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. UK National Union of Journalists To Support BDS? You can’t call yourself an objective journalist if you support a boycott of the country you cover.
2. If you’re a Secretary of State laying the groundwork for a Mideast peace plan, at some point, you have to release it to the public in a carefully controlled way. Looks like the NY Times columnist Tom Friedman fits the bill:
The “Kerry Plan,” likely to be unveiled soon, is expected to call for an end to the conflict and all claims, following a phased Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank (based on the 1967 lines), with unprecedented security arrangements in the strategic Jordan Valley. The Israeli withdrawal will not include certain settlement blocs, but Israel will compensate the Palestinians for them with Israeli territory. It will call for the Palestinians to have a capital in Arab East Jerusalem and for Palestinians to recognize Israel as the nation state of the Jewish people. It will not include any right of return for Palestinian refugees into Israel proper.
3. 
SodaStream wins boycott case in France
The court’s verdict ruled that the “origin of the product,” in this case an Israeli settlement, does not justify the call to boycott.
The group calling for the boycott, the Association France Palestine Solidarité, was told to cease and desist its activities against SodaStream and take down its digital media equating SodaStream with fraud.
4. The Economist Finally Apologizes for Anti-Semitic Cartoon: Editor admits cartoon was wrong, but ignores readers’ petition.
5. Sky News: Spot the “Error”: Battir’s not a West Bank settlement in the sense of a Sky News gaffe.
Israel and the Palestinians
• Palestinian terrorist killed after opening fire on soldiers. More at the Times of Israel.
• Reuters: Abbas proposes three-year Israeli pullout from the West Bank.
• For the first time, the Israeli government will discuss the BDS threat. Haaretz explains why the government’s increasingly concerned:
The senior Israeli official said the boycott movement has two distinct strains. One involves sanctions by Western governments, especially in the European Union, which target the settlements specifically. The other involves sanctions by Western companies, which also target companies within the Green Line that maintain commercial ties with the settlements.
The escalation in sanctions initiatives by Western companies stems from both increased pressure by pro-Palestinian organizations and the fact that more and more governments, especially in Europe, are encouraging the private sector to refrain from business ties with companies or groups linked to the settlements.
• The Houston Rockets recently celebrated “Israel Night,” and a Houston Chronicle staff-ed drew the appropriate conclusions. (Houston’s Israeli player, Omri Casspi had a great night too.)
Rest O’ the Roundup
• David Petraeus: Terrorists With Missiles Could Down Global Air Traffic.
• AFP describes a desperate situation as 20,000 Palestinian refugees in Syria’s Yarmouk camp face starvation.
• With around 350 dead and 1,000 injured, is Hezbollah about to withdraw from Syria?
(Image of Johansson via YouTube/Beyond Super Bowl)
For more, see yesterday’s Israel Daily News Stream.
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