Middle East News: World Press Roundup

NEWS: Hamas and Fatah agree to hold elections as a prelude to national reunification. An Israeli human rights group has released video of Israeli settlers shooting rubber bullets at unarmed Palestinians while Israeli soldiers stand by impassively. An Israeli military occupation court convicts a leader of Palestinian protest movements. Israeli officials react with outrage at demands by South Africa and other states that settlement goods be clearly labeled as distinct from those produced in Israel itself. Palestinians and right-wing Israelis clash in occupied East Jerusalem. The settlement outposts issue is the most immediate test of the new Israeli coalition. A verdict will be reached in August on the Rachel Corrie civil liability case. Haifa University's faculty demands the return of Arabic to the school's logo. PM Netanyahu warns that Israel could be “overrun” by African migrant “infiltrators.” The family of a Hamas operative assassinated in Dubai is trying to block an Israeli film about the murder. Austria's defense minister describes FM Lieberman as “unbearable.” Former Israeli PM Olmert says Jerusalem must be partitioned for peace. COMMENTARY: Ilan Bloch looks at the complexities of partitioning or sharing Jerusalem from a Jewish Israeli point of view. Liat Collins says the Palestinian prisoners' hunger strike reveals many complexities on all sides. Nicola Nasser says Palestinians, and everyone else, should recognize that the traditional peace process is a sham. Abdul Rahman Al-Rashid says Israel has finally decided that the fall of the Assad regime in Syria is in its interests. Emily Hauser says it's vital that Israelis and Palestinians get to know each other. Yossi Alpher says it's too early to tell if a new Israeli coalition will have any effect on Middle East peacemaking. Ghassan Khatib says the new Israeli government augurs little change for Palestinians. Walter Pincus asks why the United States would be funneling several packages of large amounts of new defense spending to Israel at a time of American budget crisis.

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Palestinians Sign Deal to Set Up Elections ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Fares Akram, Jodi Rudoren - May 20, 2012 - 12:00am JERUSALEM — The rival Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah signed an agreement late Sunday in Cairo that paves the way for elections and a new unity government for the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, officials said. The Cairo agreement comes three and a half months after a broader reconciliation pact was signed by the leaders of the two factions in Doha, Qatar, and a year after they first reached a unity accord. » Read more

Group: Palestinian shot as Israeli troops stood by ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press by Amy Teibel - May 20, 2012 - 12:00am JERUSALEM — An Israeli human rights group has released a video suggesting Israeli soldiers stood by while Jewish settlers opened fire on Palestinians in the West Bank, wounding one. » Read more

Israel convicts Palestinian protest leader ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press by Diaa Hadid - May 20, 2012 - 12:00am OFER MILITARY BASE, West Bank — An Israeli military court on Sunday convicted a Palestinian protest leader of urging youths to throw rocks at Israeli soldiers, ruling in a case that sparked international criticism of Israeli practices in the West Bank. Bassem al-Tamimi — a symbol of Palestinian opposition to Israeli military rule praised by the European Union as a human rights defender — was convicted largely because of a confession by a 15-year-old interrogated without a lawyer. » Read more

Israel blasts foreign proposal on settlement goods ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press by Amy Teibel - May 20, 2012 - 12:00am JERUSALEM — The Palestinian campaign to boycott goods produced in Jewish settlements in the West Bank has received a boost from abroad with an unprecedented South African proposal to have the name of Israel dropped from labels on merchandise made in the settlements. The South African government issued a notice saying it wants to require merchants "not to incorrectly label products that originate from the Occupied Palestinian Territory as products of Israel." » Read more

Palestinians and Israelis clash at Jerusalem march ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters May 20, 2012 - 12:00am JERUSALEM, May 20 (Reuters) - Right-wing Israeli marchers scuffled with Palestinians as a procession marking the Jewish state's capture of east Jerusalem entered the old city's Muslim quarter on Sunday, police said. Tens of thousands of Israelis turned out to celebrate the anniversary of the capture of the territory in a 1967 war. Fifteen people were arrested after fighting between some marchers and Palestinians who gathered outside the Old City walls, said police. » Read more

New Israeli unity government faces test on settlement issues ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua by Adam Gonn, Yang Zhiwang - (Analysis) May 21, 2012 - 12:00am JERUSALEM, May 20 (Xinhua) -- Time is ticking down for the Israeli government to decide how it will deal with two court orders demanding that an outpost and a settlement neighborhood be demolished. The Supreme Court has ruled that the Migron outpost is to be cleared by Aug. 1 and that the Ulpana neighborhood of the Beit-El settlement is to be evacuated, since both were deemed illegal by the court. » Read more

Court to announce Rachel Corrie verdict on Aug. 28 ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency May 21, 2012 - 12:00am BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- An Israeli court on August 28 will announce the verdict of a civil lawsuit against the State of Israel for the killing of Rachel Corrie, a foundation in her name said this week. The 23-year-old peace activist was killed on March 16, 2003 while nonviolently protesting the demolition of a Palestinian home in Gaza. » Read more

