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. A UN school in Gaza is named after a Hamas terrorist and bomb-maker. Details at Malam (pdf).
Adnan al-Ghoul, for whom the school is named, was one of the senior operatives in Hamas’ military-terrorist apparatus. He specialized in explosives and among other attacks was behind the 1995 terrorist attack at the Beit Lid junction in central Israel, and the 1996 bombing at Dizengoff Center in the heart of Tel Aviv, together responsible for the deaths of 32 Israelis. Naming an educational institution for Adnan al-Ghoul is part of Hamas’ policy of glorifying terrorists and turning them into role models for the younger generation.
In 2004, the aptly-named Ghoul met his end in an Israeli targeted assassination assisted martyrdom operation.
2. The International Olympic Committee held a “spontaneous” tribute to the 11 Israeli athletes killed in Munich. Spontaneous? AP says the improptu ceremony took place at the end of a tour of the Olympic village. And a well-articulated Washington Post staff-ed points out that Rogge’s gesture was only attended by 100 people:
The Munich massacre was not just an Israeli tragedy; it was an Olympic tragedy and a world tragedy. Forty years after the awful event, the fallen athletes deserve to be remembered at Friday’s opening ceremony, in front of 80,000 spectators and an estimated 4 billion TV viewers worldwide. Mr. Rogge’s priorities do no credit to the Olympic movement.
3. HonestReporting’s Yarden Frankl met with Tel Aviv’s mayor, Ron Huldai. Hizzoner wanted to get off his chest a message for the Big Media — especially in the UK: Tel Aviv’s Cool — But It’s Not the Capital of Israel.
After the interview, the mayor’s office filmed and posted this video independently of HonestReporting. Watch this space for Yarden’s full interview.
While we’re talking about Jerusalem’s status, HonestReporting readers received a disgusting reply from the BBC about its Olympic web site’s woeful handling of Israel’s capital. Give the Beeb a gold medal for marathon heel-digging.
Israel/Olympic Angles
• Former Spanish Prime Minister, Jose Maria Aznar, vociferously opposes marginalizing Israel in the larger global fight against terror. In a brilliant Times of London op-ed (paywall), Aznar concludes:
Isolation not only renders Israel weaker against its enemies, but also makes all Westerners weaker. And the practitioners of terrorism know all too well how to exploit our differences.
Remembering Munich 40 years on should be a useful reminder of our successes and failures. It should help us to enhance our collective abilities to fight terrorism. Israel is key in this fight. Israel is a part of the West. Israel is not the problem; it is part of the solution. We will become the problem if we continue to cold-shoulder Israel, the country most affected by terrorism and, possibly, the one that knows best how to defeat it.
• An Iranian Olympic official told AP that its athletes will compete against Israelis and even respect a minute of silence if one is held. But with Algerian athletes boycotting matches against Israelis, Israel’s Olympic chief, Zvi Warshaviak, is skeptical. The Times of Israel writes:
“Not all the countries will agree to face Israelis,” he said. “They’ll bring a doctor’s note.”
• Remember Israel’s fallen athletes and share this image.
