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Friday, November 25, 2022

11/25 Links Pt1: Phillips: The humbug of the West over murdered Israelis; New US Palestinian affairs representative bodes ill for Israel; Kanye West takes white nationalist Nick Fuentes to dinner with Trump

From Ian:

Melanie Phillips: The humbug of the West over murdered Israelis
To Western liberals, the suffering of Israeli victims at the hands of the Palestinian Arabs is all but invisible. So too is the suffering of Palestinians under their own leaders.

Western liberals appear not to see that Palestinian leaders jail, torture and kill their own people. They don’t see Palestinian attacks on Christians or Druze. They don’t see Hamas throwing gays off roofs to their deaths.

Last month, Ahmad Abu Marhia, a gay 25-year-old Palestinian Arab living under asylum in Israel in fear for his life at the hands of his family and residents of his village, was abducted and beheaded in Hebron.

The liberal media was mostly silent. There were no demonstrations on American campuses. U.S. Ambassador to Israel Thomas Nides tweeted his horror at the murder but conspicuously failed to say the victim had fled his Palestinian village for sanctuary in Israel because he was gay.

Western liberals have fixed in their heads the falsehood that Palestinians are the oppressed victims of Israel and therefore can do no wrong. In parallel, these liberals have blanked Israel out of their moral universe, so that Israelis don’t have the same right to exist as Western liberals do themselves.

How can we explain this astounding and shocking mindset?

The history of the Jewish people tells us that when cultures are beset by terrifying forces apparently beyond anyone’s control, Jews are identified as the cause. Pinning the blame on the Jews is how the simple-minded have tried to make sense of incomprehensible threats for generations.

But there’s always a catalyst: The people who actually point the finger at the Jews and incite the mob against them. In the Middle Ages, it was the Church. In the last century, it was Hitler. Today, it’s the Palestinian Arabs.

The common factor is their psychotic demonization of the Jewish people. Yet there is an even more devastating connection.

War was waged against the Nazis to defend the free world, which was duly saved from invasion, enslavement and tyranny. The war was not waged, however, to save the Jews. Indeed, the West shut its eyes to the extermination of the Jews, of which Western leaders were made well aware at the time.

Much of the West regarded Hitler as a monstrous aberration who managed to brainwash the Germans into supporting his psychotic ravings. But in the Middle East, the Palestinian Arabs were Hitler’s legion. They were led by the Mufti of Jerusalem, Haj Amin al-Husseini, who pledged to exterminate every Jew in the Middle East if Hitler won the war.
JPost Editorial: West Bank lawlessness is a threat to Israelis and Palestinians alike
The PA is the recipient of huge largesse internationally. Probably per capita, the West Bank has received more international financial support than any other place in the world over the last decades.

This has included European Union support for Palestinian police institutions and US support for the Palestinian Security Forces.

However, despite almost two decades of all this support for law and order and institutions, basic things like treating a victim of a car accident and not letting a body be kidnapped from a hospital elude their security forces.

This kind of lawless criminal behavior is not an aberration. Recently, Israel and the PA have been forced to take on the gunmen of the rogue Lions’ Den group in Nablus.

This is in addition to the daily raids in the West Bank under Operation Breaking the Wave that the IDF undertakes.

It was one of these raids that led to the death of Shireen Abu Akleh in a gun battle between Israeli forces and Palestinian terrorists – that has resulted in international condemnation of Israel and even an FBI investigation of Israel’s actions.

The lawlessness, therefore, is not just a threat to human life and a violation of basic rights of human dignity, such as being treated in a hospital; it is also responsible for incidents that are of international importance to Israel.

The lawlessness could also represent an emerging threat to Israel and the Palestinians. This is because it appears there is a flood of illegal firearms in the West Bank.

The images of Palestinians killed in recent gun battles with Israeli forces has illustrated that many of the Palestinians have access to an arsenal of M-16s and other types of arms.

The men who use these weapons are now turning them on the PA and seem to be taking over more areas in the West Bank, exerting more influence.

With the leadership of the PA aging and increasingly out of touch with average people, the institutions decaying and lawlessness spreading, it’s imperative for all those who care about peace and stability to focus on reducing the role that lawless gangs, armed men, militants and terrorists are playing in the West Bank.

Israeli authorities coordinate with the Palestinians on a variety of issues, as the return of Ferro exemplifies.