Faculty demands return of Arabic to University of Haifa's logo ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Revital Hovel - (Opinion) May 21, 2012 - 12:00am The University of Haifa has removed the Arabic script from its new logo, which appears as part of special design issued in honor of the 40th anniversary of the university's founding. The University of Haifa has removed the Arabic script from its new logo, which appears as part of special design issued in honor of the 40th anniversary of the university's founding. The logo now appears with the words "University of Haifa" in Hebrew and English only, whereas the previous university logo included the words in Arabic as well. » Read more

Netanyahu: Israel could be overrun by African infiltrators ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Talia Nesher - May 21, 2012 - 12:00am Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that the "phenomenon of illegal infiltrators from Africa is extremely serious and threatens Israel's social fabric and national security. He made the comments at a cabinet meeting, adding that "if we don't stop the problem, 60,000 infiltrators are liable to become 600,000, and cause the negation of the State of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state." » Read more

Family seeks to block Hamas film ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press May 21, 2012 - 12:00am The family of a slain Hamas agent is seeking to block the release of a film being made in Israel about his assassination in a Dubai hotel in 2010. The killing of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh was widely blamed on Israel's Mossad spy agency. Emmanuel Nakash, the French-Israeli director of Kidon, or Spear, has said his film is not meant to be factual. In a plot twist, a gang of criminals murder Mabhouh to frame the Mossad. One scene shows Mabhouh, a senior figure in an Islamic fundamentalist group, flirting in a hotel bar. » Read more

Lieberman is 'unbearable', says Austrian minister ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press May 21, 2012 - 12:00am VIENNA // Austria's defence minister has called Israel's foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman, "unbearable" because of his insistence on hawkish policies regarding the Middle East peace process and Iran. Sunday newspaper Die Presse quoted Norbert Darabos as saying that Israel's government is using "external enemies" to divert attention from domestic social problems. The centre-left politician is also quoted as saying that Mr Lieberman "is unbearable as a member of the Israeli government." » Read more

Ex-PM: Give up on trying to unify Jerusalem ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press May 20, 2012 - 12:00am JERUSALEM -- Former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert urged Israeli leaders Sunday to relinquish the idea of a unified Jerusalem if they truly want peace, contending in interviews that years of government neglect have kept the Jewish and Arab sectors irreparably divided. » Read more

Jerusalem as the eternal capital ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Ilan Bloch - (Opinion) May 21, 2012 - 12:00am As we mark the 45th anniversary of the Israeli conquest of east Jerusalem on the third day of the Six Day War, it is timely that we explore the concept of Jerusalem as the eternal, undivided capital of the State of Israel and the Jewish people. » Read more

My Word: Hunger-striking prisoners’ dilemma ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Liat Collins - (Opinion) May 21, 2012 - 12:00am The movie Midnight Express has a lot to answer for. The title became a synonym for hellhole jails with sadistic guards, brutal cellmates and mental torture. It’s probably still the image that springs to mind when talking about prisons anywhere in the Middle East. Israeli penitentiaries are certainly no picnic, but neither are they a Midnight Express-like nightmare. » Read more

Peacemaking without mediators ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News by Nicola Nasser - (Opinion) May 19, 2012 - 12:00am A Surplus of mediators have been around all the time, including the heavy weight Quartet of the UN, US, EU and Russia, as well as heaps of terms of reference of UNSC resolutions, bilateral signed accords and “road maps,” in addition to marathon bilateral talks that have left no stone unearthed, international as well as regional conferences were never on demand to facilitate the “peace process,” which has been lavishly financed to keep moving. » Read more

Israel's turn against the Assad regime ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News by Abdul Rahman Al-Rashed - (Opinion) May 18, 2012 - 12:00am It is not natural for the Israeli political and military establishment just to watch the events and violence taking place along its borders. During the past one year, the Israeli government did not spell out any stand on the Syrian revolution, although it was one of the dangerous incidents facing Israel since 1973 War. » Read more

Meet The Palestinians ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Beast by Emily L. Hauser - (Opinion) May 18, 2012 - 12:00am Many Israeli and American Jews hold strong opinions about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. We study it, attend conferences, and are often told to expect only violence from the Palestinian side—yet there’s one thing many of us have never done: Met a Palestinian. » Read more

Leave the page blank? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons by Yossi Alpher - (Opinion) May 21, 2012 - 12:00am My initial inclination in composing this article about the new, expanded governing coalition in Israel and the peace process was to leave the page blank. It is painfully obvious that there will be no serious peace process between this government and the Palestine Liberation Organization. » Read more

Little change for Palestinians ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons by Ghassan Khatib - (Opinion) May 21, 2012 - 12:00am The formation of a new Israeli government coalition that includes the Kadima party was a dramatic development in Israeli politics and took many politicians and observers by surprise. It was not, however, very exciting for Palestinians. Despite their increasingly difficult conditions, and despite their interest in any change that might revive the comatose peace process with Israel, Palestinians could not find any reason to feel hope after this shift. » Read more

Is U.S. going above and beyond for Israel? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post by Walter Pincus - (Opinion) May 16, 2012 - 12:00am Should the United States put solving Israel’s budget problems ahead of its own? When it comes to defense spending, it appears that the United States already is. » Read more

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