Middle East News: World Press Roundup

NEWS: PLO officials say they are working on a possible meeting between Pres. Abbas and PM Netanyahu, and say they will demand the release of pre-Oslo prisoners. Israeli settlers in the "Ulpana” outpost say they'll have to be forced to leave. Israel begins fortifying schools near the Gaza border. Israel reportedly arrests a former soldier, now living in Bethlehem and seeking Palestinian citizenship. Israel releases transcripts related to the murder of a settler family. MK Michaeli Is embroiled in a controversy over her stridently homophobic remarks. According to a new poll, most Israelis think Mitt Romney would be a friendlier president to Israel than Barack Obama. A UNESCO committee advises Palestinians not to go forward with an effort to register the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem as a World Heritage site in Palestine. Palestinians hope to benefit from a visit by Pres. Putin. Palestinians pressure UEFA over Israel's scheduled hosting of the upcoming European Under-21 soccer championship. The Middle East Quartet meets in Brussels amid Palestinian criticism it has become ineffective. COMMENTARY: Ha'aretz says Israel must end discrimination against Palestinian college graduates. Dan Sagir says Israel needs a minister for peace. Herb Keinon says the new Israeli Comptroller report on the flotilla incident illustrates a slapdash decision-making process. Alon Ben-Meir outlines the speech he thinks Netanyahu ought to give. A new book looks back on life in Palestine under the British mandate. George Hishmeh says Pres. Obama is dithering on Israeli-Palestinian peace, and that's likely to continue. Emily Hauser says Israel's image problem stems from the fact that it's legitimate to doubt that its government really wants peace. Rafael Frankel says that "modified unilateralism” by Israel might be the only way forward towards peace. Sahar Segal says it's ridiculous for some Palestinians to urge a boycott of Palestinian citizens of Israel who have integrated into Israeli society.

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Efforts advanced for meeting between Abbas, Netanyahu: officials ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua June 14, 2012 - 12:00am Senior Palestinian officials on Thursday asserted that there are advanced efforts together with Arab intervention and U.S. pressure to hold a meeting between Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Yasser Abed Rabbo, secretary general of Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) executive committee, told Voice of Palestine Radio that there are "ideas" discussed to arrange for the meeting, which will be the first in one year and a half to reduce tension between the two sides. » Read more

Erekat: Abbas to demand release of pre-Oslo prisoners ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency June 15, 2012 - 12:00am President Mahmoud Abbas will demand the release of 123 long-term prisoners before agreeing to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, PLO negotiator Saeb Erekat said Friday. Abbas wants Israel to free 123 prisoners detained before the signing of the Oslo Accords in 1993, Erekat told Ma'an. Erekat also said Abbas may meet with Israel's deputy prime minister Shaul Mofaz although no date has been set. On Thursday, Mofaz called on for the immediate renewal of peace talks between Abbas and Netanyahu, the Israeli daily Haaretz reported. » Read more

Jewish settlers won't go quietly as eviction looms ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Maayan Lubell - June 15, 2012 - 12:00am The clock is ticking for 30 Jewish settler families in the occupied West Bank. Israel's Supreme Court has said their homes sit on privately-owned Palestinian land and as an eviction deadline draws near, they say they will not go quietly. "They will have to drag me out of here," said Yoel Fattal, 28, who lives with his wife and three young children in one of the five apartment blocs the government must tear down by July 1, on the Ulpana hill in the settlement of Beit El. » Read more

Israeli gov't begins fortifying schools along Gaza border ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua June 14, 2012 - 12:00am The Israeli government announced a 90-million-shekel (almost 24 million U.S. dollars) project to shield all educational institutions in a 7-to-15 km radius from the Gaza Strip. Some schools beyond that range have already been strengthened against upwards of 10,000 rockets and mortars that have been fired out of the Hamas-ruled coastal enclave. Outgoing Home Front Defense Minister Matan Vilnai officially launched the project during a farewell visit to the area on Wednesday, sources at the Defense Ministry told Xinhua on Thursday. » Read more

