Today’s Top Stories
1. Without giving a reason, an Iranian court froze the assets of more than 150 current and former BBC staffers in Iran. See Reuters, and of course, the BBC, which condemned the order as a move to silence journalists.
Despite being banned in Iran, BBC Persian TV, radio and web content manages to reach some 13 million Iranians, according to the BBC.
A Queens Museum official said the board of directors didn’t want to hold what it called a “political event.” The Jerusalem Post reports Ambassador Danny Danon’s staff uncovered another facet to the cancellation — the museum’s President and Executive Director Laura Raicovich:
Following an investigation by Danon’s staff, it was found that Raicovich has an anti-Israel background: She is the editor of a book entitled “Assuming Boycott: Resistance, Agency and Cultural Production.” In its online description of the book, the publisher states that “Boycott and divestment are essential tools for activists around the globe.”
In the book, Raicovich included an essay entitled “Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions: Reasons to Support BDS,” which justifies and endorses the movement’s actions against Israel.
3. You can probably count on your fingers the number of pen pals North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Un has around the world. Add a finger for PA President Mahmoud Abbas. He praised North Korean ‘freedom fighters’ in friendly telegram to Kim.
Join the fight for Israel’s fair coverage in the news
4. Why Did CSM Call an Anti-Israel Ideologue a ‘Historian?’ A Christian Science Monitor interview with Ilan Pappe applies double standards against Israel.
5. How an Underground Wall Can Save Lives – HR in a Minute: At $1 billion and 37 miles, will Israel’s underground barrier along Gaza border really save lives? Our new series of animated shorts, “HonestReporting In a Minute” explores.
Israel and the Palestinians
• The Times of Israel examines Sheikh Raed Salah’s role in spreading the myth that Israel endangers the Al-Aqsa mosque. Even Waqf officials seem powerless against the extremist sheikh.
The idea that “Al-Aqsa is in danger” is not new — it dates back to the 1920s, and continues to be propagated by all the major Palestinian political players including Hamas and Fatah. But experts interviewed by The Times of Israel said Salah has done more to spread and ostensibly legitimize the idea than any other person in history.
• Israeli security forces demolished the home of Omar al-Abed, who murdered Yossi, Haya and Elad Salomon in their Halamish home in July.
• Egypt opened the Rafah crossing with Gaza for the first time since May to allow Palestinian pilgrims to travel to Mecca.
Around the World
• Rare footage shows troops from Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps fighting in close quarters combat in Syria against Islamic State fighters. More at Ynet.
• Alan Zimmerman describes a very chilling Shabbat experience at Charlottesville’s Congregation Beth Israel:
For half an hour, three men dressed in fatigues and armed with semi-automatic rifles stood across the street from the temple. Had they tried to enter, I don’t know what I could have done to stop them, but I couldn’t take my eyes off them, either. Perhaps the presence of our armed guard deterred them. Perhaps their presence was just a coincidence, and I’m paranoid. I don’t know.
Several times, parades of Nazis passed our building, shouting, “There’s the synagogue!” followed by chants of “Seig Heil” and other anti-Semitic language. Some carried flags with swastikas and other Nazi symbols . . .
Local police faced an unprecedented problem that day, but make no mistake, Jews are a specific target of these groups, and despite nods of understanding from officials about our concerns – and despite the fact that the mayor himself is Jewish – we were left to our own devices. The fact that a calamity did not befall the Jewish community of Charlottesville on Saturday was not thanks to our politicians, our police, or even our own efforts, but to the grace of God.
See also an account by Jewish U. of Virginia Professor Michelle Kisliuk. Last word for now goes to Asher Huey.
Imagine being an incoming black or Jewish freshman scheduled to move into UVA next weekend. #Charlottesville
— Asher Huey (@asherhuey) August 12, 2017
Commentary/Analysis
• Here’s what else I’m reading today . . .
– Ben-Dror Yemini: We must stop Raed Salah and his ilk
– Nadav Shragai: Raed Salah and the libel that kills
– Ira Rifkin: After Charlottesville, journalists should cover anti-Semitism as distinct from ‘racism’
– Nathan Englander: What Jewish children learned from Charlottesville
– Yoni Ben Menachem: Abbas’ political battles escalate
– Filip Ejdus, Alaa Tartir: Policing Palestine
– Dennis Ross: US should block further Iranian expansion in Syria
– Michael Armstrong: Missile countermeasures: North Korea’s threat, Israel’s experience
– Jennifer Oriel: The shame is that the ABC is sleeping with our enemies
Featured image: CC BY-SA Estitxu Carton;; Raicovich via YouTube/St. Francis College;
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.
