Middle East News: World Press Roundup

NEWS: Palestinians in Syria are being drawn into the growing civil war in that country. The PA has arrested about 200 people since May for illegal weapons possession. Former PM Shamir passes away. Palestinians say a planned meeting with Deputy PM Mofaz has been postponed. Palestinians see the UNESCO designation of the Church of the Nativity as a World Heritage Site in Palestine as an important diplomatic victory. Hamas suspends voter registration in Gaza. Israel's Supreme Court grants the government a four month extension to evacuate a tiny “unauthorized” settlement outpost. PA police reportedly attack demonstrators protesting possible negotiations with Israel and the PA says it's launching an investigation into the incident. Israeli and Egyptian officials reportedly meet in secret. A senior Fatah official is shot by unknown assailants in Jenin. Israel reportedly sought a $100 million IMF loan for the PA. The PA says it may be unable to pay July salaries. The Israeli military says it's going to build a defense university in one of the most sensitive areas of occupied East Jerusalem. The PLO envoy to Germany calls the Holocaust “the greatest crime in human history.” The BBC looks at Palestinian athletes and the upcoming Olympic Games. COMMENTARY: ATFP Pres. Ziad Asali poses 11 questions to one-state advocates. Amira Hass asks if the PA is afraid of a third intifada. Assaf David says remembering past wars can help bring Arabs and Israelis together. Amos Harel and Avi Issacharoff say both the PA and Israel are alarmed at an emerging rapprochement between Hamas and Jordan. Israel Ziv says Middle East peace will come from strong economic relations. Rock star Roger Waters urges Presbyterians to become activists against Israel's occupation. Emily Hauser says Palestinian children killed in the conflict cannot be forgotten.

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Palestinians in Syria Are Reluctantly Drawn Into Vortex of Uprising ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Dalal Mawad, Rod Nordland - June 30, 2012 - 12:00am The body of a Hamas official was found in his home on Wednesday night, bearing marks of torture. A colonel in the Palestine Liberation Army was sprawled in his car on Tuesday, fatally shot near his home. Three Palestinians were shot down in the alleyways of a refugee camp late last Sunday by a group of unidentified gunmen. » Read more

Palestinians detain dozens in weapons crackdown ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press by Karin Laub - July 2, 2012 - 12:00am The Palestinian self-rule government has detained some 200 people, including security officers, in recent weeks in the biggest crackdown on illegal weapons in the West Bank in five years, a spokesman said Monday. Officials say the campaign is unusual because it targets include alleged vigilante gunmen linked to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah movement. Previously, security forces went mainly after armed supporters of rival groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad. » Read more

Former Israeli Prime Minister Shamir dies at 96 ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press by Ian Deitch - July 1, 2012 - 12:00am Yitzhak Shamir was a fighter for the Jews long before Israel's creation, an underground leader who led militias against the Arabs and British. He made no apologies and no compromises — not as an underground fighter, an intelligence agent who hunted Nazis, and as one of Israel's longest-serving prime ministers who refused to bargain for land. » Read more

Palestinians: Meeting delayed with Israeli vice PM ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press by Mohammed Daraghmeh - June 30, 2012 - 12:00am A scheduled high-profile meeting between Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Vice Prime Minister Shaul Mofaz has been postponed indefinitely, a senior Palestinian official said Saturday. The rare high-level talks would have been a step toward resuming formal peace negotiations, although expectations were low that they would produce any breakthrough. » Read more

Palestinians: UN heritage nod is political victory ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press by Karin Laub - June 29, 2012 - 12:00am The Palestinians on Friday persuaded the U.N. cultural agency to list the Church of the Nativity — the place where Christians believe Jesus was born — as an endangered World Heritage site despite misgivings by churches in charge of the basilica. The Palestinians hailed the nod by UNESCO as a step forward in their quest for global recognition of an independent Palestine in the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem, captured by Israel in 1967. » Read more

