Middle East News: World Press Roundup

NEWS: The US Supreme Court will rule on how to refer to Jerusalem in US passports. Palestinians in Israel become galvanized against “honor killings.” The UN report into last year’s flotilla incident is again delayed. Two Palestinians are executed by Hamas in Gaza for collaboration with Israel. The PA says it’s not reconsidering its boycott against settlement goods. Analysts think Israeli-Turkish rapprochement would be mutually beneficial. Former Israeli officials insist the 1967 borders are defensible. Christians United for Israel meets in Washington. The Israeli far right-wing does not express much sympathy for Norway. The Arab League is holding an emergency meeting on the Palestinian financial crisis. COMMENTARY: Salman Masalha says there is no real left-wing tendency among Palestinian citizens of Israel. Akiva Eldar says Israel’s threat to abrogate the Oslo agreements harms only itself. Gershon Baskin says Israel and the Palestinians should jointly craft a UN resolution. The Jordan Times says Israel is colonizing the West Bank with "impunity." Nidal Almughrabi says Gazans are disappointed with the Egyptian Revolution. Liel Liebowitz looks at the sad condition of the Israeli left. Hussein Ibish describes his recent debate with an extremist Israeli settler.

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Question of Birth Becomes One of President’s Power ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Adam Liptak - July 25, 2011 - 12:00am WASHINGTON — Menachem Zivotofsky was born in Jerusalem. But was he born in Israel? Congress says yes. In 2002, it directed the State Department to “record the place of birth as Israel” in passports of American children born in Jerusalem if their parents ask. President George W. Bush signed that bill about three weeks before Menachem was born. But Mr. Bush also said he would not obey it. » Read more

ISRAEL: Arabic radio station campaigns against killing of women ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times by Batsheva Sobelman - July 25, 2011 - 12:00am A young woman turns up dead. Her husband is held for a few days, then released. Police have no other suspects. Murmurs of "family honor" are heard -- and the news races on, reluctant to deal with a painful issue: the killing of women in Arab society. Until now. » Read more

UN flotilla report delayed again ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency July 26, 2011 - 12:00am JERUSALEM (AFP) -- A UN report into Israel's deadly 2010 raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla, which was to have been published later this week, has been delayed once again, an Israeli official said on Monday. "The secretary-general asked to delay the publication of the report," foreign ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said, referring to the UN chief, Ban Ki-moon. But he refused to confirm reports suggesting Israel had requested the delay in a bid to have more time to mend its relations with Ankara, devastated since the flotilla raid in which Israeli forces killed nine Turks. » Read more

2 convicted collaborators executed in Gaza ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency July 26, 2011 - 12:00am GAZA CITY (Ma’an) -- The government in the Gaza Strip announced Tuesday that two residents accused of collaborating with the Israeli occupation have been executed. Gaza's Interior Ministry told Ma'an that execution orders were issued in 2004 and were postponed several times until the crimes of the accused could be thoroughly proven. The two prisoners were executed on Tuesday morning. They were not identified. » Read more

PA minister: No plans to ease settlement boycott ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency July 26, 2011 - 12:00am HEBRON (Ma’an) -- The Palestinian Authority's economy minister Hassan Abu Libda said Monday that during 2010 settlement products were substantially reduced throughout the Palestinian marketplace. “It is shameful for us as Palestinians to support settlement activities and to contribute to their well-being while they’re occupying and confiscating our land,” Libda said. The law banning sale of such goods put a big dent in the settlement economy, which was estimated at some 200 million shekels per year when it was last legal to buy and sell them in 2010, he said. » Read more

News analysis: Israel-Turkey reconciliation mutually beneficial: analysts ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua by Adam Gonn - July 25, 2011 - 12:00am The publication of the United Nations Palmer Report on the Israeli raid on last year's Gaza- bound flotilla has been delayed a third time, reportedly so that Israel and Turkey may continue reconciliation talks. » Read more

Former Israeli diplomats in Washington: 1967 borders are defensible ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Natasha Mozgovaya - July 25, 2011 - 12:00am A group of former Israeli army officials and diplomats visited Washington Monday, claiming that a peace agreement with the Palestinians is urgent in spite of, and because of, regional turmoil, and that contrary to what Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claims, the 1967 borders are, in fact, defensible. The group visited the White House on Monday and met with the National Security Council Director for Middle East and North Africa Steven Simon, and were to have meetings later in the evening with acting Middle East envoy David Hale and officials at the Pentagon. » Read more

