Today’s Top Stories
1. Downtown Sydney was shut down as police and a radical Islamic gunman spent the day in a tense standoff. An estimated 15-30 hostages were held in cafe at the Martin Place pedestrian mall. The Sydney Morning Herald, Sydney Daily Telegraph, The Australian and ABC News live-blogged the drama. So did Channel 7, whose news studio is across the street from the Lindt Cafe. Shortly after this roundup was published, police stormed the building after a number of hostages managed to flee the cafe. The number of casualties and the gunman’s fate weren’t clear.
The gunman was identified as a radical Muslim “cleric,” Man Haron Monis, an Iranian refugee who assumed the title “Sheik Haron” and has a criminal history.
Australia’s Jewish institutions were in lockdown.
There’s one teachable moment with a lot of myths and rumors floating around the internet: Thumbs up to the Sydney Morning Herald for separating fact from fiction. You don’t have to be in Sydney to benefit from my 5 Tips For Sorting Through the News and Sharing Responsibly on Social Media.
2. The US is undecided on whether to veto a Security Council resolution if it contains a time frame for Palestinian statehood. According to Reuters, Western diplomats are optimistic:
A senior Western diplomat said the Europeans were aiming for a consensus resolution devising a binding, unspecified, time frame and felt the Americans were now open to that possibility.
“There is a window of opportunity now, there is a willingness from them to consider . . . options at the Security Council,” the diplomat said.
According to Haaretz, the Palestinians will present their draft this week that would create a state along the 1967 borders and give Israel two years to withdraw. See Avi Issacharoff‘s take on the Palestinian maneuverings.
3. The IDF’s raising the stakes for Palestinians grandmas and others transferring money to Hamas. Details at the Jerusalem Post.
4. New York Times Op-Ed: European Moral Equivalence at its Worst: A British diplomat’s op-ed treats Palestinian terror and Israeli countermeasures as morally equivalent.
5. BBC Reporter Tweets Falsehood: Despite footage showing otherwise, BBC reporter insists Israeli medics did nothing for Ziad Abu Ein after he fell ill at a demonstration.
6. Watchdog of the Week: Joyce Klein’s Greeneville News Op-Ed: An alumnus of HonestReporting’s 2010 Mission to Israel got op-ed space in her local paper to comment on Palestinian hatred and incitement.
7. The Economist Lumps Terror Victims and Terrorists Together: Palestinian terrorists are treated as victims of the very acts that they themselves carried out.
Israel and the Palestinians
• Israel busted a terror cell planning to use a medical permit to enter Tel Aviv and carry out a suicide bombing. It wasn’t the group’s only ambition:
The cell members admitted under Shin Bet interrogation to planning to carry out shooting attacks, detonate a mine next to a bus carrying soldiers, and kidnap a soldier as well, according to the internal security agency.
• It is now permitted to mention the word “Israel” at an upcoming Irish Holocaust commemoration.
• I’m sure Arab support for the International Criminal Court will be more forthcoming if the Palestinians manage to get Israel in the docket. More at The Guardian.
• An Egyptian court is mulling labeling Hamas a terror group — it’s armed wing, anyway.
• Sajid Javid, Britain’s Minister of Culture, is notable and quotable: He says there’s no room for boycotts in the UK art scene:
“Because culture is bigger than politics. It should rise above what divides us, not be used to create that division.
“It should be used to build understanding, not incite hatred.”
• Qatar among ‘lowest risk’ in money laundering, terror funding crimes
Commentary/Analysis
• Australian based-writer, Justin Amler, weighs in on terror in Sydney.
In Sydney, many Muslim leaders have united to condemn the actions of the person responsible for today. It is just a shame they did not show such vocal condemnation when some people of their faith chose to launch terror wars against Israel.
Benjamin Netanyahu warned the world in September that the fight against Islamic terrorism is not solely Israel’s. “It’s not just our fight, it’s your fight,” he said. “Israel is fighting a fanaticism today that your countries may be forced to fight tomorrow. “
Well, tomorrow has arrived.
• For more commentary/analysis, see Elliott Abrams (The scholars who ban disagreement), and Ksenia Svetlova (Four years of Arab Spring and nothing’s blooming).
Featured image: CC BY flickr/Jon S; Sydney CC BY-NC-SA flickr/James_W_Thompson, flag CC BY-NC-ND flickr/Steve Jacobsen
For more, see yesterday’s Israel Daily News Stream and join the IDNS on Facebook.