Israel arrests ex-soldier living in Bethlehem ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency June 15, 2012 - 12:00am A former Israeli soldier was arrested recently by Palestinian Authority forces after living in a Bethlehem refugee camp for the past three weeks, Israeli daily Haaretz reported. "I wanted to prove that it’s possible to live with Palestinians, as long as you are not coming off as an enemy," Andrey Pshenichnikov, 24, was quoted as saying by Haaretz. Pshenichnikov moved to Bethlehem three months ago and was working as a waiter and construction worker. » Read more

Chronicle of a West Bank murder: Transcripts of the reenactment of Itamar murder revealed for first time ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Chaim Levinson - June 15, 2012 - 12:00am A year and three months have passed since the murder of the Fogel family in the Itamar settlement near Nablus. Haaretz has obtained the transcripts of both the interrogation of those who were eventually convicted and their reenactment of the murder. On Friday night, March 11, 2011, at about 9 P.M., Amjad and Hakim Awad (the two are not related ) left their West Bank village of Awarta in the direction of nearby Itamar. They passed the settlement fence, broke into two empty houses, and afterward continued to the adjacent house, where the Fogels lived. » Read more

MK Anastassia Michaeli: Most gay people commit suicide at 40 ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Ilan Lior, Jonathan Lis - June 15, 2012 - 12:00am MK Anastassia Michaeli (Yisrael Beiteinu ) has angered gay groups and MKs alike by saying "most gay people commit suicide at 40." On Wednesday, speaking at a meeting of the Knesset Committee for the Advancement of Women, Michaeli accused Channel 10 of encouraging people to become homosexual. » Read more

Most Israelis think Romney would be 'friendlier' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Herb Keinon - June 15, 2012 - 12:00am The fact that Israelis have conflicted attitudes toward US President Barack Obama came out loud and clear in a poll released on Thursday. The survey – commissioned by the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies, the Bar-Ilan University Center for International Communication and the Anti-Defamation League – found that while 51 percent of Israeli Jews believe Obama is “friendly” or “very friendly” toward Israel, more people think the expected Republican presidential candidate, Mitt Romney, would better promote Israel’s interests. » Read more

PA advised against bid for Bethlehem church ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Tovah Lazaroff - June 15, 2012 - 12:00am The secretariat of UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee has come out against a bid by the Palestinian Authority to use an emergency procedure to register Bethlehem’s Church of the Nativity under the country of “Palestine” as a World Heritage site. “At the UN, where the General Assembly each year adopts more resolutions criticizing Israel than on the rest of the world combined, this is a spectacle as rare as Halley’s Comet,” UN Watch executive director Hillel Neuer said. » Read more

Palestinians See Positive Boost From Putin’s Upcoming Visit ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Media Line by Arieh O'Sullivan - June 14, 2012 - 12:00am The Palestinians are hoping for a boost to their diplomatic stature when they host Russian President Vladimir Putin later this month. At a time when the attempts to restart peace negotiations with the Israelis have floundered as each side accuses the other of intransigence, the Palestinians see Putin’s visit as a solid message of support. » Read more

Palestinians say Israel should not host football tournament ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC World News June 15, 2012 - 12:00am Israel is due to host the European Under-21 championship in 2013. PFA President Jibril Rajoub wrote to Uefa to express concern about three Palestinian players who are being held in Israel without charge. One of them, midfielder Mahmoud al-Sarsak, is on hunger strike. Mr Sarsak, 25, is one of a handful of Palestinian prisoners who have rejected a deal that ended a mass hunger strike on 14 May. » Read more

Quartet envoys meet amid Palestinian criticism ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP) June 15, 2012 - 12:00am Envoys from the Middle East Quartet met in Brussels on Friday amid calls from the Palestinians to step up action to halt continuing Israeli settlement activity. Officials from the United States, United Nations, European Union and Russia gathered "to consult as they routinely do over the phone as well", said a spokesman for EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton. » Read more

