Everything you need to know about today’s coverage of Israel and the Mideast. Join the Israel Daily News Stream on Facebook.
Today’s Top Stories
1. Is Bushehr the next Fukushima? A NY Times op-ed cites haphazard planning, ongoing technical problems, the reactor’s presence along an active fault line, and questions the regime’s ability to respond to a nuclear disaster.
A Chernobyl-type nuclear meltdown in Bushehr would not only inflict severe damage in southern Iran, but also in the six oil and gas-rich Gulf Cooperation Council countries of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Indeed, the capitals of those states are closer to Bushehr than Tehran. Nuclear radiation in the air and water would disrupt the Strait of Hormuz shipping, the world’s most important oil choke point. Oil prices would skyrocket. The world economy would face a hurricane.
2. On Facebook, Fatah incites terror against Israel
3. American free lance journalist James Foley is missing in Syria. He was kidnapped on Thanksgiving. Gawker — which broke ranks on a blackout of Richard Engel’s abduction, knew about Foley’s kidnap and sat on the info. I’m not sold on covering up the news when the person kidnapped happens to be a journalist:
I agreed to the blackout because the case differed substantially from Richard Engel’s disappearance, which we reported on despite NBC’s effort to maintain a blackout. Engel’s disappearance had already been widely reported in Turkish media and on Twitter when we reported it, rendering any “blackout” pointless. But in Foley’s case the blackout was in full effect and I personally didn’t feel comfortable breaking it, especially after speaking with Foley’s mother.
Also missing in Syria is Austin Tice, an America free lance journo.
4. HR’s Most Popular Content of 2012: Looking back on the issues and outrage you responded to.
Israel and the Palestinians
• Times of Israel: Fearing a 3rd intifada, Israel steps up targeted arrests of Hamas members and other suspects in West Bank.
• A UK paper raises a strange question: Who’s a “Pin-Up Zionist”?
• Quote of the Day: Times of London columnist Matthew Parris:
. . . I heard on the radio last week that there are 800 millionaires in Gaza. I speculate — go on, prove me wrong — that proportionately more people drive Mercedes Benz cars in Gaza than in Wales.
• Two years, $400 million, and 140 miles later, Israel’s border fence with Egypt is essentially complete. The final 12 km of fencing — near Eilat — should be finished in three months. LA Times and AFP coverage.
• Things that make me go hmmmm:
- Israeli cabinet minister: Jewish settlements same as Falklands
- Argentinian president: Falklands same as Jewish settlements
