Middle East News: World Press Roundup

Following the death of the prisoner, Hamas leaders say they want to crack down on torture. Palestinian security forces fire near Israeli troops in the West Bank. The PA is looking into reports of Palestinians held at Guantánamo Bay. Jordan's king says failure to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict will fuel Middle East violence. Israel denies a report about a new peace initiative. Aluf Benn says PM Netanyahu has fallen into a Palestinian diplomatic trap. The State Department says preserving the peace treaty with Egypt is essential for Israel. Leaked cables suggest Israel urged the US to support Palestinian banks. A new flotilla to Gaza is postponed. An extremist Rabbi urges Israel to encourage Bedouins to leave the country and the occupied territories. Nablus' governor urges calm after shootings near holy site, and settlers vow to return “with vigor.” An armed gang reportedly attacks the Egypt-Israel oil pipeline. Extremist MKs are preparing annexation bills in response to potential EU or UN recognition of Palestine. Israel Finkelstein says Jerusalem excavations are not dangerous but could be handled better. Faisal Al Qasim says the actions of many Arab dictators are worse than Israel's. David Rothkopf says PM Netanyahu has very little time left for effective diplomatic action.

---

---

---

Gaza govt urges ministry against torture ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency April 27, 2011 - 12:00am Gaza Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh said Tuesday night that he had designated his Minister of the Interior to reinforce rules against torture, following an outcry over the death of a detainee earlier in April. "There is good treatment of inmates in our prisons," Haniyeh said in a statement, adding that following concern from rights organizations, the minister would again instruct all security departments and interrogators about Gaza's prohibitions on the use of torture. » Read more

Hamas urged to 'come clean' on dead detainee ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency April 27, 2011 - 12:00am Authorities in the Gaza Strip should order a criminal investigation into the death of a man who died five days after Hamas security officials arrested him, Human Rights Watch said Tuesday. Relatives of Adel Razeq, a 52-year-old father of nine, say that when security officials arrested him on April 14, they did not present a warrant and took him away under false pretenses. When his brother examined the body, it was badly bruised and appeared to have broken bones, he says. » Read more

Palestinian security fire near Israeli patrol ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency April 27, 2011 - 12:00am Palestinian national security forces fired toward Israeli military vehicles in the northern West Bank on Tuesday, Palestinian security sources said. There were no reports of injury in the incident, which came as military jeeps pulled up near the Palestinian security building at the northern entrance of Tulkarem, the sources said. The governor of Tulkarem, Dalal Dweikat, denied any fire toward Israeli forces saying only that a Palestinian security officer misfired a single bullet in the same area as an Israeli patrol passed. "Things are calm and there are no developments," he said. » Read more

PNA probes reports on Palestinians held in Guantanamo ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua April 27, 2011 - 12:00am The Palestinian National Authority is looking into reports that a number of Palestinians are held in the U.S.-run prison in Cuba, Palestinian Minister of Prisoners' Affairs Eissa Qaraqe said Tuesday. The minister told Voice of Palestine Radio that the PNA will contact the International Committee for the Red Cross about the reports that Palestinians from the West Bank and the Gaza Strip are detained in Guantanamo prison. » Read more

Not resolving the Palestinian issue will fuel violence in Middle East: Jordan's king ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua April 27, 2011 - 12:00am Jordanian King Abdullah II said Tuesday that not finding a just and lasting solution to the Palestinian issue will increase violence and exacerbate instability in the Middle East, the state-run Petra news agency reported. Calling for intensified efforts by the United States and the international community to realize tangible progress in resolving the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, Abdullah II underlined the need to remove obstacles against resuming the peace process. » Read more

Israel denies report on Netanyahu's proposed peace initiative ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua April 26, 2011 - 12:00am An alleged meeting between Israel's chief peace negotiator Yitzhak Molcho and Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat, in which details of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's diplomatic initiative were reportedly discussed, had never taken place, Netanyahu's bureau clarified in a statement issued Tuesday. "No secret meeting was held and reports regarding its content are clearly baseless," the statement read. » Read more

Netanyahu fell into the Palestinians' diplomatic trap ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Aluf Benn - (Opinion) April 27, 2011 - 12:00am The third intifada is inevitable. It will erupt if the United Nations recognizes a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders because the decision will not be implemented automatically, and the Palestinians will go to war to demand their sovereign rights and to expel the Israel Defense Forces and the settlers from their territory. It will also erupt if the United Nation is deterred from declaring independence for Palestine or hedges its decision in an attempt to placate Israel. » Read more

U.S.: Peace with Israel essential to future of Egyptian people ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Natasha Mozgovaya - April 27, 2011 - 12:00am Over half of the Egpytian public want to scrap the existing peace deal with Israel, according to a new survey undertaken by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press. The poll measured attitudes in Egypt three months after the start of the uprising in Cairo. The U.S. State Department said in response to the survey that "the Egyptian army has pledged to uphold international agreements forged by Egypt, including the 1979 peace agreement with Israel." » Read more