However, both sides, as well as the US, EU and other international players, need to take a realistic assessment of how we can improve the situation.
Ruthie Blum: New US Palestinian affairs representative bodes ill for Israel
The promotion this week of Hady Amr, who’s been serving as US deputy assistant secretary of state for Israeli and Palestinian affairs since President Joe Biden’s inauguration nearly two years ago, is the latest example of Washington’s disastrous Mideast policies. But at least the heretofore non-existent role that was concocted for the Hamas and Muslim Brotherhood sympathizer more accurately describes his true leanings, as well as those of his bosses at Foggy Bottom.

The only thing that this already obvious and therefore unnecessary transparency required – other than an undoubtedly handsome pay hike for the proud author of the Brookings Institution’s 2004 report, “The Need to Communicate: How to Improve US Public Diplomacy with the Islamic World”– was the dropping of “Israeli” and addition of “special representative” to his title.

It’s not a shabby career elevation for the founding director of Brookings’ Doha Center in Qatar, among whose additional works for the dubious think tank include “The Opportunity of the Obama Era: How Civil Society Can Help Bridge Divides between the United States and a Diverse Muslim World.”

NOR DID the timing of the announcement to Congress on Tuesday about Amr’s newfound position seem to cause Secretary of State Antony Blinken the slightest bit of embarrassment, despite virtually coinciding with a vile act of Palestinian aggression in Jenin against Israel’s Druze community. It also preceded by less than 24 hours a double bombing in the Jewish state’s capital, which left 16-year-old Aryeh Shechopek dead and some 20 other innocents wounded.

About the latter, Blinken declared in a statement on Wednesday: “The United States stands resolutely with the people of Israel in the face of the terrorist attacks that occurred this morning in Jerusalem. We express our condolences to the family of the deceased and wish all victims a speedy recovery. We remain in close contact with our Israeli partners and reiterate that our commitment to Israel’s security remains ironclad.”

He failed to mention the previous day’s murder of 18-year-old Tiran Fero from the town of Daliat al-Carmel in the Haifa district. The Israeli-Druze car accident victim was being treated for multiple injuries at the Ibn Sina Hospital in the Palestinian Authority-controlled city of Jenin, the area of the crash, when gun-wielding terrorists stormed into his room, threatened the relatives at his bedside, pulled the plug on his ventilator and snatched him from the premises.
Caroline Glick: The face of the Palestinian war of succession
Rather than kill each other, Palestinian terrorists seek to build their power and influence by murdering Jews. The more Jews the various factions murder, the more powerful they become. This conceptual model explains both the expanded involvement of the P.A. directly in attacks, and the rise overall in attacks. It also explains why Iran has decided to get involved directly in Palestinian attacks. Iran’s regime wants its proxies to replace Abbas, and by getting involved in directing their attacks, Iran increases its chance of taking over. Indeed, the nature of the Palestinian power struggle is tailor-made for the mullahs.

Since all the Palestinian factions share the same enthusiasm for killing Israeli Jews, none of them has an ideological problem with accepting Iranian money or guidance for the operations. If Iran wants to take over the Palestinian theater, now is the time to act. So it is.

These circumstances are rife with strategic implications for Israel’s war planners. But specifically with regards to the Palestinians, they expose the utter futility of the Israeli left’s hopes of disengaging from the Palestinians by among other things, withdrawing from Judea and Samaria along the lines set out by the Oslo peace process and supported by the Biden administration.

Israel cannot stand back and watch the Palestinians kill each other because that is not what they are doing now, and it is unlikely that that is what they will be doing after Abbas dies. Instead, we are likely to see more of what they are doing now, and worse. After Abbas passes away, Palestinian factions, including the P.A., will continue to compete for power and turf by killing Israelis, wherever they are.

Given this reality, the only way for Israel to defend itself in the short and long run is by ending the conceit that the P.A. is a legitimate governing body and carrying out a military operation that will dismantle the P.A. militias along with the rest of the terror groups operating in Judea and Samaria. For a short while, Israel may need to take on functions of civil governance in the Palestinian population centers. But once it asserts its full security control over the areas, will be able to delegate those powers to local leaders.

In light of the Biden administration’s obsessive support for the Palestinian Authority, and its refusal to acknowledge either the P.A.’s central role in cultivating hatred of Israel and Jews as the central organizing principle of Palestinian society, or the true nature of the power struggle already going on among the Palestinian terror groups, such an Israeli move can be expected to provoke an angry response from Washington.

