Oman Grounded the Flydubai Copilot

The UAE says the flydubai cockpit attack was terrorism. The Emirati prosecutor general said Saturday that copilot Hamam al-Hammami, who hit his captain with a crash ax on the Dubai to Tel Aviv flight, "attempted to carry out a terrorist attack." Oman had barred him from flying over concerns he had adopted extremist views. Israel's Transportation Ministry confirmed it does not run background checks on foreign airline pilots. ¹²

Britain's Greens are expected to vote Sunday on calling Zionism racism. The conference motion defines Zionism as support for "an ethnonationalist Jewish State" and backs "a single democratic Palestinian state in all of historic Palestine." Leader Zack Polanski, who is Jewish, wants it amended to allow a two-state solution. In a Jewish Greens survey, 53% said it could increase discrimination against Jewish members. ³

Zohran Mamdani told Theo Von the U.S. should enforce Netanyahu's ICC warrant. If he had his say, the mayor said, the U.S. "would have joined the ICC, honored every single warrant that they issued." He also said, "No Jewish person in New York City is responsible for the actions of the State of Israel." ⁴

America's only major etrog grower wants you to eat the etrog. Lindcove Ranch in Exeter, California, a 7-acre grove the Kirkpatrick family has run for more than 60 years, spent $250,000 producing its 2025 crop and couldn't sell enough to cover it. A family home went into foreclosure, and the staff shrank from eight full-time to five part-time. The big growers are in Israel, Italy and Morocco. New Jersey distributor Rabbi Menachem Sirota said he stopped buying from California because "I was not so satisfied with the quality." Greg Kirkpatrick, 65, now sells straight to congregations and pitches his fruit as pesticide-free, so unlike chemically treated imports it can be eaten or made into jam, candied peel or liqueur after Sukkot. "I'm a farmer, I'm always optimistic," he said. ⁵

Sunday is 23 Tishrei, Simchat Torah outside Israel. Shuls read the end of Deuteronomy and the start of Genesis in one service, and the congregation dances with the scrolls. The night before, the scrolls come out of the ark after dark, which rarely happens. This week's parsha is Bereshit. ⁶⁷

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