Middle East News: World Press Roundup

NEWS: UNSG Ban has shoes and rocks thrown at him in Gaza, as he says time is running out for negotiations. A viral photo of an Israeli soldier abusing a Palestinian is allegedly debunked. Two Palestinians are injured in an Israeli attack on Gaza. Israel clarifies its new subsidies won't apply to settlements after all. Pres. Abbas says Israel's "goodwill" gestures are not enough to resume talks. Israel's Shin Bet chief says Iran is targeting Israeli sites in retaliation for the assassination of its nuclear scientists. Palestinians return a lost Israeli soldier to Israel's custody. The Quartet is to working on a package of incentives for Palestinians to continue with negotiations. Gaza renews furniture exports. A new study suggests Jewish American support is tilting towards the Republican Party, but Democrats dismiss these claims. COMMENTARY: Yoel Marcus says PM Netanyahu is here to stay. Yossi Sarid decries indoctrination of Israelis about Hebron. Anshel Pfeffer says Jewish Americans should put their own interests, and that of their country, ahead of that of Israel. Uri Savir says Israel should regard Tunisia as a model for post-dictatorship Arab democracies. US Congressman Allen West says the US-Israel relationship is unique and precious. J.J. Goldberg looks at the backers of an Islamlophobic film used by the NYPD. Bilal Hassen says Israeli-Palestinian negotiations are impossible. George Hishmeh says Israel is deliberately trying to sabotage the two-state solution. Sarah Wildman says time is quickly running out for the two-state solution.

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Protesters in Gaza Throw Shoes and Sticks at U.N. Chief ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Fares Akram - February 2, 2012 - 1:00am GAZA — A convoy carrying Secretary General Ban Ki-moon of the United Nations was pelted with shoes and sticks by Palestinian protesters when it entered the Gaza Strip from Israel on Thursday, witnesses said. About 100 men and women who said their family members were being held in Israeli prisons had arrived in buses near a checkpoint in Gaza, a few hundred yards from the Erez crossing, blocking traffic and complaining that Mr. Ban, on his third visit to Gaza, had no plans to meet with them. » Read more

Ban Says ‘Time Running’ for Israel, Palestinian Talks ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters February 3, 2012 - 1:00am JERUSALEM (Reuters) -- UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon said Thursday Israel and the Palestinians were running out of time to solve their conflict and ought to give "highest priority" to resuming stalled peace talks. Ban, wrapping up a two-day visit to the region, said he had pushed for faster progress in separate meetings with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Mahmoud Abbas. » Read more

Viral photo of Abusive Israeli Soldier Called a Fake ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times by Batsheva Sobelman - February 2, 2012 - 1:00am REPORTING FROM JERUSALEM -- A controversial photograph that has been circulating on the Web in recent weeks is challenging such pre-Internet truisms as "seeing is believing" or "sharing is everything." About six months ago, @madlamin tweeted a picture with a message in French encouraging users to spread it around the world in 48 hours. The photograph of a soldier pointing a rifle at a little girl on the ground with his boot on her was marked with a #Syria hashtag, suggesting to users it was related to the bloody riots that have been occurring in that country in recent months. » Read more

2 Hurt in Israeli Attack on North Gaza ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency February 3, 2012 - 1:00am GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Israeli warplanes fired on sites across the Gaza Strip early Friday, injuring a young man and a child in northern city Beit Lahiya, a Ma'an correspondent and medical officials said. Medical officials said the child suffered serious injuries to the head and hands. A young man was also hurt, and he was taken to hospital, said Gaza health official Adham Abu Salmiya. In southern Gaza, Israeli forces fired on a house east of Rafah and open lands near Bani Suheila east of Khan Younis, Salmiya added. » Read more

Israel: New Subsidies Don’t Apply to Settlements ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press by Amy Teibel - February 3, 2012 - 1:00am JERUSALEM — New financial incentives designed to lure Israelis to poorer, outlying areas have been revised to exclude West Bank settlements, officials said Thursday. A government announcement about the Cabinet decision earlier this week identified some 550 communities that qualified for the subsidies, including 70 West Bank settlements. Many of them are deep inside the West Bank, the heartland of what the Palestinians hope will be an independent state. In the original announcement, the government said the subsidies are "meant to encourage positive migration to these communities." » Read more

Abbas to Resume Negotiations For Goodwill Gestures ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua February 2, 2012 - 1:00am RAMALLAH, Feb. 2 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas rejected an international suggestion that Israel offer a package of goodwill gestures in exchange for resuming direct peace talks, sources said Thursday. Abbas informed the Quartet of Middle East peacemakers that the economic gestures were not enough for the Palestinians to accept the resumption of negotiations, which have stopped in 2010, the sources said. » Read more

Shin Bet Chief: Iran Trying to Hit Israeli Targets in Response to Attacks on Nuclear Scientists ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Barak Ravid - February 3, 2012 - 1:00am Iran is trying to strike Israeli targets around the world in a bid to stop the assassinations of its nuclear scientists, the head of the Shin Bet security service, Yoram Cohen, said Thursday. » Read more

IDF: Soldier Left in PA Village Refused Locals’ Assistance ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Yoav Zitun - February 3, 2012 - 1:00am The IDF force that left one of its soldiers in the Palestinian village of Budrus near Ramallah Wednesday night belongs to the 188th Armored Brigade, where former Hamas captive Gilad Shalit served, Ynet has learned. The soldier who lost contact with his fellow soldiers during activity in the village serves as the battalion commander's signal operator and is considered his right-hand man during operational activity. » Read more

