Today’s Top Stories
1. The UN Relief and Works Agency, which provides assistance to Palestinian refugees, discovered a Hamas tunnel under two Gaza schools sharing the same premises. The Jerusalem Post writes:
In a statement, UNRWA spokesperson Christopher Gunness said that the tunnels were discovered during construction of an extension of one of the buildings during summer vacation, when the schools were empty. The tunnel had no entry or exit points within the school.
In a sign of the times, a Saudi newspaper harshly condemned Hamas, saying the terror group endangers Gaza’s civilians:
“Hamas allocates millions of Saudi and UAE dollars in order to support Iranian-orchestrated terror.”
The leading Saudi newspaper drew parallels between the Islamic State and those of Hamas, stating that “there is no difference between them.”
The newspaper called for immediate Arab intervention in order to prevent Hamas’ exploitation of Gaza’s citizens and even “to save their lives.”
Hamas denied digging the tunnel, but did announce that its new politburo chief, Ismail Haniyeh, will lead a delegation of senior Hamas leaders to Iran.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called for the UNRWA to be dismantled.
“Since World War II, there have been tens of millions of refugees the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) has taken care of. The Palestinians have their own separate commission, UNRWA, which has a lot of incitement against Israelis among its ranks,” the prime minister said.
2. What do the UK election results mean for Israel and British Jewry? The Times of Israel dives into the issue. Meanwhile, UK Jewish students told The Algemeiner they’re worried the results will bring anti-Semitic views more into the mainstream.
As it was, Jewish candidates won seats around Britain.
3. ARTE, a Franco-German TV network, is refusing to air a documentary on European anti-Semitism because — get this — they considered it too “pro-Israel.”
Turning a blind eye to Arab anti-Semitism and the anti-Zionist Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign is more “politically correct.”
The European political support of anti-Semitism targeting Israel is presented in the film, including a speech by the Palestinian Authority’s Mahmoud Abbas who told European lawmakers that rabbis urged Israel’s government to poison Arab water supplies. The European Parliament rewarded Abbas with a standing ovation.
The film also shows the growth of the anti-Israel BDS campaign in Europe.
Anti-Semitism is traced, among others, in Germany, France, Belgium, the Gaza Strip, and the West Bank, including that of Muslims.
Arte’s editors rejected the broadcast, because they argued that the film treats the central theme “only very partially” and does not correspond to the approved project.
4. Where is Judaism’s Holiest Site? No, it’s not the Western Wall — and these days, precision regarding Jerusalem’s Jewish sites matters a lot. Not, however to one newspaper. See HR managing editor Simon Plosker’s op-ed in The Times of Israel.
5. Read HR’s Six-Day War: 50th Anniversary Resource Primer: As the media continues examining the 50th anniversary of Israel’s remarkable victory in the 1967 Six-Day War and the reunification of Jerusalem, see HonestReporting’s Resource Primer marking the event. Go to News Articles, Gallery and Movie Clips to see the latest updated content.
Israel and the Palestinians
• A Knesset committee approved a bill to cut money transfers to the PA over stipends to terrorists and their families. The Times of Israel reports that the next legislative hurdles are due to take place on Wednesday.
• A new book glorifying Palestinian terrorists is outraging Israelis as it aims to “inspire” Palestinian youth through the stories of “martyrs” from one refugee camp near Jerusalem. Israel HaYom writes:
The book, “Stories of Qalandiya’s Shahids, 1967-2017,” was published by the Qalandiya Media Center and tells the personal stories of terrorists who resided in the Jerusalem-adjacent refugee camp.
• The Economist looks at Israeli efforts to spot Palestinian lone-wolf attackers. Algorithms monitor social-media posts of Palestinians, and more, but could any of this eventually be utilized in the West?
• West Bank water theft drains Israelis and Palestinians dry as everybody points fingers at someone else.
• While visiting Toronto, Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat discussed dealing with terror with the National Post.
Unlike in London, for example, where last week police urged people to “Run, Hide, Tell,” in Jerusalem civilians are encouraged to “take action, to engage.” So today, fully one third of the “neutralizing” of terrorists in Jerusalem is by civilians, Barkat said.
• According to Obama administration documents seen by Haaretz, Netanyahu demanded that settlers be allowed to remain in Palestine after a future peace deal. But a trial balloon raised a bigger political storm within the prime minister’s coalition than he anticipated. As for the Palestinians, the suggestion was not rejected out of hand.
