February 13, 2013

Middle East News: World Press Roundup

NEWS: Pres. Obama is managing expectations on US efforts to rekindle Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. Pres. Abbas welcomes the news of Obama's visit. Palestinian officials say Israel is continuing to withhold Palestinian tax revenues in contravention of long-standing agreements. Naftali Bennett, leader of the right-wing Jewish Home party, declares there can never be a Palestinian state in the "God-given" Land of Israel. Stateless Palestinians are buying citizenships from struggling Caribbean islands. Israel condemns North Korea's latest nuclear test. A new poll finds most Arab citizens of Israel are opposed to compulsory national service. Mossad is reportedly still using the passports of immigrants to Israel for clandestine operations in spite of promises not to. Mystery and speculation surround reports about the death of an unidentified prisoner in Israeli custody. Palestinian officials say Abbas is going to issue decrees establishing a new unity government and ordering new elections. The Palestinian Election Commission says 70,000 have registered to vote in Gaza. Hamas says it's going to demolish 75 Palestinian homes it claims have been built on public land. Palestinian MKs in Israel say they're going to raise the question of hunger striking prisoners. Palestinians complain a new exhibit of Herod the Great artifacts in Israel were mostly looted from occupied Palestinian lands. Palestinian farmers from Gaza attend an agricultural conference in southern Israel. The UN says the war in Syria has complicated what was already an emergency situation for Palestinian refugees in Lebanon. COMMENTARY: David Keyes says Abbas and the PA are cracking down on dissent in an unacceptable manner. The Media Line interviews Nour Odeh, Director of the Palestinian Government Media Center. Bernard Avishai says Obama must take expectations about an intervention on peace seriously. Steven Cook argues there's almost nothing from Israel or the Palestinians for Sec. Kerry to work with. Akiva Eldar insists the Israeli-Palestinian conflict cannot be managed, but must be resolved. Daniel Nisman says Israel's military strike against a target in Syria shows its strategic strength. Dmitry Shumsky says the Holocaust is being exploited to make the case that Israel has the right to deny self-determination to the Palestinians. Hillel Halkin says there is no reason to think Jewish settlements couldn't remain in a Palestinian state. Mira Sucharov describes what happens when a liberal Zionist watches the new film "5 Broken Cameras." Atef Abu Saif says Palestinians desperately need a new strategy and vision. Gershom Gorenberg says Judith Butler gets so many of her facts wrong it's impossible to take her intervention on Israel and the Palestinians seriously. Robert Blecher says the international community should focus on immediate needs in Jerusalem, rather than its long-term future. The Jerusalem Post thinks that in Syria "an Alawite-Shi’ite victory is not necessary [sic] the worst scenario for Israel."

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State of the Union 2013: Obama's Israel expectations game

President Barack Obama’s domestic audience isn’t much interested in foreign policy Tuesday night - and if they are, it’s more about Iran and now North Korea than the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

But his global audience is eager for him to dive back in to an issue that Europeans and many moderate Arab leaders see as a rallying cry for extremism and anti-American sentiment.

Their biggest worry: they see any hope for peace slipping away.

Palestinian president welcomes Obama's visit to Mideast

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas welcomed on Tuesday a planned visit by U.S. President Barack Obama to the Middle East region slated for next month.

"We welcome this important visit for Obama, and also the U.S. efforts to break the ice in the peace process between the Palestinians and Israel," Abbas said following a meeting held here with U.S. Consul General Michael Ratney in Jerusalem.

PA official: Israel continues to withhold tax revenue

Israel is still withholding Palestinian tax revenue breaching the 2004 Paris agreement, an official in the Palestinian Ministry of Finance said Tuesday.

Spokesman Rami Mahdawi told Ma'an that the ongoing breach "confirms that Israel is going on with its piracy on Palestinian money."

'No place in Israel for Palestine,' says Naftali Bennett in maiden Knesset speech

In his first address to the Knesset, Habayit Hayehudi leader Naftali Bennett on Tuesday rejected any possibility of an agreement that would lead to the creation of a Palestinian state alongside Israel.

"There's no place in our small and stunning piece of God's country for another state," he said. "It won't happen. But friends, before any debate about territory, it must be said: The Land of Israel belongs to the people of Israel. Now let's argue."

Bennett also referred to his commitment to making the defense burden more equitable.

Struggling Caribbean islands selling citizenship

Hadi Mezawi has never set foot on the Caribbean island of Dominica, has never seen its rainforests or black-sand beaches. But he's one of its newest citizens.

