Middle East News: World Press Roundup

NEWS: Germans appear to be becoming less reticent to criticize Israel. With international attention now focused on Iran, Israel is moving to expand settlements in the occupied West Bank. Pres. Abbas arrives in Japan on the first stop of an international tour. Palestinian and Israeli officials will meet next week to discuss water issues. Palestinian officials say they are ready to resume negotiations with Israel, but only with a clear frame of reference. In a letter to the New York Times, Israeli Amb. Oren denies that Israel interferes in US elections. The National profiles Sari Nusseibeh and his evolving views on future relations between Israel and the Palestinians. Lacking US leadership, the Israeli-Palestinian peace process appears at an impasse. The one-state agenda is gaining ground in Palestinian public opinion. Jordan may be considering revoking citizenship for some Palestinians, including some PLO and PA officials. COMMENTARY: ATFP praises the release of US aid to the Palestinian people and welcomes the latest statement by the Quartet. Gideon Levy says Israel has become paranoid about pro-Palestinian activists. Patrick Seale says Israel “ urgently needs a voice of reason" like new Kadima leader Mofaz. Sever Plocker says there is a growing gap in perceptions between Jewish Americans and Israel. Zvika Krieger says a two-state solution is still possible and that an evacuation of up to 100,000 settlers is politically possible. The Oman Tribune says it's pointless to try to pursue negotiations until after the next US presidential election. Allison Good looks at the future of Israeli-Lebanese naval cooperation. Michael Zigmond says a settlement boycott is in Israel's interests. Nabeel Shaath says Palestinians remain committed to the1967 borders. Paul Blumenthal looks at the political agenda being promoted in the United States and Israel by gambling billionaire Irving Moskowitz.

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Once Taboo, Germans’ Anti-Israel Whispers Grow Louder ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Nicholas Kulish - April 13, 2012 - 12:00am BERLIN — To judge by the outpouring of comments from politicians and writers and from the newspaper and magazine articles in response to the Nobel laureate Günter Grass’s poem criticizing Israel’s aggressive posture toward Iran, it would appear that the public had resoundingly rejected his work. But even a quick dip into the comments left by readers on various Web sites reveals quite another reality. » Read more

With West Focused on Iran, Netanyahu Moves to Expand Israeli Settlements ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor by Ben Lynfield - April 12, 2012 - 12:00am Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is moving to expand Israeli settlements in the West Bank at a time when international attention is focused elsewhere, with President Obama gearing up for reelection and the West targeting Iran's nuclear program. Last week, the Netanyahu government took a variety of steps that, taken together, amount to a significant strengthening of Israel's hold in the West Bank, the biblically resonant territory occupied in 1967, which Palestinians claim as the heartland for their future state. » Read more

Abbas Arrives in Japan on First Leg of International Tour ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency April 13, 2012 - 12:00am BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- President Mahmoud Abbas arrived in Japan on Thursday for the first leg of an international tour. Abbas discussed the latest developments concerning Palestine with several Japanese officials, including Japan's special Middle East peace envoy Yutaka Iimura. Abbas is due to arrive in Sri Lanka on Sunday, before heading to the Maldives for two days on Tuesday.

Palestinian, Israeli Officials to Meet on Water Issues ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua April 12, 2012 - 12:00am RAMALLAH, April 12 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian and Israeli officials will meet next week to discuss water issues that affect the two sides, a Palestinian official said Thursday. The meeting mainly aims to "overcome Israeli obstacles" on water projects in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, said Shadad Al- Otili of the Palestinian Water Authority. The meeting comprises members of the joint water committee which was formed after Israel and the Palestinians signed Oslo accords in 1993, Al-Otili told Xinhua. » Read more

Abbas Ready to Meet Israeli PM When Peace References Recognized ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua April 12, 2012 - 12:00am RAMALLAH, April 12 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is ready to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when the latter recognizes the basis of the peace process, a spokesperson for Abbas said Thursday. "The Palestinian side has no problem to hold bilateral and direct meetings with the Israeli side if they were based on a clear reference so we know on what basis and mechanisms we are negotiating," Abbas' spokesperson Nabil Abu Rdineh told Voice of Palestine Radio. » Read more

