December 4, 2009

Middle East News: World Press Roundup

Extremist settlers continued to defy the building moratorium, and the Israeli military fears they may attack Palestinians. A confidential EU report accuses Israel of de facto annexation of occupied East Jerusalem. Martin Indyk suggests that ensuring Palestinian control over West Bank territories is essential. Israelis are divided on the prospect of a prisoner swap with Hamas, and the two sides have both rejected mediator's proposals. A militant group claims to have attacked Israeli occupation forces in Gaza, which is suffering under a fuel and power crisis. The UAE is donating $2.5 million to UNRWA after the agency announced a zero balance. Ziad AbuZayyad says PM Netanyahu has to prove he is interested in peace. Ha'aretz says that while Hamas is imposing strict religious social order in Gaza, it is also cracking down on violent extremist groups. Pres. Obama, like all his predecessors, declines to move the US embassy in Israel to Jerusalem. A bitter argument has erupted over the appointment of Israel's UN ambassador. Patrick Seale agrees with other recent Arab commentaries that the Palestinians should call Netanyahu's bluff and return to negotiations with a strong stance. The Jordan Times denounces as strategically foolish Hamas' declaration that the 1947 UN partition resolution is null and void.

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Settlers protest Netanyahu plan

Mayor Malachi Levinger does not consider himself a lawbreaker, but when Israeli building inspectors arrived in his West Bank town Tuesday to check for compliance with a newly imposed moratorium on construction in Jewish settlements, he and several dozen local residents blocked their path to ensure that work continued.

Needed for Mideast peace: a sense of urgency

How can President Obama drag the Middle East peace wagon out of the mud? He can't -- at least not until the region's leaders feel enough of a sense of urgency to take the risks necessary to achieve breakthroughs. Right now, Arab and Israeli leaders are convinced that Obama is in more of a hurry than they are, so they are content to have him do the heavy lifting.

West Bank settlers reject Netanyahu's pleas for order

Defiant West Bank settler leaders rejected a personal plea from the Israeli prime minister Thursday to respect a government-ordered construction freeze in their communities, vowing to continue to confront security forces sent to enforce the edict.

Jewish settlers blocked inspectors from entering a West Bank settlement to search for unauthorized construction, the third day of such confrontations. There has been no violence, but authorities have made at least four arrests.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu summoned settler leaders in a bid to defuse the tensions.

In Israel, sentiment mixed on negotiations for Gilad Shalit release

Yossi Zur's son was on his way back from school on a March day in 2003. But Asaf, then 16, never made it home. The Haifa city bus he was on was blown up by a Hamas suicide bomber, in an attack that killed 17 people and wounded 53.

An-Nasser Brigades: Israeli force attacked near Al-Bureij

The military wing of the Popular Resistance Committees announced their launch of a projectile aimed at Israeli forces in central Gaza on Thursday night.

An An-Nasser Brigades statement said a mortar shell was launched at a force of Israeli soldiers as they attempted to penetrate the Gaza Strip east of the Al-Bureij Refugee Camp.

UAE donates 2.5 million to struggling UNRWA

Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al-Nahyan of the UAE ordered the donation of 2.5 million dollars to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, marking the donation for Palestine refugees in the Near East, the Emirates News Agency (WAM) reported Thursday.

In his statement accompanying the donation, Al-Nahyan said it represented his government's unwavering and continuous support to the Palestinian people.

Gaza borders closed Friday; fuel situation remains critical

Israeli authorities informed Palestinian crossing officials that all transfer points would be closed Friday, continuing the five-day-a-week opening trend at the terminals.

Raed Fattouh, Palestinian crossings liaison, said he was told that all crossings would be closed Friday, although they are scheduled to be open. Crossings have not been open Fridays since summer.

The closure means food and fuel waiting to enter the Strip will continue to wait in storage containers.

Fuel crisis

IDF fears settlers may attack Palestinians in response to freeze

Israel Defense Forces officers in the West Bank have expressed concerned that settlers may escalate their acts of opposition to the freeze on settlement construction by targeting the Palestinian population.

In recent days, inspectors delivering freeze orders to the settlements have been met with acts of violence, yet the troops from the Judea and Samaria Division and the Central Command - who are responsible for their safety - are nowhere to be found. Instead, the brunt of the security work has been carried out by police and Border Police troops.

