Middle East News: World Press Roundup

NEWS: Turkey says it may indict senior Israeli military officers regarding the deadly flotilla incident. Israeli peace activists launch an online university. Hamas leader Hanniyeh says the results of the Egyptian election will define the future of the Palestinian cause. PM Netanyahu postpones voting on a Knesset bill that would bypass a Supreme Court order to demolish a large settlement outposts built on privately-owned Palestinian land. Israeli authorities are preparing for more violent confrontations aimed at African migrants. Amnesty International says PA security forces “abuse detainees with impunity”, but also slams Israel for the Gaza blockade and settlement activity. An Israeli court rules that Palestinian towns in northern Israel are being discriminated against by not being given the same tax breaks as adjacent Jewish ones. Pres. Abbas reportedly says he's considering renewed UN initiatives. The Israeli occupation is increasingly the focus of “citizen journalism.” Palestinian fishermen in Gaza are being severely restricted by the Israeli blockade. The Senate Appropriations Committee will vote today on a bill that would redefine how the United States, but not the UN, defines who is a Palestinian refugee. COMMENTARY: Adam Ibrahim, an African migrant in Israel, pleads for decent treatment. Gideon Levy says a settlement goods boycott is fully justified. Tzipi Livni says Israel needs statesmanship, not crass politics. Douglas Bloomfield asks if Hamas and Fatah cannot make peace with each other, how can they make peace with Israel? Samia Hathroubi and Sarah Blum say people must take the lead in building peace. Abraham Rabinovich says Israel's conquest of occupied East Jerusalem was an "unintended consequence" of the 1967 war. Joyce Karam interviews Dennis Ross. Peter Beinart says it's ridiculous for Israelis to call South African demands to label settlement goods “racist.” David Makovsky and Olivia Holt-Ivry say Israeli military decisions regarding Iran will be made by politicians, not officers.

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Turkey May Indict Senior Israeli Officers Over Deadly Gaza Flotilla Raid ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Rick Gladstone - May 23, 2012 - 12:00am A prosecutor in Turkey has prepared indictments and recommended life sentences for four senior Israeli officers over the killing of nine activists aboard a Gaza-bound aid flotilla forcibly intercepted by Israeli commandos two years ago, Turkish news services reported Wednesday. The indictments, which have not been formally approved by the Turkish judiciary, could further strain relations between Turkey and Israel, which were once close but which deteriorated badly after the flotilla raid on May 31, 2010. » Read more

Israeli peace movement to launch online university ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press May 24, 2012 - 12:00am JERUSALEM — Organizers of an online Mideast peace movement say they are launching the Internet's first university for Israelis and Arabs across the Middle East Former Israeli peace negotiator Uri Savir, founder of the "Yala Young Leaders" movement, says the group's "Online Academy" will offer students courses in government, social networks, communications and skill development. » Read more

Hamas leader: Egyptian elections define future of Palestinian cause ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua May 24, 2012 - 12:00am GAZA, May 23 (Xinhua) -- Hamas leader in Gaza Ismail Haneya on Wednesday said presidential elections in Egypt "would define the future of the Palestinian cause." "The results of the elections will also establish a role for the nation in the world map," Haneya added in a brief statement. » Read more

Israeli PM delays bill to legalize West Bank outposts ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua May 23, 2012 - 12:00am JERUSALEM, May 23 (Xinhua) -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday reached an agreement with the nationalist coalition partner Habayit Hayehudi ("The Jewish Home") to delay the voting on a bill to legalize Jewish homes built on private Palestinian lands. » Read more

Israelis brace for more ethnic strife in south Tel Aviv ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua by Gur Salomon - May 24, 2012 - 12:00am JERUSALEM, May 24 (Xinhua) -- Israeli police beefed up forces in south Tel Aviv on Thursday, just hours after a protest against African migrants residing in the city turned violent. Public Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch is weighing plans to bolster Tel Aviv District Police with Border Police units which are largely deployed in the West Bank, the Yediot Aharonot daily reported, to assist Tel Aviv District Police in confronting crimes and thwarting reprisal attacks against the Africans. » Read more

Security forces 'abuse detainees with impunity' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency May 24, 2012 - 12:00am BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- Palestinian security forces in the West Bank and Gaza abuse detainees with impunity and use excessive force against demonstrators, Amnesty International said Wednesday. The London-based rights group issued its annual report, and accused the Fatah-run Palestinian Authority and Hamas security forces of arbitrarily detaining each other's supporters. » Read more

Amnesty Int'l slams Gaza blockade, settlements ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post May 24, 2012 - 12:00am Israel is criticized for violating the human rights of West Bank and Gaza Palestinians in Amnesty International's yearly report on the state of the world's human rights released on Wednesday. "Israel maintained its blockade of Gaza, prolonging the humanitarian crisis there, and continued aggressively to expand settlements in the Palestinian West Bank territory it has occupied since 1967," the report posited. » Read more

High Court: Arabs deserve tax breaks ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Aviad Glickman - May 23, 2012 - 12:00am Three Arab communities in northern Israel will be granted tax breaks by the State, similarly to Jewish communities in the same regions that are already entitled to the benefits, the High Court of Justice ruled Tuesday. » Read more

