Today’s Top Stories
1. This afternoon, a Palestinian killed an Israeli woman at the Gush Etzion Junction, near Efrat. As this roundup went to press, Israeli media reported the woman succumbed to her wounds in the hospital.
This morning, a former settlement leader foiled a stabbing attack at a hitchhiking post near Nablus by ramming a female teenage terrorist with his car, killing Ashraqat Taha Ahmad Qatanani (Qatanani’s father is proud of her martyrdom). Also this morning, a Palestinian taxi driver rammed an Israeli driver near Maale Adumim, then tried to stab the Israeli, who thought it was just a traffic accident. The terrorist was shot and killed by passing Israelis.
And last night, a teenage girl was among four wounded in stabbing attack in Kiryat Gat.
2. Jonathan Pollard was released from prison. New York Times updated the latest legal efforts to ease some of his parole conditions.
Meanwhile, Israeli media reports say Pollard’s first wife, Anne, is suing Israel for millions of dollars for damage to her image and demanding “recognition that she was practically an agent of the Shin Bet.”
3. In Berlin, Europe’s biggest department store, KaDeWe, apologized and restocked Golan wines after earlier taking settlement goods off shelves.
In a statement on Sunday, KaDeWe said that “In this matter, which was about a European Union recommendation, we acted too quickly and insensitively.” . . .
Asked why KaDeWe pulled the wines given that each EU country can decide whether it wants to impose labels, Kreus said he could not answer.
4. HonestReporting’s mission continued with a day trip to learn more about the security situation along the Gaza border. Stops included a border overlook, a meeting with government and humanitarian workers at the Erez Crossing, and visiting Sderot to hear from the locals.
Israel and the Intifada
• The fatalities from Thursday’s stabbing attack in Tel Aviv were Reuven Aviram, 51, from Ramle and Rabbi Aharon Yesiab, 32, from Tel Aviv. The three people killed in Thursday’s shooting attack in Gush Etzion were identified as Yaakov Don, 51, from Alon Shvut (formerly from Toronto), Ezra Schwartz, 18, of Sharon, Mass., and Shadi Zuhdi Ratib Arafa, of Hebron.
• Israel shut down Palestinian radio station in Hebron for incitement. I’m not clear if Al-Khalil Radio is affiliated with any Palestinian factions, but it’s the second Hebron station taken off air for incitement. The Jerusalem Post picked up on Maan News coverage.
• The American Anthropological Association took another step closer to boycotting Israeli academia by agreeing to put a boycott up for a vote by the full AAA membership in April. With 10,000 members, the AAA would become the largest academic organization boycott Israel. More at YNet and the Chronicle of Higher Education.
• Maybe there’s a little silver lining in the Sinai chaos:
Eilat luring Russian tourists barred from Sinai
• A prominent Australian journalist is in some trouble with Israel. Sharri Markson, who reports for The Australian, was in Israel for a week with a delegation of Australian journalists. According to the Sydney Morning Herald, the group was visiting the Ziv Medical Centre in Safed, where Israel treats Syrians injured in their civil war. Security for the Syrians is elaborate because they could be killed if it became known that they were treated in Israel. Why did hospital security guards demand Markson hand over her passport, mobile phone, and notes?
The eight journalists were instructed not to record the names of the patients or to take photos that could identify them.
Fairfax Media understands that during the visit, Markson broke away from the other journalists to speak to the patients without supervision and exchanged contact details with them.
The other Australian journalists tweeting their visit are David Lipson, Aaron Patrick, Alex Hart, Bevan Shields, Ben English, and of course, Sharri Markson.
Mideast Matters
• The Associated Press looks at what’s known about Islamic State’s determined efforts develop chemical weapons. Sleep better tonight . . .
• The UN Security Council unanimously voted to destroy Islamic State. Since this is the UN we’re talking about, you have to pay attention to the fine print. AP notes:
This does not constitute an authorization for military action, however, because the resolution is not drafted under Chapter 7 of the U.N. Charter which is the only way the United Nations can give a green light to the use of force.
• Cairo and Moscow signed an agreement for Russia to build Egypt’s first nuclear plant. More at Reuters.
• CNN: Iran sentenced Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian to prison, but the length of imprisonment hasn’t been disclosed.
Around the World
• An Israeli killed in the terror attack on a hotel in Mali‘s capital city was identified as Samuel Benalal, of Tzur Hadassah. Al-Qaeda in Maghreb claimed responsibility for attack, which began on Friday morning when terrorists assaulted the Radisson Blu Hotel in Bamako, taking hostages. Hours later, government forces stormed the building. At least 20 people were killed. YNet reports:
Benalal, who was born in Venezuela and made aliyah to Israel at a young age, visited Mali several times in the past, and served as a consultant to the government on education.
• Belgium’s capital city of Brussels is in lockdown as security forces put the city on a high state of alert for an “imminent” terror attack. And Germany‘s considering deploying soldiers on the streets for the first time since World War II.
• Channel 4 reporter Lindsey Hilsum explains why Lebanese terror attacks don’t necessarily get the same media attention as Paris:
There are also practical issues – South Beirut, where last Thursday’s bombing occurred, is controlled by Hizbollah, who rarely let journalists film and never freely. There’s no way the hundreds of journalists who descended on Paris would have been permitted to flood a Hizbollah area for days on end.
More on Paris-Beirut media debate at the Columbia Journalism Review.
• Germany withdraws Eurovision contender after uproar over homophobic and anti-Semitic lyrics.
Commentary/Analysis
• HonestReporting board member Robert Blum‘s perplexed and angry at certain double standards between the way the world views the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the West’s war with Islamic State.
• Here’s what else I’m reading today . . .
– Avi Issacharoff: The new normal: Stabbings, shootings and lulls
– Alex Fishman: The fourth stage of terror is on its way
– David Pollock: Poll: Palestinians want to work in Israel now, “liberate” it later
– Pinchas Inbari: Will cameras on the Temple Mount work?
• I knew someone (in this case, syndicated cartoonist Dave Granlund) would compare Jonathan Pollard with Edward Snowden. There’s a big difference between passing classified info to a friendly country and leaking hundreds of thousands of classified documents to reporters.
– Yaron London: Is product labeling really an anti-Semitic move?
– Malcolm Lowe: The EU’s embarrassing little secret about labelling Israeli products
– Noman Sajjad: Why Pakistan should recognize Israel
– Jonathan Tobin: Why Syria is not the Holocaust
– David Harris: As Islamist terrorism increases, some respond…by assailing Israel
– Melanie Phillips: Terror attacks have everything to do with Islam
– Moshe Kantor: World leaders must defend liberal ideas from terrorism
Featured image: CC BY Moses Mehraban via flickr with additions by HonestReporting; Mali via YouTube/euronews (in English);
For more, see yesterday’s Israel Daily News Stream and join the IDNS on Facebook.
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