Today’s Top Stories
1. The IDF announced it will impose a physical separation of Jews and Palestinians in Gush Etzion after assessing that there will not be a let up in stabbing attacks. This morning in Hebron, a Palestinian stabbed a soldier, cutting him in the face during a violent demonstration. Later in the morning — again in Hebron — a Palestinian tried to stab a soldier. The attackers in both incidents were shot and killed by soldiers.
2. For the first time, Russian jets reportedly struck Islamic State and Nusra Front positions in the Golan this week.
3. Former Iranian president Hashemi Rafsanjani indirectly admitted that Tehran launched a nuclear weapons program during the Iran-Iraq war to counter the possibility of Saddam Hussein acquiring atomic arms too. The Jerusalem Post picked up and elaborated on the significance of a Rafsanjani interview in the Iranian media which was flagged by Memri.
Israel and the Intifada
• Haaretz: Prime Minister Netanyahu is considering establishing a special security court to deal with terrorism. The Justice Ministry opposes the idea.
• Pope Francis: Denying Israel’s right to exist is anti-Semitism.
• Tehran’s influence is spreading in Gaza through a new terror group armed with Iranian goodies like missiles capable of reaching Tel Aviv and long-range sniper rifles. Khaled Abu Toameh introduces us to Al-Sabireen:
Iran’s presence in the Gaza Strip — this time through Al-Sabireen — is bad news not only for Israel, but also for many Palestinians and Arabs in the region. The Egyptians, who have been waging a relentless war on Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and other terrorist groups in the Gaza Strip and Sinai, are already voicing concern over Iran’s new Palestinian proxy. The last thing Abbas, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Sisi and Jordan’s King Abdullah need is another Iranian terror group similar to Hezbollah in the Middle East.
• Palestinians living in Chile are pushing the government to declare Israel’s ambassador to Santiago persona non grata. The Jewish community there accuses the Palestinians of trying to silence their hasbara with threats of physical violence. Jerusalem Post coverage.
• Rather than treating readers to the standard Palestinian funerals, the New York Times attended Richard Lakin’s funeral. Not only does Jodi Rudoren paint a portrait of the Israeli-American terror victim. She also highlighted a lot of small but interesting nuances that make you go hmmmm.
• Worth reading: Time takes a closer look at Palestinian incitement on Facebook and the social media giant’s response to Israeli complaints.
From Israel’s perspective, Facebook is allowing its enemies to radicalize potential terrorists while refusing to let the country assist in enforcing local laws. While Israel’s Shin Bet intelligence service does use Facebook postings to monitor terror threats, according to a source familiar with the intel service, the agency does not have the resources to monitor millions of feeds for offending posts, leaving the job of flagging violent incitement to civilians.
Some also argue Facebook’s dependence on user reporting allows for abuse by those who simply want to silence Israeli voices. “More content is being removed in Hebrew than in Arabic, because anti-Israeli users all over the world complain,” says Shwartz-Altshuler. Facebook says the company only removes content that violates its standards, regardless of how many times it is reported.
Mideast Matters
• Might Israel and Egypt collaborate to export gas to Europe?
• Russia’s reportedly transporting Iranian weapons into Syria in violation of UN embargo
Around the World
• Anti-Semitism among migrants a concern for German Jews.
• French consulate intern fired over anti-Semitic Facebook posts.
• Vandals spray swastikas on set of Israeli film in Poland.
• You know it’s almost Halloween when you see headlines like these:
– Walmart caves to Arab-American Pressure, removes IDF costume from racks
– Berkeley Goodwill Store removes Holocaust-themed costume
Commentary/Analysis
• A member of the European Parliament, Lars Adaktusson, argues in YNet that EU aid to the PA should be conditional on renouncing and ending violence and incitement.
While we are engaged in state-building measures, with funds and expertise, we should condition all the EU funds for the territories on an actual Palestinian renouncement to hate and incitement to violence. Building a Palestinian society who will see cutting people’s throats as abhorrent as it is for any western society is not a pro-Israeli position. It falls into the oft forgotten category: The right thing to do.
• Col. Richard Kemp: The world’s weak response to Hamas using Palestinians as human shields has encouraged Islamic State, the Taliban, and other terror groups, to do the same.
• (Satire) In Quirk, None Of Amnesty Witnesses To Violence Are Jewish
• Here’s what else I’m reading today . . .
– Omer Dostri: A win for Israel on the Temple Mount
– Noam Amir: Why Palestinian attacks have shifted from Jerusalem to West Bank
– Clifford May: Jobless and desperate Palestinians
– David Aaronovitch: Boycotts will only hurt the peacemakers
– David Horovitz: When Obama hosts Netanyahu, it won’t be pleasant, but it might be productive
– Tsilla Hershco: The mufti’s mysterious escape
– Zvi Bar’el: Iran wades further into the Syrian swamp
Featured image: CC BY-NC flickr/Nicolas Alejandro with additions by HonestReporting; Santiago CC BY-NC-ND flickr/alobos Life;
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