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Media Summary

Deadly Nakba Day clashes along border with Lebanon and Syria

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All UK and international papers today report on the Palestinian protests that took place yesterday marking Nakba Day, a day commemorating the 1948 Arab defeat and the establishment of the State of Israel. The papers report that the IDF clashed with protesters who infiltrated Israel from Syria. In other incidences, clashes took place with protesters along the Lebanese border, in the West Bank and Gaza.

Over the weekend, most papers also reported on the clashes that took place on Sunday between Nakba Day protesters and the IDF. The Independent on Saturday noted that hundreds of Syrians are crossing over the border to Lebanon, fleeing the government violence taking place in Syria. The Sunday Telegraph reported that in 2006 Mossad agents tracked a Syrian official to London and stole secret nuclear documents from his hotel.

In the Israeli press, all papers report on the Nakba Day protests that took place yesterday on several fronts along Israel’s borders. Haaretz notes that Defence Minister Ehud Barak said that the IDF succeeded in defending Israel’s sovereignty and said that in the future Israel would have to deal with more complex incidents. All papers also note that Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz said that Israel will renew the transfer of tax funds to the Palestinian Authority and received reassurance that the money will not go to any Hamas activity. In other news, the papers report on a suspected terrorist attack that took place in southern Tel Aviv on Sunday morning when a driver plowed into cars and pedestrians killing one person and wounding 16 others. Haaretz reports that police in Jordan used force to disperse Nakba Day protesters that tried to reach the Israeli controlled border post. The Jerusalem Post notes that UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called for restraint following the Nakba Day protests.