Israel must end discrimination against Arab college graduates ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz (Editorial) June 15, 2012 - 12:00am Walid bin Karim, a young architect looking for work at an architecture firm owned by Jews, is the star of a new ad by the Government Advertising Bureau. The spot encourages the employment of Arab college graduates. “What’s wrong with an Israeli Arab in your office?” asks the ad. It provides the answer: Nothing’s wrong. » Read more

Why don't we have a 'minister for peace'? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Dan Sagir - (Opinion) June 15, 2012 - 12:00am As part of the events this week to mark the 30th anniversary of the first Lebanon War, the film "Shtei Etzba'ot Metzidon" (titled "Ricochets" in English ) was screened at the Jerusalem Cinematheque. The 1986 feature film, which was produced by the Israel Defense Forces, faithfully reflects Israel's embroilment in Lebanon. I was pleased that my teenage son agreed to join me for the screening, and to learn a chapter in the contemporary history of Israel and its conflict with the Palestinians. » Read more

The flotilla as metaphor ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Herb Keinon - (Opinion) June 14, 2012 - 12:00am Among the most telling aspects of the state comptroller’s report, published Wednesday, which chronicles a slapdash decision-making process inside the Prime Minister's Office in general, and with regard to the Mavi Marmara incident in particular, was Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s official response to it. In the final analysis, Netanyahu said in a statement issued by his office, "Israel's citizens are enjoying a level of security that they have not known for years.” » Read more

The Prime Minister's Speech ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Huffington Post by Alon Ben-Meir - (Blog) June 11, 2012 - 12:00am Having been engaged in the Arab-Israeli conflict as an advocate for peace, interlocutor, a keen observer and a commentator for much of my adult life, I fantasize once in a while about the regional, if not the global, implications of an Arab-Israeli peace. I allow myself to dream what seems to be an impossible dream because I believe in the dynamism and wealth of the human resources and creativity that both Israelis and Palestinians bountifully enjoy. » Read more

Life in British Mandate Palestine ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward by Jerome Chanes - (Book Review) June 15, 2012 - 12:00am Another book on “the making of Israel”? It was a scant few months ago that Gershom Gorenberg’s provocative and timely book, “The Unmaking of Israel,” was visited on the Jewish body politic. Now comes novelist Hadara Lazar’s book, “Out of Palestine,” whose subtitle, “The Making of Modern Israel,” may gull and lull many a reader, but this reader was coddled out of his sleep after only a few pages. » Read more

Obama continues to dither ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times by George S. Hishmeh - (Opinion) June 14, 2012 - 12:00am Barack Obama has raised great hopes in the Middle East when he was one of only four American presidents to be awarded the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize in 2009 for his “extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples”. But now, almost four years later, he has yet to show any sign of achievement in ending the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. » Read more

Israel's Real Image Problem ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Beast by Emily L. Hauser - (Opinion) June 14, 2012 - 12:00am Israel’s State Comptroller released a remarkably harsh report yesterday regarding the government’s handling of the 2010 aid flotilla to Gaza, and I have one question: Is the issue the people who died – or the way Israel talked about the people who died? » Read more

A New Solution for Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National Interest by Rafael Frankel - (Opinion) June 15, 2012 - 12:00am An Israeli settlement in the West Bank.Seven years after Israel’s unilateral disengagement from the Gaza Strip, and twelve years after the same move from southern Lebanon, Israeli policy makers are once again debating the merits of another unilateral withdrawal—this time from parts of the West Bank east of the security barrier. » Read more

Assimilating Awad ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Beast by Sahar Segal - (Opinion) June 14, 2012 - 12:00am Mira Anwar Awad, an Arab-Israeli, will be singing at a festival in Nazareth, a predominantly Arab-Israeli city on Saturday. The Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI), based in Ramallah, demanded the mayor cancel her appearance. Why? Because Awad represented Israel in the 2009 Eurovision song contest. » Read more

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