Today’s Top Stories
1. Despite the arrival of a shipment of oil from Qatar, Gaza remains tense after Palestinian tried to burn himself to death. The Strip is in the midst of a severe electricity crisis which saw demonstrations against Hamas, but it’s not clear if the suicide attempt was related to that.
2. Israel slapped a six-month travel ban on a controversial sheikh ahead of his release from prison today. Sheikh Raed Salah, who heads the banned northern branch of Israel’s Islamic Movement, finished a nine-month sentence for incitement to violence.
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3. Hezbollah claims it located an Israeli drone that crashed in Lebanese territory on Monday evening. Hezbollah said the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) has already been taken to a secure location for inspection. The cause of the crash is not yet known. The hand-launched Skylark is used for surveillance and reconnaissance.
4. FAKE NEWS ALERT: IBT Republishes Outrageous Palestinian Lies and Propaganda: Thousands of Israeli settlers “raided” the Al-Aqsa mosque in 2016 – and the figures don’t even include incursions by Jewish students!
5. Doctor Has More Sympathy for Palestinian Terrorists Than Their Victims: Fourteen years after living in the West Bank during the Second Intifada, Dr. Robin Briant’s perspective is as warped now as it was then.
Israel and the Palestinians
• Britain’s catching flak for blocking the European Union from endorsing the Paris peace conference’s joint statement. Angry Palestinians and some disappointed Europeans are all but calling Prime Minister Theresa May Donald Trump’s poodle for helping Israel.
• Attempts to smuggle goods into Gaza up 165 percent.
The goods involved include military clothing items, laser systems, metal balls, aluminum and metal pipes, snappling equipment, diving suits, model airplanes, drones, disassembled commercial vehicles, engines, etc.
• Syrian rebel groups are on board for upcoming peace talks in Astana, Kazakhstan. The talks, organized by Russia and Turkey, begin on January 23. Although Israel wasn’t invited, Asharq al-Awsat assesses that officials in Jerusalem are confident Russia will take their positions into account.
• Palestinians are moving ahead with the launch of a new Gaza shopping mall. Two other malls in the Strip failed to succeed, but confident backers told The Media Line they expect to recoup their investment in five-ten years:
Escapism seems to be a common theme. As Leila said, “walking around the huge modern shopping complex, one gets a feeling that he or she is no longer in Gaza,” an idea reinforced by American pizza and hamburgers, an Italian coffee shop and all of the international labels available in the clothing, shoes and fragrances sold in the mall.
Around the World
• Editor apologizes for a magazine cover depicting the White House draped in Nazi flags.
• Amazon fired an employee for leaving a note saying “Greetings from Uncle Adolf” inside a parcel delivered to a Jewish customer. British police are treating the incident as a hate crime. According to the Daily Mail, “It is believed the culprit knew the woman was Jewish because of her surname.”
Commentary/Analysis
• Most of today’s commentary deals with the last tangle in Paris . . .
– Yossi Beilin: Paris summit failed before it began
– Fred Maroun: An Arab’s view of the Paris peace summit
– Malcolm Lowe: Crying wolf over Israeli settlements
– Robert Danin: Paved with good intentions? France’s peace conference
– Daily Telegraph (staff-ed): The Paris peace talks have achieved little except hot air
– Rabbi Michael Melchior: Don’t dismiss the Islamic ruling on suicide attacks
– Moshe Arens: Can a Palestinian truck-rammer be deterred?
– Prof. Yossi Shain: Why is Obama looking for a ‘legacy’ at Israel’s expense?
• Last but not least, Fisk’s being Fisk again.
Featured image: CC BY John Henderson; Skylark CC BY-NC Israel Defense Forces; Astana CC BY-NC-ND mariusz kluzniak; Paris CC BY Moyan Brenn;
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