Boston Terror
• The US (once again) called on Richard Falk to resign his position at the UN Human Rights Council after the rapporteur (once again) blamed terror in the US on American support for Israel. But the US is getting no sympathy from UN, prompting the Wall St. Journal to ask (via Google News), What the Falk?
Urged by U.N. Watch and others to condemn Mr. Falk’s vicious, anti-Semitic take on the Boston terror attacks, Mr. Ban shirked: “Richard Falk is an independent expert,” U.N. spokesman Farhan Haq said in a statement today. “The Secretary-General did not appoint him and is not responsible for his views, which he has criticized in the past. Mr. Falk reports to the Human Rights Council, which is comprised of different member states.”
Are there no adults left at Turtle Bay?
Anne Bayefsky also responds to Falk.
• Israel’s top cop, Yochanan Danino, is in the US right now. The Wall St. Journal notes three pieces of advice he’s offering his American counterparts. Spoiler alert:
First, he said, make the homegrown or lone-wolf terrorist threat a high priority in counter terrorism strategies . . . .
Second, he said, bolster surveillance technology, especially advanced camera systems like the one used by the New York Police Department . . . .
Third, he said, step up public education and awareness. In Israel, he said, the public is highly sensitized to activities that might reveal a bombing in the works, and they are quick to alert the authorities.
[sc:midsignup]Rest O’ the Roundup
• The Christian Science Monitor, a Washington Post staff-ed, and Haaretz all wonder why the US is reluctant to back Israel’s claim of Syrian chemical weapon use. The latter writes:
It seems that, once again, the Americans are reluctant to make an unequivocal determination out of fear that this would force them into taking action in the field, which they are not eager to do.
But the Daily Telegraph takes a closer look at the Syria doctor’s Facebook video proof that Assad used chemicals in Aleppo.
• Using chemical weapons also violates Assad’s promise to Russia. David Ignatius calls on Moscow to drop Assad. See also LA Times followup.
• EU anti-terror chief to BBC: Hundreds of Europeans are fighting with Syrian rebels. Why should you be concerned?
“Not all of them are radical when they leave, but most likely many of them will be radicalised there, will be trained,” Mr de Kerchove told the BBC.
“And as we’ve seen this might lead to a serious threat when they get back.”
• This LA Times conversation with Elie Wiesel about the Holocaust, Arab Spring, free speech, and more, is worth reading.
• YNet: Israeli jailed in Egypt goes on hunger strike. Ouda Tarabin, of Rahat, has been imprisoned since 2000. Egypt says Tarabin was a spy.
• Cyprus-Israeli exercise wraps up off coast
For more, see yesterday’s Israel Daily News Stream.
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