Around the World
• US authorities busted a Hezbollah plot to attack Israelis in New York and Panama.
• Bomb threats shut down three Los Angeles synagogue locations on Shabbat.
• Meanwhile, over in The Hague . . .
Abdoe Khoulani, a Muslim city council member in The Hague, slammed a group of Israeli high school students visiting the Dutch parliament, calling them “future Zionist terrorists, occupiers and those who murder children.”
• For a sense of what’s in store for next month’s historic visit to Israel by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, NDTV previews what’s on the agenda. There’s plenty to discuss: India is Israel’s largest customer of military equipment, while bilateral trade last year was “about USD 4.5 billion.”
Modi arrives in Israel on July 4.
• A Belgian court upheld a jail term for anti-Semitic comedian Dieudonne. A two-month sentence and a fine of 9,000 Euros was handed down over anti-Semitic and racist remarks made during his 2012 show in the Belgian city of Liege.
It is unlikely Dieudonne will serve any jail time because the Belgian authorities usually do not enforce short sentences to avoid overcrowding in prison.
• Spanish police arrested a Hamas supporter accused of inciting violence against Jews.
• The European Jewish Press talked to various wonks for a sense of how new French President Emmanuel Macron will treat Israel.
• Amazon still sells ‘Free Palestine’ clothes, after Sears and Walmart stopped.
• Pass the popcorn: Ankara’s catching flak for not disbursing $20 million paid by Israel for the families of 10 Turkish nationals killed during the IDF intercept of the Mavi Marmara flotilla to Gaza. Hurriyet coverage.
• If you’re afraid of fake news, be even more wary of deadly fake reporters.
Masquerading as a reporter, an assassin tried to kill 2 foes of Vladimir Putin in Ukraine https://t.co/wlioaNDoWL
— The New York Times (@nytimes) June 10, 2017
Six-Day War Anniversary
• Kufr Aqab is a Palestinian village that became part of the Jerusalem after the Six-Day War. But 50 years and two intifadas later, the area is outside the Israeli security barrier, in what the Los Angeles Times calls “a twilight-zone existence all its own.”
Related reading: Razing a Racket.
• The Six-Day War marks a somber anniversary for international peacekeepers. Commandant Tommy Wickham of Ireland was deployed as an unarmed military observer in the Golan Heights when he was shot and killed by a Syrian soldier. According to the Irish Independent, Comdt Wickham “was the only member of the Defence Forces to die on active service in Syria.”
• NPR discussed the war with writers A.B. Yehoshua and Raja Shehadeh. NPR also interviewed an Israeli settler and a Palestinian about how the war changed their lives.
• Arab writer Nael Eltoukhy offers some fascinating insights into the divergent Egyptian and Palestinian narratives of the Six-Day War.
• New York Times columnist Bret Stephens and author Yossi Klein Halevi discussed their personal connections to Israel and how the American Jewish community’s views on the state have been evolving since 1967.
• Here’s more Six-Day War reading:
– Yossi Klein Halevi: The astonishing Israeli concession of 1967
– Clifford May: The Six-Day War and the 50-year occupation
– Paul Bonicelli: 50 years ago, Israel saved Western civilization in the Mideast
– Ron Jontof-Hutter: ‘Never again’ forgotten within 22 years
– Lucette Lagnado: Arab countries treated their Jews horribly after the war
– Annika Hernroth-Rothstein: Jerusalem: From destination to destiny
• Memo to Yousef Munayyer: Had Israel lost the war, there wouldn’t be any Jews left to photograph in the Mideast, and Islamic State would’ve demolished the Western Wall by now.
I don’t presume to speak for the late photographer, David Rubinger, or for the three soldiers (Haim Oshri, Dr. Yitzhak Yifat and Zion Karasenti), but considering Jordan refused to grant Jews access to the holy site for 19 years, the emotional looks on their faces certainly spoke for Israelis and Jews everywhere.
Commentary/Analysis
• Here’s what else I’m reading today . . .
– Prof. Eyal Zisser: Palestinians afraid to tangle with Trump
– Ruthie Blum: Cutting Abbas down to size
– Amos Harel: Qatar crisis took US by surprise. Israel is concerned
– David Horovitz: Humiliation of May, rise of Corbyn, make gloomy news for Jerusalem
– Jerusalem Post (staff-ed): Gaza marks unhappy anniversary — 10 years under Hamas rule
Featured image: CC0 Pexels Barkat via YouTube/CBS News; Modi CC BY-SA Narendra Modi;
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