But Wednesday’s attacks in Jerusalem are a clear indication that Israel’s incoming government will have no choice but to order such an operation sooner rather than later. To this end, upon assuming power, the incoming Netanyahu government will have to embark on a two-pronged strategy. It must prepare contingency plans for taking over the Palestinian population centers by force. And to the extent possible, it must prepare the ground diplomatically for the inevitable.


Kanye West takes white nationalist Nick Fuentes to dinner with Trump
Kanye West took alt-right extremist Nicholas Fuentes to dinner with former president Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago, according to details shared by West on Twitter on Friday.

West, now known as Ye, revealed Fuentes's attendance at the dinner by publishing a text chat discussing the meeting that included the two. On Wednesday, a tweet by Right Wing Watch showed footage of West walking through Miami airport accompanied by Nicholas Fuentes, who is described by the Antidefamation League as a white supremacist.

"Trump is really impressed with Nick Fuentes," because he was a loyalist, West said in a video of him and right-wing activist Milo Yiannopoulos published on Friday.

West was critical of Trump for not having worked to release rioters arrested and convicted for their involvement in the January 6 Capitol incident. The rapper said that Trump had insulted his ex-wife, Kim Kardashian.

West also explained that Trump would be held to keeping his policies based off of the bible. West asks Trump to be his vice president

The former president was himself upset by West at the dinner.

"I think the thing that Trump was most perturbed about — me asking him to be my Vice President," said West.

Trump reportedly screamed at West, telling him "you're going to lose."

Based on previous tweets in which West said he asked Trump to be his running mate, it had been assumed by many that West would seek to be Trump's vice president, but based on the Friday video, Ye is seeking the reverse. He had published a poll, "What you guys think his response was when I asked him to be my running mate in 2024?"


Public diplomacy challenges await Netanyahu's extreme government
THEN THERE are the people working on the ground to advocate for Israel through various organizations.

Arsen Ostrovsky, CEO of the International Legal Forum, didn’t anticipate a difference with the new government.

“I don’t see any drastic impact with respect to engagement in Israel advocacy,” he said. “Our detractors and enemies don’t have much regard if it’s a left-wing or right-wing government. They object to Israel’s very existence as a Jewish state. Israel has had governments of all political persuasions in the last three decades, and the one constant has been Palestinian terror, rejection, and its [Palestinians’] enablement in the West.”

Ostrovsky pointed out that during the departing government, which included parties from across the political spectrum, there have been BDS campaigns, apartheid allegations and accusations coming from the UN, while the Abraham Accords and unprecedented engagement with the Arab world came when Netanyahu was in office.

“Israel will always have to contend with diplomatic, security and legal challenges. That will not change, irrespective of which kind of government is in power,” he added.

Backlash from Israel's potential government is already felt
However, on college campuses, which have long been a battleground for Israel advocates, the impact of the likely change in government can already be felt, even before the government is sworn in.

Julia Jassey, CEO Jewish on Campus and a University of Chicago senior, said a backlash is “already starting, with the kind of association of Zionism with racism and colonialism being heightened by a government that doesn’t inherently change the fabric of the country or its history, but stands for things that give more fodder to the accusers. It will get worse once the government takes power and actions are taken in that line, but we already see that rhetoric.”

Jassey said that Jewish students in Europe and in the US have had different responses.

Even before the election, the European Union of Jewish Students released a statement saying that “the rise of the far Right and their potential participation in the next Israeli government will further and embolden [antisemitic] statements and will have a direct effect on Jewish students in the Diaspora.” This week, the UK’s Union of Jewish Students voted to approve a statement saying that they “feel compelled to vocally denounce the potential inclusion of far-right ministers within the next government of Israel.... If we as a community call out the far Right in Britain and elsewhere, we must not turn a blind eye to the far Right in Israel.”

In the US, however, Jassey said there is more concern on campuses about being accused of dual loyalty, and feeding into such claims by commenting on Israel’s government.

At the same time, she said, “we advocate for Zionism, and the idea of what Zionism means is always misrepresented. People might think that a show of support for Israel and Zionism is a support for a government that has said racist things about Palestinians and is taking us away from a peaceful future.”

Jassey said she’s heard from Israelis who discouraged her from speaking out, because she is in the Diaspora, though she has many relatives in Israel.

“On the flip side, they don’t know what it’s like to live in the Diaspora and be held accountable for a government you can’t control,” she said. “As a Jewish person, it does reflect on the community.

