Jordanian Christian Activist Assassinated

Jordanian Christian activist Nahed Hattar was shot dead outside a courthouse in Amman Sunday morning, moments before he was to enter the building to attend a hearing in the case being brought against him for charges of “contempt for religion” after he shared a cartoon on Facebook which was characterized by Moslem authorities as “insulting” to Islam. The man who shot Hattar, a 39-year old Muslim preacher, was arrested at the scene.

A large delegation of Israeli medical professionals recently returned from Vietnam, where they had taken part in a series of clinics to provide health care to residents of rural villages. The Israeli Embassy in Hanoi arranged for the delivery of an ultrasound machine and various other humanitarian supplies to the hospital in Kon Tum, a remote region in the central highlands. The Embassy also provided for the renovation of a local school and the digging of two wells, as well as other projects.

UN Human Rights Council investigator Dubravka Simonovic issued a report on her recent visit to the Palestinian Authority administered areas of the West Bank which was harshly critical of the PA’s treatment of women and girls. The report, which also criticized Israel as well as Arab-Israeli and Beduin communal practices which she said was harmful to women, was the first by a UNHRC official in several years.

In yet another repudiation of the effort to Boycott, Divest and Sanction (BDS) Israel, California Gov. Jerry Brown signed legislation Saturday afternoon stating that California will not do business with any company that boycotts Israel or any other sovereign country. “The bill sends the clear and unmistakable message that the state of California wants no part of the goals and tactics of the BDS movement,” said Janna Weinstein Smith, American Jewish Committee’s Los Angeles Regional Director.

The Palestinians should not be too quick to dismiss the invitation extended by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to address Israel’s parliament. The invitation is reminiscent of the one issued by former Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin to former Egyptian President Anwar Sadat to visit Israel – and the rest is history.