Abbas renews threat to seek Palestinian statehood at UN ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post May 23, 2012 - 12:00am Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday renewed his threat to unilaterally seek UN recognition of a Palestinian state in response to Israel's refusal to accept his conditions for resuming the peace talks. Abbas, meanwhile, met with US Consul-General Daniel Rubinstein and discussed with him the latest developments surrounding efforts to resume the stalled peace talks. » Read more

‘Citizen journalism’ focuses on Israeli occupation ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters May 24, 2012 - 12:00am ASEERA AL-QIBLIYA, West Bank — Amateur video of Israeli soldiers appearing to watch idly as settlers opened fire on Palestinians throwing stones has emphasised the growing power of "citizen journalism" in the occupied West Bank. » Read more

Gaza fleet leashed by Israel, starved for fuel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Nidal al-Mughrabi - May 24, 2012 - 12:00am GAZA CITY (Reuters) -- Israeli gunboats and an Egyptian clampdown on fuel smuggling into the Gaza Strip are strangling the enclave's little fishing fleet, slowly turning a generation of fishermen into fishmongers. Since 2009, they have been unable to sail out beyond three miles because of Israel's strictly enforced blockade. This year they can hardly afford to go out at all because diesel has nearly tripled in price. » Read more

Senate fight today over Palestinian ‘refugees’ ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Foreign Policy by Josh Rogin - (Blog) May 24, 2012 - 12:00am Thirty U.S. senators will vote today over whether there really are 5 million Palestinian "refugees" or just around 30,000 -- a hot-button issue that has already become the subject of a vigorous international debate involving Israel and its Arab neighbors. » Read more

An African migrant's plea for a few basic rights ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Adam Ibrahim - (Opinion) May 24, 2012 - 12:00am I live in the Shapira neighborhood in Tel Aviv. Unfortunately, what is currently happening in the neighborhood is intolerable. I have a friend who was told last Friday by two individuals that they were police officers in civilian clothing, who then proceeded to push him and steal 700 shekels from him. The police, of course, did not even deal with it. I think the Israelis do not treat us well, and then due to their guilt they come complaining about us. » Read more

Boycotting the settlements is justified ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Gideon Levy - (Opinion) May 24, 2012 - 12:00am I don't buy merchandise that comes from the settlements and I never will. To my way of thinking, those are stolen goods and, like any other goods that have been stolen, I try not to buy them. Now perhaps the South Africans and the Danes also will not buy them; meanwhile their governments have merely requested that products from the settlements be marked so as not to deceive their customers. Just as there was no need in the past to label merchandise from the British colonies as British products, so there is no need to mark products from Israel's colonies as Israeli. » Read more

Israel's politics of nothing ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Tzipi Livni - (Opinion) May 24, 2012 - 12:00am Espouse the vacuous, the hollow slogan; appropriate the show, the gestures. Lose the content, the vision and the values. Do not let a position or an opinion stand in your way, pick-pocket the opinions of others before they take your idea first. Conduct public opinion polls and tell the masses what they want to hear. Do nothing, because in any case it is unnecessary. » Read more

Palestinian irreconciliation ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Douglas Bloomfield - (Opinion) May 23, 2012 - 12:00am Fatah and Hamas signed another power sharing agreement this weekend in Cairo, but if experience is any guide it is doubtful this one will be any more successful than the previous attempts at reconciliation between the rival Palestinian factions. The new pact calls for voter registration in Gaza and consultations on formation of an interim government of technocrats to begin May 27. The new cabinet, to be agreed upon within 10 days, would operate for six months, during which time it would set a date for presidential and parliamentary elections, probably sometime next year. » Read more

Adopting a shared perspective on Arab-Jewish relations ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Samia Hathroubi - (Opinion) May 23, 2012 - 12:00am For a while now, the both of us, two French citizens, a Muslim and a Jew, having strong ties with Tunisia and Israel respectively, realized that it is high time we speak out. We have both committed to YaLa-Young Leaders in France, in Tunisia and in the Middle-East, and saw Toulouse and Montauban’s attacks as a national tragedy that challenged our beliefs. It revealed and highlighted issues concerning Muslim and Jewish dialogue in France and in the world. This piece, which we wrote together, points out the necessity to stand united beyond hatred and division and calls for peace. » Read more

Dennis Ross: Political Solution Still Possible with Iran ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Dar Al-Hayat by Joyce Karam - (Interview) May 23, 2012 - 12:00am As world powers make their way to Baghdad for another meeting with Iran in an attempt to resolve the nuclear standoff, former US negotiator Dennis Ross tells Al-Hayat that a political solution is still possible on the issue. » Read more

Who's Racist? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Beast by Peter Beinart - (Opinion) May 23, 2012 - 12:00am Even if you’re not a Zionist of South African parentage (not everyone can be so fortunate), it’s worth grabbing your biltong (don’t worry, it’s kosher now) and tuning into the political brawl currently underway between Israel and South Africa. » Read more

Command and Control ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Foreign Policy by Olivia Holt-Ivry, David Makovsky - (Opinion) May 23, 2012 - 12:00am This week, the world's major powers resumed negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program. Should they fail, the specter of a possible Israeli strike looms large, seeming to grow more likely as Tehran's nuclear program advances.  » Read more

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