Haaretz WikiLeaks exclusive / Israel's Peace Now updates U.S. on West Bank construction ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Ofer Aderet - April 7, 2011 - 12:00am Israeli left-wing non-government organization Peace Now has urged the U.S. to pressure Israel into evacuating West Bank outposts, according to an American diplomatic cable released by WikiLeaks, adding that the group regularly updated both Washington and the Defense Ministry on ongoing settlement construction. » Read more

Report: New Gaza flotilla postponed ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Itamar Eichner - April 27, 2011 - 12:00am Pro-Palestinian activists organizing the next Gaza flotilla said Tuesday they are having a hard time recruiting activists, vessels and crew members. Apparently many fear a confrontation with the Israeli naval commandoes after eight Turks and one Turkish-American died during an IDF raid last May onboard the Mavi Marmara, according to reports making their way to the political echelon in Jerusalem. The sea convoy was set to sail to the Gaza Strip in late May, the first anniversary of the raid, but it could be delayed, partly because it clashes with Turkish election campaigning. » Read more

Rabbi Lior: Encourage Bedouins to leave Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews April 26, 2011 - 12:00am Rabbi Dov Lior, rabbi of Kiryat Arba and head of the yeshiva there, chose to use the platform of the fourth Ramla conference to state that the State of Israel "must encourage Bedouins to return to their native land in Saudi Arabia and Libya". » Read more

Nablus governor: Don't be deterred by shooting ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Elior Levy - April 26, 2011 - 12:00am The West Bank city of Nablus was quick to resume normalcy following Sunday's tragic shooting, which left one Israeli dead and five others injured. Nablus Governor Jibrin al-Bakri insisted Tuesday that the incident could have been avoided if the worshipers had simply coordinated their arrival with the proper authorities. Al-Bakri told Ynet that Joseph's Tomb has seen several dozen Israeli visitors since the shooting, who followed proper security protocol: "We welcome visits by people of all religions in Nablus, including Jews, of course, but we want them to coordinate their visit." » Read more

'Egypt-Israel gas pipeline attacked by armed gang' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post April 27, 2011 - 12:00am Saboteurs on Wednesday blew up a pipeline running through Egypt's North Sinai near the town of El-Arish that supplies gas to Israel and Jordan, a security source told Reuters. "An unknown armed gang attacked the gas pipeline," the security source said, adding that the flow of gas to Israel and Jordan had been hit. "Authorities closed the main source of gas supplying the pipeline and are working to extinguish the fire," the source said, adding there was a tower of flame at the scene. » Read more

‘We'll continue to enter Joseph’s Tomb with vigor' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Jonah Mandel - April 27, 2011 - 12:00am The head of the group behind the clandestine forays into Nablus to access Joseph’s Tomb stressed on Tuesday that such nocturnal expeditions would continue “with greater vigor and might,” just two days after Ben-Yosef Livnat was killed at the site by PA policemen. Benny Machlev, director-general of the Yesod Olam Society, explained why some – primarily Breslav Hassidim like himself – put themselves at risk to be physically present, even if for short periods of time, at sites believed to be the burial sites of important Jewish figures. » Read more

'Annexation for declaration' idea advancing in Knesset ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Gil Hoffman - April 26, 2011 - 12:00am Ideas about annexing parts of the West Bank that until recently were considered extreme have been gaining traction in the Knesset in recent weeks as the Palestinian Authority continues threatening to declare a state unilaterally in September. National Infrastructures Minister Uzi Landau raised the idea at Israel Beiteinu’s convention in Jerusalem two weeks ago and then spoke about it at length in an interview with The Jerusalem Post’s web site last week. » Read more

In the Eye of Jerusalem’s Archaeological Storm ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward by Israel Finkelstein - (Opinion) April 27, 2011 - 12:00am Archaeological activity in Jerusalem has been sucked into a whirlwind of conflicting political agendas, and the site commonly referred to as “the City of David” is in the eye of the storm. At issue is a place of seminal importance for the Jewish people and indeed for anyone who cherishes the heritage of Western civilization. When dealing with archaeology in Jerusalem, one must first know the facts. Otherwise it is easy to be led astray by unfounded historical interpretations or to succumb to misinformation from those pursuing their own political agendas. » Read more

Outdoing Israel in brutality ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News by Faisal Al Qasim - (Opinion) April 27, 2011 - 12:00am The Arab media has, for over half a century or so, strongly condemned Zionist crimes against the Palestinians and other Arab peoples. It has in actual fact provided a hell of a lot of satire on Zionist brutality, which is fair enough. But is the Arab media still able to satirise Israeli barbarism with the same vigour after it has witnessed what Arab dictators have done to their own people? Isn't it a bit silly to bombard the Israelis with criticism and keep quiet about savagery against unarmed demonstrators? » Read more

The two things we know about a Middle East in flux, and what they mean for Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Foreign Policy by David Rothkopf - (Blog) April 26, 2011 - 12:00am A Pew Poll released this week shows that more than half of all Egyptians would like to see the peace treaty with Israel annulled. Almost two-thirds indicated that they thought that the country's laws should be based on the Koran and about half felt it was "very important" that religious parties be part of the next government. It is further evidence that Egypt's push for democracy has been fueled as much by its decades-long conservative shift as it has been by its decades long exploitation by the Mubarak regime. » Read more

---

---