Middle East News: World Press Roundup

NEWS: Israel admits that it has revoked the residency rights of more than 250,000 Palestinians during the course of the occupation. Israel's Holocaust memorial is vandalized and officials suspect ultra-Orthodox Jewish culprits. Israel begins rounding up African migrants. Occupation authorities demolish an agricultural complex in East Jerusalem. The PA says it will continue to borrow money from banks if necessary. Palestinians are concerned that a new Israel-Vatican accord would indirectly recognize Israel's control of occupied East Jerusalem. A key Israeli MK and AIPAC are reportedly responsible for the drive to get the US to reclassify most Palestinian refugees. Officials say US-Israel military cooperation is “stronger than ever.” The border crossing between Egypt and Gaza is refurbished. The UK pledges $155 million for Palestinian refugees. The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics says more than a quarter of all Palestinians in the occupied territories live in poverty. COMMENTARY: Ha'aretz says Israel has been duly warned about the consequences of settlement activity and the prospects of a third intifada. Adam Gonn says Pres. Abbas is looking for ways to break the diplomatic deadlock with Israel. Leila Sansour says Palestinians in Bethlehem are being isolated by a wall and settlements. Ghanem Nuseibeh and Eli Epstein say Israel should provide humanitarian support to the Syrian people. Dov Waxman says Israel should not recognize the "university" in the West Bank settlement of Ariel. Bernard Avishai says Mitt Romney is growing closer to the Israeli far right. APN interviews Yossi Alpher on recent developments in Israel, especially settlement activity. Rabbi John Rosove says there is a one-state reality emerging between Israel and the occupied territories and the United States will have to act quickly after the elections to help or prevent it from becoming permanent. Amir Nizar Zuabi says Shakespeare has much to say about the Palestinian condition.

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Israel admits it revoked residency rights of a quarter million Palestinians ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Akiva Eldar - June 12, 2012 - 12:00am Israel stripped more than 100,000 residents of Gaza and some 140,000 residents of the West Bank of their residency rights during the 27 years between its conquest of the territories in 1967 and the establishment of the Palestinian Authority in 1994. As a result, close to 250,000 Palestinians who left the territories were barred from ever returning. » Read more

Memorial Vandalized ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Isabel Kershner - June 11, 2012 - 12:00am Vandals spray-painted graffiti overnight Monday on the walls of Yad Vashem, Israel’s official Holocaust memorial, with messages attacking Zionism and blaming Zionists for the Holocaust. Nearly a dozen messages were scrawled around the Warsaw Ghetto Square monument and other parts of the campus. » Read more

Graffiti is 'classic anti-Zionist heradi rhetoric' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Jeremy Sharon - June 12, 2012 - 12:00am The declarations and content of the slogans spray-painted at the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial have led the to believe that ultra- Orthodox extremists are behind the vandalism perpetrated night. Below one of the slogans spray-painted at the site, the vandals signed off in the name of “World Haredi Jewry.” The content of the graffiti, including conspiracy theories about Zionist collaboration with the Nazis, is also consistent with the beliefs of some radical anti-Zionist elements within the haredi community. » Read more

Israel begins rounding up African migrants ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press by Josef Federman - June 11, 2012 - 12:00am Israeli authorities detained dozens of African migrants in predawn raids early Monday, in the first major step toward what leaders say will be deportation of 4,500 people who have entered the country illegally. The arrests were the harshest move yet against migrants, reflecting growing concern about the effect on Israel of tens of thousands of Africans who have sneaked into the country across the porous Egyptian border in recent years. » Read more

Israeli authorities 'demolish Jerusalem farm complex' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency June 12, 2012 - 12:00am   Israeli authorities demolished a complex of sheep barns in an East Jerusalem neighborhood on Tuesday morning, a local rights group said. Bulldozers tore down the 700-square-meter steel buildings belonging to Aziz Jamil Jaabees in the al-Salaa neighborhood in Jabal al-Mukabbir, the Jerusalem Center for Social and Economic Rights said. » Read more

PA will borrow from banks if necessary ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency June 12, 2012 - 12:00am The Palestinian Authority will start talks with the private sector, and still has bank funds available to cover its financial crisis, the newly-appointed PA minister of economy Jawad Naji said Monday. The Palestinian Monetary Authority chief Jihad al-Wazir said Sunday the PA had reached its maximum limit for bank borrowing. But the minister told Ma'an: "If we need, we will borrow from banks to pay salaries." "In fact there are deposits and cash which we haven’t used so far," Naji continued. » Read more

Parties say Israel-Vatican accord accepts occupation ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency June 12, 2012 - 12:00am Palestinian political factions on Sunday condemned a draft economic agreement between Israel and the Vatican, saying it entails the Holy See recognizing Israeli legislation in East Jerusalem and occupied Palestinian territory. The document outlining an agreement between Israel and the Vatican on legal and fiscal issues has been circulating in different circles, the PLO said in a statement. » Read more

Israeli MK, AIPAC behind Senate bid to cut total number of Palestinian refugees ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Barak Ravid - June 12, 2012 - 12:00am Capitol Hill in Washington was rocked late last month when the Senate Appropriations Committee approved an amendment requiring the State Department, for the first time, to do a "count" of Palestinian refugees. The amendment required the State Department to specify how many of the five million Palestinians who receive aid from the United Nations Relief and Works Agency are refugees who were personally displaced from their homes in 1948, and how many are descendants of those refugees. » Read more

'US-Israeli military cooperation stronger than ever' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post June 12, 2012 - 12:00am US Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta hosted President Shimon Peres at the Pentagon on Monday, saying that military cooperation between the US and Israel was "stronger than ever, stable and ongoing." Peres visited the Pentagon as part of a multi-day visit to the US in which he is scheduled to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom from US President Barak Obama. In addition to meeting Panetta, Peres took part in a roundtable discussion with other senior US officials, including US military chief Gen. Martin Dempsey. » Read more

