Middle East News: World Press Roundup

The ongoing controversy between the US and Israel continues to dominate coverage: the New York Times sees an opportunity for the United States; Israel continues to refuse to reign in settlements; Tom Friedman says the US should support the PA state building agenda; Maureen Dowd says Iran is benefiting from the controversy; Sec. Clinton tones down administration rhetoric; the Quartet is meeting to discuss the matter; a Ha'aretz commentary asks whether Pres. Obama will seek to unseat PM Netanyahu and an editorial says he should agree to American demands; Netanyahu's brother-in-law calls Obama an "anti-Semite." More than 100 Palestinians are injured in West Bank violence, and the Christian Science Monitor says Iran sees an opportunity in the chaos. Israel lifts the closure of the West Bank. PLO secretary-general Yasser Abed Rabbo announces a major Palestinian conference on Jerusalem. General David Petraeus expresses concern that Israel's policies may be endangering US troops. The OIC accuses Israel of promoting a religious war. 13 human rights organizations petition on behalf of Palestinian mobility. Tensions emerge between US Jewish and Presbyterian leaders.

---

---

---

Opportunity in a Fight With Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Mark Landler - (Analysis) March 16, 2010 - 12:00am For President Obama, getting into a serious fight with Israel carries obvious domestic and foreign political risks. But it may offer the administration a payoff it sees as worthwhile: shoring up Mr. Obama’s credibility as a Middle East peacemaker by showing doubtful Israelis and Palestinians that he has the fortitude to push the two sides toward an agreement. » Read more

Israel Objects to U.S. Construction Demands ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Ethan Bronner - March 16, 2010 - 12:00am The discord between the United States and Israel over Jewish building in East Jerusalem deepened Tuesday with Israeli officials saying they would reject demands by Washington and expressing anger over the public upbraiding of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by the Obama administration. » Read more

Let’s Fight Over a Big Plan ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Thomas L. Friedman - (Opinion) March 16, 2010 - 12:00am Underlying the latest U.S.-Israel spat over settlements is the deeper — real — problem: There are five key actors in the Israeli-Palestinian equation today. Two of them — the Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad and the alliance of Iran, Hamas and Hezbollah — have clear strategies. These two are actually opposed, but one of them will shape Israeli-Palestinian relations in the coming years; indeed, their showdown is nearing. I hope Fayyad wins. It would be good for Israel, America and the moderate Arabs. But those three need their own strategy to make it happen. » Read more

Bibi’s Tense Time-Out ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Maureen Dowd - (Opinion) March 16, 2010 - 12:00am So, Barack Obama can lose his temper without a teleprompter. And we have the supremely aggravating Bibi Netanyahu to thank for that. On St. Patrick’s Day, of all days, we wouldn’t want to think that our president did not know how to pick his donnybrooks. The American government did unfortunately apologize to Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi, who got mad when a State Department spokesman correctly observed that the Libyan leader doesn’t always make sense. But in the case of a defiant Israel, the White House has not yet retreated into its usual compromising crouch. » Read more

With subtle shift in nuance, Hillary Clinton reiterates U.S. stance on Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post by Glenn Kessler - March 17, 2010 - 12:00am In the face of bipartisan concern over U.S. criticism of Israeli policies, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Tuesday reiterated the administration's demand for a "full commitment" to peace talks from Israel but also ever so slightly bolstered her rhetorical support for the Jewish state. » Read more

More than 100 injured in Â?Day of RageÂ? Israeli-Palestinian clashes ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times by Maher Abukhater, Edmund Sanders - March 16, 2010 - 12:00am Rising political and religious tensions in Jerusalem spilled into the streets Tuesday with a string of clashes between Palestinians and Israeli police that left more than 100 people injured. In scenes reminiscent of past uprisings, dozens of Palestinian youths, some with scarves masking their faces, pelted police with rocks, blocked roads and burned tires in half a dozen neighborhoods around East Jerusalem. Israeli police, who have been on high alert for days, responded with tear gas, rubber bullets and stun grenades, witnesses said. » Read more

Anger builds over Israel housing ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times by Maher Abukhater, Paul Richter, Edmund Sanders - March 17, 2010 - 12:00am Reporting from Washington and Jerusalem Paul Richter -- With anger over Israeli building plans stoking tensions about the future of Jerusalem's holy sites, violence spilled into the streets Tuesday in a string of clashes between Palestinians and Israeli police that injured more than 100 people. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton delayed a trip to the Middle East by the U.S. special envoy as Washington pressed the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to roll back construction of housing units in disputed East Jerusalem. » Read more

Why Iran smiles on Jerusalem clashes ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor by Scott Peterson - (Analysis) March 17, 2010 - 12:00am Iran is closely watching the unfolding crisis between Israel and the United States over Israeli settlements – and Jerusalem clashes with Palestinians that injured more than 100 today – for ways to rejuvenate its diminished influence in the Middle East. » Read more

Why Iran smiles on Jerusalem clashes ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor by Scott Peterson - (Analysis) March 17, 2010 - 12:00am Iran is closely watching the unfolding crisis between Israel and the United States over Israeli settlements – and Jerusalem clashes with Palestinians that injured more than 100 today – for ways to rejuvenate its diminished influence in the Middle East. » Read more

