Today’s Top Stories
1. Once again, the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization passed a resolution ignoring Jewish and Christian links to Jerusalem. Today’s resolution passed without the majority of UNESCO’s 21 board members. The Jerusalem Post explains:
Instead, Tanzania and Croatia had asked for a secret ballot. When the votes were counted, only 10 countries had voted for the motion, two opposed it, eight abstained and one nation, Jamaica, was absent from the room.
Related tweet of the day goes to Raphael Ahren:
Just in time for the #UNESCO vote: Oldest Hebrew mention of #Jerusalem found on rare papyrus from 7th century BCE https://t.co/HVPzvjFurb
— Raphael Ahren (@RaphaelAhren) October 26, 2016
2. An Israeli civilian was shot and killed doing maintenance work on Egyptian border fence on Tuesday. The death of Bedouin Nimer Bassem Abu Amar raises tough questions for the Defense Ministry and the subcontractor that hired him because Abu Amar was 15 years-old. The IDF doesn’t believe the inicident was a terror attack:
Egyptian security sources told Sky News Arabia the shots were fired during a clash between smugglers and Egyptian border guards.
And then, this afternoon, an IDF soldier doing maintenance work along the on the Israeli-Lebanese border fence near Metulla was shot and lightly injured by cross-border fire.
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3. In apparent rift with Ramallah, Saudi Arabia halted financial assistance to the PA.
Senior Palestinian officials say around $120 million of financial aid withheld over last six months without explanation.
Might the money cut-off have something to do with frustration from neighboring Arab states over Abbas’s lack of any clear process of succession, as described by Reuters?
4. Professor Wants Safe Space to Bash Israel: UCLA’s Saree Makdisi doesn’t understand the difference between criticism of Israel and hatred of Jews.
Israel and the Palestinians
• Palestinian youths angry at Mahmoud Abbas erupted, clashing with PA security forces near refugee camps near Ramallah, Nablus and Jenin. According to the Times of Israel, the clashes were sparked “after a protest over the recent expulsion from the Fatah party of a Palestinian lawmaker was suppressed.”
• The PA freed several Palestinians who had been arrested last for visiting the sukkah of the mayor of the Efrat settlement last week.
• A Palestinian newspaper is taking flak for interviewing Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman. The PA weighed in against the Jerusalem-based Al-Quds, and Hamas may ban it from Gaza. But what kind of news values drove the Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate to pile on too?
“The Journalists’ Syndicate not only considers the interview unacceptable normalization with the occupation, but also coordination with it.”
Liberman too was criticized by the parents of Lt. Hadar Goldin for failing to raise the fate of their son and Sgt. Oren Shaul — both of whom were killed during the 2014 Gaza war and whose bodies are now held by Hamas.
.@AvigdorLiberman lambasted on all fronts for Palestinian media interviewhttps://t.co/0Xix314fRv pic.twitter.com/xGo3Lm5AG2
— Ynetnews (@ynetnews) October 25, 2016
• Second Hamas man dies in tunnel ‘accident’ since Saturday.
• Palestinians announce year-long campaign against ‘crime’ of Balfour Declaration.
• Relatives baffled and shamed as Israel’s ‘ISIS family’ returns home.
Around the World
• Sometimes, sanity prevails in Europe.
• Egyptian general who oversaw destruction of Gaza tunnels assassinated.
• German teachers union apologizes for BDS activity.
Commentary/Analysis
• Here’s what else I’m reading today . . .
– David Horovitz: Palestinian campaign vs Balfour shows hostility to Jewish state undimmed after 100 years
– Amos Harel: Russia restricts Israeli Air Force
– Howard Jacobson: Let’s be clear: Anti-Semitism is a hate apart
– Avi Issacharoff: Will Abbas’ successor be more moderate?
– Elior Levy: The new king of Gaza
– Emmanuel Navon: A reply to Hagai El-Ad
– Josh Seitler: NUS president should act over antisemitism or step down
– Alan M. Dershowitz: Obama shouldn’t tie his successor’s hands on Israel-Palestine
– New York Post (staff-ed): Why Palestinians can’t make peace
• Last but not least, for a sense of what the other side’s saying, see Saeb Erekat in the Washington Post.
Featured Image: CC BY m01229; dollar CC BY photosteve101;
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