Today’s Top Stories
1. Why isn’t the UNRWA investigating how rockets turned up in its schools?
2. An Israeli security officer was arrested for the death of a Palestinian teen during Nakba day rioting in Beituniya in May. The cop could be charged with murder. According to Haaretz:
A breakthrough occurred after the Palestinians provided a bullet found in Nuwara’s backpack. The bullet prompted investigators to inspect the weapon of one of the policemen, leading to his arrest on suspicion that he had fired live bullets and had lied about his role in the shooting.
3. Israel Forbes ranked Hamas as the world’s second richest terror group, behind only ISIS. The original article‘s in Hebrew, but i24 News picked up on this.
Hamas reportedly gets $1 billion annually from taxing goods that come in to the Gaza Strip, which it has controlled since 2007, and from charitable contributions by organizations and individuals abroad. Various reports indicate that over the years it has also been taking a cut from the funding provided by Western and Arab governments to help Gaza’s impoverished 1.8 million Palestinians. A 2010 assessment by Israel’s Shin Bet security agency put the organization’s expenditures on salaries and weaponry at some $300 million.
Despite a downturn in its fortunes – with Iran and Egypt cutting off aid in recent years, it has money-bearing investments. i24news analyst Ali Waked says the organization reaps revenues from investments in tourism and entertainment businesses in Turkey, South America and elsewhere.
4. Is the PLO Dictating Reuters Content? How does Reuters refer to the Temple Mount, and why does it matter?
5. Who is Killing Israelis? Knives, Cars, or Terrorists? CNN and other media don’t report that Palestinian terrorists are killing Israelis. Only that Israelis are victims of “knife attacks” and “car attacks.”
Israel and the Palestinians
• Tensions continue rising. Palestinians blame settlers for a mosque fire near Ramallah, while an ancient synagogue was firebombed in Shfaram. YNet coverage.
• The New York Times look at the leaderless nature of Palestinian attacks raises some important points:
The violence, rarely condemned, is at least tacitly condoned by Palestinian leaders and is encouraged by cultural memes like a song called “Run Over the Settler” that has circulated along with similarly themed cartoons on social media in recent days.
But without clear evidence of coordination by Fatah or Hamas, the rival political factions that dominate the West Bank and Gaza Strip, Israel has no straightforward way to curb the attacks or hold the authorities accountable . . . .
Palestinians said there also seemed to be no effort to harness the actions toward a specific goal. “We don’t have that basic infrastructure” of previous uprisings, said Mr. Qawasmeh, the Hebron activist. “That’s what’s the scary thing; it’s unpredictable.”
• Thumbs up to NPR‘s Emily Harris for getting a sense of what the Temple Mount means to Israelis.
• Once inside Israel’s hospitals, the “terrorist” becomes the “patient.”
• The incitement continues: Song urges Palestinians to run over Israelis.
• Times of Israel: One of the original founders of Hamas, Sheikh Mohammed Taha, died in Gaza — apparently of heart complications.
• Israel activists in France are mark down November 28 on their calendars. That’s the date scheduled for the French National Assembly to vote on recognizing Palestine. It’s symbolic vote.
Commentary/Analysis
• SANA, the official news agency of the Syrian government, recently launched a Hebrew language site. I liked Diana Moukalled‘s take.
The new foreign-language service comes as part of Assad’s delusional contention that he and his regime are part of the international War on Terror—and the need to publicize and spread this view as widely as possible.
• Rebuild Gaza? Remove its rockets first
• For more commentary/analysis, see Michael Saenger (Walls in Berlin and the West Bank), Greg Botelho (No 3rd intifada yet — but no signs of hope either), Emmanuel Navon (The emerging hegemony of Iran), Roger Boyes (Obama must resist an unholy alliance with Iran),
Rest O’ the Roundup
• AP: US-led airstrikes in Syria have killed at least 860 people — mostly ISIS goons.
At least 50 civilians, including eight children and five women, also have been killed in the airstrikes, the group said.
Image: CC BY flickr/Pedro Ribeiro Simões; origami money gun CC BY-NC-ND flickr/Dominik Meissner
For more, see yesterday’s Israel Daily News Stream and join the IDNS on Facebook.
