Today’s Top Stories
1. Israeli police apologized for detaining Washington Post reporter William Booth yesterday while he was interviewing people at Damascus Gate:
The police defended the initial detention, but apologized for any distress caused. “The clarification [of what happened] was required in light of the information given to the officers, which turned out to be false,” the police said in a statement.
“But if the incident caused any distress to those detained, we are sorry for that,” the statement read . . .
An Arab woman allegedly told Booth that if he paid some of the bystanders, they would provoke the nearby police officers and start a violent demonstration, Jerusalem Police spokesperson Asi Aharoni told The Times of Israel.
Booth played down the incident, with AP writing:
He said an officer told them they had been suspected of “incitement,” but said there had been a misunderstanding and freed them. He said there was no questioning or rough treatment.
“I thought it was a misunderstanding that would be solved in five minutes, but it was a misunderstanding that was solved in 45 minutes,” he said.
Here’s the article he was working on at the time:
2. In a provocative speech, Hezbollah chief Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah lashed out at Sunni Arab states moving closer to Israel, insisted that Hezbollah doesn’t war with Israel but is prepared to fight if necessary. But the main buzz was when Nasrallah said this:
“It’s simple mathematics. A few missiles on a few ammonium plants equals the same amount of death as an atomic bomb.”
Health Minister Yaakov Litzman said Israel was already in the process of moving the ammonia tank. Haifa Mayor Yona Yahav had a counter-intuitive response of his own.
3. Jerusalem Post: Main German bank closes top BDS-linked account:
It is unclear if action by BNP Paribas against the BDS-Kampagne account is connected to possible violations of French anti-BDS or anti-terrorism laws.
The BDS-Kampagne website promotes a “petition in support of the right to call for a boycott of Israeli goods in France.”
According to German bank law, the BDS-Kampagne will have 60 days to close its account and remove the DAB bank information from its website.
4. Israel-Hater Unwittingly Confirms That BDS is Anti-Semitic: Ben White attempts to argue that BDS is not anti-Semitic but fails.
5. Haneen Zoabi: Attacking Israel is Business As Usual: The extremist Israeli-Arab Knesset Member publishes a series of misleading statements and outright lies about Israel in Newsweek.
Join the fight for Israel’s fair coverage in the news
Israel and the Palestinians
• Meeting in Berlin, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Gernman Chancellor Angela Merkel threw cold water on the French peace initiative. Take your pick of Jerusalem Post or Times of Israel coverage. Merkel also said Germany won’t normalize relations with Tehran until the Iranians recognize Israel.
• MEMRI: The PA Education Ministry held a memorial for 18-year-old female student Kalzar Al-‘Awiwi, who was killed while stabbing a soldier in Hebron. The administration also posted an obituary for her on its Facebook page, referring to her as a “martyr.”
• Reporter Emily Harris of National Public Radio takes the pulse of Israelis and Palestinians living in the Gush Etzion area of the West Bank.
Around the World
• New York Times: The US had plans for an elaborate cyber-attack on Iran if the situation led to conflict:
The plan, code-named Nitro Zeus, was devised to disable Iran’s air defenses, communications systems and crucial parts of its power grid, and was shelved, at least for the foreseeable future, after the nuclear deal struck between Iran and six other nations last summer was fulfilled . . .
The United States military develops contingency plans for all kinds of possible conflicts, such as a North Korean attack on the South, loose nuclear weapons in South Asia or uprisings in Africa or Latin America. Most sit on the shelf, and are updated every few years. But this one took on far greater urgency, in part because White House officials believed there was a good chance that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel would decide to strike Iran’s nuclear facilities, and the United States would be drawn into the hostilities that followed.
• South Africans would rather go without water rather than accept Israeli assistance. And BDS calls this a victory?
South Africa water confab canceled over participation of Israeli envoy
• Oxford student Alex Chalmers resigned his position as co-chairman of the university’s Labour Club over anti-Semitism and the group’s endorsement of Israel Apartheid Week. A number of papers, including the Daily Mail and Daily Telegraph picked up on the row sparked by his statement on Facebook. More at the Oxford Student.
• Palestinians are dismayed by UK plan to stop local councils boycotting Israeli settlements. The Daily Telegraph updates the latest.
• The Paris city council passed a pair of resolutions against BDS. According to the European Jewish Press, “The vote reinforces an existing French law that considers boycott of Israel as discriminatory and illegal.”
• Ohio diner owned by Arab-Israeli reopens after machete attack
• Danish TV star says anti-Semitism made him uncomfortable in Sweden.
• Ali Rizk takes a closer look at what Hezbollah stands to gain from the Iranian nuclear deal.
Commentary/Analysis
• Here’s what else I’m reading today . . .
– Avi Issacharoff: Battered by Syria war, Nasrallah warms to an old theme: Israel
– Julie Lenarz: Israel boycotts are used as a cover for anti-Semitism
– Barbara Kay: Campus anti-Semitism looks to instill hatred for the long term
– Jennifer Oriel: Anti-Semitism’s licit disguise (click via Google News)
– Annika Hernroth-Rothstein: Legislating against BDS is effective
– Pinhas Inbari: Interpreting Palestinian “sign language”
– Ben Sales: How Syria and natural gas are pushing Israel and Turkey back together
– Burak Bekdil: Russia’s trap: Luring Sunnis into war
Featured image: CC BY Jon S; piggy bank CC BY-SA 401(K) 2012; cyber CC BY-SA Christiaan Colen; Oxford CC BY-NC Steve Evans;
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