No fly zone

The activists hadn’t even landed, but the Israeli press was in top gear Sunday with all four major newspapers giving front-page space to the “flytilla.”

Yedioth Ahronoth‘s front-page headline asks the activists, “Why don’t you protest against Assad?” The article itself plays down the situation with news that over 500 activists have had their tickets canceled and only 150 are expected to arrive. The article also vaguely states that officials in Jerusalem blame the flytilla on Iran, saying that Islamic extremists in Europe organized and financed the protest. Next to the article is a translation of a letter that each activist will receive from the government. The letter, originally written in English, sarcastically thanks the protester for choosing Israel as the “object of your humanitarian concerns. We know there were many other worthy choices.” The letter describe the situations in Syria, Iran, and Gaza and then mentions some of Israel’s strong points.

Haaretz’s coverage of the flytilla focuses on how the majority of activists will not even make it to the airport. The article focuses on how major airlines, including Air France, Lufthansa and EasyJet, canceled the tickets of the activists due to Israeli pressure. Included in Haaretz’s coverage is a report from the +972 magazine saying that a Swedish citizen was forced to sign a document stating that she would have no contact with “pro-Palestinian” groups while in Israel.

Israel Hayom is harsher in its headline on the subject: “Israel to the anarchists: ‘Thanks, fly to Syria.’” The article highlights much of the same information as both Maariv and Yedioth but also cites official government reactions, including this from Internal Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch: “Anyone who disturbs the peace at the airport will be arrested.”

Baghdad or bust

The other top news in Israel today was the end of the Istanbul conference on the Iranian nuclear issue. Maariv’s front-page picture showed the EU and Iranian representatives walking off opposite stages with an unusually hopeful caption, “Atoms of hope.” Inside, the coverage takes on a more skeptical tone with the headline, “We’ve already been to this film.” The article is mostly an opinion piece by Nadav Eyal  describing the talks as a rerun of the previous round of talks. Eyal asserts, “The success of the talks will not be apparent in the coming days, but rather in a week or two when the Iranians actually have to turn the negotiations into practical steps.” The coverage concludes with a small sidebar detailing the next round of negotiations due to take place next month in Baghdad.

Haaretz’s headline presents the Iranian point of view: “Iran demands from the West promises not to attack until talks continue.” Haaretz notes that while no significant breakthrough was reached in Istanbul, diplomats put a positive spin on the talks, saying that the agreement to meet next month is a good sign. The article points out that as recently as 2011, Iran refused to even discuss its nuclear program.

Yedioth Ahronoth’s Page 6 article reports developments in the Egyptian presidential elections. The recent decision of the Egyptian legislature to ban certain candidates, including former Egyptian spy chief Omar Suleiman and Muslim Brotherhood candidate Khairat Shater, raised eyebrows across the region. Complicating matters is the fact that the committee gave no reason for the disqualifications. The article reports that Washington is expected to exert pressure to have Suleiman reinstated; however, the committee has already stated that its decision is final.

Israel Hayom reports a tragic story on Page 13 about a 63-year-old woman who was stabbed to death in northern Tel Aviv. She managed to call emergency services and told them that she was having problems with her son.

Yedioth Ahronoth reports on a woman who drowned yesterday in the Sea of Galilee; her fiance was unable to rescue her. The couple was floating on inflatable mattresses when a strong wind carried her to the deep water where she fell in and disappeared. Her fiance could not reach her and hours later divers found her corpse.

Let them eat mufleta

All the newspapers except Haaretz give full-page spreads to last night’s celebration of the Mimouna, the traditional Moroccan holiday celebrating the end of Passover. Maariv has the most precise headline for the holiday, “Holiday of the politicians.” And indeed all the papers had pictures of Shaul Mofaz, Benjamin Netanyahu, Tzipi Livni and Benjamin Ben-Eliezer, all eating the traditional crepe-like, hametz-laden mufleta. Maariv quotes Netanyahu discussing the delicious food, “The calories in the mufleta unite the [Jewish] people.”

Haaretz’s front page features an article describing surprising research out of France that says baboons can recognize writing. According to a new article being published in the American academic journal Science, French researcher Jonathan Granger of the University of Provence-Marseilles found that baboons could recognize four-letter English words (as compared to a random string of letters). The article goes on to explain that this research upends theories that language is a purely human endeavor.

Haaretz’s editorial draws a connection between Iran allowing inspectors from Europe to report on its nuclear activities and Israel prohibiting activists from Europe to report on human rights in the territories. “Too bad they [Israeli authorities] do not understand that refusal to allow human rights activists to enter the occupied territories illustrates more than the illegitimacy of the occupation,” the piece states. Haaretz recommends that we not fear the protesters, but instead, show them that Israel respects human rights in the territories and welcome these activists with flowers.

Dan Margalit, writing in Israel Hayom, has a different take on the flytilla, arguing that this year it is not even necessary. He maintains that 98% of Palestinians are not under Israeli control and if the activists want to pressure toward a resumption of peace talks, that’s already occurring with renewed contact last week between the two sides. Margalit concludes that when activists are sent back home without seeing Bethlehem and Nablus they will say that Israel is denying Palestinians their rights and Israel needs to be cautious of that false message.