May 7, 2012

Middle East News: World Press Roundup

NEWS: PM Netanyahu calls for early elections on September 4, in which he is expected to be returned to office. Palestinian journalists are fighting back against PA moves to censor them in the West Bank. Palestinian refugees reconnect with their families through Facebook. Israel's Supreme Court seems unsympathetic to government requests to delay the court-ordered demolition of a large “unauthorized” settlement outpost. The High Court also denies appeals for release by two hunger-striking Palestinian prisoners being held without charge, as the protest action becomes more widespread. Israel's internal security force recommends the demolition of the homes of two Palestinians convicted of murder. A Fatah official says PM Fayyad will likely remain prime minister even if there is a cabinet reshuffle. Israeli soldiers testify they threw stones at other occupation forces while posing as Palestinians during protests in the West Bank. Palestinian policewomen are breaking gender stereotypes. Pres. Abbas is reportedly trying to recover PLO intelligence documents from the Arafat era from Tunis. Fatah officials say the latest reconciliation talks with Hamas in Cairo yielded no results. COMMENTARY: Ben Birnbaum profiles Fayyad. Akiva Eldar says Pres. Obama's rhetoric will help Netanyahu get reelected in September. Smadar Shir says releasing a conspirator in the assassination of the late PM Rabin invites the next assassination. Uri Avnery says there is a virtual uprising of former military and security officials against Netanyahu, but he'll probably be reelected anyway. Libby Lenkinski says even if Palestinian prisoners under “administrative detention” were to get Israel's occupation version of “due process,” they wouldn't get fair trials anyway. Shay Fogelman says Israel should agree to the prisoners' demands and end “administrative detention.” Yossi Alpher says neither the Israelis nor the Palestinian leaderships seem to have a viable strategy for moving forward. Ghassan Khatib says all those who care about the future of Jerusalem and a two-state solution must act.

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Netanyahu Calls for Early Elections in Israel

JERUSALEM — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu [7] of Israel [8] on Sunday called for early elections, vowing to win a “renewed mandate” and “form the broadest government that is possible&r

Arab Spring Spurs Palestinian Journalists to Test Free Speech Limits

RAMALLAH, West Bank — Yousef Shayeb, 37, a Palestinian [10] journalist from Ramallah, published an article in a Jordanian newspaper this year charging officials at the Palestinian diplomatic mission in Paris with corruption and espionage. In an interview here last week, he said that he had imagined people might thank him for his exposé.

Palestine's exiles find family bonds thru Facebook

As Jewish forces advanced on their village during the war that surrounded Israel's creation in 1948, the Palestinian Faour family piled children and belongings into donkey carts and fled, hoping to return home when the fighting stopped.

Only some of them got back, and the family is still divided. Some are in the Lebanese city of Sidon as stateless refugees. Others are 80 kilometers (50 miles) away as Israeli citizens in their village of Shaab, across a fenced and hostile border.

Israeli Supreme Court questions demolition delay

JERUSALEM — The Israeli Supreme Court has reacted coolly to a government request to delay the demolition of an illegal West Bank settler outpost.

The state agreed to raze the five buildings by May 1 after it acknowledged they were built on private Palestinian land. But it put off the deadline by asking the court to reopen the case.

The government is under pressure from settlers who insist the construction was legal. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's governing coalition is sympathetic to the settlers.

Israeli court rules against Palestinian hunger strikers

RAMALLAH, WEST BANK May 7 (Reuters) - Israel's Supreme Court turned down on Monday an appeal by two Palestinians, who have been on hunger strike for the past 70 days, to free them from detention without trial.

But in its decision, released by the Justice Ministry, the court said security authorities should consider freeing them for medical reasons.

Hunger intifada? Palestinian prisoners wield new-old tool against Israel.

As many as 2,000 Palestinian prisoners – nearly half of the 4,500 Palestinians currently in Israeli jails – have launched a mass hunger strike that is gaining momentum and putting pressure on Israel [15] to review prisoner demands.

Israel considering razing homes of Palestinian convicts

JERUSALEM, May 6 (Xinhua) -- Israel's Shin Bet internal security agency has recommended to the defense ministry the demolition of the homes of two Palestinians convicted of murder in a West Bank settlement a year ago, The Jerusalem Post reported on Sunday.

