Middle East News: World Press Roundup

NEWS: The United Methodist Church votes against divesting from companies that provide equipment to enforce Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories. Hamas says it has been holding secret diplomatic talks with five EU countries. The regional epidemic of foot and mouth disease among livestock has spread to Gaza. Some Palestinian journalists boycott a press freedom reception at the US consulate in Jerusalem in support of hunger striking prisoners. A Likud official says September 4 is the most likely date for the next Israeli election. Some Israelis say the upcoming election make an Israeli attack against Iranian nuclear facilities more unlikely. Palestinian political leaders meet in Cairo. Nuns in Bethlehem protest the next phase of Israel's separation barrier in the occupied West Bank. Hamas officials say Khaled Meshaal may “be asked” to run for another term of Politburo leadership even though he said he would not. An Israeli marathon runner supports Palestinian human rights and says they also face a marathon struggle. COMMENTARY: Raja Shehadeh looks at how Israeli settlement activity has grown relentlessly over the decades and how it has compromised the prospects for peace. Jonathan Rosen says Netanyahu might end up with the largest party in the Knesset and still not be prime minister after the next election. Harriet Sherwood asks why Israel is holding elections now. Sadegh Zibakalam says the Arab uprisings have created a new atmosphere for real, lasting peace with Israel. Aaron David Miller lists five “dumb ideas" about dealing with the Middle East. Frank Barat interviews Jeff Halper about the state of the occupation. Robert Blecher says, difficult and remote as it may seem, a two-state solution is still the most straightforward and only conflict-ending solution for Israel and the Palestinians. Philip Farah says Palestinian Christians are united in opposing the occupation. Elliott Abrams says Hamas is one of the big losers of the “Arab Spring.”

---

---

---

Methodists Vote Against Ending Investments Tied to Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Laurie Goodstein - May 2, 2012 - 12:00am The United Methodist Church, the nation’s largest mainline Protestant denomination, voted against two proposals on Wednesday to divest from companies that provide equipment used by Israel to enforce its control in the occupied territories. » Read more

Hamas says it's holding talks with 5 EU countries ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press by Karin Laub - May 2, 2012 - 12:00am BEIRUT — Hamas has been holding secret political talks with five European Union member states in recent months, a senior official in the Islamic militant group told The Associated Press on Wednesday. If confirmed, such talks would be a sign that the isolation of the Gaza-based Palestinian movement is easing in the wake of the Arab Spring uprisings that have brought Islamists to power in parts of the Middle East. The EU and the U.S consider Hamas a terror group and refuse to deal with it unless it renounces violence and recognizes Israel. » Read more

New foot and mouth strain spreads to Gaza Strip ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters May 2, 2012 - 12:00am ROME, May 2 (Reuters) - A new strain of foot and mouth disease (FMD) has reached the Gaza Strip and threatens to spread further after first being detected in Egypt and Libya in February, the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said on Wednesday. FAO said sick animals had been detected on April 19 in Rafah, a town that lies on the border between the coastal Palestinian territory and Egypt. » Read more

Palestinian journalists shun press freedom reception by U.S. consulate ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua May 3, 2012 - 12:00am RAMALLAH, May 3 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian journalists on Thursday boycotted a reception by the U.S. Consulate in Jerusalem, protesting against the lack of U.S. pressure on Israel to respond to demands of hunger striking Palestinian prisoners. » Read more

Likud official: Early Israeli elections to be announced Sunday, Sept. 4 likely date ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press May 3, 2012 - 12:00am JERUSALEM — An official with Israel’s governing Likud Party says Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will announce Sunday that national elections will be moved up. The official said Thursday that Sept. 4 was shaping up as the likely date, speaking on condition of anonymity pending an official announcement. The vote was originally scheduled for October 2013. But Netanyahu signaled in December that he might move them up when he called a snap Likud leadership race that he handily won. » Read more

Israel's move toward early vote may shelve any attack on Iran ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times by Edmund Sanders - May 2, 2012 - 12:00am JERUSALEM —Israel'smove toward early elections is the latest sign that its threatened attack againstIran'snuclear facilities is unlikely to take place in the coming months. » Read more

Fatah official meets Hamas, Islamic Jihad leaders in Cairo ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency May 3, 2012 - 12:00am GAZA CITY (Ma’an) -- Fatah leader Azzam al-Ahmad on Wednesday held separate meetings in Cairo with Hamas leader Khalid Mashaal and secretary-general of the Islamic Jihad movement, Ma'an's correspondent said. Al-Ahmad, who heads Fatah's dialogue team, met with Mashaal to discuss the reconciliation process. Egyptian officials attended the meeting, which focused on the need to form a unity government. » Read more

Bethlehem nuns in West Bank barrier battle ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News by Yolande Knell - May 2, 2012 - 12:00am In the green Cremisan valley, west of Bethlehem, a goatherd leans against a rock while his flocks graze under the olive and fig trees. Nearby, a narrow road winds along the hillside to a 19th Century convent and a secluded monastery where monks run the only Palestinian winery. For the mainly Christian town of Beit Jala, this is the local beauty spot. Residents come here to take a stroll or for a weekend barbecue. Many own small plots of agricultural land. They also send their children to the convent school and visit the monastery to sell grapes or buy its wine. » Read more

