Everything you need to know about today’s coverage of Israel and the Mideast.
Red Cross hospitality for Hamas fugitives in eastern Jerusalem, an editor tearfully apologizes for suggesting the Mossad kill President Obama, and “pinkwashing” attracts AP’s attention.
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Israel and the Palestinians
• The NY Times describes Red Cross hospitality for Hamas fugitives in eastern Jerusalem:
Cecilia Goin, a spokeswoman for the International Committee of the Red Cross, said by telephone that the organization had informed the three from the start that they could stay on the premises, but that the Red Cross did not enjoy diplomatic immunity and could not prevent the Israeli authorities from arresting them. The organization had also informed the Israeli authorities that the three were on the premises, she said.
The three received relatives and other visitors in the protest tent for much of the day and were given the use of one room inside the Red Cross building where they slept at night.
• Cabinet minister Yuli Edelstein personally guides a busload of journos on a media tour in and around the West Bank community of Itamar. The Media Line joined in.
It was important for the government-sponsored trip to show the media that Palestinians and Jews coexist. At Barkan Industrial Zone near Ariel, the biggest Jewish town in the northern West Bank, Palestinian workers at a plastics factory say they prefer to work with the Israelis because they get paid double than what they would make working for a Palestinian employers.
Arab Spring Winter
• Big media looks at the Arab Spring, one year on. Some angles you might’ve missed:
- Lara Logan: Life is not about dwelling on the bad
- One Year Later: The Failure of the Arab Spring
- Does Africa need an Arab Spring?
• Days after the Arab League extended the mandate of its observer team in Syria for another month, Gulf states are opting out. The BBC sums up the problem:
The BBC’s Jon Leyne Cairo says Tuesday’s announcement from such influential countries is another big blow for the Arab League’s mission.
The GCC’s move is an illustration of how divided the Arab League is over the Syrian crisis, our correspondent says.
Rest O’ the Roundup
• AP takes a closer look at Tel Aviv’s gay tourism. Aron Heller’s dispatch takes note of the NY Times pinkwashing issue, but gives Israeli tolerance a fair hearing.
• Andrew Adler, the editor and publisher of the Atlanta Jewish Times is quitting after the firestorm over his column suggesting that the Mossad kill President Obama. Adler broke down in tears as he apologized on AIB TV.
• A Chicago Tribune staff-ed gives a thumbs up to Europe’s additional sanctions on Iranian oil:
Financial chaos is a risk with strong sanctions. But the greater risk is allowing Iran to waltz into the nuclear club and set off a nuclear arms race in the Middle East.
• Anthrax scare empties out Israeli consulate in Boston, investigators now say it was a hoax.
• YouTube reports that one hour of video is uploaded to the site every second, while exceeding “four billion video views globally, every day.” As you’d expect, YouTube crunched the numbers in video format.
For more, see Monday’s Media Cheat Sheet.
