Today’s Top Stories
1. Syria accidentally shot down a Russian aircraft during an air strike attributed to Israel and France. Despite some initial harsh words against Israel from Russia’s Defense Ministry, Russian President Putin overruled that position, stating that he does not blame Israel. Meanwhile, the head of Israel’s Air-Force is heading to Moscow to present findings.
Part of what makes the situation so complex is that both Russia and Iran are supporting the Assad regime. This occasionally puts Israel in the position of needing to attack Iranian weapons or infrastructure located in areas that Russia may be defending. So far, close coordination between Israel and Russia have helped to prevent mishaps and confrontations.
2. Initial reports indicated that the family of Khalil Yusef Ali Jabarin, the terrorist who murdered Ari Fuld last week, had already received an initial cash reward from the Palestinian Martyrs Fund. A subsequent story by Times of Israel indicated that this was not the case, however a spokesman for the Palestinian Prisoner Affairs’ Commission clarified:
The [Jabarin] family would be eligible to receive a monthly salary of NIS 1,400 ($390), if their son is not freed by Israel and it completes all the necessary documents…We are not bashful or secretive about our support for our prisoners.
The Palestinian Martyrs Fund is particularly relevant in light of recent US decisions to cut funding to Palestinian aid. HR’s Senior Editor Daniel Pomerantz addressed the topic in The Federalist.
Meanwhile, The editors of The Weekly Standard wrote this damning critique of “the Palestinian Death Cult.”
3. A Yom Kippur terror attempt: according to Israeli police, a Palestinian man ran at a Jewish pedestrian near Jerusalem’s Old City on Tuesday evening and knocked him to the ground. The would-be attacker then ran at nearby Israeli police officers waiving a sharp object. The officers opened fire, killing the attacker.
4. A virtual reality exhibit of a Palestinian living room at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem is intended to help build understanding. Yet even in a story meant to convey something positive, The Guardian still manages to twist the reality.
5. Ahed Tamimi on France 24 accuses Israelis of being brainwashed and taught to hate. Yet it is Tamimi herself who has been abused, victimized, fed with hatred and brainwashed.
Israel and the Palestinians
• A widely published story that Israel killed an 11 year old Palestinian boy on the Gaza border appears to be untrue. It seems the boy may have actually died when Palestinian rioters threw a rock which struck him. This calls to mind a event last May in which Hamas’s Ministry of Health accused Israel of killing an eight month old baby girl, only to later find that the story was untrue.
• After a failure of Egyptian mediated cease-fire talks Hamas is now intensifying its violent campaign on the Gaza border resulting in numerous Palestinian deaths.
The media seem committed to describing the violence with the misleading word, “protests.” I can’t help but wonder, is there any other place in the world where media would refer to throwing grenades and other explosives as a “protest?”
• After ten years of legal battles, Israel’s Supreme Court has authorized the destruction of Khan al-Ahmar, home to Bedouins of the Jahalin tribe, near the settlement Kfar Adumim, in Area C of the West Bank (Judea/Samaria). The town was built without permits, and Israel has made several attempts to relocate the community to an alternate site. Nonetheless, the impending demolition has caused debate in Israel and criticism abroad.
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Around the World
•Citing BDS as the reason, University of Michigan Professor John Cheney-Lippold rescinded his offer to write a letter of recommendation after he realized the student wished to spend a semester in Israel. The Anti-Defamation League denounced Cheney-Lippold on Monday evening, with the organization’s CEO calling on the University of Michigan to make clear that it does not support his actions. Credit to high school oriented Zionist organization Club Z for picking up the story, which has since gone viral.
• British PM Theresa May warns Jeremy Corbyn:
You’re not tackling racism if you’re not tackling anti-Semitism,
• This Daily Mail headline needs no further explanation:
Corbyn scores an own goal! Labour leader demands boycott on [soccer team] Arsenal FC – who he supports – over club’s Israeli tourism sponsorship deal
• Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister) Leo Varadkar has said he will raise concerns about human rights, including the need to decriminalise homosexuality in Palestine, when President Mahmoud Abbas visits this coming weekend. (“Palestine” is the phrasing used by the Irish government.)
Commentary/Analysis
• Regarding criticism of the demolition of Bedouin town Khan al-Ahma, Naftali Bennett says, “It’s all about poking Israel in the eye politically.”
•Ben-Dror Yemini: The double standard of the ICC
• Here’s what else I’m reading today . . .
–If You Can’t Mourn Ari Fuld, You Are An Accomplice in His Murder – Lt.-Col. (res.) Peter Lerner
–Mahmoud Abbas Has Fresh American Blood on His Hands – Bassam Tawil
–How Feasible Is a Long-Term Truce with Hamas? – Yaakov Lappin
–How Not to Make Palestine Great Again – Shalom Lipner
Featured image: CC BY-NC-ND Stefano Corso;
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