Today’s Top Stories
1. Deadly terror strikes Beersheba central bus station. An Israeli Bedouin armed with a pistol and knife killed a soldier, stole his gun, and shot at least ten other people before being killed by security. In the aftermath, police killed an Eritrean refugee, wrongly believing he was a second gunman, leading to headlines like this from the Daily Beast:
Government minister Yuval Steinitz blamed PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas for the violence.
“Abu Mazen [Abbas] is the number one instigator in the world against the Jewish people and the state of Israel. In terms of the level of incitement and its intensity, the level of anti-Semitism in this incitement, he is even worse than Arafat,” Steinitz insisted.
2. Israeli boaters pulled 11 Syrian and Iraqi refugees from the water off the coast of Turkey.
“We realized they were Syrian and Iraqi. We gave them water and cellphones so they could contact their families, Asaban recounted. “Afterwards, we told them we were Jews from Israel, and they kissed us and said ‘Thank you,’” he added.
3. Daily Beast reporter looks at how a Palestinian went from upstanding citizen to brutal terrorist. It’s telling that the main explanation of Palestinian disaffection is provided by Haaretz reporter Amira Hass, who has a history of defending Palestinian stone throwers.
4. NPR’s ombudsman responds to HonestReporting readers by acknowledging an error in a broadcast by Emily Harris.
5. The Independent corrects its headline after HonestReporting points out that a Beersheba bus station attack did not take place in Jerusalem.
Israel and the Wave of Terror
• Nathan Thrall of the International Crisis Group gets a New York Times op-ed to claim that only Israeli concessions to the terrorists will end the current wave of violence. Amazingly, he credits Abbas for the relatively low level of violence since the Second Intifada.
It is a deeply regrettable fact that, during the past quarter-century, violence has been the most consistent factor in Israeli territorial withdrawal. That may partly explain why growing numbers of Palestinians support an uprising and demand the resignation of President Mahmoud Abbas, who abhors attacks on Israelis and has presided over nearly a decade of almost total quiet in the West Bank without any gains to show for it.
• CNN remains resolute in presenting both sides equally in its coverage of the violence. Trouble is, both sides aren’t equal and the result is moral equivalence.
• LA Times has provided some of the most ambiguous headlines during the wave of terror. Here’s another one that could go in any direction:
Actually, it would be more accurate to say Palestinian opens fire.
• In an article about the Beersheba shooting, the Washington Post questions Israel’s self-defense measures using casualty figures to suggest Israel is guilty of excessive force:
Since the start of October, eight Israelis have been killed by Palestinians in nearly 30 attacks. At least 18 of the assailants were shot and killed on the spot by police, soldiers or security guards, drawing harsh criticism, especially from Palestinians, that Israel is using excessive force instead of apprehending suspects.
Actually, if the Palestinians have launched 30 attacks against Israelis and given the brutal nature of the attacks themselves, aren’t they the ones using excessive force?
• Israel is setting up major partitions across the Arab sections of Jerusalem to keep the terrorists from harming Jews. But according to AP sources, the division may herald a shift in outlook:
“The great patriots … who don’t go to bed at night before praying for a unified, undivided, greater Jerusalem, are now proposing to dissect it, divide it and return it back 48 years in time,” commentator Nehemiah Strassler wrote in the Israeli daily Haaretz.
• Former BBC chief slams the network’s coverage of the Palestinian wave of violence. Some reports, he wrote, were “inexcusable.”
• Thousands rally for Israel in European cities.
Commentary/Analysis
• What’s the difference between an undercover agent and a provocateur? Some answers that seem to have eluded Reuters.
• Palestinian commentator calls for new Palestinian leadership that can see beyond the current conflict towards a better future for its people.
All kinds of weapons and means of killing, burning, shooting, stabbing and destruction have been used. But it has not occurred to us for a moment to use the tools of building and construction.
Should our leaders not apologise for our dead children, our lost youth and our bereaved mothers? Should they not say out loud: “We failed. We must examine our consciences”?
• Dore Gold, director-general of the Foreign Ministry, points to the burning of Joseph’s Tomb as the consequence of leaving holy places under the control of the Palestinians. “Only Israel can protect the sites holy for all religions in Jerusalem.”
Here’s what else I’m reading today…
• Laurence Seeff: Wake up before the libel is entrenched
• Tzipy Hotovely: Abbas: ‘We Welcome Every Drop of Blood Spilled in Jerusalem’
For more, see yesterday’s Israel Daily News Stream and join the IDNS on Facebook.
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