World View: Malaysia Accused of Coverup over Lost MH370 Airliner

This morning’s key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com

• Malaysia accused of coverup over lost MH370 airliner
• Israel retaliates for barrage of 40 or more rockets fired from Gaza
• Israel votes to draft ultra-orthodox Jews into the military

Malaysia accused of coverup over lost MH370 airliner

The apparent stonewalling and confusion from Malaysia’s government andair force are creating outrage among almost everyone – thepassengers’ families, officials of Vietnam and other countriesparticipating in the search, and the public in Malaysia, Vietnam, andChina. Malaysian authorities have given conflicting information aboutthings they should know, especially when and where was the plane atthe last time it made contact with anyone. At different times,Malaysia has said that the last contact occurred one hour aftertakeoff or two hours, and the plane was east of Malaysia and then westof Malaysia. With huge sums of money being spent by numerouscountries to search for the plane, these confusing reports havemeant that valuable time has been lost searching in the wrongplace. At one point, furious Vietnamese officials discontinuedtheir navy’s search efforts for a brief period.

Malaysia is a mostly Muslim country that has a reputation of beinghospitable to jihadist groups so that they won’t be angered andconduct terrorist attacks on Malaysia. (This is a strategy that’sbecome a disaster for Pakistan.) So the theory is that Malaysianofficials covered up any information they had because it suggested aterrorist act, and revealing that would anger whatever jihadist groupperpetrated it.

In my opinion, what is most likely is that Malaysian officials werenot being evil but that they were simply incompetent. Malaysia Chronicle and CBS and Night Watch

Israel retaliates for barrage of 40 or more rockets fired from Gaza

Islamic Jihad is taking responsibility for a barrage of up to 55-90rockets fired from Gaza into Israel, some striking urban, civilianareas, although there were no reports of casualties in the largestattack since the brief Israel-Gaza war in 2012 (Operation Pillar ofDefense). The rockets were fired simultaneously from northern andsouthern Gaza. Within hours, the Israel Defense Forces retaliated bystriking 29 “terror locations” in Gaza with artillery fire. Jewish Telegraphic Agency

Israel votes to draft ultra-orthodox Jews into the military

For the first time in its history, Israel’s Knesset on Tuesday votedto end the provisions of the controversial “Tal Law” that kept largenumbers of ultra-orthodox men from being drafted into the military.

At Israel’s founding in 1948, about 400 exemplary seminary studentswere exempted from military service to pursue full-time, subsidizedbiblical studies. Today that number has grown to about 100,000full-time Torah learners of draft age, making up about 10% of Israel’seligible draftees in what many people are calling a welfare program.Ultra-orthodox Jews defend their exemptions, saying that theyshouldn’t have to serve, since they’re already contributing to thestate with their prayers. Arab Israelis have also been exempted, andthey defend their exemptions by claiming that they are treated assecond-class citizens in Israel. Israel’s High Court triggered apolitical crisis in 2010 when it struck down the so-called Tal Law,which provides for national service exemptions for ultra-Orthodox Jewsand Arab Israelis. Orthodox Jews will have to begin serving in 2017.Reports don’t indicate the status of Arab Israelis. Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Independent (South Africa)

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