November 5, 2010

Middle East News: World Press Roundup

Saudi Arabia says it will not cooperate with Israel until the occupation ends. PM Rabin¹s murder may have marked the death of the Israeli peace camp. Hamas and Fatah are due to resume unity talks but the rise of the Hamas military complicates the issue and Hamas says Pres. Abbas is uncooperative. Israeli occupation forces raid the homes of Palestinian nonviolent protest leaders. The PLO says settler violence is on the rise. Palestinians give the US more time on peace talks. Israel considers leaving settlers in a Palestinian state. A Ha¹aretz investigation shows the Israeli government has summarily given land in occupied East Jerusalem to settlers. Lara Friedman looks at the impact of the midterm elections on US Mideast policy. UN officials in Gaza are given weapons for protection. Settlers develop a new lexicon of abuse. Abbas says Israel is ³building ferociously² in Jerusalem. Orly Azoulay says Pres. Obama still wants peace. The PA cracks down on settlement goods. The UK FM says time is running out for a two-state solution. The National profiles the incoming head of the House International Relations Committee, Rep. Ros-Lehtinen.

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Saudi prince rules out engagement with Israel until Arab land is returned

Saudi Arabia will refuse to "directly or indirectly engage Israel" until it leaves all land captured during the 1967 Six-Day War, a leading member of the Saudi royal family said Thursday, dashing any hopes the Obama administration might have had for rapprochement before a final peace deal.

Did Rabin assassination mark decline of Israel's peace camp?

Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin's assassination 15 years ago at the peak of Israel's pro-peace movement now appears to have heralded the beginning of a long, slow decline for an Israeli left that is in danger of fading into irrelevance.

In Gaza, rise of Hamas military wing complicates reconciliation with Fatah

Abu Khaled has been a member of Hamas's military wing for 11 years and he looks the part. His thick beard, black clothes, and serious face bear witness to his rise through the ranks to become one of the leaders of the Ezzedine Al Qassam Brigades in the northern Gaza town of Beit Hanoun, near Israel's border.

But at this moment, as he softly sings along with popular Arabic pop singer Elissa in a deserted Gaza restaurant, it's hard to believe he fought in the fierce 2007 battle that expelled Fatah, Hamas's secular rival, from Gaza.

Unity hinges on security forces deal

Officials commenting on the latest unity rumors say the issue of a re-hauled security service amalgamating the West Bank and Gaza units remains the final stumbling block to inter-party reconciliation.

Representative of independent officials seeking unity Yaser Al-Wadieyah said he expected Hamas and Fatah officials in Damascus to discuss the final arrangements of the security issue, saying all other files were all but resolved.

An-Nabi Salih: Army enters home of protest leaders

The homes of two brothers were raided by Israeli soldiers overnight, with officers warning the men against participation in the village's weekly protest against land confiscation.

An-Nabi Salih, a village north of Ramallah bordered by an Israeli guard post in the north and the settlement of Hallamish to the south, is one of four villages that participates in a regular demonstration against land confiscations, held every Friday afternoon following the prayer.

PLO: Settler violence on rise

A PLO report on settler violence said Friday that a sharp increase in assaults on Palestinians and vandalism of property was recorded for October.

According to the report, Palestinians in the West Bank reported a total of 277 cases of settler violence from August through October 2010, with a sharp increase in incidents in the last weeks of October.

Palestinians to give U.S. peace effort more time

The Palestinians will give the United States several more weeks to try to relaunch direct peace talks with Israel, but will not buckle on their key demand for a halt to Israeli settlement activity, a top Palestinian official said on Thursday.
Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said that an Arab League decision on Oct. 9 giving the United States one month to persuade Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to stop settlements could slip -- but that the core demand would remain unchanged.

Israelis mull leaving settlers in Palestine

It has become an article of faith in the Israeli-Palestinian equation: Israel's withdrawal from occupied lands must be accompanied by a removal of Jewish settlers.

But perhaps there's another option.

Although it's hardly mainstream thinking, voices on both sides are quietly contemplating an alternative: Perhaps some Jews can live in a future Palestine, even if only in small numbers, the way Arabs live in Israel.

UK: Israeli officials shouldn't fear arrest

Israeli officials should not fear arrest warrants initiated by pro-Palestinian activists when they travel to Britain on official business, British Foreign Secretary William Hague said Thursday.

Hague's comments sought to reassure Israeli leaders after they suspended an annual strategic meeting in Britain last month due to fears they could be arrested under the principle of "universal jurisdiction."

