Nov 8: Police demolish Bedouin mosque

The Headlines: Bedouins, Settlements, Terrorists, Iran, and Refugees

> A mosque in the Bedouin city of Rahat, built without a permit, was demolished by the Israeli authorities. The regional police commander is immensely satisfied with the brilliant use of the “element of surprise”, and vows to pursue locals who protested the demolition. Reconstruction of the mosque has already begun (Yedioth). The Bedouins, who are strongly loyal to Israel and, unlike other Israeli Arabs, serve in the military; nonetheless live in deplorable conditions, suffering discrimination and neglect by the authorities. In related news, right-wing extremists in Jerusalem brutally assaulted a Chilean tourist whom they mistook for an Arab (Yedioth).

> The performance hall in the settlement of Ariel is opening [Heb] with a sold out play, amidst calls on performers to boycott shows, in a town built through dispossession and blatant racial discrimination.

> As a result of IDF and Palestinian Authority efforts, there are only a handful of Palestinian terrorists at large in the West Bank, and none in its Northern half.

> So let’s prepare for the next war! Or so at least, Netanyahu suggests to US Vice President Biden. The target this time is not the Palestinians, but Iran.

> Yedioth engages in shameful scaremongering, with a headline that screams about 700 infiltrators to Israel in a week. These “infiltrators” are, by and large, asylum seekers fleeing persecution and genocide in Africa. They mistakenly thought that Israelis might remember a thing or two about desperately banging at closed doors. Astonishingly, while this is going on, Israeli farmers are threatening [Heb] to stop supplies of milk, poultry, eggs, vegetable and fruits, unless they are immediately provided with 4,000 migrant workers. How can the entry of 700 refugees be an existential threat, while 4,000 non-refugees are a necessity? The answer is here.

The Sidelines: A Miniature Unilateral Withdrawal

> Israeli will unilaterally withdraw from the Lebanese part of a village that straddles its border with Lebanon.

> About 200 people, including prominent cultural figures and members of youth movements, demonstrated against the recent tidal wave of racist legislation.

> The IDF opposes the formation of another ultra-orthodox infantry battalion, citing costs and fear of sectarianism within the armed forces. This position is controversial in light of calls on the ultra-orthodox to enlist, as all other Jewish Israelis are required to do (Yedioth).

> An official committee suggests [Heb] a new tax on profits from natural gas extraction, that could yield tens of billions of dollars in revenues for the state.

The Bottom Lines: Jews Only, Just this One Time

> The Supreme Court, in a typical ruling, affirmed the allocation of land to a “Jews only” project in Jaffa, but stated that future allocations of this type will not be allowed.