Middle East News: World Press Roundup

Two Palestinians are arrested in connection with the murder of a settler family, but their families say they were tortured into confessing while their Palestinian neighbors express shock. The murder of an Italian activist is a blow to Hamas, raising questions about its control in Gaz, as it identifies four suspects. Palestinian Christians are denied access by Israel to holy places in occupied East Jerusalem during Easter. Most Palestinians oppose suicide bombing and rocket attacks against Israel. The residents of Beit Ummar in the West Bank say they are under siege by Israeli occupation forces. Palestinians mark “Prisoners Day.”A Hamas leader in Gaza says a captured Israeli soldier will be held until its demands are met. Edgar Bronfman says supporting Israel means questioning its policies. Amir Oren warns that Israeli leaders might be tempted into “a foolhardy military initiative” for political reasons. PM Netanyahu says he’s concerned Egypt’s next government will be unfriendly. A Turkish minister strongly criticizes FM Lieberman. A projectile fired from Gaza lands in southern Israel causing no damage or injuries. Right-wing members of Netanyahu’s party are concerned about an upcoming policy speech. Gil Hoffman looks at US-Israel relations. An Israeli teenager dies from wounds sustained on a bus attacked by a rocket fired from Gaza. Students plead not guilty to criminal charges for disrupting a speech by Israeli Amb. Oren. US officials insist they are committed to advancing the peace process. Raghida Dergham says the United States must “indelibly” lay out the terms of a two-state solution. Aryeh Neier says Judge Goldstone’s reconsiderations are based on paltry evidence, and Rami Khouri says his personal opinion is less important than his report. Uri Avnery says Israeli settlers are seizing control of national politics and this follows a historical pattern.

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2 Palestinian Teens Held in Killing of Israeli Family ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Isabel Kershner - April 17, 2011 - 12:00am Israeli officials announced on Sunday the arrest of two Palestinian teenagers from this village in the northern West Bank who they said were responsible for the killing of five members of the Fogel family in the neighboring Jewish settlement of Itamar last month. Israeli security officials said that the two suspects, ages 17 and 18, had confessed and carried out a reconstruction of the attack. » Read more

Gaza Killing of Italian Activist Deals a Blow to Hamas ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Fares Akram, Isabel Kershner - April 18, 2011 - 12:00am For Vittorio Arrigoni, an Italian pro-Palestinian activist who friends said fought peacefully for justice, the end was as violent as it was incongruous. Police officers from Hamas, the Islamic militant group that rules Gaza, found his body in a house in Gaza City that was empty of furniture, except for the mattress on which the body was lying, according to witnesses. The doctor who performed the autopsy said Mr. Arrigoni’s killers had used a plastic cord to strangle him. » Read more

WEST BANK: Palestinian Christians denied access to holy places in Jerusalem during Easter ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times by Maher Abukhater - (Blog) April 16, 2011 - 12:00am As Christians get ready to celebrate Easter, Palestinian Christians living in the West Bank and Gaza Strip are envious of fellow Christians from all over the world who are able to visit Jerusalem’s holy Christian sites and worship freely while they cannot. Since Israel cut off East Jerusalem from the rest of the occupied Palestinian territories in the early 1990s, Palestinian residents of the West Bank and Gaza Strip have been required to get Israeli army permission before they can enter Jerusalem. » Read more

Gaza police identify murder suspects ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency April 18, 2011 - 12:00am Gaza police on Monday released the photos of four men identified as the prime suspects in the murder of Italian activist and journalist Vittorio Arrigoni. Police said the four were currently fugitives, and apparently in hiding. The four were identified as Abdul-Rahman Al-Breizat, Mahmoud Muhammad Nimir Salfiti, Muhammad Al-Breizat, and Bilal Al-Umari. Police did not say whether any of the men were affiliated with a political, religious or military group in the coastal enclave. Two men detained earlier were not directly involved in the murder, police said. » Read more

Palestinian support for attacks drops, poll finds ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency April 18, 2011 - 12:00am Overall Palestinian support for suicide bombings against Israeli civilians, the firing of rockets into Israel has dropped since 2009, with a majority opposed to both, a poll showed on Sunday. The survey conducted by the Jerusalem Media and Communication Centre found that support for Palestinian "military operations of any kind' against Israel fell from 53.3 percent in January 2009 to 37.1 percent in April of this year. » Read more

Beit Ummar residents say town under siege ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency April 18, 2011 - 12:00am Israeli forces erected checkpoints around the town of Beit Ummar Sunday afternoon, and carried out several home invasions, delivering summons to appear for questioning to at least one resident, locals said. Town activist Mohammad Ayyad Awwad told Ma'an that the measures came as part of an increase in restrictions and harassment against residents, and following the construction of a fence along the southern side of the village, restricting movement of residents and caging them into the town center. » Read more