Without leaving his home in the United Arab Emirates, the Palestinian man recently received a brand new Dominican passport after sending a roughly $100,000 contribution to the tropical nation half a world away.

Israel urges swift response to North Korea nuclear test

Israel said on Tuesday that the international community must make clear to North Korea after its latest nuclear test that such activities cannot be tolerated.

In a statement, the Foreign Ministry said the test, North Korea's third in defiance of U.N. resolutions, and a ballistic missile launch in December raised "grave concerns" about proliferation of nuclear and ballistic technologies.

Poll: 71.5% of young Israeli Arabs oppose national service

More than 70 percent of Israeli Arabs between 16 and 22 who have heard of the national service project oppose taking part, according to a survey by the Mada al-Carmel Arab Center for Applied Social Research.

The poll comes out as efforts increase to get more ultra-Orthodox Israeli Jews to do army service, and more Israeli Arabs to do national service.

Does the Mossad still use the passports of immigrants to Israel?

Despite repeated promises by the Israeli government that the Mossad will cease to use the passports and identities of citizens of foreign countries, it seems that the practice has continued in recent years. Among countries involved have been Australia, Britain, France and Germany.

Australia to Investigate Suspected Spy’s Death in Israeli Prison

Australia [15]’s foreign minister on Wednesday ordered an investigation into his government’s handling of the 2010 detention and death of an Australian immigrant to Israel [16] who was known as Prisoner X and may have b

Abbas to issue decrees on elections, unity govt

President Mahmoud Abbas will issue decrees announcing elections and declaring a new unity government, a senior Fatah official said Tuesday.

At a news conference in Ramallah, Azzam al-Ahmad said the two decrees would be issued at the same time.

Abbas has already started consultations to form a unity government of technocrats, which will be sworn when the Central Elections Commission finishing updated the voter registry, by the end of March, al-Azzam told reporters.

Election body: 70,000 register to vote in Gaza

Around 70,000 people have registered to vote in the Gaza Strip since the Central Elections Commission began updating the electoral roll two days ago, a statement from the group said Wednesday.

Some 257 registration centers will be open for one week to update the electoral roll in the Gaza Strip, with an estimated 350,000 unregistered eligible voters living in Gaza.

The roll has not been updated in Gaza since Jan. 2005 and the operation of the CEC in Gaza is seen as a boost to reconciliation efforts between Fatah and Hamas.

Hamas to demolish 75 houses built on public lands

Members of the Abu Amrah family in Gaza City demonstrated Tuesday in front of offices of the Palestinian Legislative Council protesting a decision by the Hamas-run government to demolish 75 houses belonging to the family in the al-Rimal neighborhood.

The government says it decided to demolish the houses because they were illegally built on public lands. The demolition is scheduled to be conducted Wednesday morning.

Arab MK to raise issue of prison hunger strikes

MK Jamal Zahalka (Balad) is trying to internationalize the Palestinian-Israeli conflict by seeking help from the UN and other countries with regards to the release of four Palestinian prisoners on a hunger strike in Israeli jails, he told The Jerusalem Post this week.

Zahalka has written a letter to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

Last week he sent a letter to Egypt’s President Mohamed Morsi via the Egyptian Embassy in Israel.

"Herod the Great" show in Israel angers Palestinians

The Israel [22] Museum in Jerusalem on Tuesday unveiled a display dedicated to Herod - branded a baby-killer in the Christian tradition but remembered by many in Israel for rebuilding the Jewish Temple two millennia ago.

Gazan farmers attend Israeli meet

More than 50 Palestinian farmers attended a conference in southern Israel aimed at supporting Gaza [24]'s agricultural sector, the Israeli army said.

Last month's conference introduced participants to new technologies and developments that will enter the market this year, Lt. Col. Avi Shalev, head of the Economic Branch of the Gaza Coordination and Liaison Administration said.

Palestinian refugees’ hardships intensify

The war in Syria has compounded what was already an emergency situation for Palestinian refugees in Lebanon, UNRWA’s top official in the country said Tuesday.

Veteran diplomat Ann Dismorr took up the position of director of UNRWA affairs last October, when only a few thousand Palestinian refugees had fled Syria for Lebanon. Since then, as violence hit the area in and around Damascus and broke into Yarmouk – Syria’s largest camp – the number of Palestinians crossing the border has soared.

Palestine’s Democratic Deficit

LAST week, a 26-year-old Palestinian activist, Anas Awwad, was sentenced [27] in absentia by a court in Nablus, the West Bank, to one year in prison for “extending his tongue” against the Palestinian Authority’s president,