Abbas: Israel is Not a Country

Today’s Top Stories

1. In a fiery speech at the Organization of Islamic Cooperation summit in Istanbul, Palestinian President Abbas effectively said that Israel is not a country (specifically that Israel does not meet the international requirements for statehood and that countries around the world should cease recognizing Israel as such). Abbas further appeared to accuse Israel and/or Jews of falsifying Jewish history in the region. American Jewish groups — including, most unusually, J Street — issued highly critical responses, yet Israeli leaders were mostly subdued, with Prime Minister Netanyahu simply calling Palestinian leadership to, “recognize reality and work toward peace, not extremism…”

2. The Israeli army has said it fired selectively on chief instigators during “extremely violent riots,” including one near the Gaza border.  According to the Gaza Ministry of Health, Ibrahim Abu Thurayeh, a wheelchair-bound amputee,  was shot and killed by Israeli forces.  The IDF says it is investigating, but in the meantime Israel is getting hit with some significantly bad publicity around the world.

3.  In reference to a future peace process, The White House said:

We cannot envision any situation under which the Western Wall would not be part of Israel.

The statement is making waves in the press as some kind of new development, though it does not materially differ from the consensus opinion that has long been held by the US, and for that matter, most of the world,

4. Since when is the Western Wall some kind of bargaining chip that Israel might have to give up? America doesn’t think so, so why does the New York Times?

5. Success! When the Associated Press called the Western Wall the “holiest site” in Judaism (it’s actually the Temple Mount), the story was picked up by publications around the world. The distinction is significant in the face of frequent claims in the Muslim world that the Temple Mount (which Islam calls the Al-Haram Al-Sharif) is an exclusively Muslim holy site.  HonestReporting has already prompted  corrections from the AP itself, The Washington Post, ABC News, US News & World Report, USA Today, and we’re not done yet!

6. Success! According to The Independent, the EU chief said that Europe will “continue to recognize Tel Aviv as the capital of Israel.” Just one problem: she didn’t say that. HonestReporting prompted the appropriate correction.

7. HonestReporting faces off against Fatah on live television. Israel’s Supreme Court ruled last Thursday that under Israeli law, the government may not hold on to terrorists’ bodies to negotiate for the return of the bodies of two Israeli soldiers, and three live Israeli civilians, currently held in Gaza. Within hours after the court’s decision, HR’s Daniel Pomerantz debated Ahmed Ghoneim of the ruling Palestinian Fatah party on “The Rundown” on i24 News.

Israel and the Palestinians

• A Palestinian stabbed an Israeli Border Security Police officer and was subsequently shot non-fatally, before being evacuated to Israel’s Mt. Scopus Hospital for treatment. The attacker appeared to be wearing an explosive vest at the time, though it may have been fake. Police are investigating both the vest as well as whether he may have been disguised as a journalist  in order to get close to his victims without being stopped.

• A Palestinian was arrested outside the  Samaria Military Court with two suspected bombs. He was stopped and arrested by Border Police officers.

• Domestic protests abound in Israel: with one group protesting Prime Minister Netanyahu over corruption charges, and labor unions protesting the financially troubled pharmaceutical company Teva, for cutting 1,700 jobs in Israel.

Around the World

• US Vice-President Mike Pence will arrive in Israel on Wednesday after previously delaying his trip due to a major vote on the US tax reform bill. Palestinian President Abbas is refusing to meet with the VP due to President Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

• One year after the deadly terror attack at the Christmas market in Berlin, Der Spiegel speaks to some of the Israeli victims, who explain that Germany simply doesn’t understand how to handle terrorism: not how to prevent it, nor how to behave in the aftermath. Ironic given how much Germany loves to lecture Israel.

• The family of Sarah Idan (Miss Iraq in the Miss Universe competition) has been forced to flee their country because Idan dared to take a photograph with her friend, Miss Israel (Adar Gandelsman). Idan explains on Twitter, “I’m not the first nor the last person to face prosecution over a matter of personal freedom. Millions of Iraqi women live in fear. ”

I’m not the first nor the last person to face prosecution over a matter of personal freedom. Millions of Iraqi women live in fear. #freeiraqiwomen https://t.co/Vt0YjFbyf4

— Sarai (Sarah Idan) Miss Iraq (@RealSarahIdan) December 15, 2017

• British Member of Parliament Tommy Sheppard hosted an “open event”  to highlight injustices faced by Palestinians. However, pro-Israel advocates were refused entry and apparently a senior Palestinian made anti-Semitic remarks in the meeting. The Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards has now launched an investigation into whether the arrangements for the meeting breached the MPs’ code of conduct.

• Is there any place in the world that actually supports North Korea? As it turns out, there is: Gaza. Newsweek explains that some Palestinians in Gaza hang posters of North Korean ruler Kim Jong Un and one restaurant even offers a (symbolic) discount on felafel (Gaza has no North Koreans present to actually take advantage of the offer). North Korea has a history of warm relations with Palestinian authorities and terror groups, including Hamas.

RT Ali_Kourani: Restaurant in Gaza: “any Korean customers are welcome to an 80% discount in gratitude to the DPRK leader’s stance on our Palestinian cause” pic.twitter.com/mD9ck0PYGb

— Doç Dr M Fadıl Akgündüz Kerizcioglu (@kerizmimar) December 14, 2017

Commentary/Analysis

• Noted Israeli author Matti Friedman discusses the increasing interaction of Jews and Arabs in the Jerusalem workforce, calling it the “glue” that holds the city together: a glue that is stronger than the current protests and riots over Trump’s Jerusalem announcement. In support of his view  Friedman points  out:

If you count every single violent fatality reported here this year in this city of 860,000 – not just political violence but apolitical homicides, too – the number is 27. That’s 27 too many, obviously. But it’s worth pointing out that 27 is less than a quarter of the homicide number last year in Jacksonville, Fla., a U.S. city the same size.

Just imagine if you compared the number to a US city with a higher crime rate, like Chicago or New York.

• Haaretz’s Amira Haas is a harsh critic of Israel, arguably even anti-Israel. Yet she makes a good point in acknowledging that “To defeat Israel by force of arms is an illusion.” This reality seems to be (finally) dawning on many Palestinians in both the West Bank and Gaza.

• Here’s what else I’m reading today . . .

– Burning the Israeli Flag Has Nothing to Do with Freedom of Speech – Ines Pohl
– Haley: We Don’t Need Other Countries Telling Us What’s Right or Wrong – Olivia Beavers
– The Times Square Intifada – Liel Leibovitz

Featured image: CC BY-NC-ND Emiliano;

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