Middle East News: World Press Roundup

NEWS: Israel bombs Gaza, killing one Palestinian militant. Former PM Olmert says he's not interested in rejoining political life. Palestinian officials say they're still deciding what to do about the late Pres. Arafat's body, and Arafat's nephew says he believes he was poisoned with polonium by Israel. Israel deploys its latest rocket interceptor. The US House of Representatives holds a hearing on corruption in the PA. Pres. Abbas will reportedly meet Pres. Morsy next week. Israel protests what it says is UNESCO support for a Hamas-affiliated university implicated in violence. Israel's blockade is taking a toll on mental health in Gaza. New advertisements in New York commuter train stations depict growing Israeli control over Palestinian lands. Palestinian authorities continue their crackdown against journalists. Israel's growing naval profile might antagonize Turkey. The PA says it has received only $466 million out of $1.2 billion pledged by donors. COMMENTARY: Trudy Rubin says Israel should be wary of the recommendations. Jonathan Rosen says there is no chance PM Netanyahu will endorse the recommendations of the Levy Committee. Barak Ravid asks if Olmert is going to return to Israeli politics. Ely Karmon says Al Jazeera's conspiracy theory about polonium poisoning of Arafat seems more aimed at the current PA leadership than Israel. Douglas Bloomfield says Mitt Romney's positions on Israel and the Palestinians seem to be available to the highest bidder. Michael Herzog proposes a transition process for Syria. Sophia Jones says Palestinian women are trying to find new business opportunities. Raphael Magarik contrasts Israel's Levy and Sasson reports.

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Israeli military strikes Gaza, kills 1 militant ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press July 12, 2012 - 12:00am A Palestinian militant was killed and four people were wounded in Israeli air and artillery attacks in the Gaza Strip on Thursday, a Gaza health official said. The Israeli military confirmed a combined air and artillery attack, which Gaza health official Dr. Ashraf al-Kidra said wounded three Palestinians, including one critically. Al-Kidra said a second airstrike later Thursday morning killed the militant and wounded another. The Israeli military had no immediate comment on that report. » Read more

Israel's Olmert says he won't re-enter politics ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press by Amy Teibel - July 12, 2012 - 12:00am Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said on Thursday that he would not return to politics, two days after he was acquitted of the central charges in a corruption trial. Speculation over whether he may return to political life has been rife since a Jerusalem court dismissed most of the counts against him on Tuesday. The charges cut short Olmert's premiership three years ago, ending all serious peace negotiations with the Palestinians. Many observers today ask themselves how the Middle East may have looked had he stayed in office. » Read more

Palestinian officials hesitant on Arafat autopsy ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press by Mohammed Daraghmeh - July 12, 2012 - 12:00am In an apparent flip-flop, Palestinian investigators looking into Yasser Arafat's death said Thursday they want to review reports from a Swiss lab before deciding whether to exhume the leader's remains. » Read more

Israel poisoned Arafat with polonium: nephew ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP) by Nasser Abu Bakr - July 12, 2012 - 12:00am Israel poisoned the late Yasser Arafat with the lethal radioactive substance polonium, a nephew of the veteran Palestinian leader alleged on Thursday. But Israel denied the accusation, saying it was "not involved" in Arafat's death at a French hospital in November 2004. "We accuse Israel of killing Yasser Arafat by poisoning him with that lethal substance," Nasser al-Qidwa told AFP, referring to polonium, traces of which were recently found on clothing worn by the ailing leader. » Read more

Israel deploys rocket interceptor near Eilat ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua July 12, 2012 - 12:00am The Israeli military has deployed the Iron Dome rocket-defense system to the Red Sea port city of Eilat. A military spokeswoman told Xinhua on Thursday that a single battery was stationed near the city as part of a "routine operational deployment program," in which the batteries are periodically relocated to different sites throughout the country. Palestinian militants intermittently fire rockets from the Gaza Strip into Israel, but strikes against Eilat, a desert resort that attracts hoards of Israeli and European tourists during the summer, are rare. » Read more

