Middle East News: World Press Roundup

NEWS: Human rights groups say there has been another spike in Israeli settler violence. Israel releases a hunger-striking Palestinian detainee. Pres. Abbas is going to Saudi Arabia to seek increased aid for the PA. The residents of occupied East Jerusalem are suffering serious water shortages. Pres. Peres says settlements are a threat to Israel's future. The head of the European Commission says a two-state solution is the only way to achieve peace. Hamas is increasingly pinning its hopes on Muslim Brotherhood rule in Egypt. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe denies observer status to the Palestinian Authority. UNSG Ban says the peace process is “at a dangerous standstill.” Souad Mekhennet describes the interaction of Jews and Arabs in Israeli hospitals. COMMENTARY: The New York Times says the Levy Committee report is “a potentially disastrous blow” to peace. Bloomberg says PM Netanyahu should reject its recommendations. Hussein Ibish says it raises impossible quandaries about the occupation for Israel. Bradley Burston looks at the dangers of Israel saying there is no occupation in the occupied territories. Eric Yoffie says it's a good thing the report was issued after the divestment vote of the Presbyterian Church. Michael Sfard says the report's ideas would soon enough collide with a very different reality. Boaz Okon agrees the report cannot change reality. The National says Israel should be looking for ways to make peace, not issuing ridiculous reports denying the occupation. Stuart Reigeluth says the EU should condition trade with Israel on progress towards peace. Yossi Melman says Israel considered but decided not to assassinate the late Pres. Arafat in the period leading up to his death. Jon Haber derides claims that the boycott movement against Israel is growing or that it can “win by losing." Aaron David Miller dissects the errors that led to the failure of the 2000 Camp David summit.

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Rights groups: Spike in Israeli settler violence ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press July 11, 2012 - 12:00am Human rights groups and U.N. agencies say Israeli settlers in the West Bank have sharply stepped up attacks on Palestinians in a climate of impunity created by lacking law enforcement. The groups said Wednesday that the number of attacks causing injury or damage rose from 168 in 2009 to 411 in 2011. They say 154 attacks occurred in the first half of 2012. » Read more

Israel frees hunger-striking Palestinian player ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press by Ibrahim Barzak - July 11, 2012 - 12:00am Dozens of Islamic militants fired rifles in the air Tuesday in a rousing homecoming for a member of the Palestinian national soccer team who was released by Israel after being held for three years without formal charges. The player, Mahmoud Sarsak, 25, had staged a hunger strike for more than 90 days to press for his release, winning support from international sports organizations. Israel accused Sarsak of being active in the violent Islamic Jihad group, a charge he denied while in custody. » Read more

Abbas to visit Saudi Arab seeking financial aid ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua July 11, 2012 - 12:00am Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will travel to Saudi Arabia on Friday to request urgent help to overcome the financial crisis faced by the Palestinian National Authority (PNA), a local official said on Wednesday. Nimer Hammad, Abbas's political adviser, said that the visit is to deal with the financial crisis in order to alleviate it. » Read more

East Jerusalem residents suffer from severe water shortages ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua July 11, 2012 - 12:00am Tens of thousands of Israeli Arabs in east Jerusalem are coping with severe water shortages, while official bodies bicker over the reasons. According to Gihon, the Jerusalem Municipality's water company, the disruptions are caused by illegal tapping into the water system. "There is a widespread phenomenon of water theft in this area, which we have been warning the water authority about for a very long time. » Read more

Settlements could endanger Israel's Jewish majority: Israeli president ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua July 10, 2012 - 12:00am Israeli President Shimon Peres on Tuesday said he believes that legalizing all settlements in the West Bank would threaten Israel's Jewish majority. Peres' comments came on the heels of a recent report recommending the government to legalize all Jewish settlements in the West Bank. "Israeli settlements in territories densely populated by an Arab population could bring about a threatening demographic change, that is, it could endanger the Jewish majority in Israel," Peres said during a ceremony at Jerusalem's Mount Herzl cemetery. » Read more

'Two-state solution key to achieving peace' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Tovah Lazaroff - July 11, 2012 - 12:00am Resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a key issue in achieving regional peace and global stability, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said Tuesday. He was delivering a speech at Haifa University, where he received an honorary doctorate in recognition of his work to combat anti-Semitism and his dedication to resolving the Israeli- Palestinian conflict. » Read more

Hamas in Gaza pin hopes on Mursi's election in Egypt ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC World News July 10, 2012 - 12:00am On a sweltering July afternoon in Gaza City, Ghazi Hamed leans back in his chair and kicks off his shoes. He stretches out his legs towards a large fan whirring in the corner of his office. He seems keen to cool his toes. Hamas' deputy foreign minister is hot but he is not bothered. A smile creeps across his neatly trimmed salt and pepper beard. He's very much in the pink. "Everyone is celebrating. We are very happy. It was wonderful," he smiles. » Read more

OSCE denies observer status for Palestinian Authority ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) July 10, 2012 - 12:00am The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe denied observer status to the Palestinian Authority, according to Israeli media reports. In a 28-21 vote, the OSCE voted last month against granting the observer status, according to the reports. The PA denied making a request for observer status, however, according to the Ma'an Palestinian news service. "Joining the organization is not one of the Palestinian Authority’s priorities," Majdi al-Khalidi told Ma'an after learning about Israeli reports of the vote. » Read more

UN head warns Israeli-Palestinian peace process at 'dangerous standstill' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Examiner by Rhonda Parker - July 11, 2012 - 12:00am The Israeli Palestinian peace process is at a “dangerous standstill,” according to United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. At an Asian and Pacific meeting in support of the peace process, a spokesperson for Ki-moon said the U.N. leader was calling on the international community to help steer the situation towards negotiations and a historic peace process. » Read more

