Middle East News: World Press Roundup

NEWS: Pres. Peres criticizes speculation in Israel about a unilateral attack on Iranian nuclear facilities. A former senior Israeli official says government leaders told him they could be dissuaded from any such attack. DM Barak says only the Israeli government will decide on whether or not to attack Iran, but the debate in Israel continues to rage. Six Palestinians are wounded by a firebomb attack in a suspected Israeli settler “price tag” terrorist action. Palestinian gays look for a safe space for social activism for their cause. Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons are pressing for prisoner of war status. The Israeli Foreign Ministry is continuing to press the issue of Jewish refugees and immigrants to Israel from Arab states to offset the Palestinian refugee issue. Hamas and Egypt are reportedly broadening their security coordination regarding extremists In Sinai. Peace Now complains about an Israeli military commander's assertion that Israel has sovereignty in occupied Hebron. The American peacekeeping force in Sinai is being threatened by growing levels of extremist violence. Asharq Al-Awsat cites unnamed sources as saying no Palestinians were involved in the attack on Egyptian forces in Sinai. COMMENTARY: Roger Cohen says Israel should resist the temptation to attack Iran. L. Michael Hager says the world cannot tolerate a preemptive Israeli attack against Iran. Yoel Marcus says Israel is damaging itself with its psychological warfare against Iran. Nir Hasson says he interviewed people who saw Jewish Israeli youths attempting to lynch Palestinians. Dennis Ross thinks Israel's threats against Iran are mainly intended to spur greater international determination on confronting Iran's nuclear program. Benny Morris thinks Israel is really preparing to attack Iran. Jonathan Ben-Artzi describes what it's like to be a Jewish Israeli pacifist. Colin Kahl says Pres. Obama has been a great friend to Israel. The Economist says Gaza may be ready for a major building boom.

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Israel’s President Criticizes Talk of Unilateral Strike on Iran ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Isabel Kershner - August 16, 2012 - 12:00am Shimon Peres, Israel’s president and elder statesman, spoke out Thursday against the prospect of a lone Israeli military strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities, a message that contradicts the hawkish, go-it-alone line emanating from the offices of Israel’s prime minister and defense minister. » Read more

Israeli Leaders Could Be Dissuaded From Striking Iran ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Jodi Rudoren - August 15, 2012 - 12:00am A former Israeli national security adviser said Wednesday that the prime minister and the defense minister told him this week they had not yet decided to attack Iran’s nuclear facilities and could be dissuaded from a strike if President Obama approved stricter sanctions and publicly confirmed his willingness to use military force. » Read more

Israeli defense minister: Only government to decide Iranian issue ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua August 16, 2012 - 12:00am Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak lashed out at his critics on Thursday, saying that the decision on how to counter the threat of a nuclear-armed Iran lies within the exclusive domain of the government. "The prime minister, defense minister and foreign minister hold responsibility. A decision (to attack Iran), once one is needed, will be made by the government of Israel, not by groups of citizens or editorials," Barak said at a Knesset (parliament) session to swear-in a new home front defense minister. » Read more

In Israel, debate rages over Netanyahu's threats to attack Iran ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times by Edmund Sanders - August 16, 2012 - 12:00am Whether serious or a bluff, Israel'spublic threats to attackIran'snuclear development program are widely credited for bringing U.S. pressure and international sanctions against Tehran this year. » Read more

Israel: Firebomb attack wounds 6 Palestinians ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press August 17, 2012 - 12:00am The Israeli military says six Palestinians have been wounded in a suspected firebomb attack in the West Bank. The six were traveling in a taxi Thursday night when the firebomb was allegedly thrown into the car. The military suspects Jewish extremist to be behind the attack. Extremist settlers often attack Palestinians and their property in a campaign they call "price tag." It's meant to retaliate for either army action against settlers or Palestinian attacks. Several more firebombs were hurled earlier Thursday toward settler vehicles in the West Bank. » Read more

Finding a safe space for Palestinian queer activism ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency August 17, 2012 - 12:00am In 2008, Laila was a recent college graduate and committed anti-occupation activist in her hometown of Nablus. But there was one issue her groups could not adequately address: her sexuality. “I started testing the waters, looking at what organizations are out there, what’s the discourse,” said Laila last month in Nablus. She researched the Haifa-based lesbian group Aswat, but that organization is more attentive to Palestinians within Israel and inaccessible to West Bank residents like Laila. » Read more

Minister: Prisoners launch initiative for PoW status ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency August 17, 2012 - 12:00am Palestinian detainees in Israel are launching an initiative to press for prisoner of war status, the Palestinian Authority prisoners minister said Thursday. Palestinians in Israel's Eshel jail have developed a national legal and political program to push their cause internationally, Issa Qaraqe said in a statement. The initiative aims to secure treatment in line with the Geneva Conventions, rather than Israel's military orders which govern Palestinians under occupation, the minister added. » Read more

'Israel making threats over compensation for Jews' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Elior Levy - August 17, 2012 - 12:00am The Arab media was up in arms this week over a plan spearheaded by Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon to hold a summit on the issue of Jewish refugees from Arab countries at the UN in September. » Read more

Hamas helps Egypt in hunt for Sinai terrorists ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Khaled Abu Toameh - August 17, 2012 - 12:00am Hamas announced Thursday that it was doing its utmost to help the Egyptian authorities capture the terrorists who killed 16 Egyptian border guards in Sinai on August 5. The announcement came as Palestinians in the Gaza Strip reported that Hamas security forces have rounded up a number of suspects belonging to extremist Islamic groups in the context of efforts to solve the case. The statement also came amid reports that Hamas and the Egyptians have formed a joint security committee to investigate the terrorist attack. » Read more

