Middle East News: World Press Roundup

NEWS: A Palestinian man is shot and killed after reportedly stabbing an Israeli soldier near Hebron. Between concerns about the Arab uprisings and the Iranian nuclear program, Palestinian issues are being pushed to the sidelines. Hamas is continuing to distance itself from Iran. Israeli troops confront Palestinian protesters regarding another hunger-striking Palestinian prisoner. Israel says it's preparing its troops to fight in tunnels. Some Israelis are uncomfortable with PM Netanyahu's use of Holocaust analogies. Palestinian officials reportedly tell Jordanian officials that they will not resume negotiations without a settlement freeze. Fatah officials say talks with Hamas will not resume until their organization can operate freely in Gaza. The PLO calls on the Palestinian Election Commission to prepare to hold voting. Palestinian satirists are turning to the stage after being banned from TV. The presence of religious Orthodox Jews in the Israeli military is growing. Despite the hardships of occupation, Palestinians in both the West Bank and Gaza are training for the Olympics. COMMENTARY: Gideon Levy says Netanyahu is a "fear-monger." Bradley Burstyn asks if Netanyahu will be in real trouble if Pres. Obama is reelected in November. Jonathan Rosen says Obama has proven his commitment to Israel. Tareq Baconi says Hamas is trying to appeal to the Arab grassroots by identifying more with Arab Islamist movements rather than Iran. Hassan Haidar asks if Israel is more afraid of Iran or peace. Barry Rubin says the present Palestinian leadership is unlikely to want another intifada.

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IDF soldier moderately hurt after stabbed during West Bank arrest ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Gili Cohen - March 8, 2012 - 1:00am A Palestinian man was shot and thought to have been killed by Israel Defense Forces on Thursday after stabbing a soldier in a West Bank village near Hebron. The incident took place in the village of Yatta during an operation carried out by soldiers belonging to the Kfir infantry brigade, geared at arresting Khaled Mahmara, who was released as part of the Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange swap. » Read more

Mideast Din Drowns Out Palestinians ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Ethan Bronner - March 7, 2012 - 1:00am RAMALLAH, West Bank — In the 14 months since revolution has spread across the Middle East and tension has soared over Iran’s nuclear program, the Palestinian leadership has found itself orphaned. Politically divided, its peace talks with Israel collapsed and its foreign support waning, the Palestinian Authority is sidelined, confused and worried that its people may return to violence. » Read more

Hamas ties to Syria and Iran in flux as region shifts ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post by Karin Brulliard - March 7, 2012 - 1:00am GAZA CITY — Political expression in this seaside strip is firmly regulated by the ruling Islamist militant group Hamas, and the authorities recently approved a robust street rally against an unlikely target: the government in Syria, long Hamas’s benefactor and host. The demonstration, as well as Hamas leaders’ statements in support of Syrian protesters and the abandonment of their Damascus offices, was an indicator of the Gaza-based movement’s stark break with Syria — and of the rapidly shifting partnerships of a changing Middle East. » Read more

Israeli troops, Palestinians clash in protest calling for release of hunger-striking prisoner ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press March 8, 2012 - 1:00am RAMALLAH, West Bank — Several dozen Palestinians demanding the release of a hunger-striking detainee clashed with Israeli troops Thursday, part of growing protests against the practice of holding Palestinians without formal charges. Soldiers fired tear gas and aimed a water cannon at about 50 women marching in support of Hana Shalabi, a 30-year-old West Bank woman who has gone without food for 22 days. The stream of water knocked down one of the women, while Palestinian teens threw rocks at the soldiers from behind the women’s march. » Read more

Israel's "tunnel rats" brace for new guerrilla war ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Lianne Gross - March 8, 2012 - 1:00am SIRKIN SPECIAL FORCES BASE, Israel, March 8 (Reuters) - Fearing a surge in tunnel and bunker construction by Lebanon's Hezbollah and Palestinian militants, Israel is training its troops to hunt below ground with robot probes and sniffer dogs. Such preparations reflect concerns that should Israel or the United States carry out attacks on Iran's disputed nuclear programme, Tehran may retaliate through its allies on the Jewish state's borders. "You can see a growing threat," said a major from the Israeli engineering corps' Yahalom ("Diamond") commando unit. » Read more

Israelis criticize PM's Iran-Holocaust parallels ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press by Daniel Estrin - March 7, 2012 - 1:00am JERUSALEM — The Israeli prime minister's linking of Iran to Nazi Germany evoked ringing applause this week at a gathering of a pro-Israel lobbying group in Washington. Back home, though, it drew some heavy criticism. The Nazi Holocaust of World War II is a delicate and charged topic in Israel, and many felt Benjamin Netanyahu's repeated equating of the Nazis with the possible modern-day threat of a nuclear-armed Iran went too far. » Read more

Jordan FM hears Palestinian 'no' to renewed talks ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press March 7, 2012 - 1:00am RAMALLAH, West Bank — Palestinian leaders have told Jordan's visiting foreign minister they will not resume Mideast peace talks without an Israeli settlement freeze. Jordan's Nasser Judeh explored the possibility of resuming talks in a meeting Wednesday with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. In January, Jordan hosted low-level Israeli-Palestinian talks that broke down in acrimony. Staunchly pro-Washington, Jordan has considerable sway as one of the Palestinians' most important allies. » Read more

'No unity talks until Fatah can operate in Gaza' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Khaled Abu Toameh - March 8, 2012 - 1:00am Talks over the formation of a Palestinian unity government will remain suspended until Hamas allows the Palestinian Central Elections Commission to operate in the Gaza Strip, a Fatah leader in the West Bank said Wednesday. Fatah and Hamas agreed two weeks ago to delay the talks over the formation of a unity government that would be headed by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, as envisaged by the Qatari-brokered reconciliation agreement between the organizations. Since then, the two sides have traded allegations over who was responsible for the delay. » Read more