“It doesn’t mean we won’t defend the right of Israel to exist and have fair, democratic elections. Like with any other international issue, we will have opinions about it, and standing up for Zionism and a hope for peace does not mean defending this government,” she stated.•


Sportswashing
Three years ago the UAE and Saudi Arabia, along with a few of their allies, were boycotting Qatar over Doha’s alleged ties to financing terrorism, and its friendly relationship with Iran. At that time, the Emiratis and the Saudis suggested that the boycott could potentially be lifted if Qatar forfeited hosting the World Cup this year.

Fast forward to November 2022, and the Saudis and Emiratis are among the biggest contingents of football fans traveling to Qatar for the event. UAE hotels have been expected to hit full capacity during the World Cup, as tourist bookings spill over from Doha.

It turns out that refusing to forfeit hosting the event was likely what broke the back of the boycott.

By January 2021, the Gulf States appeared to have fully comprehended the power of sports to mute political criticism. After all, it muted theirs. Saudi Arabia and the UAE learned first-hand that people’s love of sports generally surpasses their disapproval of dictatorship, corruption, and human rights abuse.

Perhaps more importantly, they learned that the money associated with sporting events, and the financial knock-on effects of hosting them, is an image purifier. The Gulf has realized that credibility is a purchasable commodity; nothing confirms this more than Qatar’s hosting of the World Cup.

Arguably, the UAE was the first of the Gulf States to explore the cleansing properties of sports, with Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the ruler of Dubai, making regular appearances at the English Derby, and establishing himself as British horseracing’s greatest benefactor. Sheikh Mohammed has poured billions of dollars into the sport, which employs nearly 20,000 people in the UK. In doing so, he has bought himself respectability among British elite society, where any discussion of the ruler’s controversies would have been simply impolite and awkward.
US national detained in Dubai for condemning Egypt, faces extradition
US Citizen and former Air Force captain, Sherif Osman, was detained by UAE police for speaking out against the Egyptian government on YouTube from his home in America, where he thought he was protected by his constitutional right to free speech.

Osman, 46, runs a small business in Westfield, Massachusetts, after graduating from the University of Texas at San Antonio in 2019. As a side passion, he has amassed a YouTube following of 35.2k subscribers for his commentary on the Egyptian political situation.

Unbeknownst to Osman, his public criticism of Egyptian president Abdel-Fatah el-Sisi drew the attention of Egypt and the UAE, after he recently backed calls for a peaceful protest against el-Sisi during the November 11th UN climate summit (COP27) meeting in Egypt.

On a November 6 trip to Dubai to introduce his new fiancée to his family, plainclothes police approached him on the street, grabbed him, and rushed him into custody only a day after Egyptian authorities prevented his mother from leaving the country without explanation. Osman faces extradition to Egypt, where Radha Stirling, Founder and CEO of Detained in Dubai, warns they will imprison, torture, and eventually slaughter him for his slander of the government.

"There are currently some 60,000 political prisoners held in Egypt, with hundreds dying in custody every year,” explained Stirling. “Inmates report being kept in filthy, overcrowded cells, being denied life-saving medications, and being subject to torture repeatedly… Even without violent abuse by the police, the conditions of the [Egyptian] jails are themselves life-threatening, which is not even mentioning the inhumane conditions and systematic torture that exists in UAE prisons. Though he is being treated well now, Sherif’s life is in danger in Dubai detention, and if the US allows his extradition, we fear that his fate will be sealed.”
Why Ilhan Omar attending the World Cup is bad news
Antisemitic congresswoman Ilhan Omar is currently attending the World Cup in Qatar with Secretary of State Antony Blinken. This is, of course, an outrage, all the more so because of its wider implications: Blinken and the Biden administration are effectively mainstreaming Omar's antisemitism.

The likely next Speaker of the US House of Representatives, Kevin McCarthy, has stated that he will push for Omar's removal from the House Committee on Foreign Affairs due to her antisemitism. In the past, McCarthy bravely supported and obtained the removal of Iowa Republican congressman Steve King from all committees because of his support for white supremacy.

I personally spoke to McCarthy about this matter on March 31, 2019 when he was the keynote speaker at the National Council of Young Israel dinner. He specifically mentioned his opposition to Omar and his removal of King. However, removing Omar from the Foreign Relations Committee is not sufficient. To make it absolutely clear that antisemitism will not be tolerated in Congress, Omar must be removed from all committees, along with her fellow antisemitic congresswoman Rashida Tlaib.

