Middle East News: World Press Roundup

NEWS: An agreement is reached between Israel and hunger striking Palestinian prisoners. Hamas again calls for capturing more Israeli soldiers to bargain for Palestinian prisoners. Palestinians commemorate Nakba Day, and doctors say over 80 were injured in clashes with Israeli occupation forces near Ramallah. MK Tibi says Israelis must show empathy on Nakba Day. Iran executes a man accused of being an Israeli spy. Israel allows the export of clothes from Gaza after a five-year ban. New documents suggest that settlers in the controversial Ulpana outpost may have been duped into thinking they were not building on privately owned Palestinian land. The EU says Israeli settlement expansions are threatening the prospects for a two-state solution. Israel displays its security technologies to international visitors. Palestinians are increasingly turning to the Gulf for trade and aid. COMMENTARY: Hanan Ashrawi says Israeli recognition of the Nakba is vital for peace. Ha'aretz says the Nakba is part of Israel's history. Noam Neusner says Israel might be ready for a peace agreement, but the Palestinians are not. The chief of the PLO's Washington mission Areikat says Congress should be more constructive regarding aid to the Palestinians. Tony Karon says Israel's settlement policy depends on tactical deceptions. The National says a letter from a US member of Congress demonstrates widespread ignorance at senior American levels about the Middle East. Alon Ben-Meir asks if the new Israeli coalition deal is an ingenious political coup or an insidious political scheme. Samuel Segev says the political climate in Jordan is “boiling,” including on issues related to the Palestinians and Israel.

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Palestinians in Jails End Hunger Strike ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Isabel Kershner - May 14, 2012 - 12:00am JERUSALEM — Hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails ended a hunger strike on Monday that had lasted for weeks, signing an agreement with the Israeli authorities that promised improved conditions, according to officials. The end of the strike calmed fears of widespread unrest in the event of a prisoner’s death. “There is an agreement — the strike is over,” Sivan Weizman, a spokeswoman for the Israel Prison Service, said by telephone on Monday evening. » Read more

Hamas official urges militants to abduct Israeli soldiers ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency May 15, 2012 - 12:00am GAZA CITY (Ma’an) -- A Hamas spokesman in the Gaza Strip called on Tuesday for Palestinian factions to abduct Israeli soldiers in order to swap them for Palestinians jailed by Israel. Khan Younis district spokesman Hammad al-Ruqab called on militant groups, and in particular Hamas' military wing the Al-Qassam Brigades, to seize forces "whatever the cost", which he lauded as the most successful route to freeing prisoners. » Read more

Palestinians march in annual mourning ritual ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press by Mohammed Daraghmeh - May 15, 2012 - 12:00am RAMALLAH, West Bank — Palestinians on Tuesday marked their mass displacement that followed Israel's creation with a blend of sadness and hope, stopping in their tracks for a mournful siren but also flashing victory signs and carrying banners proclaiming their right of return. Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians fled or were forced from their villages during the war that established the Jewish state in 1948, an event they commemorate every year as their "Nakba," or catastrophe. » Read more

Medics: 80 injured in Nakba protests near Ramallah ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency May 15, 2012 - 12:00am RAMALLAH (Ma'an) -- Over 80 Palestinians were injured in clashes with Israeli forces near Ramallah on Tuesday, medics said, as protesters commemorated the Nakba, or catastrophe, of their exile in 1948. After a mass rally in Ramallah's clock square, protesters headed to Israel's Ofer detention center and the Qalandiya checkpoint between Ramallah and Jerusalem to commemorate the expulsion of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians during the founding of the state of Israel. » Read more

Tibi: Israel must show empathy on 'Nakba Day' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Lahav Harkov - May 15, 2012 - 12:00am MK Ahmed Tibi (UAL-Ta'al) spoke out against criticism of "Nakba Day" demonstrations on Tuesday, calling for Jewish Israelis to show empathy. "Recognition and empathy of the others' suffering is a lofty, humane value and a step towards peace between nations," Tibi said at a demonstration near Umm el-Fahm. » Read more

Iran Executes Accused Israeli Spy ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Alan Cowell - May 15, 2012 - 12:00am LONDON — Iran said on Tuesday that it had executed a man accused of being an Israeli intelligence agent responsible for the assassination of one of its nuclear scientists, Iranian state media reported. » Read more

Israel allows Gaza to export clothes after 5-year ban ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters May 15, 2012 - 12:00am GAZA CITY (Reuters) -- Israel allowed on Monday the export of Palestinian-made clothes from the Gaza Strip for the first time in at least five years, a Palestinian official said. Raed Fattouh, who coordinates supplies into Gaza, said a truck carrying 2,000 pieces of mainly woolen garments were exported through the Israeli-controlled Kerem Shalom crossing towards an Israeli seaport en route to Britain. » Read more

Ulpana developer lied and told residents that outpost was built on WZO, not Palestinian land ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Chaim Levinson - May 15, 2012 - 12:00am A housing developer allegedly lied to an Israeli couple who had purchased a home in the Ulpana Hill West Bank outpost, Haaretz learned on Tuesday, after telling them that the land on which their unit was built was owned by the World Zionist Organization, despite the fact that it was actually private Palestinian land. » Read more

