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NEWS: Sec. Kerry is making his first trip to Europe and the Middle East, but will not visit Israel. Tzipi Livni will reportedly serve as Justice Minister in the next Netanyahu cabinet, and may be put in charge of negotiations with Palestinians. Palestinian prisoners stage a one-day hunger strike in solidarity with more long-term hunger strikers Residents of a Palestinian village accuse Israeli occupation authorities of systematic harassment.Israel informs the PA of new facilities for the transfer of commercial goods into Gaza. Israel releases part of its internal report into the death of "Prisoner X." The Palestinian co-director of the Oscar-nominated film "5 Broken Cameras" is reportedly detained at Los Angeles Airport on his way to the Academy Awards. Egypt is reportedly brokering talks between Hamas and Israel on humanitarian issues. Pres. Abbas meets Pres. Al-Hadi in a visit to Yemen. The American Israel Public Affairs Committee appoints Arne Christenson as managing director for policy and politics.
COMMENTARY: Nahum Barnea says Livni had no choice but to join the Netanyahu coalition. Yossi Verter says as long as Netanyahu is Prime Minister, Livni will have to deal with the Palestinians his way. Ben Caspit says, as long as there is a conflict, Israeli military censorship is a necessary evil. Amira Hass says Israeli military law treats Palestinians living under occupation as guilty until proven innocent. Ha'aretz says the arrest of 14 Palestinians who had been released as part of the Shalit deal is draconian. Gil Troy says people should stop using the terms "pro-" and "anti-" Israel so casually. Ahmed Othman says Pres. Obama is avoiding the Palestinian issue, in part because the Palestinians are so divided. Hazem Saghieh says those who talk about "the road to Palestine" being through some other Arab agenda are cynical exploiters of the issue. Rami Khouri says Obama and Kerry should listen carefully to the Arabs, especially on Palestine. Issandr El Amrani looks at Egypt's dilemma over Gaza.
[5]
Hundreds of Palestinian [10] security prisoners in Israeli jails refused meals on Tuesday in solidarity with four hunger-striking detainees, and supporters held protests in the
Article Author(s):
Nir Hasson
Michael Moore, the American film director, sent a message Wednesday on his Twitter social networking account saying that the Palestinian co-director of the film "5 Broken Cameras," Emad Burnat, had been detained early Wednesday morning by U.S. immigration officials at Los Angeles International Airport after arriving at the airport overnight.
For the second time in a week, Israeli security officials visited Cairo for talks with Egyptian officials focusing on the ceasefire brokered by Egypt last year between Israel and the Palestinian factions operating in the Gaza Strip.
A high-level Hamas official told Ma’an that the ongoing Egypt-brokered negotiations between Israel and the Islamist movement do not address “political issues but rather pure humanitarian issues.”
President Mahmoud Abbas met his Yemeni counterpart Abd al-Rab Mansur al-Hadi on Tuesday in Sanaa, Palestinian Authority media reported.
Abbas discussed bilateral relations, Palestinian reconciliation and Israeli attacks on the Palestinian people with the Yemeni president, state news agency Wafa reported.
Abbas, who is joined by his spokesman Nabil Abu Rdaineh, PA Foreign Minister Riyad al-Malki and diplomatic adviser Majdi al-Khalidi, also met with Yemen's foreign minister, Abu-Bakr Al-Qirbi.
The American Israel Public Affairs Committee appointed public affairs professional Arne Christenson as its managing director for policy and politics.
Netanyahu is letting people board his bus first through the back door: Tzipi Livni [19] is the first one to board. The second will be Shaul Mofaz. Then the front door will open and Shas and United Torah Judaism will be invited in. Netanyahu [20] hopes that by then Labor will be convinced to board as well.
Tzipi Livni is no less trustworthy or cynical than other politicians who broke their word, bent over backwards, put away away their slogans and election speeches and galloped into the arms of the one they had described as the mother of all sin.
The affair of “Prisoner X [23],” otherwise known as Israeli Mossad agent Ben Zygier, raises anew the issue of censorship [24], freedom of speech and media coverage in Israel. Well, I am not the bearer of glad tidings.
The High Court of Justice will debate today a petition dealing with Ayman Sharawna, one of the prisoners released in Shalit deal, who was also the first to be re-arrested in January 2012. In fact, the High Court is being requested today to act to neutralize yet another yet another act of sabotage and erosion of principles of fair process by military law.
