Middle East News: World Press Roundup

NEWS: Israel upgrades security ties with China. Israel's Supreme Court has ordered the military to reconsider its ban on Gaza students studying in the West Bank. In the context of negotiations with Iran, the US reiterates its commitment to Israel's security. Pres. Abbas says Palestinians in Lebanon should not arm themselves. Palestinians say Israeli settlers from the settlement involved in the controversial shooting incident last weekend have torched large areas of agricultural land near the same Palestinian village they attacked on Saturday. The new State Department human rights country report criticizes Israel's treatment of African migrants. PM Netanyahu condemns attacks on African migrants. Amnesty International says Israel frequently uses excessive force against Palestinians. Peace Now says MKs should be investigated for incitement to violence. A Canadian group is helping people in Gaza build a giant ark. The Senate Appropriations Committee approves language that would attempt to strip most Palestinian refugees of their status and place restrictions on American funding for UNRWA, but State Department intervention forces revision. COMMENTARY: Hussein Ibish says Israel must stop settler violence. Eitan Haber says Israel must prepare itself to live with a nuclear-armed Iran. MK Danny Danon says Israel should expel African migrants. Jay Bushinsky says it's time for DM Barak to resign. Uri Savir says sports can be a means to promote Israeli-Palestinian coexistence. Stephen White and PJ Dermer say by not adequately supporting the training program for Palestinian security forces, the Obama administration missed a crucial chance to promote peace. Oren Kessler says Israelis are watching the Egyptian election results with deep trepidation. Daniel Kurtzer says in order to have a positive impact on political transformations in the Middle East, a second term Obama administration needs to develop a serious strategy on Israeli-Palestinian peace. Michael Sharnoff says Palestinians are likely to increasingly turn to nonviolent protests against the occupation. Lara Friedman says it's mean-spirited, quixotic and bad for peace efforts for some members of Congress to try to redefine who qualifies as a Palestinian refugee.

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Israel steps up security ties with China ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press by Josef Federman - May 25, 2012 - 12:00am JERUSALEM — After a prolonged chill, security ties between Israel and China are warming up. With Israel offering much-needed technical expertise and China representing a huge new market and influential voice in the international debate over Iran's nuclear program, the two nations have stepped up military cooperation as they patch up a rift caused by a pair of failed arms deals scuttled by the U.S. » Read more

Israeli court: Reconsider Gaza student travel ban ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press May 25, 2012 - 12:00am JERUSALEM — Israel's Supreme Court has ordered the military to reconsider its ban on Gaza residents studying in the West Bank. The court posted its decision Thursday, implying it would order a change. The Israeli military has 45 days to respond. Sari Bashi, head of the Israeli human rights group Gisha who was involved in petitioning the court, said this was the first time such a ruling has been made. » Read more

U.S. to reaffirm commitment to Israel's security ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters May 25, 2012 - 12:00am WASHINGTON, May 24 (Reuters) - A senior State Department official will travel to Tel Aviv on Friday to reaffirm the U.S. commitment to Israel's security following just-concluded talks between world powers and Iran over its nuclear program. Wendy Sherman, undersecretary of state for political affairs, will discuss bilateral and regional issues with senior Israeli officials during her visit, the State Department said in a statement on Thursday. » Read more

Abbas: Palestinians in Lebanon should disarm ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency May 25, 2012 - 12:00am BEIRUT (Ma'an) -- President Mahmoud Abbas said Thursday that Palestinians in Lebanon should not arm themselves, as they are under the protection of the Lebanese state and its military, local media reported. “The weapons of Palestinians in Lebanon are illegitimate. We do not want them inside or outside camps. We respect the law and we are [under] the protection of the Lebanese state and army,” Abbas was quoted as saying. » Read more

PA: Settlers torch farmland near Nablus ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency May 25, 2012 - 12:00am NABLUS (Ma'an) -- Israeli settlers on Thursday torched farmland near Nablus in the northern West Bank, a PA official said. Ghassan Doughlas told Ma'an that residents of Yitzhar settlement set fire to large swathes of agricultural land in Madma village. Witnesses told Ma'an that villagers clashed with the settlers and that Israeli forces intervened and detained two Palestinians, Ahmad Nassar, 20, and Muhammad Nassar, 23. An Israeli army spokeswoman said soldiers and border police were called to the area but she said there were no detentions. » Read more

U.S. report criticizes Israel's treatment of African migrants ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Natasha Mozgovaya - May 25, 2012 - 12:00am Secretary of State Hilary Clinton presented on Thursday the State Department's 2011 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices that criticizes Israel for its treatment of African migrants, an issue vigorously debated in Israeli public discourse lately. The report states that Sudanese and Eritrean asylum seekers, which are about 85 percent of African migrants in Israel "were not allowed access to asylum procedures but were given renewable 'conditional release' documents that deferred deportation and had to be renewed every few months." » Read more

Netanyahu condemns violence against African migrants, promises to solve problem ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Barak Ravid - May 25, 2012 - 12:00am Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised on Thursday that his government would address the issue of African migrants in Israel, one day after a protest against them by residents of south Tel Aviv turned violent. "The infiltrator problem must be solved, and we will solve it," Netanyahu said on Thursday afternoon, speaking at an event in Tel Aviv. » Read more

Amnesty International: Israel frequently uses excessive force against Palestinians ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz May 24, 2012 - 12:00am The Amnesty International 2012 annual report was released on Wednesday, detailing the violation of human rights worldwide. The report is highly critical of Israeli policies toward the Palestinians, charging that the Israel Defense Forces frequently uses excessive, sometimes lethal, force against demonstrators in the West Bank and civilians in Gaza. The IDF this year has killed 55 civilians in the West Bank and Gaza, including 11 children, the report said. » Read more

