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Today’s Top Stories
1. Nigerian security forces busted an Iranian-backed terror cell targeting Israelis and Americans. The Times of Nigeria had the most detailed coverage.
He confessed that his Iranian sponsors requested that he identifies and gathers intelligence on public places and prominent hotels frequented by Americans and Israelis to facilitate attacks.
He was also to provide specific details of targets including organizations like USAID, Max, Zim International Shipping Company, AA Consulting, Peace Corps and the Jewish Cultural centre [Chabad] in Lagos.
2. Egypt Floods Smuggling Tunnels With Sewage. Imagine the stink if Israel did it? Nah Imagine the Palestinian outrage if Hamas’ forgiving response was applied to the Jewish state:
After the sewage flooding, several Hamas officials instead emphasized Egypt’s right to protect its borders as it chose.
3. NY Daily News reporter Dan Friedman says he was unwitting source of false rumors that Chuck Hagel spoke to a group called “Friends of Hamas.”
In the process, I became part of an inadvertent demonstration of how quickly partisan agendas and the Internet can transform an obvious joke into a Washington talking point used by senators and presidential wannabes . . .
I am, it seems, the creator of the Friends of Hamas myth. Doing my job, I erred in counting on confidentiality and the understanding that my example was farcical — and by assuming no one would print an unchecked rumor.
Fabricating “Friends of Hamas” is something Friedman has to own. Passing the buck back to the source who (purposely? inadvertently?) leaked the fabrication is a bit of a stretch. I liked how James Taranto explained why:
Friedman commits a category error in assuming that his source is obliged to keep his question confidential. The ethical rules governing confidentiality of sources are rules of journalistic ethics, which is to say that they govern the behavior of journalists, not sources.
Israel and the Palestinians
• Boorish bigotry and the suppression of free speech reared its head in Britain. First, the Jewish Chronicle reports that an Israeli diplomat was forced out of a speaking engagement at Essex University. Pro-Palestinian students were so disruptive, security officers evacuated the deputy ambassador.
And then George Galloway stormed out of a debate (watch the video) when he discovered that the student he was up against is an Israeli citizen. The New Statesman describes the walkout’s fallout:
Aslan-Levy later said that it was “pure racism” to refuse to talk to someone based on their nationality. Galloway spent much of yesterday evening defending his decision on Twitter, responding to accusations of xenophobia and racisim.
The Daily Mail, among others, picked up on the Respect MP’s oafish exit.
• Heh: The Jerusalem Post reports that Fatah’s going bonkers over reports that Israel’s indirectly discussing November’s cease fire with Hamas.
Muheissen said that only the PLO was authorized to conduct such negotiations in its capacity as the “sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people.”
Funny that they only feels threatened now that Israel may actually be engaging Hamas. Where was when Fatah when Big Media was saying Hamas is legitimate, moderate, and cannot be ignored?
- Syrian rebels say they’re shelling Hezbollah in Lebanon.
- Iran installs advanced enrichment equipment at nuke site
- Did Syria shoot down an Israeli drone?
