Today’s Top Stories
1. Palestinians have launched a worldwide campaign to nominate jailed Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti for the Nobel Peace Prize – despite his life imprisonment for five terrorist murders.
According to the JPost, the campaign will include organizing rallies and marches throughout the West Bank and Gaza Strip in support of the nomination. Organizers said they are also planning a massive campaign in the local and international media to promote the idea of giving Barghouti the Nobel Peace Prize.
As outlandish as it sounds, it wouldn’t be the first time a Palestinian terrorist has won a Nobel Peace Prize…
2. The US has notified Israel and Egypt that it is considering reconfiguring its mission in Sinai by increasing reliance on remote sensing technology so it can shift the number of troops from northern Sinai because of the growing threat there from ISIS.
The US soldiers are part of the Multinational Force and Observers mission that monitors compliance with the 1979 Israeli-Egyptian peace treaty.
3. Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi reportedly asked for Israel’s help to stem Western coalition airstrikes on his country during the 2011 uprising that led to his downfall.
Perhaps not a great surprise that, according to the report, Israeli officials carried out a quick assessment and decided not to act.
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4. Is Australia Guilty as Charged?: An op-ed by an Australian academic and BDS advocate charges Australia with being guilty of double standards on human rights because the country fails to consistently condemn Israeli settlements.
Israel and the Palestinians
• Palestinian Authority intends to begin issuing “State of Palestine” passports to West Bank residents.
• Ahead of the Passover vacation, Israel’s Counter-Terrorism Bureau issues travel warnings relating to credible threats against Israeli citizens in more than 30 countries.
• Revealed: The nuclear reactor in Dimona is involved in 65 joint research projects with agencies abroad, including the United States Department of Energy, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the European Union and the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Around the World
• A poll of British Muslims reveals that they are more anti-Semitic than the general population.
• Led by Kuwait, the Arab Inter-Parliamentary Union voted to move to expel the Knesset from the international IPU due to the “racist laws”’ it allegedly legislates.
Commentary/Analysis
• Would a Hillary Clinton presidency be better for Israel than the current administration? Jennifer Rubin thinks so in the Washington Post.
• Adam Milstein and Carlos Ortiz call for Christians and Jews to come together to defeat the hate and intolerance of BDS:
Many of the leaders of the BDS movement are linked to international terrorist groups that oppress Christians in the Middle East. Hatem Bazian – one of the chief architects of BDS and the founder of “Students for Justice in Palestine,” the largest on-campus BDS organization – has been connected to a range of groups shut down by the Justice Department for raising money on behalf of the Hamas terrorist organization and other radical Islamist groups. Bazian has called for a violent uprising, in his words “an Intifada,” not only in Israel but also in the United States, and vocalized support for attacks on American troops in Iraq.
Like Bazian, Purdue University professor Bill Mullen, one of the BDS leaders who lobbied the American Studies Association to adopt a boycott of Israel, also advocates for attacking American ‘imperialism,’ saying, “We can build a still-stronger BDS movement beginning in the name of Palestinian freedom and ending in a permanent blow against American empire.”
Bazian and others not only seek to destroy the Jewish State, but also the Judeo-Christian principles on which it is founded. We have a responsibility to stand up and speak out against this wave of hate, whether it erupts in the Middle East or in the middle of America. Christians and Jews must unite to battle against BDS for the sake of our values, our future, and our very way of life.
• Josh Block applauds the signing of an anti-BDS law in Florida:
The Florida Pro-Israel community agrees with the governor and Democrats and Republicans in the state Legislature: Boycotts, divestments and sanctions of Israel are counterproductive to the goal of peace, antithetical to freedom of speech and part of a greater effort to undermine the Jewish people’s right to self-determination in their homeland. We stand united in our condemnation of calls and campaigns to boycott Israeli institutions, products and companies that do business with Israel.
Florida’s new law is a major blow against anti-Israel bigotry and discrimination. We applaud Scott and the state Legislature for their leadership on passing this historic law.
Featured image: CC BY-NC-SA xeeliz with modifications by HonestReporting
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