U.S. lawmakers slam Mahmoud Abbas for alleged corruption ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Natasha Mozgovaya - July 11, 2012 - 12:00am On Tuesday, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called Ehud Olmert to congratulate him on the Jerusalem District Court decision that acquitted him of two major corruption charges that led to his resignation as Prime Minister. In an apparent coincidence, the same day in Washington, the House Subcommittee on the Middle East dedicated a large part of its hearing to a discussion on Abbas' alleged corruption in a hearing titled “Chronic Kleptocracy: Corruption within the Palestinian Political Establishment.” » Read more

Palestinian president to meet Morsi next week ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua July 12, 2012 - 12:00am Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi will hold their first meeting next week, a Palestinian official said on Thursday. Senior PLO member Saeb Erekat said that Abbas will visit Cairo on Wednesday to discuss the Palestinian issues, among them the reconciliation between Hamas and Abbas' Fatah party. In his inauguration speech following the Egyptian election in June 2012, Morsi reaffirmed his commitment to end the Palestinian political divide and to support the Palestinian people. » Read more

Israel: UNESCO crisis deepens over support for Gaza Hamas- affiliated university ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua July 12, 2012 - 12:00am Israel is furious at the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) over a recent decision to back a science chair at a Gaza university it says hosted bomb and missile makers, local media reported Thursday. UNESCO released a statement this week announcing the inauguration of a chair in the Astronomy, Astrophysics and Space Sciences department at the Islamic University of Gaza. » Read more

Israeli blockade takes its toll on mental health in Gaza ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian by Angela Robson - July 11, 2012 - 12:00am For as long as Farah can remember, her father has never worked. Nor, in recent years, has she particularly wanted to spend time with him. She and her three younger siblings love Abu Shawareb, insists their mother, Naima, but they have grown wary of him, particularly of his mood swings and violent outbursts. "It was like a part of me had gone for ever," says Shawareb, recalling the day five years ago when he suddenly lost his job. "I kept thinking, how am I going to feed my family? How will we live?" » Read more

Shrinking Palestinian Land Depicted in N.Y. Ad ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) July 12, 2012 - 12:00am Anti-Israel billboards showing a series of four maps to bolster claims that Israel has systematically confiscated land from the Palestinians have appeared at some New York train stations. The ads that went on display this week at Metro North train stations in Westchester County show a succession of shrinking Palestinian territories in four maps and contain a headline stating that 4.7 million Palestinians are classified as refugees by the United Nations. The billboards were posted under the auspices of The Committee for Peace in Israel and Palestine » Read more

Palestinian Authority Escalates Crackdown on Journalists ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Monitor by Lena Odgaard - July 11, 2012 - 12:00am Earlier this month, Palestinian police beat several journalists as they covered a non-violent protest in Ramallah, according to news reports. This incident is just the latest in a series of cases over the past six months where Palestinian journalists have experienced a significant crackdown on attempts to criticize Mahmoud Abbas’ Palestinian Authority. The judiciary is reinterpreting laws dating back to the 1960s that criminalized defamation of officials as the basis for arrests, intimidation of journalists and blocking web sites. » Read more

Growing Israeli Naval Presence Likely to Upset Turkey Even More ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Milliyet July 11, 2012 - 12:00am Israel is preparing to increase its military presence in the eastern Mediterranean to protect its natural gas exploration activities, which have been a source of tension between Israel and Turkey. According to a plan approved by Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak and the chief of staff, Gen. Benny Gantz, Israel will buy four new combat vessels for its navy, assign more troops [to the area] and deploy unmanned aerial vehicles for patrols in the region. » Read more

Palestinians in cash crunch, say donors came through with $466 million of $1.2 billion pledged ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press July 11, 2012 - 12:00am The Palestinian finance minister says his self-rule government is facing its worst financial crisis in years because donor countries have paid only $466 million of $1.2 billion promised this year. The Palestinian Authority, which administers 38 percent of the Israeli-occupied West Bank, depends on foreign funding, in part because of Israeli restrictions and a bloated public payroll. » Read more