Israeli Ambassador to New York Times: Netanyahu Does Not Interfere in U.S. Elections ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Barak Ravid - April 12, 2012 - 12:00am The duel between the New York Times and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his advisers continues. Israeli ambassador to Washington Michael Oren submitted a letter to the editor to the New York Times' editorial board, with a complaint regarding an article which was published several days ago about the close ties between Netanyahu and the likely Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney. In the letter, which was published on Thursday, Oren rejected the allegations that Netanyahu is intervening in the presidential race in the United States. » Read more

Two-State Solution Loses its Champion ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National by Hugh Naylor - April 13, 2012 - 12:00am The spines of the books that bear Sari Nusseibeh's name are testimony to the cause he once championed. There is Palestine: A State is Born, published in 1990. A year later, it was No Trumpets, No Drums: A Two-State Solution of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict. To the dismay of those who continue to support the two-state solution, Mr Nusseibeh now believes the convictions he espoused in the pages of these books are as faded and musty as the volumes. » Read more

The Peace Process Stuck in a Rut of Malaise ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National by Omar Karmi - April 13, 2012 - 12:00am The Quartet of Middle East mediators - the US, the UN, the EU and Russia - met Wednesday on the sidelines of the G8 foreign ministers' meeting in Washington. But the Quartet's first high-level meeting since December passed almost without notice in the US. Neither The Washington Post nor The New York Times had a story about it in yesterday's editions. In part, say observers, the lack of interest is due to other, more pressing issues. The violence in Syria dominates the attention of the foreign-policy circuit in Washington, where Iran's nuclear programme is also a perennial concern. » Read more

‘One-State’ Idea Gains Support of Some Palestinians ATFP World Press Roundup Article from National Public Radio (NPR) by Lourdes Garcia-Navarro - April 12, 2012 - 12:00am Peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians are at a standstill and have been for almost two years. The stated aim of those negotiations is what is known as the "two-state solution," which means the establishment of a viable, independent Palestinian state existing in peace alongside Israel. But as hopes for an agreement diminish, Palestinians — and even some Israelis — are now talking about other solutions to the conflict. Among them, the so-called "one-state solution." » Read more

Jordan to Revoke Citizenship ATFP World Press Roundup Article from United Press International (UPI) April 12, 2012 - 12:00am AMMAN, Jordan, April 12 (UPI) -- In a move to restrict Palestinian representation in Parliament, Jordan plans to revoke the citizenship of some Palestinians, officials said. The decision coincides with a new electoral law, The Jerusalem Post said Thursday. The move will affect Palestinian Authority officials as well as members of the Palestinian Liberation Organization, The Post said. Palestinian leaders will receive temporary Jordanian passports to facilitate travel. Nearly half of the Hashemite Kingdom's 6 million people are of Palestinian origin, The Post said. » Read more

ATFP Praises Release of US Aid to the PA, Welcomes New Quartet Statement ATFP World Press Roundup Article from American Task Force on Palestine April 12, 2012 - 12:00am Washington DC, April 12 -- The American Task Force on Palestine (ATFP) today welcomed the announcement by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton that the United States would be releasing a $147 million package in aid to the Palestinian people. The move overrides some remaining congressional holds on the US aid package to the Palestinians for fiscal year 2011 economic support. » Read more

Israel is paranoid about pro-Palestinian activists ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Gideon Levy - (Opinion) April 12, 2012 - 12:00am And with what shall we frighten the Israeli public in advance of the seventh day of Passover? How will we provide the dose of fear to which it has long since become addicted? After a week of a quiet and safe vacation, we have to find something, after all. The Iranian threat has entered a negotiations freeze, terror is quiet, even the Grad missiles have diminished in number, there is no mass plague on the horizon and even the circumstances of the attack against the Jew in Kiev have not become sufficiently clear. » Read more

