May 3, 2010

Middle East News: World Press Roundup

Kai Bird says Sheik Jarrah has come to symbolize everything that has gone wrong between Israelis and Palestinians. The LA Times looks at Israeli censorship policies, and at Pres. Obama's continuing popularity with Jewish Americans. The US is seeking to keep Israel's nuclear weapons off the table at the UN. Israel reportedly wants upcoming proximity talks to be "discreet." Hamas is short on cash. Settlers use new tactics against Palestinians. Shaul Arieli says PM Netanyahu must explain negotiations to the Israeli public. Pres. Abbas confirms negotiations will tackle all permanent status issues and seeks to expand "Area A." Israel says the PA boycott of settlement products will be raised in the talks. The BBC obtains key documents on the siege of Gaza. The Financial Times says Obama must insist on the outcome of negotiations. Walid Salem says despite obstacles, PA State building is moving forward. Omar Baddar profiles "Sleepless in Jerusalem and Gaza." John Mearsheimer says Israel will never allow Palestinian statehood and will turn into an apartheid state that will ultimately become dominated by a Palestinian majority, but Hussein Ibish says Mearsheimer is wrong and is using Palestinians as a foil in his feud with the pro-Israel lobby.

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Who Lives in Sheik Jarrah?

As a boy, I lived in Sheik Jarrah, a wealthy Arab neighborhood in East Jerusalem. Annexed by Israel in 1967 and now the subject of a conflict over property claims, my former home has come to symbolize everything that has gone wrong between the Israelis and Palestinians over the last six decades.

Despite talk of a slowdown in Israeli construction in East Jerusalem, Nir Barkat, Jerusalem’s mayor, toured Washington earlier this week and told officials that the expansion into Arab neighborhoods is going ahead at full speed.

Censorship in Israel: 'A unique model'

Privy to the nation's top secrets, she keeps private ones pretty well too.

"She" is Sima Vaknin-Gil, Israel's chief censor. It's her job to keep sensitive information that could harm state security out of the media.

Appointed by the defense minister, she has tremendous powers but says she uses these sparingly, balancing state security and freedom of speech.

Most democratic countries balk at censorship, but a recent poll shows half of Israel's Jewish population believes that freedom of expression is too free in Israel.

For Obama, room to maneuver on Israel

President Obama's altercations with the Israeli government have brought protests from U.S. groups that staunchly support Israel.

But the administration retains substantial overall support among American Jewish voters, and that appears to be giving him political running room to ply his approach to the issue.

Obama has criticized Israel for continuing to build Jewish housing in disputed territory, which the president says threatens efforts to restart peace talks, contributes to instability in the region and jeopardizes U.S. interests.

Clinton in struggle for Israel's nuke secret

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton will try this week at the United Nations to keep the worst-kept secret in the Middle East: Israel's status as a nuclear power.

In recent weeks, the U.S. government has held talks with Egypt on a proposal to eliminate nuclear weapons in the Middle East. The U.S. diplomacy on the proposal also has been coordinated closely with Israel, according to a senior White House official.

Netanyahu wants secret talks; PLO demands parameters

Bethlehem - Ma'an - Israeli and Palestinian negotiators began to rally their negotiations teams Sunday, with US-mediated peace talks set to begin Monday via "discrete channels," Israeli press reported.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told his advisers that he intends to open the talks in person, and according to news reports asked to be briefed on an “eight point” plan set out by the administration of former Israeli Minister Ehud Olmert, particularly around final-status issues.

Hamas short on cash as Gaza blockade takes toll

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Hamas confirmed Sunday it is unable to pay thousands of government workers in full for a second straight month — a new sign that the Islamic militants are caught in what may be the most serious cash crunch in three years of ruling Gaza.

Hamas dismisses rumors of a financial crisis, and insists its money woes are temporary. However, it has resorted to an unpopular tax drive to raise money, suggesting that a heavy blockade on the territory, an Egyptian crackdown on smuggling and an increasingly expensive government bureaucracy are taking their toll.

Settlers devise new strategy to scare away Palestinian neighbors

Some settlers are employing a new strategy to get Palestinians evicted from their land in the northern region of the Jordan Valley, Haaretz has learned. A number of settlers, some of whom are residents of the Maskiot settlement, set up a "protest" tent next to a tent belonging to Bedouin herdsmen near Wad el Maleh, on private Palestinian land. Last Thursday, after the Palestinians complained to the civil administration, both the Israelis and Palestinians there were handed decrees declaring the area a closed military zone, signed by brigade commander Yochai Ben-Yishai.

