Today’s Top Stories
1. President Reuven Rivlin arrived in Moscow for talks with Vladimir Putin and other high-level Russian officials. He is expected to express Israel’s concerns about a strengthened Iranian and Hezbollah presence in Syria, learn more about why Russia began withdrawing troops, and discuss the Syrian peace talks in Geneva. Jerusalem Post coverage.
Speaking of Syria, Hezbollah denied it is withdrawing.
In Moscow, @PresidentRuvi laying a wreath at grave at the unknown soldier. Next stop: Meeting with Vladimir Putin pic.twitter.com/RR4ugUjUTL
— Raphael Ahren (@RaphaelAhren) March 16, 2016
2. Israel’s Deputy Foreign Minister reveals details about secret contacts with Indonesia. Haaretz reports:
Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely revealed at the Knesset on Wednesday that Israel barred Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi from visiting the Palestinian Authority for violating secret understandings reached between Israel and Indonesia. As per the understandings, in addition to her trip to the PA, Marsudi was also expected to travel to Jerusalem and meet with senior Israeli officials.
If the terms had been met, it would have been a first visit by an Indonesian foreign minister to Israel.
Join the fight for Israel’s fair coverage in the news
3. British Justice Minister Michael Gove accused the BDS movement of itself using apartheid tactics against Israel. YNet writes:
The BDS movement, which claims that it is working against apartheid, in retrospect is using methods of apartheid in that it calls for the shunning of Jewish academics, the boycott of Jewish goods, the de-legitimization of Jewish commerce. It is up to us to show solidarity with the Jews and with their right to national sovereignty,” Gove said at an international conference on anti-Semitism in Berlin.
4. Fighting BDS: Tips and Strategies: Check out our slideshare for advice on how you can combat the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement.
Israel and the Palestinians
• This morning, police caught a 14 year-old Palestinian trying to sneak a knife through a checkpoint outside Jerusalem to carry out an attack.
• Memri examines incitement to terrorism by Palestinian civil society organizations that receive foreign funding.
• Settlements are stopping a two-state solution, says New Zealand foreign minister.
• The Times of Israel visited the northern border to learn more from the IDF about threats posed by the al-Nusra Front (which has ties to Al-Qaida) and the Yarmouk Martyrs Brigade (reportedly aligned with Islamic State).
Around the World
• University of California officials revising a statement of principles on intolerance have included “anti-Zionism” as a form of discrimination. Take your pick of coverage in the Daily Bruin, Los Angeles Times or Associated Press, and see also the Board of Regents’ working group’s report (pdf format).
It’s a step in the right direction, but the report doesn’t define Zionism, much less anti-Zionism.
If the simplest definition of Zionism is the right of the Jewish people to have self-determination in their homeland, then anti-Zionism is a form of anti-Semitism simply because its discriminatory to single out Jewish national aspirations as illegitimate. But I’m just scratching the surface. Post your comments below.
• Arizona is literally divesting itself of BDS. The Arizona Capitol Times explains how lawmakers did more than just prohibit state and local governments from doing business with entities that boycott Israel:
The measure, which now goes to the governor, also requires public funds to sell off their holdings in such firms within three months of being told they are on a list of boycotters.
• Two British professors who organizing a followup academic hate-fest against Israel were told they will have to come up with £24,000 to cover policing and security. Southampton University officials describe the event as “partisan,” while the organizers, Professors Oren Ben-Dor and Suleiman Sharkh, argue that free speech is at stake. More at The Guardian:
One of the declared aims of the conference is to “educate a whole new generation of young Palestinian lawyers and legal and political scholars about new possible arguments and concepts in order to use international law better”.
• Tweet of the day
Iran testing ballistic missiles is Just Fine but not letting Iran get the benefit of Visa waivers is unthinkable https://t.co/SO6FY90htF
— Kamel Amin Thaabet (@K_AminThaabet) March 15, 2016
Commentary/Analysis
• Worth reading:
Flawed Pew survey question produces flawed answer on how many Israeli Jews want Arabs kicked out.
• Here’s what else I’m reading today . . .
– Marc Schulman: Tel Aviv diary: Taking a shrug to a knife fight
– Avi Temkin: The quieter boycott of Israel is doing the damage
– Tom Harris: The Labour Party is increasingly anti-Semitic
– Elliot Miller: Boycotting Jewish students at University College London
– Lital Shemesh: A tough scene for Israel in South Africa
– Alex Fishman: How the IDF helps Hamas
– Anshel Pfeffer: Putin doctrine keeps vassal states like Syria in line
– Ariel Bolstein: Russia is a superpower again
Featured image: CC BY-NC Tobia Myrstrand Leander with additions by HonestReporting;
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