Today’s Top Stories
1. IDF denies shooting wheelchair-bound Palestinian Ibrahim Abu Thraya. The media quickly echoed the Palestinian claim that the IDF had shot the amputee in the head. Yet the IDF investigation concluded that the protest was highly violent and that IDF forces did not shoot toward Thraya at all. So far Hamas has refused to release details or autopsy reports about Thraya’s death. This reminds me of a 2014 event critiqued by HonestReporting, in which Palestinians accused Israel of killing the elderly Palestinian official Ziad Abu Ein, a claim the media widely echoed without sufficient investigation. It was later revealed that Ein had died at home of a heart attack.
2. Vice President Mike Pence is pushing back his long-planned trip to the Middle East citing the vote on the tax overhaul legislation this week. Some news sources speculate the delay may be partly due to violence in the Middle East in the wake of President Trump’s announcement regarding Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. Indeed, some Palestinians are burning placards and pictures of the Vice President.
3. The United States vetoed a UN Security Council resolution calling on the US to rescind its recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. Prime Minister Netanyahu responded to the news saying, “You lit a candle of truth. Thank you, President Trump. Thank you, [UN Ambassador] Nikki Haley.”
Join the fight for Israel’s fair coverage in the news
4. A CNN video couldn’t sufficiently demonize Israel on the facts. So CNN’s Senior International Correspondent resorted to dramatic emotional language, twisting reality and even hiding facts. Watch our video critique:
Israel and the Palestinians
• Rocket fired from Gaza at Israel falls short, hits home of Hamas spokesman Mushir al-Masri’s brother, who is also a top terror operative himself. Poetic irony aside, will the media simply lump this in with its generic statistics of damage/death caused “by Israel” in Gaza? Meanwhile another rocket damaged a residential home in Israel, a sobering reminder that Israel’s missile defenses are far from perfect.
• The IDF arrested 17 year old Ahed Tamimi for hitting Israeli soldiers, apparently in an attempt to provoke a violent reaction for publicity purposes (she did not succeed). The Tamimi family has a long history of attempting such provocations. Watch the video here:
Around the World
• A major Politico investigative report indicates that the US may have turned a blind eye to Hezbollah drug smuggling into the United States in order to help close the JCPOA (Iran nuclear deal).
• President Trump released his security strategy for the United States. Of particular note is this portion:
Today, the threats from radical jihadist terrorist organizations and the threat from Iran are creating the realization that Israel is not the cause of the region’s problems. States have increasingly found common interests with Israel in confronting common threats.
• Iran on Sunday criticized French President Emmanuel Macron over his tough stance towards Tehran, calling him Donald Trump’s “lapdog.” Iran’s lack of tact aside, it seems that more and more countries are developing serious concerns about Iran’s pursuit of ballistic missiles which could eventually be used to carry nuclear warheads, and which experts say violates the JCPOA (the “Iran Nuclear Deal”).
• The US is still planning a Middle East effort toward peace, after what it calls a “cooling off” period in the wake of Trump’s Jerusalem embassy announcement. Mahmoud Abbas has said he will no longer work with the United States on this matter and has announced he will not meet with Vice President Pence on his upcoming visit. Time will tell if the Palestinian government backs down from this position.
• US Secretary of Defense Mattis says Iran is working to destabilize the Middle East. While this isn’t exactly surprising to anyone who follows news in the region, it is significant to hear such a clear statement from a US Secretary of Defense.
Commentary/Analysis
• Guardian columnist Natalie Nougayrède says that “to fight European antisemitism, we must first face up to it.” At least Nougayrède is making a good start.
• Israel’s Ambassador to the UK Mark Regev says that recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital is good for peace and Britain should do so too.
• Here’s what else I’m reading today . . .
– Does Israel Want Peace? – Dani Dayan
–Trump’s Statement on Jerusalem Does Not Contradict the Arab Peace Initiative – Oded Eran
–Is It Time to Cut Off U.S. Financial Support to Abbas? – Kevin D. Williamson
Featured image: CC BY John Henderson;
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