The News You Didn’t Hear About This Week: Friday Sept. 18, 2026

By: David Gerstman September 18, 2026

Famously, the slogan “All the News That’s Fit to Print” graces the front page of every New York Times edition. The slogan was coined at the end of the 19th century by the paper’s publisher, Adolph Ochs. Of course, in today’s hyper-globalized world, the slogan is wishful thinking. No paper could realistically cover all the important news stories of the day.

Still, it would be hard to argue that outlets like The New York Times, The Washington Post, CNN and others adequately cover even those stories they do print. They often devote precious space to emotive or opinionated claims, while omitting highly material and relevant information that sheds important new light.

Provided below are three important, but underreported, stories bearing on Israel and the Middle East that media consumers should know this week.

Fifth Season of ‘Fauda’ is Big Hit in the Arab World

The fifth season of the Israeli television series“Fauda” is an international hit, including in the Arab world. The season dropped last week on Sept. 8.

 The Jerusalem Post reported that it is the top streaming show in Lebanon. The Post added that “[a]t the time of writing, it ranks fourth in Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar; sixth in Bahrain and Morocco; seventh in Oman; eighth in Kuwait; and tenth in Egypt.”

According to the Post, overall, Fauda is in the top 10 streaming shows in 43 different countries.

The seventh and eighth episodes feature dramatizations of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on southern Israel. For many around the world, the depicted violence made a dramatic impression.

Israeli influencer Lee Malach wrote that German and Dutch people said that “[t]hey are in total shock over what happened here, and the posts are difficult to read and very supportive of Israel. It is crazy to me how little these people know about what happened here and how much they talk about the subject.”

American media largely avoided the story of the new season’s popularity. One notable exception was The Hollywood Reporter.

Last week, The New York Times’ David Halbfinger reported on the season’s release. Halbfinger wrote that some critics noted that “the series had abandoned its earlier efforts to empathize with both sides of the conflict.” He added that, according to one critic, “emphasis on the desire for revenge could be a tough sell overseas.”

The reports on the show’s popularity demonstrate that Halbfinger’s skeptical assessments have not been realized.

Fatah Central Committee Member Demands Hamas Apology for Oct. 7

A member of Fatah’s Central Committee demanded an apology from Hamas last week for the catastrophe that resulted from the Oct, 7, 2023, attack on Israel.

Asharq Al-Awsat, a London-based Saudi-owned newspaper, reported that Fatah Central Committee member Majed Faraj demanded that the Gaza-based terror group apologize to the Palestinian people for the “catastrophe” that resulted from their bloody terror attack three years ago.

Faraj was addressing Fatah activists when he issued the criticism. According to the account, he said that “Hamas should apologize before returning to political life as a Palestinian faction like any other.”

In August, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas issued a decree calling for Palestinian elections to be held Nov. 28 this year. Abbas was elected to a four-year term as president in 2005. A year later, Hamas won Palestinian legislative elections.

Unsurprisingly, Hamas hit back at Fatah, blaming the dominant party for numerous failures including the Oslo Accords.

Faraj didn’t blast Hamas for its terrorism, but for the consequences of its terror. Thirty-three years since the Oslo Accords, Palestinian leadership still hasn’t explicitly opposed anti-Israel terror.

No Consequences for Anti-Israel Protesters Who Caused Nearly $1 Million Damage to University of Washington Building

The UW33 – pro-Palestinian protesters who took over a campus building at the University of Washington and set fires causing nearly $1 million in damages – will get no punishment. Jerusalem News Syndicate reported Sept. 17, 2026, that the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office reached a deal with the protesters that they will receive no punishment if they complete their community service and don’t violate the law over the next 12months.

The agreement does not constitute a guilty plea.

Charges were filed for the May 5, 2025, takeover of the university’s Interdisciplinary Engineering Building. The protesters demanded that the university sever ties with Boeing for doing business with Israel. Boeing had given the university $10 million for the construction of the building. They falsely claimed that Boeing was aiding genocide.

The protesters took over the building and set dumpsters on fire, drawing riot police and firefighters to the scene to restore order. Following the protesters’ removal from the building, which sustained nearly $1 million in damages from vandalism, they were charged with criminal misdemeanor trespassing.

Initially the university punished 23 students with emergency suspensions but later reinstated them after disciplinary hearings.

In a press release, the organizers of the protest hailed the deal as victory, stating, “This outcome is a WIN for the UW33, a win for the Palestine movement, and an important step in the fight against repression.”

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