Today’s Top Stories
1. An Israeli driver was killed near Hebron after Palestinians pelted his car with a barrage of stones. The driver, identified as 50-year-old Avraham Hasano, was run and over killed by an oncoming truck when he exited his car. Depending on whose Kool-Aid you like to drink, throwing stones is either a Palestinian”rite of passage” or a “birthright and duty.”
Later in the day, two Israelis were injured in a suspected car ramming attack — also near Hebron. The driver was shot and killed.
2. MSNBC apologized on air for airing an inaccurate map produced by Israel-bashers.
3. Israel’s working to foil an Arab push to declare that the Western Wall belongs to the Al-Aqsa Mosque. Here’s what the Jerusalem Post says about a draft resolution submitted to UNESCO by Arab members:
At no point does the resolution mention the Jewish historical connection to Jerusalem, which dates back to biblical times. Nor does it reference the Temple Mount or the Western Wall, which was part of the retaining wall King Herod built for the Temple Mount more than 2,000 years ago. It also relies solely on Arabic names for the holy sites on and around the Temple Mount.
4. Bull$h!t on the Pages of the New York Times: Steer clear of Nathan Thrall’s latest droppings.
Israel and the Intifada
• An IDF soldier was injured in Hebron by a Palestinian stabber during a riot. The attacker was shot and killed.
• Compare these developments and judge for yourself:
- Hamas: Palestinians should use firearms in fight against Israel
- Breathing down Abbas’s neck, Fatah leaders want Israeli blood
- Bedouin leaders condemn ‘despicable’ Beersheba attack
• The IDF demolished the home of a Palestinian terrorist who killed one Israeli and injured two others in a car ramming and stabbing attack last year. Details at the Jerusalem Post.
• UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is making a surprise visit to Israel today. He’s due to meet with Prime Minister Netanyahu this evening.
• YNet talked to Marike Veldman, a Dutch-Christian who was injured in last week’s terror attack on a Jerusalem bus.
• Glorifying terror? You betcha. In a dispatch from Bethlehem, USA Today‘s Sheren Khalel introduces readers to Palestinian women handing out sandwiches to protesters, a man selling home-made slingshots, and other faces behind the latest clashes. Could you imagine USA Today writing a similar dispatch from, say, Ferguson or Baltimore?
Muntaser charges less than $5 for each slingshot, and the money just covers the cost. He said if he could afford the material, he would give them away.
A group of young men come into the shop and leave with three of Muntaser’s signature slingshots. He says he worries about the young men but understands why they risk their lives throwing stones.
“To end the occupation (by Israel), we must all fight any way we can,” Muntaser said. “For our young people that is stones. For the rest of us there are other ways.”
How to explain Khalel’s piece? “All my family lives in Issawiya . . .”
• Israeli officials continued speaking out. In separate interviews, NPR talked to Mustafa Barghouti and Mark Regev. The two also went head to head on Sky News, where things degenerated when an evasive Barghouti dodged Regev’s request to condemn Palestinian violence.
• Facebook’s Israeli headquarters was vandalized by a man protesting the social media platform’s refusal to take down pages flagged as offensive or inciting. I liked The Next Web‘s take.
• Foreigners who support boycotting Israel could find themselves barred from entering Israel. A government-sponsored bill is making its way through the Knesset, Haaretz reports.
Around the World
• Ex-BBC chairman Lord Grade attacks corporation over Israel coverage
• Amidst Israel violence, French Jews worried over copycat attackers
• Scandinavian Airlines ends service to Tel Aviv, Ankara, and Moscow, citing “political instability.”
Commentary/Analysis
• Elliott Abrams explains the self-serving common denominator between the incitement coming from Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas:
Why the apparent contradictions? Simple: both the Palestinian Authority and Hamas are saying “NIMBY”, or “not in my backyard.” The PA wants calm where it rules, in the West Bank, and fears that a new intifada could help Hamas. But it sees violence in Israel, and especially in Jerusalem, as potentially helpful politically–and is certainly not going to condemn it. Similarly, Hamas wants more violence everywhere but Gaza, including in the West Bank and Israel, especially Jerusalem . . .
Meanwhile, Hamas and Abbas seek to maintain order where they rule, but promote violence where they do not. NIMBY works in the Middle East, too.
• Worth watching: Charlie Rose interviewed Yonit Levy, the anchorwoman of Israel’s Channel 2 News. Aired this week, the interview was filmed in September, before the Palestinian intifada broke out. Levy discussed Prime Minister Netanyahu, the Iran deal, why Israelis are news junkies, and more.
• Here’s what else I’m reading today . . .
– David Horovitz: Not an uprising against occupation. An uprising against Israel
– Brendan O’Neill: According to the left, Israeli citizens deserve to be murdered
– Lenny Ben-David: International supervision in Jerusalem: A history of failure
– Jonathan Greenblatt: This intifada is in your social media feed
– Jonthan Tobin: Palestinians resent the status quo
– Danny Adeno Abebe: Killed in a war that wasn’t his
– Kanchi Gupta: Will India become a player in the Syrian civil war?
Image: CC BY-SA HonestReporting, flickr/Shironeko Euro
For more, see yesterday’s Israel Daily News Stream and join the IDNS on Facebook.
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