June 1, 2011

Middle East News: World Press Roundup

Tensions emerge as the Gaza-Egypt border is opened. PM Fayyad says donor aid has not been delivered, and that the PA is running at a $1 billion deficit. An Israeli human rights group says Palestinians face violence from occupation forces in East Jerusalem. Hamas opens a memorial to flotilla activists, and prevents a youth conference in Gaza. Carlo Strenger says Israelis rely on myths. PM Netanyahu says Israel will expand its hold on Jerusalem. Palestinians are subjected to stone-throwing in East Jerusalem. Kenneth Bandler says Palestinians raising refugee rights "takes some gall." Avi Perry says Netanyahu was right to rebuff Obama. Nahum Barnea warns Netanyahu against arrogance. Jill Jacobs says Jews must recognize discrimination against Palestinians in Jerusalem. Bilal Hassen says Arabs and Israelis are approaching a new state of war. Christopher Hill says the peace process must be revived.

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Scores at Rafah spark tension with Egypt

An escalated crisis between Egypt and the Hamas government of the Gaza Strip was dampened Tuesday night, as officials met over ways to handle the flood of Palestinians seeking to cross the Rafah border terminal.

Following the May 28 opening of the Gaza-Egypt border, for almost unfettered access to Palestinians except men between 18-40, floods of would-be travelers arrived prepared to cross, overwhelming the terminal.

Fayyad: Promised donor aid not arriving

The Palestinian Authority is facing a financial crisis because funds pledged by donor nations are not arriving on time, Prime Minister of the West Bank government Salam Fayyad said Tuesday.

Speaking at a press conference with Japan's representative to the Palestinian Authority, Fayyad said the slow delivery of promised aid was putting pressure on the government.

"The financial crisis continues until now, to varying degrees, and has continued alongside the work of the Palestinian Authority since mid-2010," Fayyad warned, saying the government was facing a serious shortfall.

East Jerusalem residents face police violence

An Israeli rights group on Tuesday called on Jerusalem's new police chief to "fundamentally change" what it said was his officers' violent treatment towards the city's Palestinian residents.

In a report timed to coincide with the anniversary of Israel's 1967 occupation of east Jerusalem, the Association for Civil Rights in Israel said that over the past two years it had received a rising number of complaints and mounting evidence of abuses suffered by Palestinian residents.

"Residents do not view the Jerusalem District Police as a body meant to serve and protect them," the report says.

Hamas opens memorial to dead flotilla activists

The Islamic militant group Hamas has unveiled a memorial for nine activists killed last year in an Israeli raid on an international flotilla seeking to break a blockade of the Gaza Strip.

The memorial at Gaza's harbor includes nine 12-yard-(meter)-high metal statues shaped as sails, and a new public park.

Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh said Tuesday the memorial commemorates "the heroes who drew the world's attention to the siege of Gaza."

Fayyad says PNA's deficit nearly 1 bln USD

The Palestinian National Authority (PNA) needs nearly one billion U.S. dollars to cover shortage in its budget, Prime Minister Salam Fayyad said Tuesday.

His remarks came as Germany pledged to pay 42 million euros (60 million dollars) in support of the PNA over the next year.

Also on Tuesday, the PNA and the European Union (EU) signed an agreement to support educational, health and development projects in East Jerusalem. According to the agreement, the EU will pay six million euros (8.6 million dollars) to implement these programs.

Hamas prevents youths from holding conference in Gaza

The Hamas police arrested two people on Tuesday and prevented a group of youths from holding a conference sponsored by the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) , witnesses said.

The conference was aimed at supporting a national agreement that Egypt brokered between Hamas and President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party.

Dozens of policemen surrounded the hall where the conference was scheduled to be held, prevented people from entering, "beat several organizers and arrested two of them," said Ibrahim Al- Shatali, one of the organizers.

The Israeli right's refusal to accept other versions of Zionism

There is an old saying that when an orator hits a weak point, he generally tries to shout. Noise is always an attempt to cover up the weakness of one's position. Israel’s right-wing has lately been stepping up its attempts to cover up the fact that it has no vision for Israel's future - that all it has in store for its citizens is further isolation and misery.

Netanyahu: Next year in a more built up Jerusalem

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated his uncompromising stance on a united Jerusalem Tuesday night, saying he plans to authorize more building in the capital, in a speech at Mercaz Harav Yeshiva in Jerusalem.

The prime minister spoke on the eve of Jerusalem Day that commemorates Israel's liberation of east Jerusalem in the 1967 Six Day War.

Mercaz Harav, an orthodox Yeshiva located in the Kiryat Moshe neighborhood of Jerusalem was the site of a terror attack in 2008 in which a Palestinian gunman killed eight students.

Policemen stoned in east Jerusalem

Five police officers and a civilian sustained mild injuries Tuesday, after protesters rioted in the east Jerusalem neighborhood of A-Tur and stoned them.

Molotov cocktails were also hurled at the officers, who responded by using crowd-control measures.

Five rioters were arrested. The officers and civilian were taken to a Jerusalem hospital for treatment.

Earlier Tuesday, the Association for Civil Rights in Israel published a report that noted an increase in Arab-security forces skirmishes in east Jerusalem over the past 18 months.

Making the refugees priority No. 1

Abbas has perfected the art of complaining, yet has not presented a vision for solving the refugee dilemma, one that would address legitimate Palestinian needs and Israeli concerns.

Two days before President Barack Obama delivered his Middle East policy address, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas revealed on The New York Times op-ed page that his core issue was not Israeli settlements. No, most vital for the Palestinian leader is fulfilling what he asserts is a Palestinian right to return to the homes and lands vacated during the first Arab-Israeli war.

Was Netanyahu right to rebuff Obama?

The humiliation of 1948 and the call to redeem lost honor is more exigent for the Palestinians than the call for a peace offensive. In this context, the PM had no choice but to dispel illusions in his speech to Congress.

In his latest speech to the American Congress, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu claimed that the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians has never been about the establishment of a Palestinian state. It has always been about the existence of the Jewish state.

On victory and arrogance

The Congress press gallery is situated above the podium. One cannot see the speaker’s face, only his or her head. Yet the faces of the listeners, that is, members of Congress, can certainly be seen. Their enthusiasm over Netanyahu’s speech was genuine and sweeping.

Op-Ed: We must talk about the two Jerusalems

NEW YORK (JTA) -- After my first visit to Israel, at age 6, I proudly toted my photo album to Hebrew school for show-and-tell. As the class crowded around a picture of the Kotel, my teacher marveled, “Look how blue the sky is!”

I squinted at the picture: The sky didn’t look any bluer than the sky in Framingham, Mass., where I grew up. But I believed her. Of course, the Jerusalem sky would be bluer than anywhere else in the world.

A Proclaimed State of War

If the popular marches towards the Palestinian border have brought the struggle against Israel to a new historical starting point, then Obama and Netanyahu's speeches in Washington, as well as before the American-Zionist AIPAC organization, have brought the entire region into an atmosphere of war.

Peace process and Arab Spring

President Barack Obama’s speech on the ongoing popular uprisings in the Middle East, followed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s recent visit to Washington, was intended to kick off a renewed effort to revive the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. Things are not turning out as planned.

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