Middle East News: World Press Roundup

NEWS: An Israeli government committee report claims Israel is not the occupying power in the occupied Palestinian territories and recommends sweeping expansions of Israeli territorial claims and authority. Pres. Abbas says the PA will exhume the body of the late Pres. Arafat and invite Swiss experts to take samples for testing. PM Fayyad urges Arab states to fulfill their pledges to the PA. An Israeli court sentences two police officers to 30 months in prison over the death of an injured Palestinian detainee they abandoned. In a meeting with Abbas, Sec. Clinton reiterates the importance of the Palestinian issue. Abbas accuses Hamas of obstructing national unity. Palestinian officials say Abbas turned down an offer from PM Netanyahu to release some prisoners in preparation for resumed negotiations. PA anti-correction officials say more indictments are in the works. The PA says Abbas' upcoming visit to Iran for a conference is “not friendly” and urges Iran "to stop calling to wipe Israel off the map and start calling to add Palestine to the map.” An opinion presented to European governments uphold the legality of boycotts against settlement activity. An Israeli prosecutor reportedly tells British jurists that every Palestinian child “is a potential terrorist.” COMMENTARY: Jeff Barak says Netanyahu has to choose between statesmanship and political survival. Nasser Laham says Abbas needs to decide whether to "fight or negotiate." Ben Lynfield says because of the occupation, East Jerusalem is in an economic tailspin. David Ignatius says the Arab uprisings have left Israel with impossible quandaries. Uri Avnery explains why he thinks Israel, in fact, poisoned Arafat. A new book claims that Israel, not the MEK, was responsible for assassinating Iranian scientists. Emanuel Stoakes says the Israeli-Palestinian conflict must end for the sake of children. Jeffrey Goldberg says the new Israeli Levy Committee report shows the Israeli right wants Palestinian land, but not the Palestinian people on it.

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Report on outposts' legality states Israel isn't an occupying force in West Bank ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Chaim Levinson - July 9, 2012 - 12:00am A report by a committee formed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to examine the legal aspects of West Bank land ownership recommended to sanction all Israeli outposts, rejecting the claim that Israel's presence in the territory is that of an occupying force. The Levy Committee, headed by former court vice president Edmond Levy, recommends a fundamental change in the legal regime in the West Bank, including the annulment of a long list of laws, High Court of Justice Rulings and procedures in order to permit Jews to settle in all of Judea and Samaria. » Read more

Palestinian president approves Arafat autopsy ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press by Karin Laub - July 9, 2012 - 12:00am Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has given his permission to exhume the remains of his predecessor, Yasser Arafat, a top aide said Monday, days after a Swiss institute reported finding elevated traces of a radioactive substance on the late leader's belongings. The findings by Switzerland's Institute of Radiation Physics were inconclusive, but revived speculation that Arafat was poisoned. » Read more

Palestinians invite Swiss experts to take samples of Arafat's remains ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua July 9, 2012 - 12:00am The Palestinian National Authority (PNA) invited Swiss experts to the West Bank to take samples of late President Yasser Arafat's remains for more tests. "This reflects the Palestinian leadership's insistence to continue the investigations into the truth and the circumstances of Arafat's death," said Saeb Erekat, a senior member of Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). » Read more

Palestinian PM urges Arabs to send promised cash ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press July 8, 2012 - 12:00am Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad is urging Arab countries to keep their promises and send tens of millions of dollars to his cash-strapped government. The West Bank-based Palestinian Authority has always relied on foreign aid but is now embroiled in its worst cash crisis in years, unable to pay tens of thousands of government employees. Fayyad needs $1 billion to close the 2012 spending gap, but previous heavy borrowing means he can no longer turn to banks. Unlike Arab states, Western donors have mostly made good on pledges. » Read more

Israeli policemen jailed over death of Palestinian ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Maayan Lubell - July 9, 2012 - 12:00am An Israeli court on Monday sentenced two policemen to 30 months in jail each over the death of a Palestinian detainee whom they abandoned on the side of a highway in the middle of the night. In 2008, Omar Abu Jarban was hospitalised for two weeks in Israel after entering illegally and crashing a car he had stolen, Jerusalem Magistrate's Court said in its ruling. After being discharged, Israel ordered him deported rather than prosecuted, but two days later he was found dead, apparently of dehydration, just over the boundary of the occupied West Bank. » Read more

Clinton meets Abbas before talks with Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Arshad Mohammed - July 6, 2012 - 12:00am U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Friday the Palestinian-Israeli conflict should not be forgotten amid wider upheaval in the Middle East. Washington has made no visible progress toward its goal of reaching an outline peace deal by the end of this year and both sides appear unlikely to make any significant steps toward peace ahead of the U.S. election in November. » Read more

Abbas says Hamas obstructs reconciliation ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua July 9, 2012 - 12:00am Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Sunday accused rival Hamas movement of obstructing the implementation of the Palestinian internal reconciliation agreements reached in Cairo and Doha. At a joint news conference with European Commission Chief Jose Manuel Barroso following a meeting held in Ramallah, Abbas said that he doesn't know why Hamas suddenly decided to halt the update of voters' record in Gaza. » Read more

Minister: Abbas refused Israeli offer of selective prisoner release ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency July 9, 2012 - 12:00am Palestinian Authority Prisoners Minister Issa Qaraqe said Monday that President Mahmoud Abbas refused an Israeli offer for the staged release of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for returning to peace talks. Abbas insists that all 123 prisoners held since before the 1994 Oslo agreement be freed in a single release, Qaraqe said. Israeli daily Haaretz reported earlier Monday that Israel offered to release some 25 Palestinian prisoners convicted of the murder of Israelis, followed by another 100 prisoners by the end of the year. » Read more