Peace Now: Investigate MKs for incitement to violence ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Moran Azulay - May 25, 2012 - 12:00am "I do not condone violence and never have," said MK Miri Regev (Likud) on Thursday morning after calling infiltrators "a cancer in our society" during a violent protest in south Tel Aviv on Wednesday. » Read more

Building an Ark in Gaza ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Media Line by Arieh O'Sullivan - May 25, 2012 - 12:00am As Amnesty International blasted Israel in its annual report for maintaining its naval blockade on Gaza, a group of Canadians have announced they plan to build a “Gaza Ark” with the Palestinians aimed at breaking out of the coastal strip. » Read more

Senate distinguishes between Palestinian refugees and descendants ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) May 25, 2012 - 12:00am WASHINGTON (JTA) -- The U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee approved language that would distinguish between Palestinian refugees alive in 1948 and their descendants. » Read more

State Dep’t Opposes Senate Bid to Determine How Many Palestinians Are Genuine Refugees ATFP World Press Roundup Article from CNS News by Patrick Goodenough - May 25, 2012 - 12:00am (CNSNews.com) – After intervention by the State Department, the Senate Appropriations Committee on Thursday reworked an amendment to a foreign operations appropriations bill, watering down language that sought to establish the actual number of Palestinians that could legitimately be called refugees. » Read more

Stop Settler Violence ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Beast by Hussein Ibish - (Opinion) May 24, 2012 - 12:00am Everything you need to know about Israel's occupation is summed up in a recently released video showing settlers opening fire on unarmed Palestinians in the full view of Israeli troops who appear to make no effort to stop them. Two of the Palestinians were badly injured. » Read more

Prepare for nuclear Iran ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Eitan Haber - (Opinion) May 25, 2012 - 12:00am Benjamin Netanyahu was roughly five-years-old when he played in the sandbox at kindergarten, and Ehud Barak was roughly 12-years-old and run in the orchards when David Ben Gurion, Professor Ernst David Bergmann, Shimon Peres and Emman » Read more

Deportation Now! ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Danny Danon - (Opinion) May 25, 2012 - 12:00am What would you think if I told you of a country that, in the middle of its financial and cultural center, allowed the existence of an autonomous district in which the laws of the state do not apply? What would you say if I informed you that more than 25,000 residents of this urban area – the same population size as an average city in this country – are illegal residents of the State of Israel? » Read more

It’s time for Barak to go ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Jay Bushinsky - (Opinion) May 25, 2012 - 12:00am Despite his frequent flights to Washington, D.C., Defense Minister Ehud Barak seems to be out of step politically with his American hosts. One day after he declared that Syrian President Bashar Assad (personally) will have to step down because of the ongoing revolt against his regime, but that his regime can remain in power, the US State Department said the incumbent Syrian regime would have to go too. » Read more

Sporting pathways to coexistence ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Uri Savir - (Opinion) May 25, 2012 - 12:00am There is much talk in Israel these days, and it is quite justified, about violence and racism in sports. Yet I believe that while these ugly phenomena must be eradicated, sport is globally, and also here, an important pathway to coexistence, integration and social cohesion. In ancient Greece, it was decided that during the Olympic sporting events, there would be a total truce. Sport became then the symbol of peaceful coexistence and for a different type of human relations: competition according to agreed-upon rules and values. » Read more

How Obama Missed an Opportunity for Middle East Peace ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Foreign Policy by PJ Dermer, Steve White - (Opinion) May 18, 2012 - 12:00am "We were fond together, because of the sweep of the open places, the taste of wide winds, the sunlight, and the hopes in which we worked. The moral freshness of the world-to-be intoxicated us. We were wrought up in ideas inexpressible and vaporous, but to be fought for. We lived many lives in those whirling campaigns, never sparing ourselves: Yet when we achieved and the new world dawned, the old men came out again and took our victory to re-make in the likeness of the former world they knew." – T.E. Lawrence, Seven Pillars of Wisdom » Read more

Sleepless in Jerusalem ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Foreign Policy by Oren Kessler - (Opinion) May 24, 2012 - 12:00am JERUSALEM – Egypt's first round of presidential voting wrapped up on Thursday with the crop of viable candidates down to just a handful. Official results won't be ready until Tuesday, but next door in Israel, policymakers are already scrambling to sort the bad options from the worse. » Read more

Outsiders won’t decide Mideast realities ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star by Daniel Kurtzer - (Opinion) May 25, 2012 - 12:00am “Revolutions revolve 360 degrees,” wrote the late Middle East economic historian Charles Issawi. What we didn’t know yesterday about Middle East revolutions – and we didn’t know a great deal – becomes less relevant as the days fly by, for these revolutions, like all others that preceded them, are works in progress, changing constantly. » Read more

Palestinian Attitudes Toward Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Huffington Post by Michael Sharnoff - (Blog) May 24, 2012 - 12:00am As the uprisings in North Africa and the Middle East enter into their second year, how have these unprecedented events impacted Palestinian attitudes toward Israel? Will Palestinians be emboldened to mimic these revolts and collectively decide to embark on another intifada? Will they continue to pursue unilateral efforts to declare statehood in the United Nations? Or will they use a diplomatic approach and reach a negotiated settlement with Israel? » Read more

Legislating the Refugee Problem ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Beast by Lara Friedman - (Opinion) May 24, 2012 - 12:00am You have to laugh, or it would make you cry. That is, if you are someone who genuinely cares about Israel and believes that the two-state solution is the only thing that can save Israel as a democracy and a Jewish state, and that can end the occupation and permit the Palestinians to live, finally, as a free people with dignity and self-determination. » Read more

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