April 23, 2008

Middle East News: World Press Roundup

Fuel begins flowing to Gaza (1) as the United Nations warns of the effects of collective punishment (10). Reuter’s Jeffrey Heller analyzes the effect of accused spy Ben-Ami Kadish on U.S. Israeli relations (4). The Associated Press previews Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ upcoming visit to the United States (5). In Haaretz, Uzi Benziman points out the critical nature of U.S./Palestinian talks(11).

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American Accused Of Spying For Israel In 1980s

Federal authorities arrested an 84-year-old former Army engineer Tuesday on charges of passing American military secrets to an Israeli agent in the 1980s, accusations that suggest that one of the most famous spy cases in U.S. history may have been more widespread than previously known.

Middle East Talks In Moscow Get Scant Support

A planned follow-up to November's highly-touted Middle East peace conference in Annapolis will likely be postponed or even canceled because of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' reluctance to take part, Western and Palestinian diplomats said yesterday.

The diplomats said Mr. Abbas, who meets with President Bush at the White House tomorrow, is doubtful that anything of value would be accomplished at the conference, set to take place in Moscow in June.

Israel Braces For Fallout From U.s. Spy Case

Israel was tightlipped on Wednesday over the arrest in the United States of an 84-year-old American suspected of providing it with U.S. military secrets in the 1980s, a new case that has opened old wounds.

"We received an official update from the Americans. We are following the developments," Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Arye Mekel said, a day after suspect Ben-Ami Kadish made an initial appearance in a federal court in New York.

Abbas To Ask Bush To Jump Start Mideast Peace Talks

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will call for urgent international action to jump start Middle East peace talks when he meets US leader George W. Bush this week, a senior Palestinian official said on Wednesday.

Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad Al Maliki said Israel and Palestine last year agreed to try to reach a peace deal in 2008 and international pressure is needed if both sides are to meet objectives on the way to that goal.

Why Palestinian Unity Is Not An Option

Just days after the Hamas-Fateh clash last June in Gaza, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas looked firm and composed as he shook hands with members of his new emergency government. He made sure his move appeared as legitimate as possible, issuing decrees that outlawed the armed militias of Hamas, and also suspended consequential clauses in the Palestinian Basic Law, which had thus far served as a constitution.

The Basic Law stipulates that the Palestinian parliament must approve of any government for it to be constitutional.

Israeli Restrictions Behind ‘modest’ Jordan-pa Trade

Stringent Israeli restrictions have hindered Jordan-Palestine efforts to increase trade volume, officials from the two sides said on Tuesday.

"Strict Israeli measures are impeding the flow of goods between the two countries because Israel is trying to control the Palestinian economy," Jawad Naji, an adviser to Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, said.

In His Death, A Truth Was Told

One week ago, in yet another Israeli offensive into the Gaza Strip which claimed 21 Palestinians in a day, Reuters photographer Fadel Shana lost his life. According to media reports, the 23-year old cameraman was filming invading Israeli tanks in Gaza City when he stepped out of his van, clearly marked with the word “press”, and was hit by the same tank’s fire. Later photos showed Shana’s blood-soaked flack jacket and his burning van as fellow Palestinians hovered over the young man’s lifeless body.

Gaza Siege Taxes Sick And Wounded

The Israeli Physicians for Human Rights organization accused the Israeli domestic intelligence agency, the Shin Bet, this week of deliberately delaying the entrance of critically ill Gazans into Israel for urgent medical treatment. The group added that the number of cases rejected was also rising.

The human rights organization said that 32 Palestinians had died while awaiting entry permits for treatment in Israel since October 2007 and added that the Shin Bet had no reason to classify the patients as "security risks" and deny them entry into Israel.

Un: Collective Punishment Of Gazans Has Failed

A United Nations envoy warned Wednesday against a deterioration in the humanitarian situation in Gaza. In a joint press conference with the head of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNWRA), Robert Serry said that Israel should stop punishing the population, while Hamas must stop targeting Gaza border crossings.

He called on Israel to restore fuel supplies to Gaza, and to allow the passage of humanitarian assistance and commercial supplies, sufficient to allow the functioning of all basic services and for Palestinians to live their daily lives.

A Dissipating Agreement

This week Defense Minister Ehud Barak promised that "when the time comes," Hamas will pay for its aggression; two years ago, Prime Minister-elect Ehud Olmert promised that Israel will be a country that is "fun to live in"; during the Second Lebanon War, the government promised a "strong home front"; during last week's interviews granted on the eve of the holiday, Olmert promised that "Iran will never go nuclear"; the diplomatic and security effort this government is focused on these days is meant to secure a tahdiyeh (lull) in the South during the com

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