Fourteen Palestinians freed in the Gilad Shalit deal were arrested by the IDF and Shin Bet security service. Amira Hass reported on Sunday in Haaretz that five of them might serve from 16 to 28 years in prison due to secret or negligible offenses they are accused of committing after their release. This revolving door system is not only inhuman in itself, it also undermines the agreements Israel signed and will make future deals much harder to achieve.
As preparations for President Barack Obama’s first presidential visit to Israel proceed, we need some conceptual and linguistic groundwork, not just the usual itinerary generating, security planning and soporific statement-drafting. For too long, the debate about American-Israeli relations has been too polarizing. Let’s silence the sky-is-falling cries proclaiming crisis and predicting disaster.
In his latest State of the Union address, the US President did not utter the word Palestine or mention the Palestinian cause even once. Furthermore, Barack Obama, who has decided to visit Israel, the West Bank and Jordan next month, has no intention of visiting any major Arab capital or talking about an issue the Arabs have long considered their pivotal cause.
There has always been a “road to Palestine,” which of course does not lead to it or even actually pass through it. This road was always in demand for purposes that have to do with things like diverting attention away from actual problems in a given country; to cover up relationships and ties meant to remain concealed; or to deceive the people of the region, particularly the Palestinian people, and gain cheap popularity at their expense.
It was inevitable that the announcement of U.S. President Barack Obama’s visit to the Middle East in mid-March would trigger expectations of new proposals for restarting Palestinian-Israeli peace talks. This visit, coupled with John Kerry’s appointment as secretary of state and the start of Obama’s second term, heightens speculation about what, if anything, the United States might do to prod the parties toward fresh negotiations.
The Egyptian military’s recent flooding [32] of tunnels at the border between Egypt and Gaza is its most aggressive attempt yet to restrict smuggling since Israel imposed a blockade on the Palestinian territory in 2005. Sewage water is reportedly being used to weaken the tunnels’ structure, sometimes trapping smugglers inside.
Links:
[1] http://www.americantaskforce.org/print/30428
[2] http://www.americantaskforce.org/printmail/30428
[3] http://www.americantaskforce.org/printpdf/30428
[4] http://www.americantaskforce.org/rss/wpr
[5] http://www.americantaskforce.org/sites/default/files/donatefin.jpg
[6] http://www.statesman.com/ap/ap/top-news/kerry-1st-trip-to-europe-mideast-no-israel-stop/nWSdR/
[7] http://www.statesman.com/ap/ap/top-news/former-fm-livni-first-to-join-netanyahu-government/nWSbM/
[8] http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2013-02/20/c_132179095.htm
[9] http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/20/world/middleeast/palestinian-prisoners-refuse-meals-to-support-4-hunger-strikers.html?ref=middleeast
[10] http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/p/palestinians/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier
[11] http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countries</p
[12] http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2013-02/20/c_132179108.htm
[13] http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/20/world/middleeast/israel-releases-part-of-report-on-prisoner-xs-death.html?adxnnl=1&ref=middleeast&adxnnlx=1361376255-DHZ2q9XwTruzrC4eZsCu3A
[14] http://www.haaretz.com/culture/arts-leisure/palestinian-co-director-of-5-broken-cameras-reportedly-detained-at-los-angeles-airport.premium-1.504708
[15] http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=566990
[16] http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=566842
[17] http://www.jta.org/news/article/2013/02/19/3119951/arne-christenson-to-manage-policy-and-politics-at-aipac
[18] http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4347254,00.html
[19] http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4347209,00.html
[20] http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4345460,00.html
[21] http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/as-long-as-netanyahu-is-pm-livni-will-have-to-deal-with-the-palestinians-his-way.premium-1.504603
[22] http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2013/02/the-merits-of-censorship-in-a-country-fighting-for-its-exist.html
[23] http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2013/02/ben-zygier-palestinian-prisoners-israel.html
[24] http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/israel-s-censorship-laws-shine-a-spotlight-instead-of-hushing-up-the-blunder.premium-1.503186
[25] http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/guilty-until-proven-innocent.premium-1.504698
[26] http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/draconian-arrests-of-palestinians-1.504612
[27] http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Columnists/Article.aspx?id=303837
[28] http://www.asharq-e.com/news.asp?section=2&id=32947
[29] http://alhayat.com/Details/484753
[30] http://www.dailystar.com.lb/Opinion/Columnist/2013/Feb-20/207139-obama-and-kerry-should-listen-very-hard.ashx#axzz2LRY43cjh
[31] http://latitude.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/02/20/tunnel-vision/
[32] http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/02/18/us-palestinians-tunnels-idUSBRE91H04X20130218
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