Today’s Top Stories
1. Eleven people were killed in a Pittsburgh synagogue in the deadliest antisemitic attack in US history. The gunman, identified as Robert Bowers, walked into the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh’s Squirrel Hill neighborhood and opened fire on Saturday morning as he yelled “All Jews must die.” Six other individuals were injured.
Bowers, who is now hospitalized after being shot by the police, had shared on social media numerous antisemitic messages and said he wanted “all Jews to die.” Shortly before this roundup was published, officials announced the names of the 11 people killed. They ranged in age from 54-97.
Here are the victims of the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting: pic.twitter.com/luFve7C3W3
— Ryan Struyk (@ryanstruyk) October 28, 2018
See special dispatches from Squirrel Hill by David Shribman, Kevin Gorman, Gabe Kramer and Campbell Robertson.
2. The IDF retaliated for Palestinian rocket fire over Friday and Saturday launching 80 air strikes on Gaza over the weekend. Israeli officials accused Iran of ordering the rocket fire.
Going into the weekend, Israeli media picked up on optimistic Arab reports of an “understanding” brokered by Egypt to calm Gaza tensions, but clashes continued along the border, with Palestinians throwing grenades, firebombs and rocks at soldiers. Five Palestinians were killed, including one by his own hand grenade.
RAW FOOTAGE: This is what it looks like when rockets are intercepted right above your home.
10-12 rockets were fired from #Gaza at #Israel, the Iron Dome aerial defense system intercepted several. pic.twitter.com/L1zx99R55c— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) October 26, 2018
3. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu paid a surprise visit to Oman on Thursday. A joint statement issued with Oman’s Sultan Qaboos bin Said didn’t shed light on the nature of their discussions, but analysts suggest the two discussed Oman’s neighbor across the Persian Gulf, Iran.
Afterwards, Omani Foreign Minister Yousuf bin Alawi, who was visiting Bahrain, publicly declared that it’s time for the world to accept Israel. And the Daily Telegraph noted, “Unusually, the trip was prominently highlighted in Oman’s state media. Arab governments often prefer to keep their contact with Israel as discreet as possible.”
Israel and Oman do not have diplomatic ties, and the last time leaders of the two countries met was in 1996 when Shimon Peres visited. PA officials denounced Oman for hosting Netanyahu, as did Hamas and Iran. More on the story at Reuters.
Join the fight for Israel’s fair coverage in the news
Israel and the Palestinians
• “Despite the IDF’s decision to remove all restrictions placed on the Gaza border region following an escalation of hostilities over the weekend, the residents of the communities adjacent to the strip announced Sunday they will not send their children to school in an act of protest against the continuing violence,” reports Ynet.
• For the first time, the United Arab Emirates acknowledged Israel‘s existence by raising the Israel’s flag and playing Israel’s national anthem after three Israeli judokas won bronze medals at a tournament in Abu Dhabi. The judo team was accompanied by Israeli Culture and Sport Minister Miri Regev. Times of Israel coverage.
Regev is the first Israeli minister to visit the UAE in an official capacity, as the countries have no official diplomatic relations.
Just a day after #Oman openly welcomed #Israel’s @netanyahu, kudos to #UAE for hammering another crack in the wall of rejectionism. https://t.co/fHQTTwVd19
— Robert Satloff (@robsatloff) October 27, 2018
• Part of airborne incendiary found near a Sderot daycare center. Nobody was injures as sappers removed the device.
• For the first time since Israel captured the Golan Heights in 1967, the Druze residents will get to vote for their own municipal leadership. AP found the Druze divided over this new right.
The chasm has pit community elders who pledge fealty to Syria and activists opposed to Israel’s occupation against those with looser ties to their ancestral homeland who seek to have a stake in how their own communities are managed . . .
Since the annexation, Israel has appointed representatives to local councils in the Golan’s four Druze villages. But a yearning by more educated, younger Druze for economic opportunities and greater integration into Israeli society, coupled with a realization that the territory will not return to Syria in the near future, has sparked a desire by some to control their own fate, even if it means cooperating with what’s still largely seen as an occupying power.
That, along with a sense that the appointees did not properly represent the community, prompted a group of young lawyers from the area to appeal to Israel’s Supreme Court for a say in choosing their leaders. Their petition succeeded, paving the way for the first-ever elections on Oct. 30.
• AFP takes a closer look at the Palestinian debate over participating in Jerusalem’s municipal elections.
• Maj. Gen. Aviv Kochavi was selected to be the next IDF chief of staff. Once Kochavi completes the formality of meeting with a government vetting committee, Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman willl formally submit Kochavi’s name to the cabinet for final approval. Current IDF chief of staff Lt. Gen. Gadi Eisenkot steps down from the post on December 31.