Meshaal may be asked to remain as head of Hamas Political Bureau ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National by Hugh Naylor - May 3, 2012 - 12:00am JERUSALEM // Khaled Meshaal, the head of the Hamas Political Bureau, might be asked to stay in his post despite his recent decision not to stand for re-election, a spokesman for the group said yesterday. » Read more

A marathon runner with a long-distance goal for Palestinian freedom ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Danna Harman - May 3, 2012 - 12:00am Besides the obvious, what do people do while they run? Some listen to music and get lost in the beat. Some pipe in podcasts. Some, usually those with the big fancy sports watches, pass the time calculating times and distances or monitoring heart beats. And then some just let their minds wander. » Read more

The House That Sabri Built ATFP World Press Roundup Article from International Herald Tribune by Rajah Shehadeh - (Blog) May 3, 2012 - 12:00am BEIT IJZA, West Bank — One of the first statements under oath that I took for Al Haq, a human rights organization I helped establish, was from Sabri Garaib, a farmer from Beit Ijza, a Palestinian village ten miles northwest of Jerusalem. » Read more

An alternate agenda for elections ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Jonathan Rosen - (Opinion) May 2, 2012 - 12:00am The Knesset and the local media have been abuzz these past few months with talk about the likelihood of a general election being held well before the designated date of October 2013. That buzz first became audible immediately after Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu announced his surprise decision to hold the Likud primary at the end of January, sparking a flurry of speculation among politicians and journalists that this was a sign of the prime minister’s intention to call a general election as early as the second half of 2012. » Read more

Israel's prime minister is considering early elections. Why the hurry? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian by Harriet Sherwood - (Analysis) May 3, 2012 - 12:00am Even the sombre news of the death of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's highly influential father at the age of 102 could not quell the febrile atmosphere in the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, this week. There was one topic of conversation among MKs, their aides and political journalists at crowded canteen tables: the sudden almost-certainty of a general election being brought forward from autumn 2013 to late summer this year. » Read more

The landscape of the Arab spring ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons by Sadegh Zibakalam - (Opinion) May 3, 2012 - 12:00am The "Arab spring" is well into its second year. What is the broad outcome of this gigantic struggle and, more importantly, what can be sketched so far for the future of the Middle East? » Read more

The Dumb Idea Hall of Fame ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Foreign Policy by Aaron David Miller - (Opinion) May 2, 2012 - 12:00am In my 25 years of government service, I came up with more than my fair share of bad or just plain dumb ideas (see Arafat, Yasir, invitation to the Holocaust museum). In fact, I consider myself something of an expert on the subject. But life's about learning, right? And like Justice Potter Stewart's famous 1964 opinion on pornography, these days I've come to know a bad idea when I see one. » Read more

'We've gone way beyond Apartheid' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Jazeera English by Frank Barat - (Interview) May 2, 2012 - 12:00am Frank Barat: I'd like to start by talking about what's happening in Jerusalem. When I came in 2007, you took us to Silwan, explaining the huge house demolition plan the Israeli government had in mind, telling us that thanks to the efforts of many and including an intervention by the US, the demolitions didn't happen. Today, nonetheless, it looks like the demolitions will take place. Could you give us an update on this, and also give us a broader view of what people now often refer to as the 'ethnic cleansing' of Jerusalem? » Read more

Back to Square One ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Akhbar by Robert Blecher - (Opinion) May 1, 2012 - 12:00am Israeli Supreme Court Justice Salim Joubran, an Arab citizen, recently set off a controversy when he stood – but did not sing – as the Israeli anthem was played at a court ceremony. For the far right, his silence was an act of betrayal. The chairman of the Knesset's Constitution Law and Justice Committee, Knesset member David Rotem, demanded his dismissal. Israel’s Palestinian citizens, meanwhile, fêted Joubran – the court’s only Arab – for his subtle defiance of a prominent state symbol. » Read more

Palestinian Christians Against the Occupation ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Huffington Post by Philip Farah - (Blog) May 3, 2012 - 12:00am In a recent op-ed in the Wall Street Journal, Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren claimed that Christians in Israel are better off than their brethren anywhere else in the Middle East. Two Sundays ago, "60 Minutes" made clear he attempted to intimidate Bob Simon by going over Simon's head to speak to Jeff Fager, the head of CBS News and executive producer of "60 Minutes," to complain that Simon's story on Christian Palestinians was "a hatchet job" against Israel. » Read more

Hamas and the Arab Spring ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Council On Foreign Relations by Elliott Abrams - (Blog) May 3, 2012 - 12:00am It would be logical to assess that Hamas (a part of the Muslim Brotherhood) must be a winner from the “Arab Spring.” The various revolts have brought Islamists into power in several Arab countries, and most importantly the Muslim Brotherhood has attained a predominant position in Egypt’s parliament and may win the presidency in the forthcoming election. » Read more

---

---