BESA CENTER
The False “Nakba” Narrative
by Col (Res.) Dr. Raphael G. Bouchnik-Chen
April 16, 2019
The term “Nakba,” originally coined to describe the magnitude of the self-inflicted Palestinian and Arab defeat in the 1948 war, has become in recent decades a synonym for Palestinian victimhood, with failed aggressors transformed into hapless victims and vice versa. Israel should do its utmost to uproot this false image by exposing its patently false historical basis…READ MORE
THE MEDIA LINE
Pakistan arrests ‘last terrorist at large’ in Daniel Pearl killing
by Arshad Mehmood and Felice Friedson
April 21, 2019
Counterterrorism officials in Islamabad have confirmed that the remaining terrorist sought in the 2002 murder of American journalist Daniel Pearl has been taken into custody. Azim Jan, a commander of the TTP, the Tehreek e Taliban Pakistan, an off-shoot of al-Qaeda, was apprehended on Friday in a joint operation headed by Pakistan Security Forces…Daniel Pearl was the South Asian bureau chief of The Wall Street Journal when he was kidnapped and beheaded by a self-proclaimed Islamist group in the southern city of Karachi in 2002. READ MORE
ALGEMEINER Judea Pearl Renounces NYU Distinguished Alumnus Status as School Prepares to Award Students for Justice in Palestine Turing Award winner Judea Pearl has renounced his status as a distinguished alumnus of New York University, following the school’s decision to award its Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) chapter — which orchestrated an ongoing boycott of Zionist student clubs — for “extraordinary and positive impact on the University community.”
JEWISH CHRONICLE
Why Auschwitz is not the only reason for Jews to visit my country
by Arkady Rzegocki
April 19, 2019
…It is difficult to imagine modern-day Poland without Jewish heritage, which is why when visiting Auschwitz and learning about the camp’s tragic history, it is worth seeing other Polish places which reflect it. The Polin Museum of the History of Polish Jews in Warsaw is perhaps the next best known Jewish landmark in Poland. Built on the site of the former Warsaw ghetto, it celebrates the thousand-year history of Poland’s Jewish community and is a place where you can learn about past and present Jewish culture, confront stereotypes, and consider perils from today’s world —such as xenophobia and nationalistic prejudices. READ MORE
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Israeli election may have dimmed hopes for 2-state solution
by Josef Federman
April 21, 2019
Is the two-state solution for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict dead? After Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu coasted to another victory in this month’s Israeli election, it sure seems that way. On the campaign trail, Netanyahu ruled out Palestinian statehood and for the first time, pledged to begin annexing Jewish settlements in the West Bank. His expected coalition partners, a collection of religious and nationalist parties, also reject Palestinian independence. READ MORE
GEEK WIRE
Beresheet bummer: Investigation of Israeli lunar lander’s crash points to human factor
by Alan Boyle
April 17, 2019
A manually entered command apparently set off a chain reaction of events that led to last week’s crash of an Israeli-built lunar lander during its attempt to touch down on the moon, the mission’s managers said today. Preliminary results of an investigation into the crash indicate that the manual command was entered into the spacecraft’s computer, which caused the main engine to switch off and stay off during the Beresheet lander’s descent. The Jerusalem Post reported that problems started with a malfunction in an inertial measurement unit that kept track of the spacecraft’s orientation and motion. READ MORE
ARUTZ SHEVA
Moscow yeshiva set on fire during Passover Seder
by Elad Benari
April 19, 2019
An arson fire was set at the largest yeshiva in Russia as during a Passover Seder on Friday, Jewish officials said, according to The Associated Press. No one was reported injured in the fire at the Torat Chaim school in an eastern Moscow suburb. Olga Esaulova, a spokeswoman for Moscow’s chief rabbi, was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying the fire was set in a storage area for kosher meat and that swastikas were drawn at the yeshiva’s entrance. There were about 60 students, rabbis and guests in the building at the time, the RIA-Novosti news agency reported. READ MORE
TIMES OF ISRAEL
French envoy to US: Trump plan ‘very close to what Israel wants, 99% doomed’
by Staff
April 20, 2019
France’s outgoing ambassador to the US, Gérard Araud, said US President Donald Trump is uniquely able to “push” Israel on his upcoming peace plan because he is extremely popular among Israelis and they “trust him.” In an interview with The Atlantic magazine published on Friday, Araud said the White House plan, engineered by Trump’s son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner, will be “very close to what the Israelis want,” and is 99 percent “doomed to fail.”…Araud told the magazine that the White House was counting on three factors when it comes to the peace plan. The first is Trump’s popularity in Israel. READ MORE