A struggle to change public opinion

How serious Benjamin Netanyahu really is about resuming talks with the Palestinians will be reflected in the extent of his effort to reshape Israeli public opinion, where the concept "there is no partner" has been thoroughly assimilated, partly because of the prime minister's own utterances.

Abbas: Mideast proximity peace talks to address final-status issues

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Monday said indirect peace talks scheduled to begin this week with Israel will address final-status issues, including borders, Palestinian refugees and Jerusalem, Army Radio reported.

"There is a historic opportunity before Israel, if it withdraws from all Palestinian and Arab lands," said Abbas adding that in exchange, under the Arab peace initiative, Israel would be officially recognized by Arab states.

Ayalon: Palestinian boycott to be discussed in proximity talks

The Knesset's Economic Affairs Committee on Sunday discussed possible responses to a new law passed last week in the Palestinian Authority, which bans Palestinians from selling or buying products produced by Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon said that Israel would urge the Palestinians to cancel the boycott at a preliminary stage of the proximity talks. However, he stressed that continuation of the talks would not hinge on the removal of the ban, due to Israel's decision to commence talks without prior conditions.

Abbas: 'Many obstacles' for peace

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said Sunday that he has already demanded sole control over large sections of the West Bank, including those under total Israeli sovereignty. Abbas said that he demand the Jordan Valley, even though Israelis have made clear that they will not agree to preconditions from the Palestinians.

Details of Gaza blockade revealed in court case

BBC News has seen documents, submitted to an Israeli Court, which give more detail than ever before about how and why Israel maintains its Gaza blockade.

In one document, Israel describes the import curbs as "a central pillar in the armed conflict with Hamas".

It also confirms estimates were made of how many calories Gazans need, but says these were not used for policy-making.

Israel says the blockade is to pressure Hamas, which does not recognise Israel and backs attacks on its citizens.

Once more into the Mideast breach

Here we go again. Welcome back to the Middle East peace process, a tortured charade that long ago turned into pure process and thereby set a sure course for the rocks. With indirect talks between the Israelis and Palestinians now likely to resume, is there any reason to think much has changed?

Israel is ruled by its most right-wing government, under Benjamin Netanyahu, and the Palestinians, weak and divided, are unwilling to enter negotiations unless Israel stops building settlements on their land, which Mr Netanyahu refuses to do. But something does look to have changed – in the US.

Fayyad is using development to gain independence

Much has been written about the plan proposed by the Palestinian government headed by Prime Minister Salam Fayyad for establishing the Palestinian state within two years. However, little has been written about one of the most significant implications of this plan, namely that it brings together, for the first time ever, development and political goals in Palestinian politics. How did this come about?

Video Series Depicts Life Under Occupation, Humanizes Palestinian Experience

A couple of days ago, I was intrigued by a preview I saw for "Sleepless in Gaza and Jerusalem," a reality show about life in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. To show the reality of life under occupation, the film crew follows several young Palestinian women throughout the occupied territories for 90 days as they go about their daily lives (the series is now two-thirds of the way in, and is available on youtube).

"The Future of Palestine: Righteous Jews vs. the New Afrikaners" with Professor John J. Mearsheimer

Edited Transcript of Remarks by Professor John J. Mearsheimer
Transcript No. 327 (29 April 2010)

To view the video of this briefing online, go to http://www.palestinecenter.org

The Palestine Center/Washington, D.C.
29 April 2010

Professor John Mearsheimer:

It is a great honor to be here at the Palestine Center to give the Sharabi Memorial Lecture. I would like to thank Yousef Munayyer, the executive director of the Jerusalem Fund, for inviting me, and all of you for coming out to hear me speak this afternoon.

Mearsheimer's unhelpful, unrealistic and disempowering message to the Palestinians

For the past couple of years Professor John J. Mearsheimer has spoken at many Arab and Muslim American events, and in most of them he sensibly urged Arab and Muslim Americans to seek a working coalition with Jewish Americans in favor of a two-state solution. In fact, he has been a strong advocate of a two-state solution. Until yesterday, that is. Speaking at the Palestine Center in Washington, Mearsheimer suddenly reversed himself with astounding claims of prescience bordering on clairvoyance. He flatly declared:

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