Palestinians mark Prisoner Day with protests, hunger strike ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua by Saud Abu Ramadan - April 17, 2011 - 12:00am Hundreds of Palestinians in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip and the West Bank marked on Sunday the Palestinian Prisoner Day with demonstrations calling on Israel to release the prisoners, as thousands of prisoners in Israeli jails went on a one-day hunger strike. In Gaza City, hundreds of Palestinians, including mothers, children and wives of the prisoners in Israeli jails demonstrated in front of the headquarters of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), calling on Israel to release more than 7,000 Palestinian prisoners imprisoned in 12 Israeli jails. » Read more

Hamas leader wants Israeli soldier held until demands met ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua April 16, 2011 - 12:00am The deposed premier of the Hamas government called on the Islamic movement to keep holding a soldier hostage unless Israel accepts Palestinian demands. In a speech in Gaza City, Ismail Haneya also called on the Palestinian people to support his movement to "achieve an honorable swap" in which a number of Palestinian and Arab prisoners will be released from Israeli jails. The Hamas kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit in a cross-border raid near the Gaza Strip in 2006. Germany and Egypt have mediated to broker a deal between the Hamas and Israel, but the gap between the two sides was wide.

Supporting Israel means questioning its policies ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Edgar M. Bronfman - (Opinion) April 18, 2011 - 12:00am Last month, I met with a man who impressed me as none other has over the last 10 years. His name is David Grossman, and he was in New York to receive the National Jewish Book Award for his magnificent novel "To the End of the Land." Grossman, whose talent is enormous, has been fighting for peace in his country for 30 years. » Read more

Netanyahu choice: Cabinet stability or Israel's interests ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Amir Oren - (Opinion) April 18, 2011 - 12:00am Who was chiefly responsible for the fact that Israel was surprised by the Egyptian and Syrian attacks on Yom Kippur in 1973? Many say that it was the Intelligence branch of the Israel Defense Forces - and in particular, the head of Military Intelligence, Maj. Gen. Eli Zeira. The chief of staff during that war, David Elazar, also pointed an accusatory finger upward, to then defense minister Moshe Dayan, while Dayan placed almost all the blame on the lower echelon, leaving it with Zeira. Dayan deflected a little of the excess criticism in the direction of the prime minister, Golda Meir. » Read more

Netanyahu concerned new Egypt government will be anti-Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Barak Ravid - April 17, 2011 - 12:00am Three months into the Egyptian revolution, Israel is concerned that the new government's policy toward Israel could become hostile, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told European Union ambassadors last week in Jerusalem. "I am very concerned over some of the voices we've been hearing from Egypt recently," Netanyahu told the envoys. "I'm especially concerned over the current Egyptian foreign minster's statements." » Read more

Turkish Minister: Lieberman still acts like bouncer ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews April 17, 2011 - 12:00am Turkish Minister Egemen Bagis mocked Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman during a recent Television appearance on a local talk show. Speaking ahead of the upcoming elections in the country, Bagis said "In Israel, they have a foreign minister who flushes the toilet during a radio interview. In his youth, he was a bouncer at a nightclub in Moldova. He still thinks of himself as a bouncer, and can't make the transition into the role of a politician," he said. » Read more

Itamar attack: 'My son was tortured into confessing' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Elior Levy - April 17, 2011 - 12:00am The families of the two terrorists who confessed to murdering five members of the Fogel family refuse to believe the two committed the massacre. Hakim Awad's mother, Nawef, claimed that her son was at home the night of the murder and never left the house. "Five months ago Hakim underwent a surgery in his stomach and I'm sure he was tortured and forced into confessing." The mother claimed that Israel was trying to cover up for crimes it committed in Awarta last month and noted that their home in the village was very far from the settlement of Itamar. » Read more

Awarta stunned over Itamar attack revelation; 'They're just kids' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Elior Levy - April 17, 2011 - 12:00am Following Sunday's revelations with regards to the arrest of two Palestinians from the village of Awarta for the murder of the Fogel family in the Itamar massacre last March, villagers in Awarta, the village adjacent to the settlement of Itamar, were stunned to discover that two teens, Hakim Mazen Awad (18) and Amjad Mohammad Awad (19) are the main murder suspects. » Read more

Kassam rocket fired explodes in Sha'ar HaNegev, none hurt ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Yoni Cohen, Debra Kamin - April 18, 2011 - 12:00am A Kassam rocket fired from the Gaza Strip exploded in the Sha'ar Hanegev Regional Council Monday afternoon. Warning sirens sounded prior to the rocket landing. Police spokesperson Micky Rosenfeld confirmed that the rocket landed near a kibbutz in the area. No injuries or damage were reported. The South has experienced a relative calm for over a week since a tense ceasefire with Hamas was brokered. Last Friday, two Grad rockets exploded separately in the cities of Ashkelon and Ashdod overnight. No casualties or damages were reported.