The fruits of chronic mistakes

When Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad announced his two-year plan for building the institutions of a Palestinian state, in August, it was received warmly and favorably in international forums. They viewed it as the first serious institution-building blueprint, one that could pave the way to a declaration of the political independence of a Palestinian state. It was assumed at the time that, while creation of the institutions proceeded, the negotiation process would be put to the test under the new American administration.

Hamas may not be moderate, but it's cracking down on extremism

Many Israeli commentators have argued recently that Hamas is eager to complete the deal to free Gilad Shalit because of the lack of achievements it has to show its public in the Gaza Strip. However, quite a number of Palestinian commentators there claim that the status of the Islamic movement has stabilized of late, in particular because of its ability to help distressed residents of the Strip by means of its network of charitable organizations.

Obama delays moving US Embassy to Jerusalem

American President Barack Obama is delaying moving the US Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv.

A 1995 US law recognizes Jerusalem as Israel's capital and ordered that the embassy be relocated there. But the law also permits the president to delay the move for six-month periods, based on national security grounds.

Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush invoked the clause during their presidencies.

Obama notified Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton of his decision on Thursday. He first delayed moving the embassy in June.

Report: Israel, Hamas reject mediator's proposals

A senior Hamas source told the London-based Arabic-language al-Hayat newspaper in an interview published Friday morning that the negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian organization on a prisoner exchange deal are facing three major obstacles: Israel's refusal to release 50 prisoners out of 450 demanded by Hamas, its insistence on deporting 130 prisoners, and its refusal to include Israeli Arabs in the deal.

Settlers gird for battle

The Yesha Council is planning several steps in an effort to avert the settlement construction freeze recently announced by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Diplomatic sources: PM rethinking Pinkas appointment

Some Likud heavy-hitters and Jewish organization leaders in the US have bound together to get Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to rethink the appointment of Alon Pinkas as ambassador to the UN, senior diplomatic officials said Thursday.

Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman was expected last Sunday to bring a batch of new diplomatic appointments to the cabinet for approval, including that of Pinkas, but at the last minute he removed that item from the agenda.

Lieberman is expected to discuss the issue with Netanyahu when he returns from Europe next week.

Jewish West Bank settlers vow to defy Netanyahu's building freeze

Defiant West Bank settler leaders rejected a personal plea from the Prime Minister yesterday to respect a government-ordered residential construction freeze, vowing to keep confronting security forces sent to enforce the edict.

In the West Bank, Jewish settlers blocked inspectors from entering a settlement to search for unauthorised construction, the third straight day of such confrontations.

There has been no violence, but authorities have made at least four arrests. The Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, summoned settler leaders in a bid to defuse the tensions.

Israelis want Shalit home, despite the price

In promos for an upcoming Israeli television special on Gilad Shalit’s family, the captive soldier’s parents are seen viewing the Hamas-made video of their son for the first time.

In the promo, Shalit's mother, Aviva, is seen wide-eyed, cupping her hands over her mouth. A small smile curls on the face of Shalit’s usually reserved father, Noam, the most public face of the family's 3 1/2-year struggle to bring home their son from the Gaza Strip.

Palestinians ought to seize the moment

Israel's 10-month partial freeze on new colony building in occupied Palestinian territory, as announced by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on November 25, has been rejected by the Palestinians as a basis for peace negotiations. They want a total freeze.

This is the stated position of Mahmoud Abbas, President of the Palestinian National Authority, and of his chief negotiator, Saeb Erekat. It must be hoped that this is not their last word.

Counterproductive

An Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement between PM Ehud Olmert and President Mahmoud Abbas is not likely. The two leaders are weak, Olmert's days as leader are numbered, Abbas too may not last long and the two sides are too far apart on the core issues of Jerusalem and refugees/right of return. But let's assume they surprise us and produce an agreement "in principle" while they are both still in office, i.e., in the coming months and perhaps even weeks.

Israel illegally annexing East Jerusalem - EU report

In a confidential report obtained by AFP on Thursday, the European Union accused Israel of actively pursuing the annexation of Arab East Jerusalem and undermining hopes for peace with Palestinians.

The annual report drafted by the EU heads of missions in Jerusalem accused Israel of implementing in 2009 an intricate policy which includes expanding Jewish settlements and demolishing Palestinian homes in East Jerusalem.

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