New man on Israeli scene ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News by Patrick Seale - (Opinion) April 13, 2012 - 12:00am The emergence this month of Shaul Mofaz on the Israeli political scene as the new head of the centre-left Kadima party is a welcome development. It carries with it the promise — still only a faint one, however — that a reinvigorated and politically-successful Kadima could bring about a softening, even a reversal, of the expansionist, war-mongering policies of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his nationalist, ultra-orthodox and right-wing Labour coalition partners. » Read more

Jewish Americans Embrace Israeli Leaders, US Identities ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Yedioth Ahronoth by Sever Plocker - (Opinion) March 27, 2012 - 12:00am A Jewish American intellectual was interviewed recently and asked how he would respond if Israel would be annihilated — wiped off the map. His answer was, “I would not feel like a complete Jew.” Something would be missing from the fellow’s identity if and when Armageddon comes to the holy land and Israel disappears off the face of the earth. » Read more

How to Evacuate 100,000 Israelis From the West Bank ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Atlantic by Zvika Krieger - (Opinion) April 12, 2012 - 12:00am A two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is still possible. As part of my debate on this question with Robert Wright, who says "it's too late" as "there are just too many settlements," I offered some proposals on how to include the vast majority of settlers within a new Israeli border that would still allow for a viable and contiguous Palestinian state. Wright was not convinced, arguing that there are practical and political barriers to implementing those proposals. I still think he's wrong, and here's why. » Read more

Waste of time ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Oman Tribune (Editorial) April 13, 2012 - 12:00am Time and money has again been wasted on the Middle East conflict and its dead peace process. And it’s high time, instead of indulging in these futile exercises, some thing concrete were done. Instead of making some firm moves, the Middle East Quartet’s top diplomats, after a meeting in Washington on Wednesday, came up with a number of appeals that included one to foreign donors to deliver promised aid to the Palestinians. They also urged Israelis and Palestinians to build trust to revive peace talks. » Read more

Will Israel and Lebanon's new naval partnership last? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Foreign Policy by Allison Good - (Blog) April 12, 2012 - 12:00am Although the Arab Spring hasn't won Israel many friends in the Middle East, Haaretz reported yesterday that its navy "recently strengthened its cooperation with the Lebanese Navy in the Mediterranean." The partnership, Israel hopes, will prevent provocations in the form of possible pro-Palestinian flotillas to Gaza on May 15, or Nakba Day, which commemorates "the displacement of Palestinians following the establishment of Israel in 1948, and on Naksa Day, which takes place in June and commemorates the displacement of Palestinians after the 1967 war." » Read more

The case for a West Bank settlement boycott ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Chronicle by Michael Zigmond - (Opinion) April 12, 2012 - 12:00am Imagine that a well-known American journalist publishes a book entitled, “Saving Israel.” His thesis: Israel must hold on to Judea and Samaria. He notes that Israel is the only country in the world dedicated to providing a safe haven for Jews and the only true democracy in the Middle East. He points out that Arabs living in Judea and Samaria, or “Palestinians,” are among the most prosperous in the Middle East. » Read more

Palestinian Authority affirms its commitment to 1967 borders ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National by Nabeel Shaath - (Analysis) April 13, 2012 - 12:00am For a few years, international leaders have voiced concerns about the stalemate in the Middle East peace process. After 20 years of negotiations, we still hear calls to go back to the table for negotiations. At the same time, Israeli bulldozers continue to change Palestine's landscape. » Read more

Irving Moskowitz, Controversial Backer Of Israeli Settlements, Gives $1 Million To Anti-Obama Super PAC ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Huffington Post by Paul Blumenthal - (Blog) April 12, 2012 - 12:00am WASHINGTON -- Even in the era of unbridled campaign contributions, Irving Moskowitz's $1 million donation in February to American Crossroads, the Karl Rove-linked super PAC, is eye-catching. » Read more

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