Today’s Top Stories
1. The Queens Museum reversed its decision to cancel an Israeli event. The risk to the museum’s finances was heavy, and President and Executive Director Laura Raicovich’s ties to the BDS movement through a book she co-edited couldn’t be ignored.
New York State Assemblyman Dov Hikind called to stop funding the Queens Museum following the report of the events cancellation. “The State of New York has made it clear that the BDS movement is unacceptable,” said Hikind. “I am calling on members of the NYC Council who have funded the Queens Museum . . . to pull their support of this museum until this blatant anti-Semite Ms. Raicovich is removed.”
Withering staff editorials in the New York Post and New York Daily News called for Raicovich’s dismissal.
2. Israel’s High Court froze a contentious law which retroactively legalized unauthorized settler homes built on privately owned Palestinian land. The Knesset passed “the Regulation Bill” in February.
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3. Israel’s Government Press Office revoked the press credentials of Al Jazeera reporter Elias Karram pending a hearing. The GPO took the step after learning of a interview last year in which Karram, an Israeli-Arab, made some comments calling into question his personal objectivity:
Karam said in an interview to the Muslim Brotherhood television channel Dar Al-Iman in May 2016 that “as a Palestinian journalist who is in an occupied area or a conflict area, journalistic work is an integral part of the resistance and of political and educational action.
“A journalist fulfills his role in the resistance through his pen, voice or camera, because he is part of this nation and is resisting in his unique way,” he added.
Karram, who lives in Nazareth, has held press credentials since 2011. In recent days, Israeli officials vowed to shut down Al Jazeera, accusing the Qatari-based network of bias and incitement. Egypt, Saudi Arabia and several Gulf states took similar moves and have demanded Qatar shut down the news station as one condition for ending their diplomatic crisis. Haaretz adds that Israel’s Foreign Ministry recently warned that imposing sanctions on Al Jazeera would harm the country’s public relations.
More on the story at Haaretz and the Times of Israel.
Israel and the Palestinians
• Over the past week, Israeli police have arrested 72 Palestinians accused of violence during last month’s Temple Mount tensions.
• PA officials are weighing further punitive measures against Hamas. The Jerusalem Post explains:
The Palestinian leadership in Ramallah is considering either forcing another group of Palestinian Authority employees working in the health and education sectors in the Gaza Strip into early retirement or slashing social-welfare payments allocated to the territory as a continuation of its measures to pressure Hamas to cede control of the Strip, Ahmad Majdalani, a close confidante of PA President Mahmoud Abbas, said on Wednesday.
• Maj. Gen. Amir Eshel, the outgoing commander of the Israel Air Force, confirmed to Haaretz that the IAF has hit nearly 100 Syrian and Hezbollah arms convoys since 2012. Although Israeli officials have made some coy confirmations, this is the first time a high level military officer has shed light on the scope of the air strikes.
• Who gets the 72 virgins when this happens?
• Worth reading: Bloomberg News gauges Israel’s efforts to secure a seat on the UN Security Council. “History suggests Israel, one of 66 countries never elected to the council, faces an uphill struggle to secure at least 128 votes, or two-thirds of the 193 member states, in a secret ballot,” however:
“They’ve done their campaign with a level of sophistication which is remarkable, doing it systemically, arranging fact-finding missions and bilateral agreements,” said Syed Akbaruddin, India’s ambassador to the UN. “They start with a disadvantage in that there are countries that are not disposed to vote for them, but they have cultivated certain countries to shore up constituencies.” . . .
With the balloting conducted in secret, Saudi Arabia and its Sunni neighbors might cast their ballots for Israel on the bet it would take a tough stand against their common archenemy Iran.
Around the World
• Australian Nazi group plasters Melbourne schools with violently racist and anti-Semitic posters.
The posters — the work of a Nazi youth organization that styles itself the “Antipodean Resistance” — used ugly racist pejoratives to denigrate black and Asian people and call for the extermination of Jews. One poster depicted the classic Nazi image of a grasping, hook-nosed Jew alongside the words “Multiculturalism,” “Degeneracy” and “Reject Jewish Poison.”
• Booking.com dropped from its website the Swiss hotel that featured signs singling out Jews.
Commentary/Analysis
• Here’s what else I’m reading today . . .
– Amb. Alan Baker: Jordan’s refusal to permit return of Israel’s ambassador breaks international law and peace treaty
– Gideon Biger: Israeli enclaves in Palestine?
– Charles Bybelezer: Home demolitions: Terror deterrent or rights violation?
– Annika Hernroth-Rothstein: Just say no to peace talks
– Amb. Daniel Shapiro: Is Trump’s Mideast peace effort dead in the water?
– Gary Rosenblatt: Are the college years too late for Israel education?
Featured image: CC BY woodleywonderworks;; Raicovich via Facebook/Queens Museum; Karram via Facebook/Elias Karram; Security Council via UN Photo/Manuel Elias;
For more, see yesterday’s Israel Daily News Stream and join the IDNS on Facebook.
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