Hamas suspends Gaza voter registration ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press by Nidal al-Mughrabi - July 2, 2012 - 12:00am Hamas suspended voter registration in the Gaza Strip on Monday in a setback to Palestinian plans for parliamentary and presidential elections and to forging unity with President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah movement. Hamas, the Islamist group that seized the enclave from Fatah forces in 2007, cited the continued arrest of its members in the West Bank by security forces of the Palestinian Authority, which is led by Abbas. » Read more

Deadline extended for Israel settler homes removal ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Ori Lewis - July 1, 2012 - 12:00am Israel's Supreme Court on Sunday granted the state a four-month extension to remove five apartment blocks built illegally on Palestinian-owned land in a Jewish settlement on the occupied West Bank. The court had ruled the homes, in the Ulpana neighbourhood of the Beit El settlement, must be torn down by July 1. The 30 families who lived in the buildings moved out last week to nearby temporary accommodation under a deal with the government to go quietly after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged to construct 851 new settler homes in the West Bank. » Read more

PA police crush new Ramallah demo ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency July 2, 2012 - 12:00am Palestinian protesters said security forces used brutal force Sunday during the second demonstration in as many days protesting Palestinian Authority policy. Police attacked protesters with batons, beating and injuring at least seven people. Another seven protesters were taken to a police station along with at least two journalists, a Ma'an correspondent said. Protesters shouted against police brutality, and the police responded by beating them. Journalists were also attacked for the second day in a row, the correspondent reported. » Read more

PNA opens investigation into demonstrators' repression ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua July 2, 2012 - 12:00am The Palestinian National Authority (PNA) on Monday opened an investigation into clashes between demonstrators and police in the West Bank city of Ramallah. At least 15 people were injured, including six journalists, when the PNA forces repressed demonstrations Sunday and Saturday when protestors called on President Mahmoud Abbas not to receive Israeli Deputy Vice Premier Shaul Mofaz in Ramallah. Mofaz's visit has been canceled. » Read more

Israeli envoy meets with Egyptian officials in secret ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua July 2, 2012 - 12:00am During the inauguration of Egypt' s newly elected president last weekend, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's envoy met with Egyptian high-level military and intelligence officials in a secret visit to Cairo, local media reported on Monday. Yitzhak Molcho met with Hussein Tantawi, head of the ruling Supreme Council of Armed Forces, and director of Egyptian military intelligence, according to the report. » Read more

Senior Fatah official shot in West Bank volatile city ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua July 1, 2012 - 12:00am Unknown militants shot and wounded a senior member of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party in the West Bank city of Jenin, security sources said Sunday. Shami al-Shami, also a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC), got two gunshots in his right leg, the sources added. The shooting came at a time of intensive campaign by forces of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) to restore order in the city, which has slid into militia chaos for months. » Read more

Israel sought to borrow $100 million from IMF to prevent collapse of Palestinian Authority ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Barak Ravid - July 2, 2012 - 12:00am Israel recently asked the International Monetary Fund for a bridge loan of a $100 million dollars that it planned to transfer to the Palestinian Authority to help prevent its financial collapse, but the IMF turned down the request. The PA, which is not a state, cannot ask the IMF for help on its own. The plan therefore, was for Israel to take the loan on the Palestinians' behalf, have the PA repay the loan to Israel, and Israel would repay the IMF. » Read more

Labor minister: PA unable to pay July salaries ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency July 1, 2012 - 12:00am The Palestinian Authority labor minister said Saturday that due to the government's worsening financial crisis, public sector salaries will not be paid on time for July. Ahmad Majdalani urged Arab nations to fulfill their financial pledges to the PA in order to allow salary payments. He said cabinet ministers had tasked the finance minister with preparing a report on the PA's financial crisis and potential solutions, which will be presented at the government's weekly meeting on Tuesday. » Read more

New IDF military college to move to east Jerusalem ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Melanie Lidman - July 2, 2012 - 12:00am The Interior Ministry on Monday gave its initial approval for a new military college in east Jerusalem, which will be on the Mount of Olives. The 42,000 square meter structure of the new National Defense College is planned for an open area between the Mount of Olives and Hebrew University’s Mount Scopus campus. » Read more

