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Media Summary

19/11/2014

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Coverage today is dominated by the terrorist attack on a synagogue yesterday that killed four worshippers and a policeman in the Jerusalem neighbourhood of Har Nof. The story is covered in all papers, including the Times, FT, Telegraph, Independent, Guardian, Evening Standard, Metro, Daily Mail, Express, Sun, Mirror and Star, with some papers devoting multiple pages to the coverage.

Several papers note that all four worshippers were rabbis and that one, Avraham Goldberg, was British. Another, Mosheh Twersky, was the son and grandson of well-known American Rabbis.

The Telegraph and Daily Mail report eyewitnesses at the scene of the attack including first responders. The Guardian describes the scene of the attack and notes that some victims were hacked with knives or axes while others had been shot at close range. The Independent carries a graphic description of the aftermath of the attack from an eyewitness. A number of papers feature graphic photos of blood-soaked victims and body-bags.

Many newspapers focus on the British rabbi, Avraham Goldberg, 68, who was murdered in the attack. The Times and Guardian quotes some of his friends saying he was a “tolerant” man with “no political agenda” while the Telegraph reports that he ‘wanted only peace.  The Sun reports that he was originally from Liverpool and a childhood friend of Paul McCartney.  The Mirror reports on his childhood in Merseyside, while the Star notes that he lived in Golders Green, London before moving to Israel.

The Guardian notes that world leaders including US President Barack Obama, Secretary of State John Kerry, UK Prime Minister David Cameron, Foreign Secretary Phil Hammond and other European leaders condemned the attack.

Former Foreign Office Minister Baroness Warsi’s social media reaction to the killings also attracted media attention. The Express reports that Baroness Warsi’s tweets appeared to equate Israeli visits to the Temple Mount to the synagogue murders. The Daily Mail notes that she was rebuked by Conservative Party Chairman Grant Shapps. A leader in the Telegraph criticises her comments as ‘ill-judged’ and the Sun says she claimed the attack was the result of “Jewish ‘provocation’”. The story was also covered in the Independent and Times.

The Times and Guardian both claim that Jerusalem is on the brink of a “holy war” due to the synagogue attack;  the Daily Mail features an infographic about the Temple Mount compound, while a Times leader urges the maintenance of the religious status quo on the Temple Mount. The Independent’s editorial column calls for leadership from Israeli and Palestinian leaders and a leader in the Mirror calls for peace in the region.

The Guardian notes that the two attackers were cousins from a south-east neighbourhood of Jerusalem. The Independent and Independent i carry a profile of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), the group which claimed that the terrorists as members. The paper notes that the PFLP leadership in Gaza claimed responsibility for the attack, but Israeli security forces don’t believe the two men trained with the PFLP.

A Times analysis notes that the violence on the Palestinian is hard to control because it has no formal leaders. David Blair in the Telegraph reaches a similar conclusion but believes a full-scale popular, uprising known as an Intifada, is unlikely

The BBC noted that some mosques in Gaza called out congratulations to the terrorists.

The restart of Iran nuclear talks in Vienna yesterday is covered by the Times and Guardian, who report remarks by Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif. He claimed that if the talks fail, it will be down to “excessive demands” of the P5+1 countries. A long piece by Iranian author Hooman Majid in the Guardian suggests that a deal is possible and that the Iranian people strongly want one.

The Jerusalem attack is the main story in all Israeli newspapers. Yediot Ahronot calls it a “massacre”. Haaretz notes that in the community of Har Nof there are few calls for revenge and that grief is the overwhelming emotion

Maariv reports “senior security officials” who think that the IDF should be brought into Jerusalem to secure it in addition to the Police and Border Police.

A piece by Ben Caspit in Maariv notes that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is relatively powerless to stop the current wave of terror and that some measures being announced are unlikely to have any real effect. In Haaretz, Barak Ravid is critical of the decision to release graphic photographs of the victims of the attack.

Yediot Ahronot notes that Mr Netanyahu’s push for national unity may result in the ultra-Orthodox parties joining his coalition.