Christian Pro-Israel Group Stakes Claim on Right ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Forward by Nathan Guttman - July 26, 2011 - 12:00am Once a novelty, the shofar-blowing, hora-dancing Christian evangelicals are now an integral part of the pro-Israel advocacy scene. At its 5,000-strong national conference in Washington, Christians United for Israel, the large Christian-Zionist movement, made clear it is stepping up its activity on the two issues that now top the pro-Israel agenda: fighting efforts to delegitimize Israel, and working on college campuses to counter anti-Israel activity. » Read more

Right-wing Israelis find little sympathy for Norway after tragedy ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National by Vita Bekker - July 26, 2011 - 12:00am A few Israelis who shared their feelings on websites are expressing anything but sympathy for the killing of at least 76 mostly young people in Norway. Postings on Hebrew websites suggest Friday's attacks have reawakened hostility among some Israelis towards what they view as Norway's pro-Palestinian approach to the peace process. Such sentiments may have also been prompted by the fact that the confessed perpetrator in the attack appears to have espoused anti-Muslim sentiments and a pro-Zionist philosophy. » Read more

Arab League to hold urgent meeting on Palestinian financial crisis ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Masry Al-Youm July 26, 2011 - 12:00am The Arab League will hold an urgent meeting Tuesday for its permanent representatives to discuss the financial crisis that the Palestinian Authority currently faces. The meeting will be held upon the request of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Egyptian diplomatic sources said. Prime Minister Salam Fayyad will attend. State-run news agency MENA reported that Abbas contacted Arab League Secretary General Nabil al-Araby and requested the meeting so that Arabs would be informed about Palestinian Authority's critical financial situation. » Read more

There is no Arab left-wing in Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Salman Masalha - (Opinion) July 26, 2011 - 12:00am There's no left without Arabs, states Oudeh Basharat (Haaretz, July 19), adding: "Had the 11 MKs of the Hadash faction and the Arab factions evaporated during the vote on the Boycott Law, the difference in favor of supporters of the law would have increased from nine to 20 votes." » Read more

Israel’s ‘threat’ to void the Oslo Accords will only harm Netanyahu ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Akiva Eldar - (Opinion) July 26, 2011 - 12:00am On Monday, Barak Ravid revealed to readers of this newspaper that the Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem was considering punishing the Palestinians for their declaration of statehood by scrapping the Oslo Accords. Take part in our poll on this topic on the Haaretz.com Facebook page This "threat" is akin to a fellow saying he'll cut off his own nose to spite someone else's face. If the Oslo Accords did not exist, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would have had to invent them. » Read more

Encountering Peace: In search of a rational discourse ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Gershon Baskin - (Opinion) July 26, 2011 - 12:00am Despite the threats of a US veto and a congressional decision to cease US financial support to the Palestinian Authority, the Palestinian leadership is resolute to bring the issue of Palestinian statehood to the United Nations. » Read more

Colonising with impunity ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times (Editorial) July 26, 2011 - 12:00am There was hardly any international reaction, or an even Arab reaction for that matter, to the latest Israeli plan to build hundreds of housing units in the West Bank. The Palestinian Authority did voice some concern but it was also muted. It is as if the world has become numb when hearing news about Israeli plans to construct yet more and more houses or apartments on Palestinian land even when they are intended to be located in the heart of the Palestinian territory. » Read more

FEATURE-Six months on, Egypt's revolt disappoints Gazans ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters (Editorial) July 26, 2011 - 12:00am They had hoped this Ramadan would be different. But many Palestinians who find themselves again penned into Gaza for the holiday are blaming Egypt, the neighbouring Arab power which, after toppling President Hosni Mubarak on Feb. 11, had pledged to free up travel across the shared border. The dismay reflects the misgivings of many Egyptians about the prospects for reform under Cairo's caretaker military rulers, who appear beholden to U.S. largesse and in no rush to reverse Mubarak's unpopular Palestinian policies. » Read more

Left For Dead ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Tablet Magazine by Liel Leibowitz - (Opinion) July 26, 2011 - 12:00am Anyone following Israeli politics is likely, at some point, to come across the following brief history of the past decade: After the collapse of the 2000 Camp David talks—a catastrophe generated, depending on one’s worldview, either by Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat’s inflexibility or by Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak’s incompetence—the majority of Israelis drifted rightward, and the left, once a robust voting bloc, melted into thin air. » Read more

Arab League to hold urgent meeting on Palestinian financial crisis ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Masry Al-Youm July 26, 2011 - 12:00am The Arab League will hold an urgent meeting Tuesday for its permanent representatives to discuss the financial crisis that the Palestinian Authority currently faces. The meeting will be held upon the request of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Egyptian diplomatic sources said. Prime Minister Salam Fayyad will attend. State-run news agency MENA reported that Abbas contacted Arab League Secretary General Nabil al-Araby and requested the meeting so that Arabs would be informed about Palestinian Authority's critical financial situation. » Read more

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