PA envoy: Holocaust was ‘greatest crime in history' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Herb Keinon - July 1, 2012 - 12:00am Sitting in this city, where the echoes of the Holocaust are everywhere, Palestinian Authority envoy Salah Abdel Shafi told a group of Israeli journalists last week that in his mind “the Holocaust is the biggest crime in human history.” “This was a human tragedy that hit humanity,” said Abdel Shafi, who has headed the PA mission in Germany for the past two years. » Read more

Sporting chance for Palestinian Olympians ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News by Lana Asfour, Randa Swift - July 1, 2012 - 12:00am After struggling to pursue sport for years because of the impact of the conflict with Israel, Palestinians now have a rare chance to celebrate success. Maher Abu Rmelleh, a judoist, is the first ever Palestinian sportsman to qualify on points to participate in the Olympic Games. » Read more

Ten Questions + One for the One-Staters ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Huffington Post by Ziad Asali - (Blog) June 29, 2012 - 12:00am The supporters of the two-state solution are often told that this vision is unrealistic and has become unachievable. Young, idealistic seekers of justice and equality are increasingly offering what they claim is a more "realistic" solution: a single state for all Israelis and Palestinians, including refugees. » Read more

Is the PA afraid of a third intifada? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Amira Hass - (Opinion) July 2, 2012 - 12:00am The light was still too dim to penetrate the cracks in the shutters when the rooster crowed. For a fraction of a second it felt like a village. But it was the Jenin refugee camp, circa two weeks ago. There, as in other refugee camps, the rooster's wake-up call is something more: nutrition for the unemployed, as well as the longing and the desire to maintain continuity, if only symbolic, with the village that once was, and has since been destroyed. » Read more

Israelis and Jordanians: Ammunition for peace ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Assaf David - (Opinion) July 1, 2012 - 12:00am Israeli-Arab relations witnessed a historic event last week. Modest and hidden from the limelight of the media, it touched everyone who attended it, moving some to tears: Israeli and Jordanian war veterans who fought each other 45 years ago visited together their shared combat zones in Jerusalem, honoring each other and paying tribute to their fallen comrades. » Read more

Hamas leader gets royal welcome from Jordan's king ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Amos Harel, Avi Issacharoff - (Analysis) July 2, 2012 - 12:00am Last week's visit to Jordan by Hamas politburo chief Khaled Meshal, which was under-reported in the Israeli media, reflects the shifting alliances taking place in the Middle East. Meshal received a royal welcome in the palace in Amman, where he dined with King Abdullah. » Read more

Mideast Peace Will Come From Strong Economic Relationships ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'ariv by Israel Ziv - (Opinion) June 26, 2012 - 12:00am Now that Gaza has been set aflame once again, Israel's southern towns and villages are one more time under fire, the Sinai Peninsula is turning into a replica of Lebanon and the future of Egypt is still unclear — now is the time to consider a totally new approach — an approach that would provide an effective response to the escalating problems plaguing us and possibly even quell the extremist passions that trigger the barrages of Grads launched from Gaza, the burning of Israeli flags at Tahrir Square and [protest] flotillas like the Marmara. » Read more

Divest in Israel: Presbyterians should support Palestinian aspirations ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Pittsburgh Post-Gazette by Roger Waters - (Opinion) July 2, 2012 - 12:00am On Wednesday, I will be visiting Pittsburgh to perform my Pink Floyd hit "The Wall" at Consol Energy Center. By coincidence, the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) has gathered this week in Pittsburgh. One issue the Presbyterians will be debating is whether to take action in support of Palestinians living under Israeli occupation in the West Bank, under siege in Gaza and as second-class citizens in Israel under the rule of the apartheid government there. » Read more

Palestinian Children ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Beast by Emily L. Hauser - (Opinion) June 29, 2012 - 12:00am Those of us who advocate for a just Israeli-Palestinian peace (however defined) make a point of clarifying that each side has seen enormous suffering, and we’re right to do so. There are no angels and very few innocents in this war–there’s far more ugly dehumanization, bloodletting, and endless, inconsolable mourning. » Read more

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