Blair, PM Working to Enable Continued PLO Talks ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Herb Keinon - February 3, 2012 - 1:00am Quartet envoy Tony Blair is involved in intensive talks with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu about putting together a package of economic gestures to keep the Palestinians directly engaged with Israel in low-level talks in Jordan. Blair has met at least five times with Netanyahu over the past two weeks, including twice on Wednesday. » Read more

Sitting Pretty: Gaza Renews Furniture Exports ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Media Line by Omar Ghraieb - February 1, 2012 - 1:00am GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip – Israel’s blockade of goods coming into the Gaza Strip has been the target of flotillas and a cause for concern among human rights activists and economists alike. But the difficulty of getting products out of this tiny Mediterranean enclave is just as important to the well-being of its 1.7 million residents. » Read more

Jews Shift Toward GOP, Survey Claims ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward by Josh Nathan-Kazis - February 3, 2012 - 1:00am Jewish support for the Republican Party has grown dramatically since 2008 nationwide, a new analysis of survey data out from the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press suggests. The data found that the shift in the GOP direction has been more significant than among the general public. The findings could point to trouble for the Democrats in the 2012 presidential election, where both parties are counting on strong showings among Florida’s Jewish voters in particular. » Read more

Politicians can fight all day, Netanyahu is here to stay ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Yoel Marcus - (Opinion) February 3, 2012 - 1:00am If we keep using letters in every sex scandal or quasi-scandal, we run the risk of using up the alphabet. Did N. harass R.? And what was P.'s mobile phone doing near R.'s skirt? And suppose Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office is being run scandalously, and the bureau chief, with everything on his plate, has to update Sara about what's happening in our little world and our big world. So what? » Read more

A foul smell is rising from Hebron, and it’s here to stay ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Yossi Sarid - (Opinion) February 3, 2012 - 1:00am What did you learn in school today, dear little child of ours? Well, dear parents, I learned a lot, and you should learn, too. This tour was a real eye-opener. Someone should be ashamed of all the lies we've been fed. And we're considered a good school, the Hebrew University high school, better known as Leyada. So, yada yada, just imagine what's happening in other schools, where they don't know anything this country from a hole in the ground. » Read more

U.S. Jews should put themselves before Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Anshel Pfeffer - (Opinion) February 3, 2012 - 1:00am The second-richest Jew in the world is once again in the spotlight. Sheldon Adelson and his wife Miri have together donated $10 million to Winning Our Future, the political action committee supporting Newt Gingrich's campaign for the Republican presidential nomination, and the pundits are asking how one man and his wife can be allowed to sway an election with the weight of their money. » Read more

Tunisia as a Model ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Uri Savir - (Opinion) February 2, 2012 - 1:00am In early 1994, I visited Tunisia. I was sent there by then-prime minister Yitzhak Rabin and then-foreign minister Shimon Peres to pay condolences to Yasser Arafat and the PLO leadership in the aftermath of the horrendous Hebron massacre committed by Baruch Goldstein. It was obviously not an easy trip, but an occasion for me to get acquainted for the first time with the PLO leader, and to encounter a new Arab country. It is with the latter that this article will deal. » Read more

Why the US-Israel relationship is unique and critical ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Alllen B. West - (Opinion) February 2, 2012 - 1:00am The history of the Jewish people in the land of Israel stems back more than 3,000 years, unbowed by the sequential rise and fall of the Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, Greeks, Maccabeans, Romans, Byzantines, Arabs, Egyptians, Crusaders, Mamelukes and Turks. In comparison, the history of our own United States dates back 236 years. Although America is a young society, we have shared fundamental principles with the Jewish heritage from the time of our founding. Today, the bonds between America and Israel are stronger than ever, yet they have never been more threatened. » Read more

Israel does not mistreat detained Palestinian children ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian by Amir Ofek - (Opinion) February 1, 2012 - 1:00am Your special report looks at allegations that Israel's military justice system mistreats Palestinian children who have been arrested for throwing stones. "Many are exhausted from sleep deprivation. Day after day they are fettered to the chair, then returned to solitary confinement. In the end, many sign confessions that they later say were coerced," you state. But you omit the horrific nature of the atrocities that minors, some as young as 12, can be arrested for. » Read more

Islamophobic Film and Its Jewish Backers ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward by J.J. Goldberg - (Opinion) February 2, 2012 - 1:00am The New York Police Department is caught up in a tangled spat with the city’s Muslim community and assorted liberal groups over counter-terrorism measures that seem to have crossed the line into rank anti-Muslim bigotry. The department’s chief spokesman has made matters worse by repeatedly offering explanations of police actions that turned out to be false. Some critics are now calling for his dismissal. In a sense, it’s just the latest case — several cases, actually — of minority rights versus over-zealous law enforcement, post-9/11. This case is more complicated than most, however. » Read more

Palestinian-Israeli negotiations are impossible ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat by Bilal Hassan - (Analysis) February 2, 2012 - 1:00am At present, there are no Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, as the conditions laid down by Israel would render them doomed to failure before they even start. Yet the Palestinian side has no alternative plan to the negotiation theme, which means that the issue will remain pending and frozen unless some change happens on the ground and alters the balance of power. » Read more

Israel Adds to its Crimes ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News by George S. Hishmeh - (Opinion) February 3, 2012 - 1:00am Ten years ago about 50 Israeli soldiers, including some officers, refused to serve in the Occupied Territories, roughly the size about 22 per cent of the original state, Palestine, which until mid-1948 was a mandate under British rule. » Read more

No Time to Wait for Two-State Solution ATFP World Press Roundup Article from PBS by Sarah Wildman - (Opinion) February 2, 2012 - 1:00am If you were to listen to the Republican debates over the last few weeks, and tune out all other news (God help you, but bear with me), you might think that the Israelis were sitting at the negotiating table waiting, waiting, waiting for the Palestinians who went out for a glass of water and never came back. » Read more

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