Israel putting any two-state peace deal at risk, says EU ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian by Harriet Sherwood - May 14, 2012 - 12:00am The European Union has warned that the prospect of a peaceful and viable solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, involving two states side by side, is in jeopardy because of Israeli actions. » Read more

Israel shows off its homeland security technologies to international visitors ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) by Mati Wagner - May 14, 2012 - 12:00am JERUSALEM (JTA) -- Israel’s security technologies were on display as the country hosted two separate international contingents. An Interpol European Regional Conference brought 110 senior law enforcement officers from 49 countries to Tel Aviv, while a homeland security conference drew 37 mayors from two dozen worldwide cities to sites throughout Israel last week. » Read more

Palestinians Turn to Gulf States ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Calcalist by Danny Rubenstein - May 8, 2012 - 12:00am The joint customs system (or customs union, as it is variously known) established under the Oslo Accords between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, the geographic proximity and the obstacles impeding [Palestinian] exports to foreign countries are the factors due to which most of the Palestinian foreign trade is conducted with Israel. However, in recent years, things seem to have changed. » Read more

Recognizing Nakba, Reaching Peace ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Hanan Ashrawi - (Opinion) May 15, 2012 - 12:00am May is the cruelest month despite the promise of spring. It carries the bitter memories of ongoing loss and injustice for a nation, my nation. Every year, Palestinians mark Al-Nakba, or the Catastrophe, of 1948, to remember how our vibrant society was physically and politically crushed by violence and forced expulsion. » Read more

Nakba is part of Israel's history ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz (Editorial) May 15, 2012 - 12:00am "I don't expect an Arab national to sing 'A Jewish soul still yearns,' Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said two months ago, after Supreme Court Justice Salim Joubran refrained from singing the national anthem. Although the message was conveyed to Joubran indirectly, it reflected Netanyahu's understanding of the fundamental contradiction underlying an anthem that addresses only one people, the Jewish one. » Read more

Nakba and freedom ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post (Editorial) May 14, 2012 - 12:00am Israel’s vibrant – though embattled – democracy was on display Monday at Tel Aviv University in all its glory. Dozens of students – Palestinian and Jewish – articulated their belief that the events surrounding the creation of the State of Israel were a “Nakba,” Arabic for catastrophe, after receiving authorization from Tel Aviv University President Joseph Klafter. » Read more

Presidential Questions on Peace Process ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward by Noam Neusner - (Opinion) May 15, 2012 - 12:00am The battle for the philo-Israel vote is taking familiar shape as both major candidates and major parties do their best to pledge fealty to Israel at this hour of maximum peril. President Barack Obama and Governor Mitt Romney are outdoing each other when it comes to their rhetoric. Obama says he’s got Israel’s back. Romney says that a White House led by him would not have “one inch of difference” with Jerusalem. » Read more

Ambassador Maen Rashid Areikat: For a more constructive Congress on Palestine ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Hill by Maen Areikat - (Opinion) May 14, 2012 - 12:00am The past few weeks have seen interesting statements by several former and current Israeli officials criticizing the policies of their government. They particularly focused on Israel’s failure to engage in talks with the Palestinians to end the conflict. » Read more

Settler policy rests on history of Israel's tactical deceptions ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National by Tony Karon - (Opinion) May 16, 2012 - 12:00am The US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last week, urging him to use his new unity government to advance the peace process with the Palestinians. In particular, she looked forward to Mr Netanyahu's reply to a letter from Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, so that the two could resume negotiations as soon as possible. » Read more

Arafat-Sharon talks? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National (Editorial) May 16, 2012 - 12:00am So you write a letter to a congressman expressing concern over House Resolution 268, a resolution that reaffirms US commitment "to a negotiated settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict". And then you wait. A year later, you receive a response dated April 20, 2012. But it might as well have been dated 2002. » Read more

Ingenious Political Coup Or Insidious Political Scheme ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Huffington Post by Alon Ben-Meir - (Blog) May 14, 2012 - 12:00am Prime Minister Netanyahu's move to expand his coalition to include Kadima with 28 Knesset members provides him with a majority of 94 out of 120 parliamentarians and represents nothing short of an ingenious political coup or an insidious political scheme, depending on what he does with his historic mandate. Reaching a peace agreement with the Palestinians and bridging the social gap must be first and foremost on his national agenda. » Read more

Political climate in Jordan boiling ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Winnipeg Free Press by Samuel Segev - (Opinion) May 15, 2012 - 12:00am What is going on in Jordan? For some time, the political climate in the kingdom has been boiling. In the last six months, King Abdullah has been forced to change his government three times, but demonstrations against the monarch continue. Luckily for him, there is no immediate danger of his overthrow. The reasons for the constant tension in the kingdom are abundant: unemployment, high cost of living, a rise in the power of the Islamists and the struggle between the Bedouins and the Palestinians, who constitute a majority in the country. » Read more

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