Crossing Religious Lines in an Israeli Hospital ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Souad Mekhennet - July 10, 2012 - 12:00am Hadassah-Ein Kerem hospital. Doctors and nurses hover over patients. Manar Igbarya, 25, is giving a woman an injection and inspecting a bandage on her right leg. The Orthodox patient is absorbed in talking to her visiting husband. Everyone is chatting in Hebrew; nothing in this scene seems unusual, except that Ms. Igbarya is a Palestinian Muslim. » Read more

Wrong Time for New Settlements ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times (Editorial) July 10, 2012 - 12:00am Palestinian hopes for an independent state are growing dimmer all the time. Israel is pushing ahead with new settlements in the West Bank and asserting control over new sections of East Jerusalem, which the Palestinians claim as their capital. Meanwhile, peace talks — the best guarantee of a durable solution — are going nowhere. » Read more

Israel’s Occupational Hazard ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bloomberg (Editorial) July 10, 2012 - 12:00am Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu might have gotten what he wanted from the committee he named to explore ways to legalize unauthorized Jewish settlements in the West Bank. After all, its chairman, retired Supreme Court Justice Edmond Levy, had previously made clear that he rejects the term “occupied territory” to describe the West Bank’s status. » Read more

The Anti-Balfour Declaration ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Beast by Hussein Ibish - (Opinion) July 10, 2012 - 12:00am Wonder what it feels like to have inadvertently put yourself between a rock and a hard place? Just ask Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. On Monday the Levy Committee, which he appointed last January, issued its report that was supposed to examine the question of Israeli “state lands” in the occupied Palestinian territories, but has far exceeded its mandate. The most significant aspect of the report is its blunt assertion that Israel is not “the occupying power” in the occupied territories. » Read more

There. It's finally done. Israel has ended the occupation. Tick. Tick. Tick. ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Bradley Burston - (Opinion) July 10, 2012 - 12:00am I thought the occupation would end differently. I thought that when the occupation finally ended, Palestinians would flood into the streets in delight and relief and weeping at their newfound freedom, a sudden intoxication of rights, their lifelong hopes for independence made concrete. I thought the end of occupation would be deafening and terrifying and liberating and wholly new. I thought that when the occupation ended, we would know. » Read more

Be grateful Presbyterians voted before the settlements were ‘legalized’ ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Eric H. Yoffie - (Opinion) July 11, 2012 - 12:00am Last week, the Presbyterian Church (USA) rejected a resolution calling for divestment from Israel. This was a victory for supporters of Israel - sort of. The resolution was defeated by a single vote, and another resolution endorsing a boycott of West Bank products was adopted. Divestment advocates have vowed to continue their struggle, and they may win next time around. » Read more

Occupation no more ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Michael Sfard - (Opinion) July 10, 2012 - 12:00am Every lawyer is familiar with that embarrassing situation. A friend or acquaintance asks you an everyday legal question they came across. While you get carried away explaining different legal schools of thought and indications that could lead one way or another, you see in the questioner’s eyes that they were expecting a yes or no answer. » Read more

Occupation can't be erased ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Boaz Okon - (Opinion) July 11, 2012 - 12:00am The Levy Report on legitimizing Israel’s West Bank outposts cannot legitimize Israel’s actions in the territories. One cannot curb millions of Palestinians’ demands for freedom via legal reports. At the end of the day, the report will be shelved, and its main contribution would be the boosting cynicism and suspicions towards judges. » Read more

Israel ignores decades of Occupation ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National (Editorial) July 11, 2012 - 12:00am The latest news out of Israel will come as a surprise to both students of international law and the world in general: according to Israeli officials, apparently, the illegal occupation of the West Bank is neither illegal, nor an occupation. That appears to be the ludicrous conclusion of the Levy Committee, set-up by the Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu to explore the status of Jewish settlements in the West Bank. » Read more

No trade with Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News by Stuart Reigeluth - (Opinion) July 11, 2012 - 12:00am “Our intention is to ensure that the trade agreement with Israel is not being used to smuggle settlement [colony] products,” said Denmark’s Foreign Minister, Villy Soevndal, last May. This is exactly what the controversy over the Agreement on Conformity and Acceptance of Industrial products (ACAA) between the European Union (EU) and Israel is all about. » Read more

Israel Didn't Kill Arafat ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Beast by Yossi Melman - (Opinion) July 10, 2012 - 12:00am Al Jazeera’s English-language TV service released a new documentary that reveals evidence suggesting that Yasser Arafat was poisoned by a radioactive element, polonium-210.  Many who followed Arafat’s death believe that Israel took a byproduct of its nuclear program and used it to turn Arafat into a sickly, weak man, leading to his death in November 2004. » Read more

BDS Loses by Losing ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Beast by Jon Haber - (Opinion) July 10, 2012 - 12:00am The Rumplestilskins of the BDS “movement” have had to work overtime to spin the soiled straw of defeat within the Mainline Protestant Churches into gold.  But what can you expect from a “movement” that can keep a straight face when writing headlines such as “Pro-Divestment Presbyterians Win by Losing.” (The response to my piece on Open Zion by Alex Kane was one such example—albeit without such a tell-tale headline.) » Read more

How Not to Host a Summit ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Foreign Policy by Aaron David Miller - (Opinion) July 10, 2012 - 12:00am Twelve years ago this week, U.S. President Bill Clinton, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, and Palestinian leader Yasir Arafat gathered at Camp David to launch a historic bid to put an end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. » Read more

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