Middle East News: World Press Roundup

NEWS: The Israeli military has closed an investigation into the killing of 21 members of a family in Gaza in 2009 and says no charges will be filed regarding the tragedy. Hamas denies that Khaled Meshal and the Politburo have been stripped of control of the organization's budget and paramilitary operations. A “blame-game” is hampering a solution to the Gaza energy crisis. Palestinians say new Israeli settlement plans threaten the Palestinian tourism industry. The US is reportedly pressuring the UN Human Rights Commissioner to postpone an investigation into Israeli settlement activity. Speaker Rivlin says the Knesset is likely to be desolved next week. Arye Deri may return to a senior position in the ultra-Orthodox Shas party. Abbas and PM Fayyad separately send condolence letters to PM Netanyahu upon the death of his father. A Palestinian TV station is sued as the PA media crackdown continues. Hezbollah may be stockpiling drones in anticipation of possible conflict with Israel. COMMENTARY: Alon Ben-Meir says Israel's continued independence depends on Palestinian independence. Hadani Ditmars explains how traveling overseas can easily cost Palestinian Jerusalemites their residency permits. Attila Somfalvi says Tzipi Livni's career is not over. Bruce Acks says most Israelis and Palestinians could find a peace agreement if their leaders would permit them the chance. Susan Hattis Rolef says the epidemic of settlement outposts challenges both Israel's rule of law and the prospects for peace with the Palestinians. Tony Karon says Netanyahu's push for a war with Iran is losing momentum. The National says hunger striking Palestinian prisoners are losing world attention, but Osama Al Sharif says the Arab world and others should rally to their cause. Gershom Gorenberg looks at the legacy of Netanyahu's recently deceased extremist father. Hussein Ibish says the PA must stop censoring the Internet.

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Israel army closes probe into deaths of 21 Gazans ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press by Amy Teibel - May 1, 2012 - 12:00am JERUSALEM — The Israeli military said Wednesday it has closed its investigation into the shelling deaths of 21 members of a single Palestinian family and would not file any charges in what was one of the gravest incidents in the 2009 war in the Gaza Strip. » Read more

Meshal loses control of Hamas military wing as authority moves to Gaza leadership ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Avi Issacharoff - May 2, 2012 - 12:00am Hamas political bureau head Khaled Meshal, who now resides in Qatar, is expected to keep his post after an internal vote by the organization's leadership later this month. But sources have told Haaretz that Hamas leaders have decided to transfer some of Meshal's critical areas of authority to the leadership in the Gaza Strip, including control of the organization's budget and of its military wing. » Read more

Blame game defers solution to Gaza's energy crisis ATFP World Press Roundup Article from IRIN May 2, 2012 - 12:00am GAZA CITY (IRIN) -- From factories to the fishing industry, the Gaza Strip economy is being affected by more than two months of fuel shortages and power outages, taking a toll on the livelihoods of its 1.6 million inhabitants. To make a living on the sea, Madlene Kollab needs 20 liters of fuel each day. Unable to afford that, the Gaza Strip's only fisherwoman has seen her catch halve to just 1.5 kilos per day. » Read more

U.S. pressing UN Human Rights Commissioner to put off West Bank settlements probe ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Barak Ravid - (Analysis) May 2, 2012 - 12:00am The Obama administration is trying to delay the establishment of a panel appointed by the United Nations Human Rights Council to investigate the issue of Israeli settlements in the West Bank. A U.S. official conveyed messages to UN Human Rights Commissioner Navi Pillay in the last few weeks, asking her not to advance the matter in the near future. » Read more

Parties agree on September 4 vote ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews May 2, 2012 - 12:00am Coalition Chairman MK Zeev Elkin (Likud) filed an official motion for the dissolution of the 18th Knesset on Wednesday. Likud officials told Ynet that the party will now push for elections on Tuesday, September 4. » Read more

Shas insiders: Deri may yet return ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Jeremy Sharon - May 2, 2012 - 12:00am Despite recent reports, Shas insiders are hopeful that former party leader Arye Deri will return to the party for the next general election and not form a separate one. Channel 2 reported on Monday that, according to associates of Deri, Shas spiritual leader Rabbi Ovadia Yosef offered Deri the third spot on the Shas electoral list after current party chairman and Interior Minister Eli Yishai and Construction and Housing Minister Ariel Attias. According to senior Shas figures, Deri refused and demanded the top spot and the senior ministerial position. » Read more

Abbas, Fayyad send Netanyahu condolence letters ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Tovah Lazaroff - May 2, 2012 - 12:00am In an unusual gesture, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and PA Prime Minister Salam Fayyad on Tuesday sent separate condolence letters to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, who is sitting the shiva mourning period for his father in Jerusalem. Direct communication between Palestinian and Israeli leaders has been scant since Netanyahu took office in March 2009. » Read more

