Today’s Top Stories
1. Two Palestinian boys — both eight-years-old — were caught with knives outside Migdal Oz, a settlement just south of Jerusalem. The kids told police they were sent to carry out a terror attack. Times of Israel coverage.
2. While UNESCO thumbed its nose at Jewish ties to Jerusalem, Israel came up with some timely, ancient evidence. The New York Times picks up on a papyrus fragment from the seventh century BCE which is now “the earliest known nonbiblical source to mention Jerusalem in the Hebrew language.”
Eitan Klein, deputy director of the authority’s Antiquities Robbery Prevention Unit, said the document provided evidence of an organized administration in the Kingdom of Judah and of the centrality of Jerusalem as the kingdom’s economic capital.
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3. The Palestinians are seeking to upgrade their diplomatic status in Ottawa. The Hill Times reports that in exchange for the upgrade, the Palestinians “will gladly call up Arab and Muslim countries and ask them to support Canada’s campaign for a seat on the UN Security Council.” But Canadian officials aren’t enthusiastic to the idea.
Meanwhile, Canadian Governor General David Johnston is due to visit Israel, the PA and Jordan. According to the Globe & Mail, the trip could be a precursor for a visit by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
4. HR’s Security Field Trip with IDF Colonel: When Israelis and Palestinians coordinate, we see real improvements in daily life for everyone.
Israel and the Palestinians
• The Shin Bet arrested an Israeli resident of eastern Jerusalem planning multiple terror attacks. Muhammad Mussa Muhammad Awasi was planning a shooting attack, was previously involved in several rock-throwing and firebombing incidents, and supported Hamas in Facebook posts. More at YNet.
• In a statement widely interpreted as a dig against UNESCO, Pope Francis said the land of Israel was promised by God to the Jewish people. The papal remarks came shortly before he met with Israeli MK Ayoub Kara. The Jerusalem Post reports Israeli officials have reached out to the Vatican for help battling recent UNESCO resolutions ignoring Jewish and Christian ties to Jerusalem.
“The people of Israel, who from Egypt, where they were enslaved, walked through the desert for forty years until they reached the land promised by God,” he said.
• PA governor defends naming school in Tulkarem after Black September chief Salah Khalaf. Black September is best known for murdering 11 Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics — which Khalaf masterminded — and for the 1973 assassination of US ambassador Cleo Noel Jr. Khalaf was himself assassinated in 1991 by the Abu Nidal organization. More at the Times of Israel and Palestinian Media Watch.
Glorification of terrorists in the PA:New school named after mastermind of the Munich Olympics massacre (11 Israeli athletes were murdered). pic.twitter.com/qlTaM9estz
— Ofir Gendelman (@ofirgendelman) October 25, 2016
• According to Israeli media reports, Israeli security forces discovered a disturbingly detailed “how-to manual” describing how to abduct Israeli civilians and soldiers — everything from selecting victims and the most opportune times, avoiding capture, getting media attention, and the pros and cons of concealing, imprisoning and killing captives.
The instruction book was found on the computer of an eastern Jerusalem Palestinian arrested for having ties to terror groups.
According to the report, the document was not penned by Islamic State, but has apparently been circulating among the Gaza Strip-based terrorist organizations.
• National Geographic got the scoop as workers doing renovations at Jerusalem’s Church of the Holy Sepulchre removed a covering from what Christians consider the traditional tomb of Jesus.
“The marble covering of the tomb has been pulled back, and we were surprised by the amount of fill material beneath it,” said Fredrik Hiebert, archaeologist-in-residence at the National Geographic Society, a partner in the restoration project. “It will be a long scientific analysis, but we will finally be able to see the original rock surface on which, according to tradition, the body of Christ was laid.”
Around the World
• Will South Korea rent an Israeli spy satellite to keep tabs on the North Korean military? YNet and Yonhap News explain why the Ofek 11 might be the eye n the sky that Seoul needs.
• Portland State University student senate passes pro-BDS resolution
• Jews blamed for Holocaust at ‘shameful’ House of Lords event hosted by Baroness Jenny Tonge. The Times of London and Jewish Chronicle report that the gathering was to launch a campaign for Britain to apologize for the 1917 Balfour declaration. David Collier was on hand and Yiftah Curiel tweeted some bizarre footage from the event.
Man says Jews were responsible for the Holocaust; panel thanks man, BDS is mentioned, general applause https://t.co/3FbBNoXUjm
— Yiftah Curiel (@yiftahc) October 26, 2016
Commentary/Analysis
• Worth reading: Ex-Irish prime minister (and Nobel laureate) Lord David Trimble and Robert Quick (former Assistant Commissioner responsible for counter-terrorism at the Metropolitan Police), co-authored a thoughtful Daily Telegraph commentary Britain to work with Israel to defeat the security threat from Islamic State. They elaborate particularly on Israel’s intelligence prowess, the legal governance of Israel’s fight against Islamic terror, Israeli social resilience, and Israeli understanding of the shared challenges democracies face.
Israel is on the frontline of the West’s confrontation with Islamist terrorism and a crucial ally. One thing is clear: its expertise will help save European lives and act as a welcome guide in navigating the difficult moral, legal and tactical terrain ahead. Britain’s spirit in previous conflicts bodes well for this great country matching Israel in resolve to overcome the murderous hatred we now face.
• Who needs negotiations when President Obama can practically give the Palestinians statehood after the US elections? That’s what Fatah cadre Muhammad Shtayyeh urges in a New York Times op-ed. It’s simply a legacy thing.
In order to deliver a clear and unequivocal statement regarding the United States’ opposition to settlement construction and to preserve the two-state solution, Mr. Obama should, as 138 other countries have done, recognize Palestine as a country with the borders as they existed before Israel began its military occupation in 1967. That one act would irreversibly put Israelis and Palestinians back on track toward an end of conflict and lasting peace.
See also Ari Shavit‘s take on Obama’s “70-day dilemma.”
• The Israeli media is buzzing over Jewish Journal reporter Danielle Berrin‘s account of being assaulted by a prominent Israeli journalist she refrains from identifying.
• Here’s what else I’m reading today . . .
– Ron Ben-Yishai: What IDF should learn from battle for Mosul
– Tovah Lazaroff: What brought on the dramatic UNESCO upset?
– Dror Eydar: UNESCO’s disgrace actually strengthens us
– Khaled Abu Toameh: Palestinians: Jihadi-style child abuse
Image: CC BY Petr Dosek; Parliament Hill CC BY jaliyaj; Holy Sepulchre CC BY-NC-ND Michael Privorotsky; London police CC BY-SA Hernan Pinera;
For more, see yesterday’s Israel Daily News Stream and join the IDNS on Facebook.
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