On March 7, 2019, the House passed Resolution 183 condemning antisemitism. The resolution, which passed 407-23, was initiated in response to antisemitic comments made by Omar and Tlaib. The text of the resolution states that "accusing Jews of being more loyal to Israel or to the Jewish community than to the US constitutes antisemitism."

This was due to Omar's Feb. 27, 2019 claim that supporters of a strong US-Israel relationship "push allegiance to a foreign country." Her comments followed a tweet by Tlaib the previous month, in which she attacked Sen. Marco Rubio's anti-BDS efforts with the accusation, "They forgot what country they represent." Rubio responded, "The 'dual loyalty' canard is a typical antisemitic line."

In 2021, Omar posted a tweet that compared the US and Israel to Hamas and the Taliban. This outrageous claim was not a surprise, because it came after two years of numerous antisemitic tweets and statements by Omar. For example, she called Israel's response to its civilians being attacked by 4,000 Hamas rockets "an act of terrorism." She even lamented that Hamas did not have Israel's Iron Dome missile defense system.
Manhunt continues for Jerusalem bomb attack suspects; police on high alert in city
Police said Friday that bolstered forces would remain deployed in Jerusalem as the manhunt continued for a suspected terror cell that detonated explosive devices at two bus stops in Jerusalem on Wednesday, killing a teenager and wounding more than 20 others.

Police said in a statement that officers from the force, along with the Shin Bet, were looking for “anyone involved” in the terror attack.

Immediately after the deadly bombing, it was ordered that the number of officers across Jerusalem be ramped up, especially in crowded areas.

Police said Friday they aimed to increase the police presence throughout the city to give “a sense of security to all the city’s residents and visitors.”

There was to be a particular emphasis on places of worship, shopping centers and recreation sites that were expected to be busy over the weekend.

Police said that while the public should not panic, they should remain alert and report any suspicious activity or individuals.

Police chief Kobi Shabtai visited the center of Jerusalem, accompanied by local police chief Doron Turgeman.

Shabtai was briefed on the force’s “extensive deployment and increased preparation” for the upcoming weekend, police said.


Beersheba car-ramming suspect to be charged with terrorist act of attempted murder
A man is expected to be charged with terror offenses after he allegedly carried out a car-ramming attack that moderately wounded an 18-year-old in the southern city of Beersheba, a court was told Friday.

Amr Alkirnawi, a 39-year-old resident of Rahat, is expected to be charged with a terrorist act of attempted murder, the Beersheba Magistrate’s Court was told by police during a custody hearing.

The court ordered Alkirnawi’s detention to be extended for seven days.

The suspect is alleged to have driven his vehicle on the sidewalk near the Israeli Air Force Technological College on Thursday, slamming into an 18-year-old, according to surveillance camera footage and eyewitnesses.

Footage showed the driver initially fleeing the scene.

The teen, a student at the college, was taken to Soroka Medical Center in the city in moderate condition.

The driver was arrested some 100 meters away, according to law enforcement officials.
IDF suspends soldiers for beating and taunting left-wing activists in Hebron
The Israel Defense Forces on Friday suspended two soldiers who physically assaulted and taunted left-wing activists in Hebron, the latest in a series of incidents involving the Givati infantry brigade in the flashpoint West Bank city.

In footage shared by Breaking the Silence, a non-governmental organization that collects and publicizes mostly anonymous testimony by former Israeli combat soldiers about alleged human rights violations against Palestinians, one soldier can be seen tackling an activist to the ground and punching him in the face.

The group of activists had traveled to Hebron to meet with local Palestinian families as an act of solidarity after Israelis visiting the city in an annual pilgrimage initiated clashes with them last week.

In the footage, troops were seen attempting to detain the man, who flees, before he was knocked to the ground and punched. Another soldier is heard shouting at the other activists: “Get the fuck out of here.”

The assaulted guide was subsequently interrogated by Israeli police for allegedly assaulting a soldier and preventing him from carrying out his duties, his lawyer told the Ynet news site, adding that his client was still being held, despite his injuries. Two other activists were also detained briefly for unclear reasons, the lawyer said. Footage from the scene did not show an assault on the part of the activists.


Iran blasts ‘useless’ UN rights probe into deadly crackdown on anti-regime protests
Iran’s foreign ministry condemned a United Nations Human Rights Council decision to probe the Islamic Republic’s response to unrest following the death of Mahsa Amini.