Worldview: Israel should be wary of Netanyahu panel's West Bank recommendations ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Inquirer Digital by Trudy Rubin - (Analysis) July 12, 2012 - 12:00am This week a committee formed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made recommendations that could have dire consequences for Israel. They could also end the Mideast peace process once and for all. The so-called Levy committee put forth a justification for annexation of most of the West Bank and for permanent Israeli rule over millions of Palestinians who live there. Such a move would force Israel to choose between granting these Palestinians full Israeli citizenship or keeping them disenfranchised and confined to territorial cantons. » Read more

Inside Out: Why Netanyahu won’t endorse the Levy Report ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Jonathan Rosen - (Opinion) July 11, 2012 - 12:00am The settlers and their supporters erupted in jubilation Monday after a committee headed by retired Supreme Court Justice Edmond Levy presented its report on the issue of settlements and outposts in the West Bank. Likud MK Danny Danon was quoted on Tuesday by Ma’ariv as describing the publication of the report a “day of celebration for settlement.” » Read more

Will Olmert return to politics? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Barak Ravid - (Opinion) July 10, 2012 - 12:00am The dramatic decision of the Jerusalem District Court on Tuesday morning to acquit former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert of charges pertaining to the Rishon Tours and Talansky affairs, will shock not only Israeli law enforcement, but will also send shockwaves through Israeli politics and the international arena. » Read more

Was Arafat poisoned with polonium? If so, by whom? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Ely Karmon - (Opinion) July 11, 2012 - 12:00am In an interview with Yaakov Lappin published in The Jerusalem Post on July 5, 2012, I asserted that considering polonium 210’s 138-day halflife, the abnormally high levels of polonium discovered by specialists at the Institut de Radiophysique in Lausanne, Switzerland, on Yasser Arafat’s belongings eight years after his death could mean the polonium was planted much later. » Read more

Will Romney outsource foreign policy? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Douglas Bloomfield - (Opinion) July 11, 2012 - 12:00am Earlier in this space I noted how Mitt Romney seems to emulate Groucho Marx’s famous line, “I have my principles, and if you don’t like them, I have others.” That was on display again last week when he was tied in knots contradicting himself and his top advisers on both immigration and Romneycare following two key Supreme Court decisions. Romney may also have a Nixonian trait. No, I’m not saying he’s a crook or paranoid, but he does appear obsessed with secretiveness. » Read more

How to Advance Transition to a Post-Assad Future ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Institute for Near East Policy by Michael Herzog - (Opinion) July 10, 2012 - 12:00am In this paper, the former chief of staff to Israel's minister of defense argues that, in addition to the moral imperative to help the Syrian people, there are also strong strategic reasons for the West and various regional states to be more proactive in bringing about the end of the Assad regime. Speeding up the process of the regime’s collapse would avert the destabilising consequences of a lengthy civil war, as well as dealing a blow to the radical, Iran-led alliance in the region. » Read more

Palestinian women battle to break into business ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News by Sophia Jones - (Opinion) July 12, 2012 - 12:00am However, the deeply traditional, male-dominated society that is prevalent across much of the Arab world, coupled with bureaucratic restraints unique to the Israeli-occupied West Bank, pose particular challenges for women seeking to get ahead. “Many women in the West Bank want to do things, but they can’t. Our culture is generally more of a man’s culture. Women are trying to do things, but in small steps,” said Shyrine Ziadeh, a 24-year-old Birzeit University graduate. » Read more

A Tale of Two Reports ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Beast by Raphael Magarik - (Analysis) July 11, 2012 - 12:00am I’ll say this for the Levy report: It filled my inbox. After the Israeli blue-ribbon commission, headed by former Israeli Supreme Court Justice Edmund Levy, concluded that “Israelis have the legal right to settle in Judea and Samaria,” the usual suspects leapt into action. J Street wants me to “Urge US Opposition to Israeli Settlement Report,” Americans for Peace Now wonders whether it is “1984” in Israel. » Read more

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