November 13, 2007

Middle East News: World Press Roundup

A Washington Post opinion by Columbia professor Rashid Khalidi takes issue with U.S. Mideast policy based on military power, urging instead a more focused and politically calibrated approach (2.) The Jewish Telegraphic Agency reports on the growing skepticism within the organized Jewish American community over the Annapolis meeting facing Secretary of State Rice as she prepares to address the General Assembly of the United Jewish Communities (4.) Newsweek interviews Saudi foreign minister Saud Al-Faisal about the challenges facing the Middle East (5.) In the Jewish Quarterly (UK) Times correspondent and author Adam LeBor reflects on Israel at peace with its neighbors as the state approaches sixty years of existence (7.) BBC(UK) takes a look at how the violence in Gaza yesterday that led to the shooting deaths of 7 Fatah supporters is symptomatic of the increasing political Palestinian divisions (8.) An editorial in the Arab News (Saudi Arabia) is critical of Hamas for the recent Gaza bloodshed (10.) A Miftah (Palestine) editorial examines the internal challenges that would face the Israeli government should the Annapolis meeting be a successful one for both sides (11.) A Jerusalem Post (Israel) opinion by Peres Center for Peace president Uri Savir spells out what he believes Palestinians must do for the Annapolis meeting to be successful (13.)

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Editorial: Black Mark On Hamas

The death of at least six people at a rally in Gaza organized by Fatah to mark the third anniversary of Yasser Arafat’s death is a black mark against Hamas. It could well prove fatal for the movement. There was no reason for Hamas security forces to open fire on the crowd — other than, of course, the fact they could not stomach the fact that hundreds of thousands of Palestinians had gathered in the center of Gaza, waving Fatah flags and carrying pictures of the late Palestinian leader. A more potent sign of Hamas losing the support of Gazans could hardly be imagined.

Adam Lebor Looks Forward To Israel’s Sixtieth Birthday

Sitting in a cafe on Shenkin street in Tel Aviv, reading the letters page of the Jerusalem Post, I much enjoyed an exchange between two American Zionist machers. M. J. Rosenberg, of the doveish Israel Policy Forum, opined that a true Zionist lives in Tel Aviv.

Arafat Remembered: 'hamas Threw Sound Grenades And Then I Got Shot In The Back'

At least seven Palestinians were shot dead and scores more were injured yesterday as Hamas forces opened fire during a rally in Gaza City organised by the rival Fatah movement to commemorate the anniversary of Yasser Arafat's death

Three years after the former president died in a Paris hospital – and almost six months after Hamas's bloody takeover of Gaza – an estimated 200,000 to 250,000 people took part in one of the largest political rallies held in the Palestinian territories in recent memory.

Hamas Cracks Down On Fatah After Gaza Rally Bloodshed

Hamas rounded up dozens of Fatah activists in the Islamist-ruled Gaza Strip after its secular rival drew more than 200,000 supporters to a rally that ended in gunfire that killed seven people, officials said on Tuesday.

The assembly on Monday, marking the third anniversary of the death of iconic Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, was the biggest held by President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah group in Gaza since Hamas Islamists seized the territory by force in June.

In The Mideast, America Casts An Imperial Shadow

Most Americans think that our role as a world power began with World War II, the "good war," and then continued with the similarly noble Cold War. We like to think that the United States acts in the world exclusively in the name of ideals such as freedom and democracy.

6 Killed In Gaza As Hamas Forces Disperse Huge Fatah Rally Held In Memory Of Arafat

 Hamas militiamen on Monday violently dispersed a massive rally organized in the Gaza Strip by the rival Fatah movement. Six people were killed and 75 wounded, Palestinian officials said.

Fatah officials accused security forces controlled by Hamas, a radical Islamic movement, of committing a massacre against an unarmed crowd that was marking the third anniversary of the death of longtime Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.

Analysis: Hamas Losing Grip On Gaza, Fatah Gaining Support

The Hamas gunmen who sought to disperse the crowd at the rally Monday in Gaza marking the third anniversary of the death of Yasser Arafat did not use rubber-coated bullets or tear gas; they simply opened fire on the crowd, leaving seven dead and dozens injured. In so doing, they added to the pressure under which the Islamic organization is laboring five months after it took over the Gaza Strip from Fatah forces.

What The Palestinians Must Do

It is essential that the impending regional meeting in Annapolis be successful. Failure at Annapolis would translate into a victory for the extremist elements in Israel, Palestine and throughout the region. Without success at Annapolis the next phase of the Palestinian-Israeli relationship will find a far less forthcoming Israeli government squaring off against an implacable Hamas.

Economic Woes Behind New Unrest In Gaza

The backdrop to the latest explosion of violence in the Gaza Strip: skeletons of unfinished apartment towers, shuttered factories, empty store shelves and skyrocketing prices for bread and cigarettes.

Five months of rule by the Islamic militants of Hamas and isolation from the world have taken a heavy toll on the already impoverished territory, and frustration over the hardship helped drive this week's mass rally by the rival Fatah movement that ended in mayhem.

Rice: Israeli-palestinian Talks Needed To Repel Iran's Influence

Facing mounting skepticism over the upcoming U.S.-led, Israeli-Palestinian peace summit, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told a massive gathering of Jews here that progress toward a two-state solution is vital to confronting Iran.

"What is at stake is nothing less than the future of the Middle East," Rice said Tuesday during an address to delegates at this week’s General Assembly of the United Jewish Communities.

On-the-spot: 'i Was Arrested By Hamas'

Today I was detained while watching a demonstration by female students Beit Hanoun, in the northern Gaza Strip.

They had gone on strike at noon in protest against the killings in the rally yesterday, and they had made their way to a nearby police station where they were singing and chanting. In particular, they yelled: 'Shia, Shia, Shia,' which is a reference to Hamas being funded by Iran.

Within a few minutes, baton-wielding police laid into the girls. Some fell to the ground, but most ran away.

Asharq Al-awsat Interviews Mahmud Abbas

[Asharq Al-Awsat] Following your meeting with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, you spoke with a sign of optimism. Was there a breakthrough that you did not disclose?

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