Top news stories from Israel/Palestine: October 19, 2018

What We’re Reading

Occupation/Human rights

Supreme Court rules Palestinian American student can enter Israel,

Israeli authorities had canceled Lara Alqassem’s student visa because they accused her of being a BDS activist, despite her intention of studying at an Israeli university.

Facebook Blocks Trailer of Film on Palestinian Women's Role in the First Intifada,

Facebook has decided that a trailer for a documentary about the role played by Palestinian women in the first intifada violates its standards, at least in Israel, thereby adopting the position of Culture Minister Miri Regev who criticized the film “Naila and the Uprising” in a letter to Attorney General Avichai Mendelblit.

Revealed: Israel's Cyber-spy Industry Helps World Dictators Hunt Dissidents and Gays,

A Haaretz investigation spanning 100 sources in 15 countries reveals Israel has become a leading exporter of tools for spying on civilians. Dictators around the world – even in countries with no formal ties to Israel – use them eavesdrop on human rights activists, monitor emails, hack into apps and record conversations.

US-Israeli/Palestinian relations

TV report: Lauder met Abbas on Trump’s behalf in bid to jump-start peace talks,

Jewish-American billionaire Ronald Lauder was reportedly dispatched by US President Donald Trump this week to meet with Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas in a bid to encourage Ramallah’s return to peace talks with Israel.

The Battle for Young Evangelicals' Views on Israel Could Determine the Future of U.S. Policy,

Millennial Evangelicals are not as automatically supportive of Israel as their parents’ generation was.

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