Comment on World Digest: Feb. 5, 2016

Iran’s attack on Israel was an unprecedented show of force. Though Iran telegraphed the attack in advance, with most drones and missiles intercepted in the air, the attack was a game changer and signals much higher risk of escalation in the future. The shadow war is a shadow war no longer. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] But the show of force was also precisely that—a show, choreographed and designed largely to project power without actually causing damage.

Within just weeks of Oct. 7, the outraged attention of much of the world shifted from what had happened to Israel to what Israel was doing. A deep chasm opened between those who remained primarily consumed by the greatest loss of Jewish lives since the Holocaust, and those focused on the tens of thousands of deaths that have resulted from Israel’s thunderous military assault on the Gaza Strip.

Prince William met with individuals running the Surplus to Supper food charity in Surrey, England, on Thursday, marking his first official public appearance since his wife, Kate Middleton, revealed her cancer diagnosis. The charity delivers food that would otherwise be discarded to people struggling with food insecurity. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] Photos show Prince William assisting with cooking, helping to load food trucks, and engaging in conversations with charity workers.

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. would like to say that it doesn’t matter who wins the U. S. election in November because his country will be fine with a second Joe Biden or Donald Trump term. But he can’t. “I think it would be artful to say that we do not watch closely the political cycle that is ongoing in the United States,” Marcos told reporters at a forum Monday, just days after a historic trilateral summit in Washington to reinvigorate the strategic partnership between the U.

“Where is Ahmad?” The soldier called my name while we were stopped at the last Israeli checkpoint on the way from Ramallah to Jerusalem. I am a Palestinian American. But once I’m in my ancestral homeland, I’m not an American in the eyes of Israeli authorities. I am simply Palestinian, denied the basic right to movement and pilgrimage to the Holy Land. For too long, Palestinians in the diaspora, like myself, became travelers on our soil.

JAKARTA, Indonesia — The Chinese and Indonesian foreign ministers called for an immediate and lasting cease-fire in Gaza after a meeting in Jakarta on Thursday, condemning the humanitarian costs of the ongoing war that has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians. Indonesia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Retno Marsudi told reporters that the two countries share the same view about the importance of a ceasefire and of resolving the Palestinian problem through a two-state solution. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] “I am sure that China would use its influence to prevent escalation,” Marsudi said, adding that China and Indonesia “would also fully support Palestine’s membership in the U.