Middle East News: World Press Roundup

NEWS: Palestinians increasingly see nonviolent tactics, like hunger striking, as key to their movement. PM Fayyad says PM Netanyahu is ultimately responsible for prisoners' health. Hungers-striking prisoners appeal to Israeli courts. Israeli prison authorities say prisoners cannot consult their lawyers if they can no longer stand to meet them. Public Security Minister Aharonovitch agrees “administrative detention” should be kept to a minimum. The brother of the assassin of the late PM Rabin is released. The Israeli Navy inaugurates its 4th Dolphin class submarine. Sec. Clinton's top technology adviser tells Palestinian bloggers the US supports Internet freedom. Hamas complains the PA detained 61 of its members in the West Bank last month. An abandoned Israeli military base in the occupied West Bank becomes the latest settlement outpost. Israel removes six large roadblocks near major West Bank towns. COMMENTARY: Saliba Sarsar says Palestinian Christians are disappearing. Adrian Blomfield asks if a revolt against Pres. Abbas is brewing in the West Bank. The CSM interviews former Israeli official Yossi Beilin. Yoel Marcus says if he wins the coming Israeli election, Netanyahu will have a mandate for his policy of doing nothing. Guy Bechor says Israel's regional dominance in deep-sea waters is growing through its expanding submarine fleet. Racheli Malek-Boda says she and other settlers should realize the humanity of the Palestinians around them. Jay Bushinski says there is growing interest in Israel about a "federated state" with the West Bank, but not with Gaza. J.J. Goldberg says a recent conference demonstrated huge rifts between Israeli and Jewish-American perceptions regarding Iran. Patrick Seale says Netanyahu's attitudes are increasingly being challenged within the Israeli establishment. Ahmad Majdoubeh says Arabs and Muslims should keep visiting Jerusalem. George Hishmeh says Israeli politics are in disarray over Iran and the Palestinians.

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Palestinians Go Hungry to Make Their Voices Heard ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Jodi Rudoren - May 3, 2012 - 12:00am KHARAS, West Bank — The newest heroes of the Palestinian cause are n » Read more

Fayyad: Netanyahu Responsible for Health of Striking Prisoners ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency May 4, 2012 - 12:00am RAMALLAH (Ma’an) -- The prime minister in Ramallah said Thursday that his counterpart in Israel was ultimately responsible for the wellbeing of Palestinian prisoners.  » Read more

Palestinian Hunger Strikers Appeal to Israeli Court ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Jihan Abdalla - May 3, 2012 - 12:00am   JERUSALEM, May 3 (Reuters) - Facing Israel's highest court in their wheelchairs, two Palestinian prisoners on the 66th day of their hunger strike appealed on Thursday for their release from detention without trial. » Read more

Israel Prison Service: Palestinian Hunger-Strike Must “Stand Up” to Visit Lawyer ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua May 4, 2012 - 12:00am   JERUSALEM, May 3 (Xinhua) -- Various NGO's protest against treatment of Palestinian hunger-strikers in Israeli prisons, where they cannot receive legal counseling from lawyers unless they can stand up and ask for it, despite that some of the protesters have been hunger-striking for two months. » Read more

Israel Should Reduce Use of Administrative Detentions for Palestinians, Top Official Says ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Barak Ravid - (Analysis) May 3, 2012 - 12:00am   Public Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch indicated that Israel should reduce its use of administrative detention against Palestinian suspects, a senior official said on Thursday, amid an ongoing wave of hunger strikes among Palestinian detainees. » Read more

Rabin Killer’s Brother Released From Israel Prison ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press by Tia Goldenberg - May 4, 2012 - 12:00am JERUSALEM — The unrepentant brother of the man who killed Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was released from prison Friday after serving 16½ years for complicity in a murder that stunned Israel and according to some destroyed an opportunity for peace. » Read more

Israel Takes Command of 4th Dolphin Class Sub ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua May 3, 2012 - 12:00am   JERUSALEM, May 3 (Xinhua) -- With a ceremonial smashing of a champagne bottle against the hull, Israel on Thursday took the helm of its fourth submarine at a German shipyard. » Read more

In Ramallah, Clinton Tech Advisor Says US Backs Open Internet ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency May 3, 2012 - 12:00am RAMALLAH (Ma'an) -- US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's top technology adviser told a group of Palestinian bloggers Wednesday that efforts to censor the Internet would ultimately backfire.  » Read more

Hamas: PA Detained 61 Members in April ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency May 4, 2012 - 12:00am GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Hamas on Thursday accused the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority of detaining 61 party members in the West Bank in April. » Read more

IDF Hands Over Former West Bank Base to Israeli Settlers ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Gili Cohen - May 3, 2012 - 12:00am   An abandoned Israel Defense Forces base in the West Bank has been handed over to the control of a nearby settlement council, Haaretz learned on Thursday. » Read more