New batch of officials to be charged with corruption ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency July 9, 2012 - 12:00am Legal authorities are putting the final touches on a fresh series of indictments of public officials for corruption and misuse of public funds, an informed source told Ma'an on Monday. The defendants in this new batch of corruption cases will now be summoned for interrogation, the source said. A senior official recently tried to travel to Jordan via Jericho, but police prevented his exit and ordered him back to Ramallah for interrogation, Ma'an has learned. » Read more

'Abbas not paying friendly visit to Iran' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Attila Somfalvi - July 8, 2012 - 12:00am The Foreign Ministry responded to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' announcement that plans to attend the Non-Aligned Movement Summit in Tehran, saying that "it is not a state visit, and is solely aimed at attending the summit, which will take place in Iran." » Read more

Israeli settlements can face trade bans, says counsel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Independent by Donald MacIntyre - July 9, 2012 - 12:00am European governments, including Britain's, have received legal opinion from a leading international counsel who argues they would be fully within their rights to ban trade with Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank. » Read more

U.K. slams Israel with stiff upper lip: Not all Palestinian kids are potential terrorists ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Amira Hass - July 9, 2012 - 12:00am "A Palestinian child is a potential terrorist," an IDF prosecutor candidly told a delegation of nine visiting British lawyers. The attorneys, who visited Israel for a week in September 2011, reviewed and analyzed Israeli law and practice regarding the detention and prosecution of Palestinian children. Britain's foreign ministry financed the delegation's visit, which appeared to raise the bar a notch; after both British houses of parliament debated the issue last year, after several British MPs paid visits to the military court next to Ofer prison. » Read more

Reality Check ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Jeff Barak - (Opinion) July 8, 2012 - 12:00am The decision facing Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is really quite simple: either do what’s best for the country or just tread water and survive another year in office. The first choice requires courage; the second demands nothing beyond the competence of any third-rate politician. Any guesses as to which path our prime minister will choose? Hint: At the very last second, just before the Knesset was about to disperse in May, Netanyahu chose to expand his coalition by throwing a lifeline to a sinking Kadima rather than risk facing the voters. » Read more

President Abbas, if you don't want to fight, negotiate ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency by Nasser Laham - (Analysis) July 4, 2012 - 12:00am I cannot work out an explanation for the state of "no peace, but no war" which has prevailed in Palestine in the last two years. We Palestinians neither want to fight the Israeli occupation, nor to negotiate with them. We use the term "steadfastness" to describe this stalemate, as if doing nothing at all and remaining motionless has become steadfastness. Palestinian intellectuals have long criticized the Arab regimes because they neither want to fight Israel, nor accept reconciliation with the occupying country. » Read more

East Jerusalem Suffers Economic Tailspin ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward by Ben Lynfield - (Analysis) July 8, 2012 - 12:00am Call it patriotism or doing something to express his Palestinian identity — Taisir Jubeh wanted to start a business in Jerusalem. So five months ago, after handing over the reins of his Ramallah bookshop to relatives, he opened a men’s casual wear store in the new Addar Shopping Mall, off Salah el-Din Street. The mall, opened earlier this year in downtown East Jerusalem by Muhammad Nuseibeh, a member of one of East Jerusalem’s most prominent families, had sparked hope that its 40 stores and offices would inject new life into the struggling area. » Read more

Israel’s Arab Spring problem ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post by David Ignatius - (Opinion) July 9, 2012 - 12:00am Whatever else that might be said about the Arab revolutions, it’s obvious that they pose a problem for Israel. But how bad, and what should the Israeli government do to hedge its risks? I heard some interesting — but not very encouraging — ideas on this subject from top government officials last week. » Read more

The Israelis' quest to poison Yasser Arafat ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News by Uri Avnery - (Opinion) July 9, 2012 - 12:00am For me, there was no surprise. From the very first day, I was convinced that Yasser Arafat had been poisoned by Ariel Sharon. I even wrote about it several times. It was a simple logical conclusion. First, a thorough medical examination in the French military hospital where he died did not find any cause for his sudden collapse and death. No traces of any life-threatening disease were found. » Read more

Israelis, Not MEK, Killed Iranian Scientists, New Book Says ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Monitor by Barbara Slavin - (Analysis) July 6, 2012 - 12:00am Israelis, not Iranians working for Israel, killed five Iranian scientists connected to Iran’s nuclear program between 2007 and 2011 according to a new book by veteran US and Israeli journalists. » Read more

This conflict in the Holy Land must end – for the children’s sake ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Independent by Emanuel Stoakes - (Blog) July 9, 2012 - 12:00am The enduring fact of the failure of peace in the so-called Holy Land is a royal spring of misery from which bitter tensions flow, with mournful consequences for the entire restive middle-east region, already strained by wars and rumours of wars. In the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, those who are innocent, small, defenceless or vulnerable are common, even inevitable, victims of the promiscuously-brutalising nature of this clash between the claimed descendants of Abraham. » Read more

The West Bank: If It's Not Occupation, Then What Is It? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Atlantic by Jeffrey Goldberg - (Opinion) July 9, 2012 - 12:00am Haaretz is reporting that a committee appointed by Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, to explore the legal status of Jewish settlements on the West Bank, has come to the conclusion that Israel is not an occupying force: » Read more

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