8/9/2012

Middle East News: World Press Roundup

NEWS: Israel and Iran are engaged in a shadowy war of covert operations. Residents in one of Israel's southernmost communities were not far from the attack on Egyptian forces in Sinai, as militant forces are gaining strength there and Egypt moves to suppress them. Egypt asks Hamas to hand over three Hamas militants suspected of involvement in the attack. Officials say Egyptian-Israeli security cooperation is at a high point following the attack. Palestinians say Swiss experts have been invited to examine the body of the late Pres. Arafat to look for signs of poisoning, but the lab says it will only do that if it is guaranteed its findings won't be used for "political purposes." Shots are fired at the office of PM Fayyad in Ramallah. Fayyad condemns Israeli plans to evict 12 Palestinian shepherd communities to make way for military fire zones. The EU says it expects Israel to cancel all demolition orders in "Area C." Hamas objects to the idea of holding Palestinian elections before national reconciliation. Washington is reportedly continuing to pressure Palestinians to delay any renewed effort at greater UN recognition until after the upcoming US presidential election. COMMENTARY: Louis Frankentaler says torture need not be an integral part of Israel's occupation. Khaled Diab says Arab and Israeli women face common challenges. Sari Bashi says occupation, not culture, is holding back the Palestinian economy. Adel Al Toraifi says it's vital for Egypt's national interests that the country move quickly to restore order in Sinai. George Hishmeh says Israel is rapidly losing international support, especially in Europe. Gerard Horton says Palestinian children in Israeli detention must be treated justly. Abdallah Iskandar says the attack on Egyptian forces in Sinai is helping Israel clamp down on Palestinians.

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Plots Are Tied to Shadow War of Israel and Iran

These were just a few of what some Israeli and American intelligence officials say were nearly a dozen plots that form the backbone of a continuing offensive by Iran and Hezbollah against Israel and its allies abroad. But the links seem tenuous at times, the tactics variable, the targets scattered across the globe, from the Caucasus to Southeast Asia to the Mediterranean.

Near Miss for Kibbutz in Path of Sinai Incursion

Egypt and the Gaza Strip were just finishing a light supper in their dining hall on Sunday evening when text messages warned them to take cover.

In Egypt's chaotic Sinai, militants grow stronger

After decades of neglect and with the collapse of government authority the past 18 months, Egypt's Sinai Peninsula has become fertile ground for Islamic extremists. Militant groups have taken root, carrying out attacks against neighboring Israel and now turning their guns against Egypt's military as they vow to set up a puritanical Islamic state.

Egypt targets Islamist extremists in Sinai with helicopter gunships

Egyptian troops and helicopter gunships killed about 20 suspected Islamic extremists Wednesday after militants ambushed a string of army checkpoints overnight in the northern Sinai peninsula near the Israeli border, according to the government.

Egypt demands extradition of 3 Hamas militants over support for Sinai terrorists

Egyptian intelligence made a request to Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, using senior Hamas official Mahmoud al-Zahar as an intermediary, to extradite members of  the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’ paramilitary wing, according to an al-Quds newspaper report on Thursday.

A senior official informed the newspaper that the three militants provided indirect support to radical groups in Sinai, and are connected to weapons smuggling as well.

Israel-Egypt security cooperation at one of highest levels since peace deal, say officials on both sides

It might sound strange, but the current security coordination between Israel and Egypt is perhaps at the highest level it has been since the peace agreement was forged by the two nations.

During an age in which the Muslim Brotherhood controls both houses of Egyptian Parliament, and Mohammed Morsi, one of the moment’s leading figures in Egypt serves as president, the level of security cooperation between the two nations has undergone a significant upgrade, right under the nose of the Israeli and Egyptian publics.

Israel says Egypt shifting policy towards terror groups in Sinai

Israeli Defense Ministry's Diplomatic-Security Bureau chief Maj.-Gen. Amos Gilad on Wednesday said that Egypt's policy toward the threat of flourishing terror organizations in the Sinai Peninsula is turning after Sunday's attack.

Gilad told Israel Radio that he believes that Egypt is now trying to restore control in the area after 16 Egyptian guards were killed by militants on Sunday.

Swiss experts invited to conduct Arafat autopsy

Swiss experts have been invited to the West Bank to test Yasser Arafat's remains for possible poisoning, the chief investigator looking into the 2004 death of the Palestinian leader said Wednesday.

