Middle East News: World Press Roundup

NEWS: Israeli settlers begin evacuating a tiny “unauthorized” outpost. Pres. Putin visits the West Bank. Israel arrests 3 ultra-Orthodox Jewish suspects in a vandalism attack on its Holocaust Memorial. Pres. Abbas reiterates that negotiations are the only path to peace with Israel. Mohammed Morsy's presidential victory in Egypt causes alarm in Israel, and Hamas claims it will help win them international recognition. Senior Fatah leaders in Gaza resign. Sami Michael, head of the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, says it is “the most racist state in the developed world.” Palestinian road accident victims are caught between competing authorities in “Area C.” Israel demolishes a Bedouin village for the 39th time. Palestinians say Israel is preventing some 300 couples split between Gaza and the West Bank from reuniting. The New York Times looks at the threatened West Bank village of Battir. COMMENTARY: ATFP Executive Director Ghaith Al-Omari asks what “pro-Palestinian” American activists, totally alienated from their country's political system, have achieved. Adam Gonn says Israel is not a priority for Egypt's new Islamist president. Eric Yoffie says Israel's settlement project is undermining its relationship with Jewish Americans. Tom Segev profiles David Ben-Gurion. Uri Pasovsky says Israel could be a big loser in the emerging new global order. Bernard Avishai asks why, if Israel is really interested in creating the basis for a Palestinian state, it continues to prevent Palestinians educated in major Western universities from returning to the occupied territories. Elisheva Goldberg looks at left and right wing state party votes in the United States that undermine a two-state solution. Karin Laub and Ibrahim Barzak say the Muslim Brotherhood victory in Egypt's presidential election offers no quick fixes for Gaza or Hamas. Brian Levin says Jewish Americans should repudiate Islamophobia.

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Settlers Begin Evacuation of a West Bank Outpost ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Jodi Rudoren - June 26, 2012 - 12:00am BEIT EL, West Bank — The moving trucks arrived here on Tuesday morning while the men were in the middle of morning prayers, their heads covered by prayer shawls, and so began the first peaceful evacuation of a Jewish settlement from the occupied territories in memory. » Read more

Putin visits West Bank, tours key Christian shrine ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press by Mohammed Daraghmeh - June 26, 2012 - 12:00am Visiting Russian President Vladimir Putin praised his Palestinian counterpart Tuesday for what he said was a "responsible" position in negotiations with Israel, frozen for nearly four years, and said Russia has no problem recognizing a Palestinian state. Putin also offered veiled criticism of Israel, saying unilateral actions — an apparent reference to continued Israeli settlement expansion on war-won land — is not constructive. » Read more

Israel arrests 3 for attack on Holocaust memorial ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press June 26, 2012 - 12:00am Israeli police have arrested three ultra-Orthodox Jewish suspects in connection with hate graffiti sprayed at the national Holocaust memorial and two Israeli army memorials. Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld says the suspects admitted to vandalizing the sites. The Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial complex was sprayed earlier this month in 12 different places with slogans such as "Hitler, thank you for the Holocaust." One was signed "world ultra-Orthodox Jewry." » Read more

Abbas: negotiations only way for peace with Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua June 26, 2012 - 12:00am RAMALLAH, June 26 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday said that peace with Israel can happen only through negotiations. "We still insist on holding the International peace conference in Russia," Abbas said during a joint press conference with visiting Russian President Vladimir Putin in the holy city of Bethlehem. » Read more

Election of Islamist as Egyptian president raises concerns in Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post by Joel Greenberg - June 25, 2012 - 12:00am JERUSALEM — The election of an Islamist as president of Egypt has heightened concerns in Israel about the future of relations between the two countries — ties that have been increasingly tested since the overthrow of former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak. » Read more

Hamas 'could get world recognition' after Mursi win ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency June 26, 2012 - 12:00am BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- The victory of Muhammad Mursi in the Egyptian presidential elections could enable Hamas to secure international recognition, an official in the party said Monday. The election of the Muslim Brotherhood candidate, the historic parent movement of Gaza-rulers Hamas, in neighboring Egypt was received with jubilation in the Gaza Strip. Ahmad Yousef, widely regarded as a Hamas moderate, told Ma'an the Mursi presidency could help end the West's isolation of the movement, as well as ending Israel's blockade on the coastal enclave. » Read more

Fatah leader in Gaza resigns over new appointments ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency June 23, 2012 - 12:00am GAZA CITY (Ma’an) -- A top Fatah leader and several other officials in the Gaza Strip submitted their resignations on Friday following the appointment of new officials within the party, Fatah sources said. Yazid al-Huweihi tendered his resignation because he objected to changes within the Fatah movement in Gaza, sources said. » Read more

Author: Israel can claim the title of the most racist state in the developed world ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Revital Hovel - June 26, 2012 - 12:00am Israeli culture is no less toxic than fanatic Islam, and the country's discriminatory attitude toward Mizrahi Jews and Arabs qualifies it for the title of "most racist state," prominent Israeli author Sami Michael said on Monday. "Israel can claim the title of most racist state in the developed world," Michael, who heads the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, said at the opening of an international conference of the Association for Israel Studies at Haifa University. » Read more

West Bank's route 60 a 'road of death' for Palestinian children ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian by Phoebe Greenwood - June 26, 2012 - 12:00am Manar Juwali's five-year-old daughter Miri is lying in a drug-induced coma after suffering burns to 75% of her body. The 32-year-old Palestinian woman holds her pregnant belly as she talks about the accident. Four months on, it is still difficult for her – and for all the parents whose children were killed or injured in the inferno on the West Bank's route 60 – to identify who is to blame. » Read more

Israel demolishes Bedouin village for 39th time ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency June 25, 2012 - 12:00am NEGEV (Ma'an) -- Israeli bulldozers demolished Bedouin village al-Araqib for the 39th time on Monday, a lawyer said. Ayman Odeh, who witnessed the demolition, told Ma'an that demolishing people's homes should not be a routine for Israel. Israel considers al-Araqib and all Bedouin villages in the Negev illegal, while Bedouins say it is their ancestral land.

