Hamas Weighs Joining PLO

Today’s Top Stories

*** Breaking news *** Just before this roundup was published, the IDF confirmed that a Palestinian trying to stab a soldier near the settlement of Ofra was shot this afternoon.

1. The Knesset is mulling a bill that would cut off EU support for illegal Palestinian building. The Jerusalem Post explains:

If passed by the Knesset, it would strip diplomats of immunity in activities relating to terror, human trafficking and illegal construction, and would make European Union diplomats legally liable for helping Palestinians build illegally in Area C of the West Bank.

Earlier this year, the Daily Mail reported that the EU had built more than 1,000 structures, roads and other infrastructure without permission — all while claiming diplomatic immunity.

2. Hamas is renewing talk of joining the PLO. But the inherent contradictions are too glaring.

While Abbas has said he is committed to a nonviolent and diplomatic strategy to establish a Palestinian state, Mashaal has made it clear that Hamas will not give up employing violence to force Israel’s hand.

3. For Jewish university students in the UK, the atmosphere of BDS bullying has come to this:

4. Reuters’ Leaky Water Story: Reuters maintains that a Palestinian village is going thirsty. Guess who is to blame?

Israel and the Palestinians

• Fatah’s long-overdue party congress is now scheduled for November 29. According to the Jerusalem Post:

Some 1,300 delegates to the congress will elect Fatah’s two top leadership bodies, the Central Committee and Revolutionary Council . . .

 

However, many analysts see the congress as an opportunity for PA President Mahmoud Abbas to consolidate his authority, isolating competitors in the Fatah leadership.

• Israel’s Transportation Ministry wants to build additional light rail lines connecting Jerusalem to nearby settlements including Maale Adumim. The Palestinians are outraged.

• Copy editors asleep at the wheel? Spell check bugaboos? Every time the word “Jews” is mentioned in this story in The Independent, the word appears in lower case. Headline and article.

• Israeli concert promoter Shuki Weiss denounced Roger Waters on Facebook after the former Pink Floyd frontman’s called on the Chemical Brothers to cancel an upcoming Tel Aviv gig.

• British police are investigating anti-Semitic tweets posted by the ringleader of last week’s violent anti-Israel protest at the University College London.

• ‘Kill a Jew’ spray-painted on wall of South African university building two weeks after kippah-wearing student verbally assaulted on campus.

• FYI, Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly wants to appoint former UN ambassador Ron Prosor as ambassador to Turkey.

Commentary/Analysis

• Long-suffering Cubs fan and Jerusalem Post columnist Gil Hoffman hopes Chicago’s World Series victory inspires peace.

No matter where you are on the political map and the religious spectrum, the Cubs can give you hope that your dreams can be achieved and that you should not give up faith. If the Cubs can win the World Series, any challenge can be overcome – on a personal or national level.

 

Achieving peace in the Middle East and solving Israel’s internal problems is extremely difficult, but nothing is impossible. That may sound pie in the sky coming from “the most optimistic man in Israel.” But I am not among a small group of Cub fans waking up at odd hours around the world anymore.

• The International Business Times gave an op-ed soapbox to Hen Mazzig, the Israeli writer and former IDF humanitarian officer whose appearance at the University College London was violently disrupted last week.

That night strengthened my resolve more than ever. The hateful mob reaffirmed my conviction that anti-Semitism remains alive – in Europe, North American and beyond.

 

In twenty-first century Britain, Jews leaving a room to screams of ‘Shame! Shame! Shame!’ is utterly horrifying.

 

I couldn’t sleep all night – I kept on thinking, how do we fight such hate speech? The answer: with good speech. You fight bigotry and fanaticism by standing tall, even when you’re afraid. We will continue spreading a message of hope – just as Israel does within the darkness of the Middle East.

• Professor Eugene Kontorovich discussed the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign against Israel and the legal efforts at the state level pushing back at BDS with Chicago’s WBEZ radio.

• Worth watching: Former Israeli national security advisor Yaakov Amidror discussed the peace process and Russia’s rising profile in the Mideast with ABC News.

• Here’s what else I’m reading today . . .

– Alona Ferber: Peace in Palestine: Balfor apology is a distraction
– Azriel Genack and Fred Naider: BDS is a blow to academic freedom
– Yaakov Amidror: Lessons of the UNESCO vote
– Elior Levy: The day after Abbas: All possible scenarios
– Dr. Jacques Neriah: Lebanon under Gen. Michel Aoun – A preliminary assessment

Image of EU flag CC BY-NC-ND Giampaolo Squarcina; Cubs screengrab via MLB.com;

For more, see yesterday’s Israel Daily News Stream and join the IDNS on Facebook.

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