Straight to the Gut

“The SMS force.”--Dubbed by Minister Benny Begin, the phrase refers to the settler lobbying campaign whereby pro-settler activists bombard ministers with text messages, as they did yesterday.

• Jerusalem bus pelted with stones; woman injured - Woman in her 20's hit in stomach after unknown assailants hurled stones on bus heading to Western Wall. (Ynet)
• Arab villagers come together to rebuild razed home in northern Israel - In just five days, relatives, villagers and dozens of construction workers restored Hassan Gdir's unfinished home to its pre-demolition state. (Haaretz+)
• Citing Ariel performances, director Peter Brook pulls out of Cameri Theater festival - A statement by the Brook's Bouffes du Nord theater group reportedly said the group will not appear at the festival because the Cameri performs in the W. Bank settlement of Ariel, and appearing there could be interpreted as though "we support the brutal colonialism in the territories." (Haaretz)
• High Court to Israeli NGO: State does not have to address partial acceptance of African migrants - Court strikes down petition by the human rights group We Are Refugees geared at making Israel accept a group of Eritreans that were trapped near its border with Egypt last week, saying it is irrelevant since migrants are no longer there. (Haaretz)
• Egyptian border guards kill African migrant near border with Israel - In separate incident, officials say authorities arrested 26 migrants from Sudan, Eritrea and Ethiopia before they reached the border. (Agencies, Haaretz)
• Report: Amid talk of new nuclear sanctions, Iran's currency hits record low - Semi-official Iranian news agency says rial drops 7 percent in a single day to 24,300 rials to the dollar, in what could be the effect of the West's financial measures against Tehran. (Agencies, Haaretz and Ynet)

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