Today’s Top Stories
1. Italian soccer is roiled by anti-Semitism and Anne Frank. And all this is without anyone kneeling during the national anthem . . .
– Lazio fans probed over anti-Semitic Anne Frank stickers
– Anne Frank diary to be read at Italian soccer matches
– Soccer team to wear image of Anne Frank on shirts after fans’ anti-Semitic slogans
– Lazio football fans to visit Auschwitz in response to antisemitism row
– Lazio fans ‘make Nazi salutes and fascists chants‘ moments after players’ Anne Frank tribute
After #Lazio players wear Anne Frank shirts against anti-Semitism, fans sing Fascist chants https://t.co/PzQzLqzyUf pic.twitter.com/z1NB71sHun
— footballitalia (@footballitalia) October 26, 2017
2. The Washington Free Beacon obtained an audio recording of Palestinian Authority Vice President Mahmoud al-Aloul confirming that PA ties to the BDS movement are deeper than realized:
“We have relations with BDS, our people work there and we have delegates there. We cooperate with BDS on all levels, and not only with the BDS, but every group whose aim is to boycott Israel, we are with. Every group working to lay siege on Israel and isolate it from the world, we are with it.” . . .
Al-Aloul stopped short of acknowledging financial support for BDS initiatives, but said the PA is “very pleased with their activity and endorse it.”
Al-Aloul’s comments diverge with a Mahmoud Abbas interview in 2012 when he told reporters that Palestinians support boycotts of settlement products, but not of Israel itself.
3. According to Arab reports picked up by Israel HaYom, “Hezbollah is planning to withdraw its forces from Syria in 2018 in order to bolster its presence along the border with Israel.” Moreover, Israel publicly revealed that Munir Shaito is Hezbollah’s commander for southern Syria, “believed to be responsible for establishing the Shiite terrorist organization’s military infrastructure on the Syrian Golan Heights.”
More at Ynet. And what’s the significance of Shaito being outed? Yoav Limor explains:
Until now, Munir Shaito has lived in the shadows: Other than his commanders, no one knew he was Hezbollah’s commander in southern Syria. Revealing his identity means that his activities are transparent to Israel and that he is firmly in the IDF’s crosshairs.
This transition – from obscurity to visibility, from shadowy figure to celebrity – will obligate Shaito to alter his habits. Not to escape the adulation of his supporters, but the ire of his enemies. He is more than simply recognizable now; the fact that Israel has exposed his face and name, knows where he lives and the names of his wife and children – is nothing less than terrifying for a man of his ilk.
Join the fight for Israel’s fair coverage in the news
4. Neil McDonald: Israel is an Apartheid State: Veteran CBC journalist bends and breaks the truth to misrepresent Israel.
5. Corrected: Facebook Errs, But Israeli Police Take the Blame: Technology went awry, but one paper reported Israeli targeted innocent Palestinians.
Israel and the Palestinians
• Israeli police headed off a Palestinian Authority-sponsored event in eastern Jerusalem, raiding the hotel where it was due to take place. Israeli-Palestinian peace agreements bar the PA from political activity in eastern Jerusalem. The Times of Israel reports that the conference was reportedly to address the sale of eastern Jerusalem land from Arabs to Jews.
• Hezbollah may brush off advancing Congressional sanctions on the terror group and its sources of funding, but Lebanon’s banking industry won’t.
The bill’s passage reportedly set off alarms in Beirut, where officials feared major damage might be done to the country’s banking sector if the bill is signed into law.
• Haaretz: A Knesset committee is due to vote on the “Greater Jerusalem Bill” on Sunday.
According to the bill, the settlements of Ma’aleh Adumim, Gush Etzion, Efrat, Beitar Illit and Givat Ze’ev will be included under Jerusalem’s municipal jurisdiction, but not officially annexed to Israel.
The move is expected to spark strong opposition from the Palestinian Authority, which will see it as part of the de-facto creeping annexation of West Bank territory.
• Cue the Jerusalem traffic jams. US Vice President Mike Pence is visiting Israel and Egypt sometime in December.
• Judo federation to Abu Dhabi: Treat Israeli athletes equally — no discriminatory bans on the Israeli flag or anthem.
• The Lebanese army’s chief of staff boycotted a major conference of military chiefs of staff over the participation of his Israeli counterpart, Lt. Gen. Gadi Eisenkot. The annual event, hosted by the US, includes military brass from NATO members, countries fighting Islamic State, and other US allies. Haaretz notes that Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia did participate.
Around the World
• A new study exposes how faculty support of Israel boycotts intensifies campus anti-Semitism. Moreover, BDS supporters are ‘disproportionately’ affiliated with gender, ethnic, and Middle East Studies.
See the AMCHA Initiative’s full report.
• The latest ivory tower outrages:
– UC Berkeley chancellor issues heated response to Daily Cal’s Dershowitz cartoon.
– Rutgers reviewing posts of professor who called Judaism ‘the most racist religion in the world’
– Blatant anti-Semitism at McGill U.
• 16 million Communist Indian farmers can’t be wrong.
16 million Communist Indian farmers join boycott Israel movement
• Does the Kuwaiti Airlines policy of refusing to fly Israeli passengers violate international aviation law? Germany just launched a probe “stemming from a suit brought earlier this year by an Israeli citizen whose ticket to fly from Germany to Thailand via Kuwait was cancelled by the airline due to his nationality.”
• Design for London’s new Holocaust memorial unveiled; mayor admits it could be targeted by anti-Semites.
Adjaye Associates has been chosen to lead the £50 million Holocaust Memorial project in London: https://t.co/5UQiwXpVEb pic.twitter.com/z0SQ9Jmxg2
— Design Week (@Design_Week) October 25, 2017
• UN urges Iran to stop harassing BBC Persian staff.
Commentary/Analysis
• How long till Hamas manages to procure advanced Iranian missiles? Iran’s already building or planning missile factories for its proxies in Lebanon, Syria and Yemen. Roi Kais notes:
Against this background, Israel is watching the Gaza Strip with a great amount of concern: As part of the warming relations with Hamas, Iran will likely seek to produce precision-guided missiles in Gaza too. Only recently, during a visit by senior organization members to Tehran, the Iranian foreign minister’s advisor, Hussein Sheikh al-Islam, promised that “Iran will give Hamas whatever Hamas asks for and Iran can comply with.”
• Here’s what else I’m reading today . . .
– Avi Issacharoff: Hamas sees internal stirrings of dissent over reconciliation deal
– Barbara Kay: Honouring Lord Balfour, who made Israel possible
– Daniel Shapiro: Move the embassy to Jerusalem and promote peace (click via Twitter)
– Gilad Segal: The way to build a relationship with the Israeli people
– Jennifer Rubin: If Trump wants to contain Iran, then he should start containing Iran
Featured image: CC BY hobvias sudoneighm; college CC0 Pixabay;
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