PLO calls on election commission to prepare for elections ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua March 8, 2012 - 1:00am RAMALLAH, March 7 (Xinhua) -- Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) on Wednesday called on the Central Elections Commission (CEC) to start preparing for holding the general elections in the Palestinian territories. The CEC should begin the process of registration of voters in Gaza and the West Bank, the PLO executive committee said in a statement issued after a meeting held in Ramallah and chaired by President Mahmoud Abbas. » Read more

Banned From TV, Palestinian Satirists Turn to Stage ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Media Line by Mohammed Najib - March 8, 2012 - 1:00am The Riyadh Hotel for Current and Future Exiled Arab Leaders in Saudi Arabia gets a phone call. Palestinian Authority (PA) Prime Minister Salam Fayyad is on the line asking if they have any positions for accountants. “No,” the nervous receptionist answers. “We live comfortably in Saudi Arabia. Don’t come and impose taxes on us.” The satirical attack on the Palestinian leader, who has tried, unsuccessfully so far, to impose income tax on his people, was part of a new assault by a popular but harassed trio of Palestinian actors at a theatre in Ramallah on Wednesday night. » Read more

In Israeli military, a growing orthodoxy ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Dan Williams - March 7, 2012 - 1:00am JERUSALEM — Roni Daniel saw the writing on the wall in a toilet. A former infantry commander who fought in three Middle East wars and now the dean of Israeli defence correspondents, Daniel recently visited military headquarters in Tel Aviv. There, a urinal that uses a motion detector to clean itself was signposted: “Forbidden on the Sabbath.” Troops, he realized, were being ordered to defer to Orthodox Jewish curbs on the use of electricity between Friday night and Saturday night. » Read more

Despite hardships, Palestinians train for Olympics ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press by Ibrahim Barzak - March 8, 2012 - 1:00am GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip -- Darting down the bumpy streets of Gaza wearing a cheap pair of running shoes, Palestinian athlete Bahaa al-Farra dodges potholes and traffic as he trains to compete against the world's best athletes at the London Olympics. Although an Olympic medal is highly unlikely, the 400-meter runner takes to the city streets for about three hours a day, speeding down crowded avenues in the morning before hitting the gym in the afternoon. "It's not easy to be an athlete in Gaza," al-Farra said. » Read more

Netanyahu, our savior the fearmonger ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Gideon Levy - (Opinion) March 8, 2012 - 1:00am If it looks like a duck (frightened), walks like a duck (spreading anxiety), quacks like a duck (disseminating dread), then it must be a duck (a frightened fearmonger). Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who quacked his fearmongering speech to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee convention on Tuesday, proved yet again that Israel has never had a statesman quite like him - a statesman who has built his career on being an alarmist, and who boasts an impressive record of incessant, decades-long fearmongering. » Read more

If Obama wins in November, is Netanyahu in trouble? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Bradley Burston - (Opinion) March 7, 2012 - 1:00am There is something in the air. Something new. Something as recent as this week's AIPAC conference. And for Benjamin Netanyahu, it's not something to be desired. American conservatives have begun to think out loud that Barack Obama will win in November. Citing the GOP's disastrous showing in the 1964 presidential election, influential Washington Post columnist George Will suggested this week in a tone of some resignation ("the Presidency is not everything") that conservatives might better use their energies by concentrating instead on Congressional and Senate races. » Read more

Inside Out: Obama’s commitment to Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Jonathan Rosen - (Opinion) March 7, 2012 - 1:00am US President Barack Obama took the opportunity of his speech at the AIPAC policy conference on Sunday to reiterate his administration’s unequivocal commitment to Israel’s security and right to self-defense. He said, “My administration’s commitment to Israel’s security has been unprecedented. Our military and intelligence cooperation has never been closer. Our joint exercises and training have never been more robust... Israel must always have the ability to defend itself, by itself, against any threat.” » Read more

Hamas is making a tactical appeal to the grassroots ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian by Tareq Baconi - (Opinion) March 8, 2012 - 1:00am Hamas officials have said that in the event of a war between Iran and Israel, they will not become involved on Tehran's side. While this is not surprising, other officials within the movement were quick to deny such reports. Historically, Hamas has always gone to great lengths to assert its independence from any foreign influence. It is widely recognised that it receives support from powers such as Syria (until recently) and Iran. Yet this has never been worn as a badge of honour by the movement. » Read more

What Scares Israel: Iran or Peace? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Dar Al-Hayat by Hassan Haidar - (Opinion) March 8, 2012 - 1:00am The same boring theater play repeats itself every year, as the Jewish American lobbying group AIPAC holds its annual conference: Benjamin Netanyahu, or any Prime Minister of Israel, expresses his resentment and indignation at the stifling role played by the United States to prevent the Hebrew State from directing a military strike against Iran; and Barack Obama, or any other US President, finds no way to appease his ally and ease the latter’s “frustration” but to offer Israel additional military and economic aid, renew his commitment to its “sacrosanct” security, and refrain from raising the t » Read more

No calculated leadership decision ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons by Barry Rubin - (Opinion) March 5, 2012 - 1:00am Is there going to be a "third intifada"? I have no idea. That is a question most likely to be determined by those who set Palestinian strategy and they will surely differ among themselves. What interests me is the basis upon which such a choice would be made. When this issue is discussed publicly, it is attributed almost entirely to the idea that frustration will motivate revolt. This is certainly the point made by Palestinian Authority and Palestine Liberation Organization leaders. The argument is that unless they get their way diplomatically, violence will be the logical outcome. » Read more

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