Today’s Top Stories
1. A victim of a Palestinian terror attack aboard a Jerusalem bus two weeks ago succumbed to his injuries after being shot in the head and stabbed. Richard Lakin, a 76-year-old American-Israeli will be laid to rest tomorrow in Beit Shemesh. The former school principal from Connecticut is survived by his wife and two children, who wrote a heartfelt Facebook post today.
2. 20,000 Israelis filed a class action lawsuit against Facebook in New York for looking away from Palestinian incitement on the social media platform.
The suit alleges that Facebook has a “legal and moral obligation” to block much of this content but that it chooses not to.
The plaintiffs are seeking an injunction against Facebook requiring the social network to “immediately remove all pages, groups and posts containing incitement to murder Jews; to actively monitor its website for such incitement that all incitement is immediately removed prior to being disseminated to masses of terrorists and would-be terrorists; and to cease serving as matchmaker between terrorists, terrorist organizations, and those who incite others to commit terrorism.”
The complaint does not seek monetary damages against Facebook.
3. You have to be disturbed at the the idea of Islamic State cells operating in Palestinian refugee camps. The Lebanese army recently captured a ranking IS leader in the Ain el-Hilweh camp.
4. Israel “Lovers” Promote BDS in the Washington Post: Professors Steven Levitsky and Glen Weyl claim to love Israel and Zionism, yet promote maximalist BDS views.
5. More Temple Mount Confusion at The Independent: The holy site is of particular importance only “to Palestinians and Muslims alike?”
6. Expert Urges Israeli Government to Fight the Media War: In an exclusive interview with HonestReporting, Manfred Gerstenfeld addresses the media’s demonization of Israel and argues for a counter-propaganda agency.
Israel and the Intifada
• I suspect the reason Mahmoud Abbas told EU officials he fears a deterioration amid the wave of terror attack is because he holds little influence or legitimacy with the new generation of Palestinians or even Fatah’s Tanzim militia. In an unusual development, reporters were not allowed to ask questions to Abbas and EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini after the two issued brief statements.
• There’s an upstart Palestinian news service relying on Palestinian citizen journalists to cover the unfolding intifada. The Christian Science Monitor‘s Josh Mitnick introduces us to the Quds News Network and its senior editor, 25-year-old Ahmed Yousef.
Enhancing the popularity of Quds News is its image of independence from the feud between the Islamist Hamas and secular Fatah party of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. It has also filled a void in coverage left by larger Arab satellite news services who remain focused on dominant regional stories like the Syrian civil war . . .
Indeed, for Yousef, it seems the ultimate mission of Quds News is not about business or journalism but to promote the Palestinian fight against Israel. Though he doesn’t say where the wave of stabbings and rock throwing is leading the Palestinians, for Yousef “resistance” seems to be a value in itself.
• I’m not aware of any changes in the status quo of the Temple Mount made in 2000. I don’t know where AFP get this idea from:
Palestinians want the status quo to revert to what it was in 2000, when Jordan controlled access and not Israel, which often imposes restrictions.
In the years following the Oslo accords and the Israel-Jordan peace treaty, there was power struggle between Yasser Arafat, Hamas, and Jordan (among others) for influence over the Waqf and the Temple Mount. But the overall arrangement — Waqf administration, Israeli security, Jews visiting but not praying — goes straight back to 1967. More on the status quo’s history at the JCPA.
• Islamic Movement leader Raed Salah’s appeal rejected, to serve 11 month sentence.
• Harry Potter author JK Rowling elaborated on why she opposes a cultural boycott of Israel.
If any effects are felt from the proposed boycott, it will be by ordinary Israelis, many of whom did not vote for Mr Netanyahu. Those Israelis will be right to ask why cultural boycotts are not also being proposed against – to take random examples – North Korea and Zimbabwe, whose leaders are not generally considered paragons by the international community . . .
At a time when the stigmatisation of religions and ethnicities seems to be on the rise, I believe strongly that cultural dialogue and collaboration is more important than ever before and that cultural boycotts are divisive, discriminatory and counter-productive.
• 343 UK scholars pledge boycott of Israeli universities
• Muslim family hangs Israeli flag in Florida surfside store in support of terror victims.
Commentary/Analysis
• There was quite blowback against Professors Steven Levitsky and Glen Weyl, the two “life-long Zionists who chose to boycott Israel.” See reactions from David Bernstein, Ben-Dror Yemini, and William Jacobson.
• The recent letter published in The Guardian rejecting a cultural boycott of Israel provoked a furious reaction in the paper’s letters section today — with 12 out of the 13 letters published slamming JK Rowling and others.
• Australian columnist Rowan Dean is fed up with the Aussie ABC News’ coverage of the latest Palestinian violence. Check out his Courier Mail column (click via Google News).
Evil occurs when good men do nothing. Or when good people obfuscate the true reasons behind those evil deeds. Sickening.
• Here’s what else I’m reading today . . .
– Nidal al-Mughrabi: Hamas looks to leverage wave of anti-Israel violence
– Michael Rubin: Time for a Palestinian referendum?
– Zalman Shoval: Different name, same goal
– Bret Stephens: Iran’s indecent proposal (click via Google News)
Featured image: CC BY-NC flickr/Herr Olsen with additions by HonestReporting; Rowling CC BY-NC flickr/¿Es realmente necesario? Todos tenemos uno;
For more, see yesterday’s Israel Daily News Stream and join the IDNS on Facebook.
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