Around the World
• AFP reports that Gab.com, a social media platform popular with white supremacists and where Bowers shared his venom, is being forced offline.
• An Israeli psychotrauma team is en route to Pittsburgh to aid terror victims. So is Diaspora Affairs Minister Naftali Bennett.
• Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto discussed the massacre Haaretz.
• The JTA looks at other deadly attacks on American-Jewish institutions in recent years.
• It appears that Baroness Jenny Tonge deleted this disgusting Facebook post, but not before David Collier screengrabbed it and the JTA picked up on the story.
This is truly shameful. As the blood still stains the floor of the synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, a MEMBER OF THE HOUSE OF LORDS, tries to turn the blame onto Israel – Baroness Jenny Tonge is an absolute disgrace pic.twitter.com/ks1HYppWoV
— David Collier (@mishtal) October 27, 2018
• Other individuals under fire for ham-handed responses to the massacre we could’ve done without are UK Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, Arab-American activist Linda Sarsour, Labour MP Chris Williamson, journalist Julia Ioffe and Hamas. The latter drew the ire of Ephraim Gopin.
So Hamas has expressed condolences over the shooting in #Pittsburgh.
The same org that praised Rassan & Udai Abu Jamal who shot & stabbed to death 5 Jews in 2014 who were PRAYING IN A SYNAGOGUE in Jerusalem, including my friend Aryeh Kupinsky.
Sick.— Ephraim Gopin (@EphraimGopin) October 28, 2018
• US federal authorities arrested a Florida man, Cesar Sayoc, who is suspected of sending pipe bombs to George Soros, Hillary Clinton, CNN and others:
The suspect behind a campaign of mail bombs sent to critics of US President Donald Trump pined to return to “the Hitler days,” and dreamed of eradicating Jews, blacks, gays and others, according to his former manager.
• Study: Online attacks on Jews ramp up before US Election Day
• Shock as antisemitic vandal targets dean of leading French medical school
• The University of Winnipeg apologizes for “antisemitic statements” made at campus event on Jerusalem.
• President of George Washington U. student bar association ordered to resign over alleged anti-Semitic comment
• Toronto private school parents offended after satirical anti-Semitic play performed
• Poll: Nearly half of Canadian BDS supporters, 45 percent, would continue boycotting Israel, even if the Jewish state agreed to all their demands — namely withdrawing from “occupied” territories, removing the security barrier and allowing Palestinian refugees to exercise the “right” of return. Amanda Hohmann, executive director of La’ad Canada, which commissioned the poll, said:
“Proponents of BDS claim that the movement is motivated strictly by a desire to end so-called abuses by Israel. However, the results of this survey appear to show that for almost half of BDS supporters, that is simply not true. This begs the question of what motivates these individuals, because it’s clearly not about coexistence.”
• Dutch politician praises pro-Palestinian kite show featuring Nazi symbols.
Commentary
• “If your child came home from college and said she was challenged by a classmate who claimed that Palestine is Arab land stolen by the Jews, could you provide her with a response?”
• Pittsburgh’s on my mind.
– Shmuel Rosner: Cry, don’t politicize. 9 comments on the Pittsburgh massacre
– Bari Weiss: A massacre in the Heart of Mr. Rogers’ neighborhood
– Jennifer Rubin: American anti-Semitism: It’s getting worse
– Howard Fineman: Shaking my faith in America
– Max Boot: What is happening to our country?
– Jeffrey Herf: Trump doesn’t understand how anti-Semitism works. Neither do most Americans.
• I don’t know who designed this image, but Pittsburgh Steelers’ defense player Terrell Edmunds earned my tweet of the day for giving this image a lot of traction.
#PittsburghStrong pic.twitter.com/6sA1fOYP8X
— Terrell Edmunds (@rell_island6) October 27, 2018
• Here’s what else I’m reading today . . .
– Abdulrahman Al-Rashed: What next after Netanyahu’s visit to Oman?
– Seth Frantzman: Iran’s dangerous game in Gaza
– Ron Ben-Yishai: Iran is pressuring US using Islamic Jihad in Gaza
– Prof. Eyal Zisser: Israel should revise its policy on Syria
– Amos Harel: Gaza fuse is getting shorter as Netanyahu risks losing control of the conflict
– Alex Fishman: Throw your frustrations at the IDF
– Zvi Bar’el: The sultan’s new friend: Just why did Netanyahu visit Oman?
– Maj. Gen. (ret.) Yaakov Amidror: The Khashoggi assassination: Gossip, regional implications, and the Israeli angle
– Amb. Alan Baker: Why is ICC prosecutor interfering in Khan al-Ahmar?
– Melanie Phillips: How the West has created antisemitism denial
Featured image: Pittsburgh via Wikimedia Commons with additions by HonestReporting; Canadian flag CC0 Pixabay;
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