Today’s Top Stories
1. The Israeli cabinet was due to debate a plan to allow the Palestinian city of Qalqilya to expand its municipal boundaries in order to build 14,000 new homes in the West Bank’s most densely populated area.
The complication is that Qalqilya is located right next to the Green Line, and can only expand if Israel transfers land in Area C (which is under Israeli administrative and security jurisdiction) to Area A (which is fully under PA security and administrative control). More at Ynet and AP/Times of Israel.
2. Spanish judges nullified two municipal BDS motions, calling them racist. The JTA adds:
The rulings last week by separate tribunals in two of Spain’s autonomous regions bring to 20 the number of municipalities that, over the past three years, either reversed their motions of support for a boycott of Israel or had them nullified by the judiciary.
3. Israel to establish a Syrian army in southern Syria as a check on Iran and Hezbollah? I wouldn’t put it past Jerusalem. However, Asharq al-Awsat quotes nobody on the record so judge for yourself.
Join the fight for Israel’s fair coverage in the news
4. News Literacy: How to Judge Anonymous Sources: The 7 questions you must ask yourself when you come across anonymous sources in the news.
5. Tom Friedman Distracts With False Equivalence: Since when did the Israeli state support or encourage settlers to carry out acts of terror against Palestinians?
6. Radiohead Drops the Mic on BDS: Thom Yorke continues defying patronizing pressure from prominent personalities bent on cancelling next week’s Tel Aviv show.
7. Watch HR’s Daniel Pomerantz on i24 News’ The Spin Room where he and guests Deputy Minister for Diplomacy Michael Oren and Allison Kaplan Sommer of Haaretz discussed the UNESCO vote on Hebron and Trump’s peace efforts.
Israel and the Palestinians
• A a UN report (pdf) highlights a decade of Hamas failure in Gaza. More at Reuters.
• Palestinians in the Jenin refugee camp opened fire and threw dozens of explosives at Israeli forces who entered the camp looking for wanted Palestinians on Tuesday night. Two Palestinians were killed when Israeli soldiers returned fire, Ynet reports.
No Israelis were hurt. Overall, 21 Palestinians were arrested, 18 of whom are suspected of terror activity.
• While the UN Human Rights Council denounces Israeli settlements, the Jerusalem Post picked up on a report (pdf format) putting a spotlight on European companies doing business in occupied territories such as Western Sahara, Nagorno-Karabakh, Northern Cyprus and Crimea. The Post even got fresh quotes from some of the businesses named and shamed.
In 2015, Eshki raised eyebrows when he publicly met with Dore Gold, then the incoming director-general of Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Arab48 is aligned with the anti-Zionist Israeli Arab Balad party.
• A Syrian cease-fire in areas along the borders with Israel and Jordan survived its first day, reports the New York Times.
Around the World
• It’s not clear why, but journalist Gretchen Rachel Hammond was reassigned to non-journalistic duties at Chicago’s Windy City Times. That’s where Hammond was the first to report that Jewish flags were banned from Chicago’s LGBTQ pride march.
Hammond confirmed to The Algemeiner and JTA her reassignment but did not offer an explanation or indicate whether it was related to the controversy sparked by her revelations.
Hammond’s Twitter account was also shut down.
• Jerusalem Post: Berlin Mayor Michael Mueller is taking flak for not blocking a fund-raising event for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine terror group.
• Suspect sought for carving 30 swastikas in freshly poured concrete in Brooklyn.
• Hate-based incidents are surging in suburban school system in Maryland as vandalism featuring swastikas, racist symbols and other expressions of bigotry against Jews, Muslims, immigrants.
Commentary/Analysis
• Award-winning UK filmmaker and BDS supporter Ken Loach took to The Independent to fire a broadside at Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke over the group’s upcoming Tel Aviv concert. The fight spilled over onto Twitter.
— Thom Yorke (@thomyorke) July 11, 2017
Also pontificating against Radiohead was former Faithless guitarist Dave Randall in The Guardian.
• Here’s what else I’m reading today . . .
– Raphael Ahren: Under Trump, settlements are no longer the obsessive center of attention
– Dr. Reuven Berko: UNESCO misreads fanaticism
– Bassam Tawil: UNESCO supports terrorism
– New York Daily News (staff-ed): No, no, UNESCO, Hebron is Jewish, too
– Ghassan Charbel: Modi’s visit to Israel, Arabs going green with envy
– Fred Maroun: We Arabs are damn lucky that Jews do not behave like Arabs
– Sander Gerber and Noah Pollak: It’s time for the US to stop paying for Palestinian terrorism
– Neri Zilber: Trump’s Mideast plan is crashing against political reality
– Melanie Phillips: Israel won! Now get over it
– Annika Hernroth-Rothstein: The cost of peace
– Isabella Ginor and Gideon Remez: How fake news becomes fake history
Featured image: CC BY Issac Villanueva; anonymous sources CC BY-NC Nate; Gold and Eshki via YouTube; rainbow flag CC BY-SA Jonatan Svensson Glad;
For more, see yesterday’s Israel Daily News Stream and join the IDNS on Facebook.
Before you comment on this article, please remind yourself of our Comments Policy. Any comments deemed to be in breach of the policy will be removed at the editor’s discretion.