The announcement followed weeks of zigzagging on the autopsy issue by officials in the Palestinian Authority, the self-rule government that Arafat established. Their conflicting positions and hesitation triggered speculation they were trying to quietly kill the investigation.

Swiss lab wants guarantee in Arafat inquiry

A Swiss laboratory will help investigate the unexplained 2004 death of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat only if it receives guarantees its findings will not be used for political purposes, a spokesman for the lab said on Wednesday.

A committee looking into the Palestinian president's death has asked the Swiss Radiophysics Institute, which found traces of a deadly polonium isotope on Arafat's clothing provided by his widow for a recent Al Jazeera television documentary, to examine his remains.

Official: bullet hits Palestinian premier's office

A Palestinian government official says shots have been fired at the office of Prime Minister Salam Fayyad. No one was hurt.

The official says Fayyad was not in his office at sundown Wednesday when at least one bullet hit a building in his government compound.

The official says guards told him they heard several shots being fired in the air. It was not clear whether the shots were fired by gunmen on foot or in a car. The assailants escaped.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the incident with reporters.

Fayyad raps Israeli plan to evict Palestinian shepherds

An Israeli plan to evict 12 shepherd communities in the occupied West Bank to make way for army training zones was condemned by the Palestinian Authority premier on Wednesday as a move to depopulate Palestinian areas.

Israel has designated the area south of the city of Hebron as a closed military zone and asked for Supreme Court approval to move the residents to the nearby village of Yatta, where the Israeli Defense Ministry claims many of them have permanent homes.

EU: We expect Israel to cancel demolition orders for Palestinian villages in Area C of West Bank

The European Union is searching for new ways to express its opposition to Israeli policy in Area C of the West Bank, regions under Israeli security and civil control.

The EU's fundamental stance, opposing the non-development of the area for Palestinians, was underscored in conclusions forged by the EU's foreign affairs council during a meeting on May 14. Since that meeting, EU officials have discussed ways of translating this position into policy action.

Hamas rejects holding parliamentary elections in West Bank only

Islamic Hamas movement on Wednesday rejected a proposal of Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad to hold the Palestinian legislative council elections in the West Bank only.

Salah al-Bardaweel, a senior Hamas leader in Gaza, told Xinhua that any elections that are not held in both the West Bank and Gaza Strip "would devote to internal division and is against our national interests."

U.S. pushing Palestinians to delay U.N. bid until after elections

Washington is pressing the Palestinian leadership to delay a fresh bid to seek upgraded U.N. status until after the U.S. elections, a senior Palestinian official said Wednesday.

“There are pressures from the United States and some Arab parties to delay the voting until after the United States presidential elections, due in November,” Palestinian Liberation Organization Executive Committee member Saleh Raafat told Voice of Palestine radio.

Torture under occupation: Destiny or a surmountable obstacle?

It remains clear to even the most forgiving observer of Israeli behavior that the occupation involves the routine violation of international humanitarian law and international human rights law including torture and ill treatment.

Nearly sisters: Arab and Israeli women's common challenges

A photo of a presumed Israeli soldier exercising her right to bare arms [22] – and legs and midriff – with a machine gun slung casually over her shoulder has gone viral.

Occupation, Not 'Culture,' Holds Back Palestinians

As a Jew of Iraqi descent living in Israel, I was taught to take prideful note of the role that my ethnic group played in building the country.

”You see that bridge?” my uncle would ask me as we watched footage of a Tel Aviv sports event. “An Iraqi Jew built it.” And when the TV switched to a commercial for an appliance company, my uncle, who left Baghdad in 1943 at the age of 16, would say: “The owner of that company is Iraqi. Do you see how he built it from nothing?”

Neglecting Sinai

History shows us that disorder in Sinai spells trouble.

Israel is losing crucial support

The level of understanding in the international community is changing and both Romney and Netanyahu had better wake up and smell the coffee.

Imprisoned Palestinian Children Must Be Treated Justly

"UK ready to take on Israel over fate of children clapped in irons," read the headline in a leading UK newspaper the morning after the latest report on the treatment of Palestinian children held in military detention was released in London in June. The Foreign Office-funded report -- Children in Military Custody -- was written by a delegation of UK lawyers that included a former Attorney General and a judge of the Court of Appeal, following their visit to Israel and the West Bank last September.

Sinai Attacks Help Israel Clamp Down on Palestinians