Israel denies 300 Palestinian couples from uniting ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News by Nasouh Nazzal - June 27, 2012 - 12:00am Ramallah: Hassan Mansour, a resident of the city of Nablus on the West Bank, has dedicated his recent life to bringing his Gazan wife Rinad to live with him, but Israeli authorities have rejected all requests from both husband and wife. For the past two years the couple have attempted to unite, but have not been granted permission by Israel. They have approached legal and human rights organisations and lodged several complaints with various courts, but have not achieved success. » Read more

A Palestinian Village Tries to Protect a Terraced Ancient Wonder of Agriculture ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Isabel Kershner - June 25, 2012 - 12:00am BATTIR, West Bank — In this scenic Palestinian village in the West Bank hills near Bethlehem, just south of Jerusalem, a week is said to last eight days, not seven. That is because Battir’s eight extended families take daily turns watering their crops from the natural springs that feed their ancient agricultural terraces, a practice they say has wor » Read more

The perils of alienation over Palestine ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star by Ghaith Al-Omari - (Opinion) June 26, 2012 - 12:00am Critics of the American Task Force on Palestine get one thing right: Palestinian Americans have largely failed to make their voices heard in the mainstream American political and foreign-policy conversation. However, this is the fault of self-styled “pro-Palestinian” advocates who operate in a cult-like echo-chamber and advocate an approach that does considerable harm to the Palestinian cause. » Read more

Israel not top priority for new Egyptian president ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua by Adam Gonn - (Analysis) June 26, 2012 - 12:00am A new era in the Israeli- Egyptian relations has started as the Muslim Brotherhood's candidate Mohamed Morsi was declared the winner of Egypt's presidential election. While Egypt's former leader Hosni Mubarak, toppled in February 2011, was a secularist and military man, Morsi is a member of the Islamist Brotherhood, which maintains close ties with Hamas, the ruler of the Gaza Strip, a haven of anti-Israel militants. » Read more

Settlements threaten American Jews' connection with Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Eric Yoffie - (Opinion) June 26, 2012 - 12:00am I spoke a few weeks ago with someone who works with American Jewish organizations in planning programs for their meetings and conventions. “Israel is out,” he told me. The demand for speakers about Israel or from Israel has dropped dramatically over the last decade. American Jews are simply interested in other things. » Read more

Back to school: Ben-Gurion for beginners ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Tom Segev - (Opinion) June 22, 2012 - 12:00am Education Minister Gideon Sa'ar has decided that during the next academic year, schools will concentrate on the leadership of David Ben-Gurion and Menachem Begin. This week it was reported that principals of Arab schools and several Arab intellectuals are upset about the decision, claiming that it's designed to impose the Zionist narrative on Arab students. But if the teachers know how to deal with the subject matter, Sa'ar could well come to regret his initiative. » Read more

Israel Stands to Lose Big In New Global Order ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Calcalist by Uri Pasovsky - (Interview) June 23, 2012 - 12:00am The world is currently in an interim period, in the midst of a deep change in the global balance of power, and Israel is one of the big losers from this process, argues Ian Bremmer, one of the world's most prominent experts on international relations. "For the first time in seven decades, we are living in a world without global leadership," Bremmer says, describing the situation in the world today as typified by the approach of "every nation for itself." » Read more

No Partner For Peace ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Beast by Bernard Avishai - (Opinion) June 25, 2012 - 12:00am Ever since Benjamin Netanyahu’s Bar Ilan speech in 2009, in which he declared himself ready to work toward a demilitarized Palestinian state, his defenders in the United States have justified the collapse of any dialogue with the Palestinians in terms of Israel’s understandable caution. “There is no partner for peace,” we hear again and again, which suggests a number of things at once. » Read more

Resolved: This is Not the Road to a Two-State Solution ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Beast by Elisheva Goldberg - (Opinion) June 22, 2012 - 12:00am Earlier this week North Carolina’s Democratic Party considered a resolution that sought to end “Israel’s illegal occupation.” And that’s not all it said: It also called for a “nuclear free zone in the Middle East” i.e. » Read more

For Gaza, Egypt’s Islamist victory no quick fix ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press by Ibrahim Barzak, Karin Laub - (Opinion) June 25, 2012 - 12:00am Gaza’s euphoria over the election of a Muslim Brotherhood leader as Egypt’s first Islamist president seemed a bit premature as reality set in the Monday. » Read more

Jews Must Repudiate All Hatred, Especially From One of Their Own ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Huffington Post by Brian Levin - (Blog) June 25, 2012 - 12:00am Pamela Geller, an outspoken Islamophobe who spins wild hateful conspiracy theories about Muslims, as well as President Obama, had a speaking event entitled "Islamic Jew Hatred: The Root Cause of the Failure to Achieve Peace" cancelled in Los Angeles over the weekend following condemnation by a number of local advocacy groups. The speech sponsored by the Zionist Organization of America was terminated after the venue owner, the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles, intervened to prevent its tenant from hosting the controversial speaker. » Read more

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