IDF Removes Key West Bank Roadblocks ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Yaakov Katz - May 4, 2012 - 12:00am   In an effort to improve Palestinian quality of life, the Civil Administration of Judea and Samaria removed a number of roadblocks on key roads throughout the West Bank in recent weeks. » Read more

Palestinian Christians are disappearing ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star by Saliba Sarsar - (Opinion) May 4, 2012 - 12:00am Christians in the Holy Land, especially Palestinian Christians, are living under duress. In Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus, now only 18 percent of the population is Christian. In Jerusalem, where Jesus was crucified and resurrected, the percentage of Palestinian Christians is a far lower 1.5 percent, or 12,000 out of some 800,000 people. The remaining population is made up of around 65 percent of Israeli Jews and 33.5 percent Palestinian Muslims. In 1948, by contrast, Christians numbered 25,000 in the city, out of approximately 165,000 inhabitants, or 15 percent. » Read more

Is a Palestinian revolt against Mahmoud Abbas brewing? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Telegraph by Adrian Blomfield - (Analysis) May 4, 2012 - 12:00am It was meant to be a day of catharsis and rejoicing, marking the fulfilment of a visionary government strategy to end years of debilitating political cleavage and create a formidable platform to challenge Israel's occupation. But instead of going to the polls as they were promised this Friday, Palestinians are remaining at home, betrayed once again by bickering leaders whose quarrels have contributed to an increasingly dangerous sense of malaise across the West Bank and Gaza. » Read more

Is the Palestinian Authority really a 'fig leaf' for Israeli occupation? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor by Ben Lynfield - (Analysis) May 3, 2012 - 12:00am Seated at her desk beneath pictures of two smiling leaders, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and the late founding father Yasser Arafat, principal Shadia Shaheen asserts that her high school plays a part in the building of a future Palestinian state. » Read more

By winning the elections, Netanyahu can enact his vision – doing nothing ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Yoel Marcus - (Opinion) May 4, 2012 - 12:00am The big riddle is what Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was thinking when he decided to move up the elections. Why not elections at the scheduled time? After all, another year and a half in a safe government is nothing to sneeze at. In addition, he is running the country with a solid majority of 65 seats. Nobody can bring him down. If he wanted, he could even bring Kadima under Shaul Mofaz into the coalition. Bibi Netanyahu is admired by a large part of the public, unlike during his first term when he slipped on every banana peel. » Read more

Israel's deep-sea dominance ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Guy Bechor - (Opinion) May 4, 2012 - 12:00am Quietly, underwater, Israel is turning into a maritime power like the United States and Russia, with an armada of advanced submarines. Germany recently agreed to provide Israel with a sixth Dolphin submarine; the Jewish state already has three. Two more will be arriving this and next year, and then the sixth one will come. » Read more

The Arab who saved my boy ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Racheli Malek-Boda - (Opinion) May 3, 2012 - 12:00am I remember the first time I realized that as a religious/rightist/settler I was expected to hate Arabs, or at least treat them as second-class citizens. It happened in high school, during a trip to Jerusalem. We passed through the Muslim quarter's market and I wanted to purchase a small drum. I finalized a good deal with the peddler, when suddenly one teacher called me over, and quietly whispered: "We shouldn't support the Arabs." » Read more

A federated state for Israelis and Palestinians ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Jay Bushinsky - (Opinion) May 3, 2012 - 12:00am If anyone gains from the national election likely to take place in early September, it probably will be incumbent Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. At least one major public opinion poll gives his right-wing Likud party a two-to-one edge over its closest rival, the Labor party. A reaffirmation of Netanyahu’s leadership for up to four more years will enable him to change the partisan and personal make-up of his next coalition government. In that case, the losers might include the Yisrael Beytenu party of Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman. » Read more

Explosive Dust-Up Over Iran Policy ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward by J.J. Goldberg - (Opinion) May 2, 2012 - 12:00am On a sunny Sunday afternoon in late April, Israel put its raucous, divided political culture on full exhibition in New York for a day — and New York did not like what it saw. » Read more

Changing course in Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News by Patrick Seale - (Opinion) May 4, 2012 - 12:00am Israel’s hard-line Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is facing an unprecedented challenge. As Israel’s longest serving prime minister, who has been in office for more than three years, he had come to seem immovable. » Read more

The road to Jerusalem ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times by Ahmad Majdoubeh - (Opinion) May 3, 2012 - 12:00am I, like many who sympathise with the Palestinians during these particularly hard times, was extremely disappointed and saddened by the Islamists’ condemnation of the visit to Al Aqsa Mosque and Jerusalem by the grand mufti of Egypt a couple of weeks ago. This condemnation is yet another evidence of Islamists’ shortsightedness and negative vision. » Read more

Israel in disarray ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times by George S. Hishmeh - (Opinion) May 3, 2012 - 12:00am Since the criticism, last Friday, by a key secret service official of the right-wing Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and his wishy washy Labourite defence minister, Ehud Barak, the Israeli establishment appears to be in a serious state of disarray. » Read more

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