Likud's right gears up to fight 'Bar Ilan 2' speech ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Rebecca Anna Stoil - April 17, 2011 - 12:00am The Likud’s right wing geared up for a fight before the Pessah holiday, with MK Danny Danon requesting a special faction meeting before Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s anticipated trip to the US next month. Danon expressed concern Sunday that “instead of hearing from the prime minister what he intends to tell the Americans from him, we’ll end up hearing it first on C-Span, the congressional television channel.” Netanyahu is expected to address Congress on May 24, in what some are already dubbing “Bar-Ilan II.” » Read more

US-Israel relations: An Interview with Gil Hoffman ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post (Interview) April 18, 2011 - 12:00am Gil Hoffman is the chief political correspondent and analyst for The Jerusalem Post. I met him in Cincinnati, where he spoke on recent developments in the Middle East. What follows is a synopsis of our interview together (4/5/2011). Q: Netanyahu, Abbas, and Obama all agree in theory on the need for peace through a two-state solution. Why is there currently no progress on this issue? » Read more

Israeli boy Daniel Viflic dies after rocket hits bus ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News April 18, 2011 - 12:00am Daniel Viflic, 16, was on a school bus in southern Israel on 7 April when it was hit by an anti-tank missile fired from the Gaza Strip. The driver was slightly hurt in the attack, which happened just after the other children had been dropped off. Nineteen Palestinians died in the ensuing wave of Israeli air strikes and Palestinian counter-attacks. It was the most serious violence since Israel's conflict with Hamas in Gaza in December 2008 and January 2009. About 1,400 Palestinians, more than half of them civilians, and 13 Israelis, including 10 soldiers, were killed.

‘Irvine 11’ plead not guilty in Oren incident ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) by Marcy Oster - April 17, 2011 - 12:00am Eleven Muslim students arrested for disrupting a speech by Israeli U.S. Ambassador Michael Oren at the University of California, Irvine pleaded not guilty to misdemeanor charges. The students were arraigned April 15 in Orange County Superior Court on charges of conspiracy to disturb a meeting and misdemeanor disturbance of a meeting. » Read more

Hamas's ability to control radical groups in question ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National by Hugh Naylor - April 18, 2011 - 12:00am The murder of an Italian activist in Gaza last week has raised questions about the capability of Hamas to control radical groups, some with suspected links to al Qa'eda, operating in the Palestinian territory. Vittorio Arrigoni, 36, part of the pro-Palestinian International Solidarity Movement, was found dead in an empty apartment building in Gaza City. An al Qa'eda-inspired group calling itself Tawhid and Jihad released a video of his kidnapping on Thursday and is widely believed to have carried out the murder. » Read more

Washington Committed to Middle East Peace Process- US Officials ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat by Mina Al-Oraibi - (Opinion) November 16, 2009 - 1:00am Many questions are being asked whether it is possible to resume peace negotiations in the Middle East that can achieve real and concrete results after the peace process has been faltering over the past few months. A total of 10 months have passed since US President Barack Obama announced his determination to bring peace to the Middle East on his first day in the White House. However, there have been no indications that such a peace would be reached. » Read more

America’s Partnership with the Arab People ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Dar Al-Hayat by Raghida Dergham - (Opinion) April 15, 2011 - 12:00am The Barack Obama Administration has drafted the features of its new strategic policy resulting from the “Arab Spring” with an effaceable pencil, as it is still at the stage of reacting and responding to events. There is not yet what would be called a “blueprint” for a strategic framework for broad American policy towards the Middle East, since ‘using permanent ink’ would tie down the hands of President Barack Obama at a time when he needs flexibility for electoral reasons. » Read more

The Goldstone reversal ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times by Aryeh Neier - (Opinion) April 18, 2011 - 12:00am Justice Richard Goldstone was condemned by many apologists for Israel’s human rights record for his conclusion that Israel intentionally targeted Palestinian civilians as a matter of policy during the 2008-9 Gaza war. Goldstone’s United Nations-backed report accused both Israelis and Palestinians of war crimes, and called on both sides to investigate, prosecute and punish their own personnel. » Read more

Goldstone, the person and the process ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star by Rami Khouri - (Opinion) April 16, 2011 - 12:00am Controversy is good, if it helps to promote truth and justice, and this is what we have now in relation to the 2010 “Goldstone Report” about the conduct of Israel and Hamas during the 2008-09 Gaza war. It continues to generate fresh controversy in light of recent statements by the four members of the original fact-finding commission established by the U.N. Human Rights Council (UNHRC). » Read more

How Israel is becoming a settler state ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News by Uri Avnery - (Opinion) April 17, 2011 - 12:00am THE OTHER day, the almighty General Security Service (Shabak, formerly Shin Bet) needed a new boss. It is a hugely important job, because no minister ever dares to contradict the advice of the Shabak chief in Cabinet meetings. There was an obvious candidate, known only as J. But at the last moment, the settlers' lobby was mobilized. As director of the "Jewish department" J. had put some Jewish terrorists in prison. So his candidature was rejected and Yoram Cohen, a kippah-wearing darling of the settlers was appointed instead. » Read more

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