who suffer from injustice, oppression and denied freedom and peace, are the first to demand to lift the injustice and racism that befell other peoples subjected to such crimes.”
Israel’s response: It’s just damage control. See page 2 of this roundup for more on the swirling Holocaust issues.
2. The UN’s Special Tribunal for Lebanon charged two editors with obstructing justice and contempt of court for publishing the names of 167 potential witnesses last year, along with photos and other personal information.
Ibrahim al-Amin, of the pro-Hezbollah daily Al-Akhbar, and Karma al-Khayyat, of Al-Jadeed TV, face up to seven years in prison if convicted. See Daily Star coverage and the idiotic blowback.
The STL is investigating the 2005 assassination of Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
3. Simon Ostrovsky, the Israeli-American journalist abducted in Ukraine, is a free man. He was found by Radio Canada correspondent Jean-Francois Belanger walking down a street in Donestsk “with his belongings in a plastic bag.” Ostrovsky described his captivity in Vice.
4. Video: Palestinian Christian Reveals the Reality Over the Propaganda: Simon Plosker shares his thoughts on meeting Christy, a Palestinian Christian forced to flee Bethlehem because of her outspoken views and irresponsible editing by a 60 Minutes crew two years ago.
5. Can BDS Change the Status Quo in Israel? NY Times columnist refutes claim that Israel’s situation is “unsustainable.”
Israel and the Palestinians
• Times of Israel: A Hamas official denied that the group could recognize Israel. Moreover, Taher Nunu, a media adviser to Ismail Haniyeh, threatened legal action against the Washington Post for quoting him saying that Hamas might.
“What I was quoted as telling the American paper is wrong, and I unequivocally deny it,” Nunu told the Palestinian Qudsnet news agency. “The issue of Hamas recognizing Israel is a complete nonstarter . . . aimed primarily at weakening the movement’s positions on Israel.”
Nunu said he would seek legal recourse against The Washington Post for its “false report.”
• Catherine Ashton backs Hamas-Fatah deal.
• Before peace talks collapsed over the Palestinian unity deal, Israel was prepared to allow wide-scale Palestinian building in key areas of the West Bank and begin border discussions.
• The White House is bringing down the curtain on American peace efforts, reports Haaretz.
• Barack Obama blames both sides for Middle East peace talks failure.
• We got a few emails about this headline in The Wire, which happened to be picked up by Yahoo News. Believe me, Hamas isn’t teaching kids how to sing HaTikva.
• My antennae are twitching. Hmmmmm:
Behind the scenes Hamas has sustained another worrying blow to its prestige and influence. Despite Egypt’s tough new approach towards it, and the closure of the tunnels, it had still maintained a hotline to Cairo’s military intelligence, which historically had relied on Hamas to mediate with other factions such as Islamic Jihad in times of crisis.
But when Islamic Jihad fired 70 missiles into Israel last month, both Gaza officials and Gaza analysts admit, Hamas was cut out of the loop with Egypt contacting Islamic Jihad directly to ask for a cessation.
- UN committee promotes BDS.
- With tourism tanking out, Sinai Bedouins turn to opium production.
- What to make of the way the Arab world regards the Holocaust?
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