On March 11, 2011, Amjad Awwad, 19, and his cousin, Hakim Mazen Awwad, 18, broke into the Fogel family's house in Itamar settlement southeast of Nablus and killed the sleeping husband and wife and their three children.

Fatah official: Fayyad will keep PM post after reshuffle

BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) -- Fatah official Azzam al-Ahmad said Sunday that current Palestinian Authority premier Salam Fayyad is certain to remain head of the government after the coming ministerial reshuffle.

President Mahmoud Abbas is expected to announce the new cabinet by Tuesday, his adviser said earlier.

Al-Ahmad confirmed earlier reports that Fayyad will keep the prime ministerial post. He cautioned about any discussion about elections, calling it "premature".

'Undercover Israeli combatants threw stones at IDF soldiers in West Bank'

Undercover soldiers hurled stones in the "general direction" of IDF soldiers as part of their activity to counter weekly demonstrations in the Palestinian village of Bil'in, the commander of the Israeli Prison Service's elite "Masada" unit revealed during his recent testimony in the trial of MK Mohammed Barakeh (Hadash).

Barakeh has been charged with assaulting a border guard in Bil'in who was attempting to arrest a demonstrator.

Palestinian policewomen break traditional stereotypes

It is rare to see women police officers on the streets in any part of the Arab world.

But in the Palestinian territories where civil police are themselves, a relatively new concept, concerted efforts are under way to bring more women into the force.

In Hebron, the West Bank's biggest city, there are now about 50 women among the 900 police officers deployed locally.

Their presence challenges stereotypes but it is traditional values that make it necessary.

The Battle for Arafat's Secret Archive

Piles of documents revealing the activities of Yasser Arafat, the iconic chairman of the Palestinian Authority, are presently held in Tunis. Sources familiar with the material say that the documents constitute true archival treasures, as they include fascinating information on the planning of attacks, funding sources of terror organizations and contacts with political and security figures in Israel. The current chairman of the PA, Mahmoud Abbas, is demanding to receive the documents.

Fatah says Cairo meetings with Hamas over reconciliation failed

The recent meetings with Hamas held in Cairo accomplished nothing toward Palestinian reconciliation, Fatah [22] central committee member Azzam al-Ahmed said Monday.

Egyptian officials and Hamas leaders held several meetings to consider ways to achieve reconciliation between Palestinian factions, Ahmed told the official Palestinian radio. Hamas has not yet responded.

The Visionary

If you were to pinpoint one moment when it looked as if things just might work out for Salam Fayyad, the Palestinian prime minister, it would probably be February 2, 2010. That day, Fayyad addressed the annual Herzliya Conference, a sort of Israeli version of Davos featuring high-powered policymakers and intellectuals. It is not a typical speaking venue for Palestinians; yet Fayyad was warmly received.

Netanyahu will win the elections, with Obama's help

Israel's upcoming elections will not be a referendum over destroying Iran's nuclear facilities. Yuval Diskin, the former head of the Shin Bet security service, is not the only person who claims that an Israeli attack will, at best, delay the development of an Iranian bomb by two years. Dennis Ross, who was a senior adviser to U.S. President Barack Obama, recently voiced a similar assessment and warned that a move like that would stiffen the ayatollahs' necks even more.

Green light to next killer

Had he said that he understands the gravity of his actions, had he expressed his remorse, and had he declared that the years behind bars taught him that violence isn’t the way to resolve problems and disagreements – maybe, just maybe, there would have been a reason to consider whether Hagai Amir’s [26] release was the appropriate move.

A putsch against war

Generals and secret police chiefs get together for an attack on the politicians. In some countries, they arrest the president, occupy government offices and TV stations and annul the constitution. They then publish “Communiqué No. 1,” explaining the dire need to save the nation from perdition and promising democracy, elections etc.

In other countries, they do it more quietly. They just inform the elected leaders that, if they don’t desist from their disastrous policies, the officers will make their views public and precipitate their downfall.

Habeas Corpus for Palestinians?