Peace Now complains over commander’s Hebron comments ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Tovah Lazaroff - August 17, 2012 - 12:00am Peace Now on Thursday complained to the Defense Ministry about public comments an IDF commander made in support of Israeli sovereignty over the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron. It also took issue with the IDF’s decision to hold a ceremony Wednesday at the Cave of the Patriarchs for the incoming commander of the IDF Judea Brigade, Avi Balut, and the outgoing commander, Shai Hazut. It noted that in the past the ceremony had been held in the nearby brigade base. » Read more

Sinai Chaos Threatens Peacekeeping Mission ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward by Nathan Guttman - August 17, 2012 - 12:00am Recent unrest and violence in Sinai are leaving more than 1,500 troops from the United States and other countries exposed as they seek to maintain a peacekeeping mission there that many experts now criticize as anachronistic. The troops’ presence in Sinai, mandated by the 1979 Camp David peace accords between Israel and Egypt, has served as a guarantor of that treaty. But current developments are transforming the peninsula, long seen as a vast desert buffer that reinforced the treaty, into a regional flashpoint putting the fragile peace between the two nations at risk. » Read more

No Palestinians involved in Sinai attack ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat August 16, 2012 - 12:00am Asharq Al-Awsat has learned that security agencies operating in the Gaza Strip are currently in the process of providing their Egyptian counterparts with information highlighting their past experiences in confronting Salafist jihadist groups. This is in order to help Cairo confront the militant groups operating on the Sinai Peninsula following the killing of 16 Egyptian soldiers close to the Rafah Border Crossing. » Read more

Israel's Iran Itch ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Roger Cohen - (Opinion) August 16, 2012 - 12:00am Hmm, it’s August, things are quiet, time for another wave of hysteria over an imminent Israeli attack on Iran. We’ve seen this movie for a decade — Israel’s “red line” on the Iranian nuclear program has proved of spandex-like elasticity. (I sometimes imagine the size of the explosion if all the words devoted to the Iranian nuclear program since 2000 were placed in a large container and detonated.) » Read more

Why the world can't tolerate a preemptive Israeli attack on Iran ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor by L. Michael Hager - (Opinion) August 16, 2012 - 12:00am Now that negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program are at an impasse, we are once again hearing that Israel, with or without US participation, is about to bomb Iran. » Read more

Self-inflicted information war ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Yoel Marcus - (Opinion) August 16, 2012 - 12:00am These days, with the country’s leaders straining our nerves, it’s hard not to recall the immortal words of Eli Wallach in “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly”: “If you have to shoot, shoot, don’t talk.” » Read more

In suspected Jerusalem lynch, dozens of Jewish youths attack 3 Palestinians ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Nir Hasson - (Analysis) August 17, 2012 - 12:00am Dozens of Jewish youths attacked three young Palestinians in Jerusalem's Zion Square early on Friday morning, in what one witness described as "a lynch" on Facebook. One of the Palestinians was seriously wounded and hospitalized in intensive care in Hadassah University Hospital, Ein Karem. Acting Jerusalem police chief, General Menachem Yitzhaki, gas set up a special team to investigate the incident and detain the suspects. » Read more

Dennis Ross: Israel's Iran Threats Aimed at Spurring Global Action ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Monitor by Laura Rozen - (Opinion) August 15, 2012 - 12:00am Israel’s intentions on Iran are ambiguous, veteran United States-Middle East trouble shooter Dennis Ross says. “Part of the motivation for being as public as they have been is to motivate the rest of world," Ross, who served as the top Obama White House Iran strategist from 2009 to the end of 2011, told Al-Monitor in an interview Tuesday. “The second reason is to condition the rest of the world not to be surprised if or when they are going to act militarily,” Ross said. “And to get the Israeli public ready as well.” » Read more

Obama's Last Chance Before Israel Bombs Iran ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Beast by Benny Morris - (Opinion) August 16, 2012 - 12:00am There is only one thing that can prevent an Israeli assault on Iran’s nuclear installations before the US presidential elections—and that, short of an attack by America itself, which is seen as extremely unlikely, is an iron-clad guarantee by President Obama that he will destroy the Iranian installations soon after his prospective re-election if the Iranian do not desist under the impact of the ongoing economic sanctions » Read more

My Story As a Pacifist in Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Beast by Jonathan Ben-Artzi - (Opinion) August 16, 2012 - 12:00am Exactly ten years ago I was imprisoned for my refusal to enlist in the Israeli military. This marked the end of a three-year losing legal battle in Israeli court to have conscientious objection recognized as an option for military service.  It was the beginning of an ongoing struggle to save my country from its inevitable demise. Like a drug-addict, Israel needs an intervention.  It is addicted to the military; blind support does it no good. » Read more

Obama Has Been Great for Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Foreign Policy by Colin H. Kahl - (Opinion) August 16, 2012 - 12:00am A recent Mitt Romney campaign commercial takes U.S. President Barack Obama to task for not visiting Israel during the first three-and-a-half years of his presidency. The television ad, complete with footage of the former Massachusetts governor thoughtfully contemplating the Western Wall in Jerusalem, declares that Romney "will be a different kind of president -- a strong leader who stands by our allies." A similar spot by the Emergency Committee for Israel, an advocacy group that backs Romney, charges that Obama has "traveled all over the Middle East. » Read more

A building boom ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Economist (Opinion) August 18, 2012 - 12:00am Five years after Israel and Egypt closed their gates, the Palestinian strip of land they encircle is rising from the ashes of war and siege. “We’re building cities,” says a delighted UN engineer, putting the finishing touches to “Saudi City”, a public housing estate replete with garages, tiled bathrooms and dishwashers that cost its Saudi sponsors $120m. Built on land where Israel first settled Jews after its 1967 conquest and then removed them in 2005, it is set to open its doors to 11,000 residents in the next few months. » Read more

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