PREVIEW-Israeli settlement dispute clouds quartet meeting ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Conor Sweeney - March 17, 2010 - 12:00am A bitter dispute over Israeli settlements is clouding the chances for progress on Friday at a high-level Moscow meeting aimed at advancing Middle East peace. Russia, eager to raise its profile as a Middle East peacemaker, has long hoped to push the process forward by hosting a follow-up to the 2007 Annapolis peace conference in the United States, with all the major players on hand. » Read more

Pentagon eyes impact of Israel-Palestinian tension ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Adam Entous - March 17, 2010 - 12:00am Tensions between Israel and the Palestinians have an "enormous" effect where U.S. military forces operate in the Muslim world and are closely monitored, the U.S. general who oversees the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan said on Tuesday. The comments by General David Petraeus, who heads U.S. Central Command, put a spotlight on the concerns among senior officers as they are drawing down U.S. forces in Iraq, carrying out a major troop surge in Afghanistan and preparing for a possible showdown with Iran over its nuclear program. » Read more

Israel lifts closure of West Bank as tensions calm ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press by Amy Teibel - March 17, 2010 - 12:00am Israel on Wednesday lifted its tight restrictions on Palestinian access to Jerusalem's holiest shrine and called off an extended West Bank closure after days of clashes between Palestinians and Israeli security forces. Despite moving to end the lockdown, Israel still kept thousands of police officers on alert as an uneasy calm settled over the holy city. The recent violence has taken place against a backdrop of deep Palestinian frustration over a yearlong standstill in peace talks and dovetailed with the worst U.S.-Israeli diplomatic feud in decades. » Read more

Pan-Islamic body accuses Israel of dragging Mideast into "religious war" ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua March 16, 2010 - 12:00am A pan-Islamic body accused Israel of trying to drag the Middle East into a religious war after the Jewish state inaugurated on Monday a restored historic synagogue in the Old City in East Jerusalem, not far from the third holiest site for Islam, al-Aqsa Mosque. Organization of Islamic Conference Secretary General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu "renews his call on the international community to shoulder its responsibilities in pre-empting Israel from dragging the region into a religious war by continuing its blatant assault on the sanctity of Muslims," the Jeddah-based body said in a statement. » Read more

Israel's Titanic moment: Does Obama want Bibi's head? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Bradley Burston - (Opinion) March 16, 2010 - 12:00am Hamas has designated this day, in this place, its Day of Rage. Why, then, the smiles on the faces of Mahmoud Zahar and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad? Perhaps it's because after more than 22 years of costly trial and error, Hamas has finally come upon the secret of how to bring down the Jewish state: Let the ship sink itself. This month, down here in the engine room of the Titanic, a single coherent order continues to sound from the officers shrouded in fog on the bridge: "More power!" » Read more

It's time for Netanyahu to say yes to Obama ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz (Editorial) March 17, 2010 - 12:00am The cancellation of the visit by American envoy George Mitchell, who has been delegated to renew the diplomatic negotiations, embodies the slippery slope facing Israel during the past week. Even before completing the first year of his second term in office, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has managed to foment crises in two key strategic areas: the peace process with the Palestinians and relations with the United States. » Read more

Netanyahu's brother-in-law: Obama is an anti-Semite ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Barak Ravid - March 17, 2010 - 12:00am Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's brother-in-law Dr. Hagai Ben-Artzi on Wednesday called U.S. President Barack Obama an anti-Semite in an interview with Army Radio. "It's not that Obama doesn't like Bibi," he referring to Netanyahu using his nickname. "He doesn't like the nation of Israel." Netanyahu was quick to distance himself from Ben-Artzi's remarks, saying he completely disagrees with his brother-in-law. » Read more

Groups petition court for Gaza to W. Bank movement ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Dan Izenberg - March 17, 2010 - 12:00am Thirteen human rights organizations spearheaded by Hamoked: Center for the Defense of the Individual and Gisha – Legal Center for Freedom of Movement petitioned the High Court of Justice on Monday against a new Defense Ministry regulation severely restricting the right of Palestinians living in Gaza to move to the West Bank. » Read more

'Report demonizing Israel risks Presbyterian-Jewish ties' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by E.B. Solomont - March 17, 2010 - 12:00am American Jewish leaders are slamming a report by the Presbyterian Church USA that blames Israel for the “Palestinian resistance” and denounces companies doing business with Israel. The Jewish Council for Public Affairs, which circulated a memo to its member agencies and board of directors Monday, said the biased report reduced the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to a caricature, demonizing Israel and delegitimizing its right to exist as a Jewish state. » Read more

Fateful choice ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post (Editorial) March 17, 2010 - 12:00am In still another sign of the rapidly deteriorating relations between Israel and the US – a function of the Obama administration’s unwarranted and shocking overreaction to the Ramat Shlomo dispute – special Mideast envoy George Mitchell postponed his arrival here, originally slated for Tuesday. » Read more

---

---