Today’s Top Stories
1. According to Arab reports picked up by Ynet and Haaretz, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi managed to get Palestinian Authorithy President Mahmoud Abbas on board with the Israel-Hamas understandings to restore calm to the Strip. UPDATE: After this roundup was published, the PA denied any changes in Abbas’ views on the Egypt’s efforts to broker calm.
Egypt has warned that it will withdraw as mediator and sponsor of the negotiations and will work exclusively with Hamas as sovereign of Gaza if Abbas doesn’t cooperate.
2. Without disclosing the scope or source of the funding, Hamas announced an initiative to A) create 10,000 temporary jobs for university students living in Gaza, B) pay at least 60 percent of the salaries of Hamas’ civil servants, C) provide grants to families with relatives injured in this year’s border clashes and other underprivileged families. Ynet coverage.
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3. Actress and activist Alyssa Milano said she’ll boycott the January’s Women’s March if organizers Linda Sarsour and Tamika Mallory don’t denounce Louis Farrakhan’s antisemitism or step down from their roles. (The Nation of Islam leader most recently compared Jews to termites.) See her original comments to The Advocate along with JTA background.
Many people credit Milano’s October, 2017 tweet with raising the profile of what became known as the #MeToo movement. Journalist Carly Pildis explains the significance of Milano’s stance.
I have been writing about anti-semitism in Women's March leadership for 2 years. This the first time a major feminist figure who isn't Jewish has spoken up and called Women's March leadership behavior towards Jewish Americans unacceptable. Thank you @Alyssa_Milano
— Carly Pildis (@CarlyPildis) November 7, 2018
4. FT Skews Khan al-Ahmar Every Which Way: How many errors can one video possibly contain?
Israel and the Palestinians
• The IDF is searching for suspects after two Israelis were injured in a shooting attack on a bus near Beit El, north of Ramallah on Wednesday night.
• Palestinians claim Egyptian naval forces shot a Gaza fisherman on Wednesday. Israel and Egypt have blockading the Strip since Hamas seized control of the Strip. Cairo is also fighting a jihadist insurgency in the Sinai peninsula. AP coverage.
• Belgium upgraded the diplomatic status of the PLO mission in Brussels.
• Worth reading: Israeli officials let their guard down with Gary Rosenblatt, sharing their thoughts on American Jewish criticism, their views on Trump’s presidency and egalitarian prayer at the Western Wall.
• Police wrapped up their investigation of suspected fraud by people close to Netanyahu during the $2 billion purchase of naval vessels from a German company. According to the Jerusalem Post and Haaretz, the police will recommend indictments against Netanyahu’s former lawyer, David Shimron, former commander of the Israel Navy Eliezer Marom, and others.
Netanyahu himself is not a suspect in what’s known as “the submarine affair.”
Around the World
• Among the noteworthy midterm election results was in Michigan, where Detroit-area voters elected Rashida Tlaib to the House of Representatives. The 42-year-old Tlaib has a law degree, has been involved in Michigan politics for 14 years. She is also the daughter of Palestinian refugees, which means the UNRWA defines Tlaib as a Palestinian refugee too.
• French President Emmanuel Macron is under fire from Jews and others for calling Nazi collaborator Philippe Pétain a ‘great soldier.’
Petain rose to prominence during World War I for leading French forces to victory at the Battle of Verdun. But he became better known as the figurehead leader of Vichy France, which collaborated with Nazi Germany. After World War II, Petain was convicted of treason and stripped of his military rank, spending the rest of his life in prison. Macron’s comments come ahead of next week’s Armistice Day, which this year marks the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I.
• The New York Police Department reports that antisemitic attacks are on the rise even as other crime declines. A hate crime suspect is wanted in Los Angeles for randomly pulling wigs off the heads of Orthodox Jewish women. Dozens of anti-Semitic flyers were found at the University of Rochester. A judge’s son was accused of burning a cross and threatening a North Carolina synagogue. And a Leipzig University poll found that A) nearly 30% of Germans believe Jews use ‘dirty tricks, and B) around 40% of Germans said that Israeli policies contribute to the unsympathetic sentiments toward Jews.
Commentary
• Here’s what else I’m reading today:
– Jonathan Tobin: Don’t expect Democrats to obstruct Trump’s Mideast policies – or punish Netanyahu
– Mitchell Bard: UCLA shamefully condones Students for Justice in Palestine
– Eric Mandel: After Pittsburgh, time to have a conversation about antisemitism today
Featured image: CC BY Bartosz Brzezinski; Sisi via Wikimedia Commons; Brussels CC BY-SA .ky; Petain via Wikimedia Commons;
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