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. Al Jazeera dumped investigative reporter Ken Silverstein because he didn’t toe the network’s line on the Arafat/polonium story. More on the story at the Washington Free Beacon.
2. The British government warned investors against doing business with Israeli settlements. After describing settlements as “illegal” and “an obstacle to peace,” The UK Trade and Investments website warned businessmen to steer clear. Haaretz quoted Israel’s reaction:
“We told them that we are currently holding talks with the Palestinians and thus issuing such a recommendation at this time will only do harm,” said a senior Foreign Ministry official. “There’s also something strange about the fact that no similar recommendations were issued regarding other regions in dispute, like the western Sahara, which is under Moroccan occupation, or Tibet.”
3. If Israel averaged two executions a day, it would be a pariah state. But we’re talking about Iran, a state we’d like to believe is moderate and can be responsible with nuclear toys. UPI writes:
According to figures compiled from Iranian media reports, some 190 executions were carried out during the first half of 2013 when Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was in power. However, the number of executions only since June when Rouhani replaced Ahmadinejad has reached more than 370.
No U.N. Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in Iran has been allowed access to the country for seven years . . .
Mourning Mandela
• When it comes to Nelson Mandela’s legacy, the Palestinians are rather selective in the values they’r acclaiming. The Christian Science Monitor doesn’t go so far as to call the Palestinians hypocritical for embracing Mandela as a fighter rather than as a peacemaker, but you might come to that conclusion on your own:
But much of Palestinians’ praise is for how Mandela pushed back against an apartheid regime, rather than on how he embraced the language, literature, and leaders of that regime in a search for national reconciliation.
So while they champion him, few Palestinians see Mandela’s model of leadership as providing useful lessons for their own struggle . . . .
But all seem to agree: This is not the time or the place for Mandela-like gestures toward Israel.
• Tweet of the Day from the funeral:
How journalism works: @guardian – “Huge boos as Mugabe’s name read out.” Meanwhile, @BBCJonSopel – “Huge cheers as Mugabe’s name read out.”
— Christian May (@ChristianJMay) December 10, 2013
• Following the P.R. beating Bibi’s taking for not attending the Mandela funeral, Israel HaYom asks if Israel will now finally get its own Air Force One. But Bloomberg News notes that even the famous Air Force One has its limitations:
For the Rabin funeral, Rosenthal recalled how the Clinton team assembled a delegation of more than 100 people spread over Air Force One and two additional aircraft. Space was so tight people were told they couldn’t bring their spouses, he said.
- Why is the PLO pushing NBC to drop a drama to be filmed in Jerusalem?
- A pro-Palestinian litmus test for people applying to work in a UN agency?
- Was a Spanish paper right to cover up the kidnapping of two of its reporters in Syria?