Palestinian TV station sued as journalists fear media crackdown ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian by Harriet Sherwood - May 1, 2012 - 12:00am An independent Palestinian television station is facing a potentially crippling court case next week amid growing evidence of a clampdown by the Palestinian Authority on freedom of expression and journalists critical of its activities. » Read more

Hezbollah Stockpiling Drones In Anticipation of Israeli Strike ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Yedioth Ahronoth by Ronen Bergman - April 27, 2012 - 12:00am Hezbollah is preparing "surprises" for the event of an Israeli assault on Iran. The Hezbollah organization has recently been investing efforts in upgrading its unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) unit, with the aim of using the UAVs to attack Israel in the event Israel decides to strike Iran's nuclear facilities. » Read more

Israel's Continued Independence Rests on Palestinian Independence ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Huffington Post by Alon Ben-Meir - (Opinion) May 1, 2012 - 12:00am As Israel recently observed sixty-four years of independence, it is critical that Israelis reflect on the path they have taken and ask if the current one is sustainable in the long-term. Much has been achieved since the nation's founding and the Israelis should take immense pride in what they have accomplished in a relatively short period of time. In the midst of celebration, however, there is a dangerous obliviousness to the "dark side" of Israel, one that could jeopardize Israel's very existence far more than threats from Iran or any other country. » Read more

For Jerusalem's Palestinians, Israeli ID policies cast a long shadow ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Hadani Ditmars - (Opinion) May 2, 2012 - 12:00am For me as for most citizens of independent states, the ability to study and work abroad while maintaining citizenship in one’s home country is unexceptional. But for a growing number of Palestinians with Jerusalem ID, a trip overseas can mean the loss of their right to residency in their homeland. » Read more

Livni's career is not over ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Attila Somfalvi - (Opinion) May 2, 2012 - 12:00am "I'll see you sometimes, somewhere," said Tzipi Livni to her supporters on the night she lost the Kadima primaries to Shaul Mofaz. » Read more

Discovering the Palestinian territories ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Bruce Acks - (Opinion) May 2, 2012 - 12:00am Almost every visitor to Jerusalem knows about the Central Bus Station. It is beautifully built, made from white Jerusalem stone, and a large clock sits in the center against a background of dark blue windows. What many tourists (and Israelis) do not know, however, is that there is actually another Central Bus Station in Jerusalem. This station is not as grand, fancy, or comfortable as the first, but its buses go to destinations that only they can reach. » Read more

The outpost and the rule of law ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Susan Hattis Rolef - (Opinion) May 2, 2012 - 12:00am Last Friday the state requested that the High Court of Justice put off by 90 days the demolition of five houses in the Ulpana outpost in Beit El that were built on private Palestinian land. Just over a year ago the court ruled that the houses should be demolished by May 1, 2012. » Read more

Netanyahu's warmongering on Iran losing momentum ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National by Tony Karon - (Opinion) May 2, 2012 - 12:00am So, what's going to be the main foreign policy contest of the US presidential election? A week ago, you'd have gotten long odds for any answer other than Iran; now, it's looking a lot more like China. The political earthquake has yet to register, but register it must after blind dissident Chen Guangcheng escaped his house arrest and sought shelter in the US embassy in Beijing. » Read more

Palestinian hunger strikers losing audience ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National (Editorial) May 2, 2012 - 12:00am Ever since Khader Adnan shone an international spotlight on Israel's harsh detention without trial of Palestinians, the Israeli government has feared his successful hunger strike would be copied by others. That has now happened, but the spotlight has faded. » Read more

`Palestinian prisoners ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times by Osama Al-Sharif - (Opinion) May 2, 2012 - 12:00am In what is probably the biggest act of defiance by Palestinians since the second Intifada, 12 years ago, more than 2,000 prisoners in Israeli jails are now on an open-ended hunger strike to protest against unfair prison conditions. » Read more

Benzion Netanyahu's Legacies ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Beast by Gershom Gorenberg - (Opinion) May 2, 2012 - 12:00am Honesty is difficult, perhaps distasteful, in talking of man just now dead. Honesty nonetheless requires saying that Benzion Netanyahu would be briefly eulogized as a historian, and more briefly recalled as a footnote to forgotten Zionist rivalries, were it not for his other legacy: the son whose politics, view of history, and resentments he shaped. » Read more

PA Must Stop Censoring Internet ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Beast by Hussein Ibish - (Opinion) May 2, 2012 - 12:00am Last weekend, Palestinian Authority Attorney General Ahmad al-Mughni publicly defended the blocking of several websites critical of the PA government and especially President Mahmoud Abbas. It was the first effort by any official to explain or defend these extraordinary actions, which have garnered widespread condemnation in Palestinian society.  » Read more

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