Tehran had opposed holding the urgent council session on Thursday as requested by Germany and Iceland.

It “totally rejects” the resolution that was adopted to establish a high-level fact-finding mission, the ministry said in a statement late Thursday.

Iran has seen more than two months of anti-regime protests sparked by the death in custody of 22-year-old Kurdish-Iranian woman Mahsa Amini. She had been arrested for an alleged breach of the country’s strict dress code for women.

Government officials have blamed the “riots” on “foreign enemies” in the West whom they accuse of inciting law-breaking.

The foreign ministry said Iran had already formed a national commission of inquiry involving legal experts and “independent representatives.”

“The formation of any new mechanism to examine the incidents over the past two months in Iran is useless and represents a violation of the country’s national sovereignty,” it said in a statement.
UN Watch: Hillel Neuer Confronts IRI at UN Urgent Session
Testimony delivered by UN Watch Executive Director Hillel Neuer, 35th Special Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council on the deteriorating situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran.


Israel steps up security for current, ex Mossad officials amid Iran threats – report
Israel has stepped up its protection of current and former senior security personnel, particularly when they are overseas, the Kan public broadcaster reported Thursday.

The move came amid increased tensions with Iran, which has repeatedly warned it would seek retaliation against a series of actions reportedly carried out by the Mossad in recent years.

According to the report, a major focus of the increased protective measures is former senior Mossad members currently abroad.

The report did not mention any specific former agent who might be a target.

The Prime Minister’s Office declined to comment on the report.

Recent attempts by Iran to target Israelis abroad have included the attempted killing of an Israeli-Georgian businessman engaged in pro-Israel activity in Eastern Europe and a plot to target Israeli citizens in Istanbul, Turkey.

A shadow war that has been playing out between Iran and Israel for several years appears to have stepped up its pace.

On Thursday, a group of Iranian hackers called Moses Staff published previously unseen footage of a bombing attack in Jerusalem a day earlier came. The footage was said to come from surveillance cameras used by an unidentified major Israeli security organization.


Iran Arrests Footballer Over ‘Anti-State Propaganda’
Iranian security forces on Thursday arrested ex-national football player Voria Ghafouri over accusations that he spread “propaganda” against the Islamic Republic, Fars news agency reported.

He was detained after a training session with his club Foolad Khuzestan on charges of having “tarnished the reputation of the national team and spread propaganda against the state,” the agency said.

Ghafouri, 35, was listed as a member of Iran’s 2018 World Cup squad but was not named in the final lineup playing at this year’s World Cup in Qatar.

Originally from the Kurdish-populated city of Sanandaj in western Iran, Ghafouri had posted a photo of himself on Instagram dressed in traditional Kurdish dress.

Iran has seen more than two months of demonstrations sparked by the death in custody of 22-year-old Kurdish-Iranian Mahsa Amini, after she was arrested for an alleged breach of the country’s strict dress code for women. The protests have swelled into a broad movement against the ruling theocracy.

Ghafouri was formerly the captain of Iran’s leading club Esteghlal before his contract was terminated and he moved to Foolad Khuzestan.


Iranian Football Fans Celebrate Victory With Israeli Journalist on Live TV
Crowds of ecstatic Iranian football fans wildly celebrated their shock 2-0 World Cup victory over Wales with an Israeli journalist on Friday.

The scenes of open adulation, in which Iranians hoisted the journalist with Kan Broadcasting Network, Uri Levy, on their shoulders, are a rarity between citizens of the two countries.

Israelis at the World Cup in Qatar have so far been received coolly. In recent days videos on social media have shown Arab soccer fans from countries such as Lebanon, Tunisia and Algeria shunning Israeli journalists in Qatar trying to interview them. Another Kan journalist Dor Hoffman said earlier this week he had been kicked out of a taxi cab by a driver who accused him of “killing his brothers”

The ecstatic scenes on Friday, however, were anything but.

“It’s the Middle East, it’s impossible to describe what’s going on — you can hate it or love it, but there’s just nothing like what’s happening right now, it’s indescribable,” Levy said.

Dozens of cheering fans then approached Levy putting up the peace sign and putting hats and sunglasses with the Iranian flag on his head. A clip of the broadcast, posted by Kan on Twitter, quickly racked up thousands of views and likes.

“It would be good to keep asking you questions and they’re putting all these hats and things on you,” the Israeli newscaster says. “But we have to continue our broadcast.”




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