Pro-Palestinian activists in Britain have sought the arrest of Israeli officials under the principle, which allows courts to prosecute alleged war crimes from elsewhere in the world.

Hamas accuses Abbas of trying to fail reconciliation

Islamic Hamas movement accused Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday of trying to hinder national reconciliation.

The accusation followed Abbas' remarks that security control in the Palestinian territories can not be shared with Hamas.

Abbas statements "meant to ruin Damascus meeting" next week, in which Hamas and Abbas' Fatah party will discuss inter- reconciliation, especially the security issue, Hamas Spokesman Ayman Taha told Xinhua.

Haaretz exposé / State gave East Jerusalem lands to rightist groups without tenders

The Israel Lands Administration is transferring properties in the Silwan neighborhood and the Old City of Jerusalem to right-wing groups Elad and Ateret Cohanim for low prices, without issuing a tender as required by law, a Haaretz investigation has found.

The state and the groups involved concealed the transactions and refused to give any information about them.

At the end of a lengthy legal struggle conducted by left-wing activist Dror Etkes, the court decided to have the ILA release only part of the information, to prevent the properties' identification.

How will the election affect U.S. efforts for Mideast peace?

GAZA, Nov. 4 (Xinhua) -- Islamic Hamas movement accused Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday of trying to hinder national reconciliation.

The accusation followed Abbas' remarks that security control in the Palestinian territories can not be shared with Hamas.

Abbas statements "meant to ruin Damascus meeting" next week, in which Hamas and Abbas' Fatah party will discuss inter- reconciliation, especially the security issue, Hamas Spokesman Ayman Taha told Xinhua.

UN Gaza leaders given submachine guns for protection 'against Hamas'

The defense establishment has taken the unusual step of granting the United Nations Relief and Works Agency approval to take four weapons into Gaza. The weapons, submachine guns, are to serve the security detail guarding the heads of the agency in Gaza.

The request to bring in the weapons was made three years ago and approved last week.

The director of UNRWA's activities in Gaza, John Ging, said on his website that his life is in constant danger and he needs more suitable protection than the handguns his bodyguards had been carrying.

Hilltop Youth presents: Cursing lexicon

With the end of the construction freeze and the beginning of the outpost-razing season, settlers present a new lexicon of conversational curse words for everyday use.

The new pocket book dictionary has been distributed recently among Hilltop Youth, and contains behavioral guidelines to be followed during the razing of outposts, as well as a list of recommended swear words to use against police officers.

Abbas: Israel building ferociously in Jerusalem

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas reiterated that he would not resume direct peace talks with Israel until it freezes construction in the West Bank's settlements.

After meeting US envoy Mitchell in Washington, chief negotiator Erekat says, 'Key is in Netanyahu's hands. The choice is his: settlements or peace. He cannot have both'

"Our demand to halt settlement construction is not a precondition," Abbas said in response to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's claims. "We reached an agreement with the Israelis on this matter when we accepted the road map back in 1995.

Obama still wants peace

In the past two years, Israelis liked to hate the American president, “Hussein Obama” as rightists make sure to refer to him, after he moved closer to the Muslim world and forced Netanyahu to freeze settlement construction. However, as it turned out Wednesday, American Jews think otherwise.

An exit poll among 1,600 Jewish voters published by pollster Jim Gerstein showed that 66% of American Jews voted for Democratic candidates for Congress. Most respondents told pollsters that they support Barack Obama’s leadership and endorse his efforts to resolve the Middle East conflict.

Palestinians Crack Down on Boycott Breaker

The Palestinian Authority has filed its first indictment against a Palestinian for dealing in products manufactured in Jewish communities located on land Israel acquired in the 1967 war.

The test of the new law, which was passed in May, is scheduled to take place at a Bethlehem court where the charges were filed against a man suspected of smuggling in goods made in one of the Jewish communities. The unidentified man was reportedly caught entering Bethlehem with banned wood products. He was detained until his trial, according to the Ma’an News Agency.

Window of opportunity for two-state solution closing, Hague warns Israel

William Hague warned today that the window of opportunity for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was closing and failure by the two parties to reach agreement would be a "serious setback".

Speaking at the end of a two-day visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories, after visiting Jerusalem's Holocaust memorial, Yad Vashem, the foreign secretary urged Israel to renew its freeze on settlement construction to allow direct talks between the two parties to resume.

Key US panel chief candidate is pro-Israel

EW YORK // Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, the likely head of the foreign affairs committee in the House of Representatives, has taken some conservative Republican stances on the Middle East and the Muslim world in the decades since she became the first Cuban-American to be elected as a congresswoman in 1989.

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