Rafah Border Crossing Gets a Makeover ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Media Line by Omar Ghraieb - June 7, 2012 - 12:00am Abu Yousef Hammouda shuffled into the Rafah border crossing to travel to Egypt for his periodic medical treatment and a smile grew on his weary face as he entered the newly renovated and air conditioned halls. “I have traveled to Egypt many times before,” said Hammouda, who looked much older than his 30 years. “The arrival hall wasn’t modern or efficient but today I see what a huge effort has been made and what a great job has been done.” » Read more

Britain gives $155 million to Palestinian refugees ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP) June 12, 2012 - 12:00am Britain on Tuesday announced a 100 million pound ($155 million) aid package to support Palestinian refugees in the Middle East for the next three years. The British embassy in Amman said International Development Minister Alan Duncan made the announcement after a visit to the Baqaa Palestinian refugee camp near the Jordanian capital. » Read more

Quarter of Palestinians suffer from Poverty, says Statistics Bureau ATFP World Press Roundup Article from WAFA June 12, 2012 - 12:00am Around 25.8% of Palestinians suffered from poverty in the Palestinian Territory in 2011, said a report by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) on Monday. It showed that slightly more than one out of four individuals was living below poverty line in 2011, 17.8% in the West Bank and 38.8% in Gaza Strip. Similarly about 12.9% of individuals were living below the deep poverty line in 2011, 7.8% in the West Bank and 21.1% in Gaza Strip. » Read more

The warning - and the responsibility ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz (Editorial) June 11, 2012 - 12:00am Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's problematic attitude toward the National Security Council was at the center of the complaints voiced against him by former NSC head Uzi Arad. This attitude was also discussed in a State Comptroller's Report that is due to be released shortly. » Read more

Abbas looking to break deadlock in negotiations with Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua by Adam Gonn - (Analysis) June 11, 2012 - 12:00am Palestinian National Authority ( PNA) President Mahmoud Abbas said he might be willing to hold talks with Israel, if it frees Palestinian prisoners and allows for weapons to be transferred to Palestinian security forces. Abbas said that, since Israel has rejected both his previous demand to halt settlement construction on the West Bank or accept the cease-fire lines that existed prior to the 1967 war as the borders for a Palestinian state, he might be willing to attend talks if the new demands were meet. » Read more

Palestinian inhibition in the walled city of Bethlehem ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Leila Sansour - (Opinion) June 12, 2012 - 12:00am It is 45 years since Israel invaded the West Bank, including my hometown of Bethlehem; practically the whole of my lifetime. I have not known my city under any state except Israeli occupation. A year ago, looking at a photo album of an old friend and neighbor, I became acutely aware of how alien his experience of Middle Eastern geography was to me. In the mid-Fifties, he would spend Saturday nights jitterbugging at the Everest, a restaurant coolly positioned on top of the highest hill in Bethlehem, and, at dawn, would drive to Beirut to continue the party. » Read more

Why Israel should help Syrians during this crisis ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Eli Epstein, Ghanem M. Nuseibeh - (Opinion) June 11, 2012 - 12:00am Israel’s regional and global image continues to sink to new lows. The political peace process continues to be stalemated. As internal and external factors allow Israel to keep indulging in self-perpetuating isolationism, the anti-Israel camp finds no difficulty in recruiting sympathizers, further causing Israelis to recoil from the compromises needed to advance toward a final settlement. » Read more

Ariel versus Academia ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Beast by Dov Waxman - (Opinion) June 11, 2012 - 12:00am Israeli academia is about to suffer a major blow. Within the next few weeks, Israel’s Council for Higher Education, which oversees Israeli universities and colleges, is expected to approve the upgrade of Ariel College to full university status. This would be a big victory for right-wing political pressure and for the settlement enterprise in the West Bank, and it would greatly damage higher education in Israel. » Read more

Romney's Israel Brand ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Beast by Bernard Avishai - (Opinion) June 11, 2012 - 12:00am When I joined the strategy consulting firm Monitor (now Monitor Group) in the spring of 1992, the first party its directors, my new colleagues, invited me to was at Mitt Romney's mansion in Belmont. Romney was at the time still with Bain Capital; Monitor’s founders had been Bainies before launching out on their own and remained his friends. Romney’s political ambitions were already clear. » Read more

Hard Questions, Tough Answers with Yossi Alpher ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Americans For Peace Now (Interview) June 11, 2012 - 12:00am Yossi Alpher visited the Peace Now offices in DC last week, as Israel marked 45 years since the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem were captured in the Six-Day War.  » Read more

An Emerging One-State Israel-Palestine Reality ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Journal by John Rosove - (Opinion) June 11, 2012 - 12:00am A resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict does not look promising, though it is still possible. The window for a two-state solution is rapidly closing, and conversation is shifting to consider the meaning of an emerging one-state reality. Though polls show that both Israelis and Palestinians still favor a two-state solution, facts on the ground and politics are allowing the status-quo to take root, and the status-quo supports a one-state reality. This will be good for no one! » Read more

Why Shakespeare is … Palestinian ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian by Amir Nizar Zuabi - (Opinion) June 11, 2012 - 12:00am It is a well-known fact that Shakespeare is a Palestinian. And when I say "is" I do mean "is", not "was". The man might have been born in Stratford-upon-Avon four centuries ago, but he is alive and well today in Aida refugee camp, not far from the church of the nativity in Bethlehem. Shakespeare scholars may dispute this. But the reason I say this with such conviction (and even dare, sometimes, to believe it) is that, reading his plays, I have a sense of familiarity that can only come from compatriots. » Read more

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