• The Mavi Marmara ship will be sent back to Gaza next month as part of another flotilla. “Freedom flotilla 2” will include more than 15 vessels. [Jerusalem Post]
• Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system successfully intercepted a Grad rocket fired from the Gaza strip—a potential strategic game-changer for Israel. The new defense system can locate and shoot at incoming rockets “within seconds of their launch.” [Haaretz]
• Meanwhile, a 16-year-old is in critical condition, suffering head injuries after the school bus he was on was hit by an anti-tank missile from the Gaza Strip. [Jerusalem Post]
• Kazakhstani Jewish billionaire Alexander Mashkevitch announced plans to start a news channel that “would deliver fairer coverage of Israel than that which the international media provides.” So basically Al-Jewzeera. [Jerusalem Post]
• In the event that you find all this Goldstone business confusing, the JTA’s “Goldstone: A Primer,” offers a concise, if somewhat trivializing, play-by-play. [JTA]
• And, just to clear things up: former NYC Schools Chancellor Cathie Black is definitely not related to YouTube sensation (and possible Jew) Rebecca Black [Gothamist]
Also: why we love the Beastie Boys.
Click here for access to comments
COMMENTING CHARGES
Daily rate: $2
Monthly rate: $18
Yearly rate: $180
WAIT, WHY DO I HAVE TO PAY TO COMMENT?
Tablet is committed to bringing you the best, smartest, most enlightening and entertaining reporting and writing on Jewish life, all free of charge. We take pride in our community of readers, and are thrilled that you choose to engage with us in a way that is both thoughtful and thought-provoking. But the Internet, for all of its wonders, poses challenges to civilized and constructive discussion, allowing vocal—and, often, anonymous—minorities to drag it down with invective (and worse). Starting today, then, we are asking people who'd like to post comments on the site to pay a nominal fee—less a paywall than a gesture of your own commitment to the cause of great conversation. All proceeds go to helping us bring you the ambitious journalism that brought you here in the first place.
I NEED TO BE HEARD! BUT I DONT WANT TO PAY.
Readers can still interact with us free of charge via Facebook, Twitter, and our other social media channels, or write to us at letters@tabletmag.com. Each week, we’ll select the best letters and publish them in a new letters to the editor feature on the Scroll.
We hope this new largely symbolic measure will help us create a more pleasant and cultivated environment for all of our readers, and, as always, we thank you deeply for your support.