November 26, 2008

Middle East News: World Press Roundup

ATFP sister organization the American Charities for Palestine is featured in an article in the New York Times (1). Palestinian Security Forces continue to make progress in Hebron (2). Fatah leader Ahmed Hilles returns to the Gaza Strip after fleeing factional violence there three months ago (3). The Washington Institute for Near East Policy assesses the recent escalation in settler violence (4). The U.N. and other aid agencies ask the international community for $462 million in emergency aid for the Occupied Territories (5), as Israel allows limited supplies into Gaza (6). A Yeshiva leader is arrested for inciting Israeli youth to violence (7).

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U.S. Muslims Taken Aback by a Charity’s Conviction

American Muslim groups responded with uncustomary silence on Tuesday to the news that leaders of a Muslim charity shut down by the federal government had been convicted in a retrial of money laundering, tax fraud and supporting terrorism.

Palestinian Forces Dilute Hebron’s Volatile Brew

It was a scene that revealed both its medieval origins and its contemporary significance. On one side of the concrete schoolyard sat the Rajabi clan, wearing their finest kaffiyeh headdresses. On the other side were the Ajnounis, similarly decked out.

These ancient Hebron families had been feuding in the lawlessness of this city, leaving nine dead in recent months. Yet here they were last week, brought together by the newly installed Palestinian security forces, and being obliged to reconcile.

Fatah leader who fled to West Bank returns to Gaza

A Gaza leader of Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas's Fatah faction returned home on Tuesday more than three months after fleeing to the West Bank following deadly clashes between his clan and the Islamist Hamas movement.

"I feel how any Palestinian feels on returning to his family and friends," Ahmed Hilles told reporters after entering the Gaza Strip from Israel through the Erez border crossing.

Violence by Extremists in the Jewish Settler Movement: A Rising Challenge

Thirteen years after the assassination of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, Israeli security officials are expressing heightened concern that a new wave of violent extremism among fringe elements in the Jewish settler movement threatens not only Palestinian civilians, but also Israeli national security and the future of any potential peace diplomacy.

Recent Trends in Violence by a Settler Fringe

Agencies seek $462 million in aid for Palestinians

The U.N. and other aid agencies appealed to the international community Wednesday to send $462 million in emergency assistance to address what they said is a humanitarian crisis in the Palestinian territories.

Most of the money will be used for food and cash handouts, said Maxwell Gaylard, local head of the United Nations Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. A total of 159 emergency programs are planned in areas such as health, education, food, water and sanitation.

More aid to enter blockaded Gaza

Israel has permitted limited aid and fuel deliveries into the Gaza Strip, which it has closed to virtually all supplies for the past three weeks.

Gaza's only power plant, which is in urgent need of spare parts, is to restart at reduced capacity.

Shortages and power cuts in the territory have led the UN to describe conditions there as the "worst ever".

Israel says the tightening of the Gaza blockade is a legitimate response to rocket fire by Palestinian militants.

Yeshiva head arrested for 'incitement'

Rabbi Yigal Shandrapi, the head of Yeshuat Mordechai Yeshiva, is expected to be brought before the Jerusalem Magistrate's Court on Wednesday for a remand hearing, after police from the Judea and Samaria Division arrested him on Tuesday on suspicion of inciting Jewish youth to riot.

According to the allegations, Shandrapi incited the teenagers two separate cases, the most recent of which occurred two months ago at the Yad Yair outpost, in the West Bank. During that incident, soldiers described being attacked and said that their vehicles were damaged.

IDF ignoring High Court on West Bank assassinations

The Israel Defense Forces has assassinated wanted men in apparent defiance of High Court of Justice guidelines for such operations, according to operational briefings obtained by Haaretz.

The documents reveal that the IDF approved assassinations in the West Bank even when it could have been possible to arrest the targets instead, and that top-ranking army officers authorized the killings in advance, in writing, even if innocent bystanders would be killed as well.

Barak: We will evacuate settlers from Hebron house, by force if necessary

Defense Minister Ehud Barak said the state would use force to evacauate settlers illegally inhabiting a house in the West Bank city of Hebron, if the squatters do not vacate the premises voluntarily.

A High Court of Justice ruling issued last week gave the settlers three days to evacuate, but a loophole was found allowing them to remain for a full 30 days before any force could to be taken.

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