OF THE
TIMES
Israel's ultranationalist defense minister, Avigdor Lieberman, managed to offend both Palestinians and free-speech advocates on Thursday, comparing the Palestinians' national poet to Adolf Hitler and threatening the independence of Israel's Army Radio station.The JTA report in the Forward says Lieberman made the comparison in a meeting with the head of the army radio:
"By that logic, the complete legacy of the Mufti al-Husseini or the literary merits of 'Mein Kampf' could also have been included," the defense chief said.Al-Monitor's report rightly focuses on on the repressive Israeli political environment:
Zionist Camp Knesset member Shelly Yachimovich . . . slammed Liberman's reaction on Facebook, calling it "a step that can only be defined as characterizing fascist regimes."The rightwingers inside the Netanyahu coalition found it outrageous that Darwish would ever be on Army radio.
The Darwish storm broke following a Facebook post by Culture and Sport Minister Miri Regev. Regev wrote that she was shocked that Army Radio had featured the work of the Palestinian national poet. "The IDF [Israel Defense Forces] radio station has gone off the rails," she said, and quoted a section of "Identity Card," which was featured on the program. In his famous poem, written in 1964, Darwish wrote, "I do not hate people. I steal from no one. However, if I am hungry I will eat the flesh of my usurper. Beware, beware of my hunger and of my anger . . ."
The outrage over Darwish's poem joins the ongoing perversion of anything rejected by the worldview of the right-wing regime in Israel, including educational and cultural issues and basic historical concepts.
There are many examples of this erosion, from the rewriting of the civics textbook for Israeli pupils by Naftali Bennett's Education Ministry, to Regev's brutal assaults on cultural and artistic institutions and her demand that these establishments declare their loyalty to Israel or face budgetary cutbacks and culminating in attacks by right-wing ministers on Israeli media outlets and their "encouragement" to adopt the Israeli narrative and work to strengthen Israel's Jewish heritage.

Comment: Update 1
Initially it was reported that one of the three shooters committed suicide. That has been countered by later statements from police that all three shooters fled on foot and are still on the run. Six people were killed, with injured in the double digits. The manhunt is reportedly their largest police operation in a decade.
Update 2
It appears as if the Germans are allowing the Americans to write their ongoing narrative. Police have announced a "cautious all-clear", claiming that they discovered a body near the scene of the attack, identified as the shooter. Their tweet says, "We found a man, who killed him himself [sic]. We assume, that he was the only shooter." Munich PD said there is a "high probability" he acted alone, and that he was identified "within the framework of Interpol". "Acting alone", especially when there were multiple reports of multiple shooters, tends to mean that the other suspects got away and the police have no intention of pursuing them (often because they are working for the police in the first place! or intel agencies). The death toll is now nine, plus the shooter. Sputnik adds: It would be interesting to know the identities of these witnesses. Any guess why their accounts don't match up with each other?
Update 3
The gunman has been identified as Ali Sonboly, an 18-year-old German-Iranian born and raised in Germany who lived with his parents. (Picture of the boy here.) Just hours before the shooting, he allegedly hacked into the Facebook profile of "Selina Akim" to lure victims to the McDonald's near the shopping mall by offering them free food. Police say there is no evidence "whatsoever" linking him to ISIS. He had been receiving psychiatric and medical care for depression. Neighbors describe him as quiet, normal and shy.
At this point, his motives are unclear. Police reportedly found articles on killing sprees and the English book Why Kids Kill at his home. Police are saying there is an "obvious link" to the 2011 Norway massacre and Anders Breivik, and that he was "obsessed" with mass shootings. Classmates say he once used an image of Breivik on WhatsApp. He apparently had used the gaming network Stream to threaten to kill other gamers.
As for those earlier reports of multiple shooters, according to the Guardian, "the police chief said two people who fled the area quickly were investigated but had 'nothing to do with the incident'." Here are accounts of the witnesses mentioned in the last update: