Middle East News: World Press Roundup

NEWS: Palestinians say their next moves at the UN will be determined in the coming weeks. An Israeli court yet again rules that a small group of settler families from a tiny unauthorized outpost must relocate. A French murder investigation deepens the controversy about the death of the late Pres. Arafat. The Israeli government says it plans to start rounding up and expelling Sudanese migrants. The religious Shas party in Israel is reportedly wary of war with Iran. An Israeli police officer kills a Palestinian during an alleged carjacking. Pres. Abbas says he won't hold bilateral talks with Iranian leaders during the NAM summit. Palestinian athletes in Gaza face obstacles training for the Paralympic games. Hamas says its politburo office in Damascus is “still open.” Israeli occupation forces destroy numerous Palestinian structures in the occupied West Bank. The University of California rejects an effort to create restrictions on free speech, especially regarding the Middle East conflict. Abbas reportedly tells a delegation of Israelis that “Israel is here to stay,” but that Palestine needs to be added to the map as well. COMMENTARY: Mahdi Abdul Hadi explains the Palestinian logic for Abbas attending the NAM summit. Yossi Verter says the settlers of "Migron" have only themselves to blame for court rulings against them. Gideon Levy says the Rachel Corrie verdict shows anyone protesting Israeli mischief is risking their lives. Carlo Strenger reiterates his view that the two-state solution "is dead.” Oren Yiftachel says Israeli colonization of the occupied West Bank is more dangerous to the country than any threat from Iran. Jonathan Rosen says it is willfully blind to ignore the damage done to the Israeli mindset by the occupation. Donald MacIntyre says the idea that Arafat was poisoned is a conspiracy theory, but widely believed in by Palestinians at all levels of society. Faik Tunay says Palestine is central to Israeli-Turkish relations. Hani al-Masri list three reasons why he thinks Israel is giving more travel permits to Palestinians.

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Palestinians backtrack on fresh bid for UN upgrade ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Middle East Online by Nasser Abu Bakr - August 30, 2012 - 12:00am Palestinian officials on Thursday appeared to backtrack on a pledge to make a fresh bid for upgraded UN membership on September 27. Nabil Abu Rudeina, spokesman for Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, said the date would be decided next week when Abbas meets the Arab League in Cairo. "The president will have Palestinian, Arab and international consultations to set a date for the UN bid to present the request for non-member state status for Palestine," he said. » Read more

Israel: Settlers’ Appeal Rejected ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters August 29, 2012 - 12:00am Israel’s high court ruled Wednesday that the largest unauthorized outpost of Jewish settlers in the West Bank must be evacuated by Tuesday. » Read more

French probe deepens confusion over Arafat death ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press by Josef Federman - August 29, 2012 - 12:00am JERUSALEM — A French murder probe into the death of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat prompted an Israeli denial of responsibility on Wednesday and renewed doubts that Palestinians would stick to a halfhearted pledge to exhume Arafat's body. Arafat's death eight years ago in a French hospital has remained a long-running mystery for many, driven by murky but persistent conspiracy theories that he had cancer, AIDS or was poisoned. » Read more

Israeli official: Government to round up Sudanese ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press August 30, 2012 - 12:00am JERUSALEM — A senior official says Israel will start rounding up thousands of unauthorized Sudanese migrants and put them in a detention center if they don't leave the country voluntarily. Interior Minister Eli Yishai says the detentions will begin in mid-October. Yishai told Army Radio on Thursday that once migrants can't work, "they will get sick of being here and will want to leave voluntarily." » Read more

Religious Israeli government party wary of war with Iran ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Dan Williams - August 30, 2012 - 12:00am JERUSALEM, Aug 30 (Reuters) - An ultra-Orthodox Jewish party in Israel's coalition government is wary of plans for possible military strikes on Iran, political sources said on Thursday. Reservations by Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, the top spiritual authority for the Shas party, could be an obstacle to any attempt by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to get security cabinet approval for hitting Iran's nuclear sites. » Read more

Israeli cop kills Palestinian over attempted carjack ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua August 30, 2012 - 12:00am JERUSALEM, Aug. 30 (Xinhua) -- An Israeli policeman shot dead a Palestinian on Thursday during an alleged carjack attempt in northern Tel Aviv. Police spokesman Mickey Rosenfeld confirmed the details of the event to Xinhua Thursday. "A police who passed by a crime scene saw two individuals trying to break into a vehicle," he said. "A chase followed, in which the suspect was shot and died. Israeli Internal Affairs has commenced an investigation". » Read more

Abbas not to hold bilateral talks with Iran ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua August 30, 2012 - 12:00am RAMALLAH, Aug. 30 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will not hold bilateral talks with Iran during his stay in Tehran, a Palestinian official said Thursday. Abbas arrived in Iran Wednesday for the Non-Aligned Movement ( NAM) summit, said Majdi al-Khalidi, his diplomatic adviser. » Read more

Paralympic Games: For Gaza's athletes, just getting to the practice track is a challenge ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor by Ruqaya Izzidien - August 30, 2012 - 12:00am While most Paralympics national teams are on a strict training schedule as the Olympics companion event approaches, focused entirely on improving their performance and winning a coveted gold medal, the Palestinian Gaza team is a bit different. » Read more

Hamas office in Damascus 'still open' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency August 30, 2012 - 12:00am GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Hamas' politburo in Damascus is still open and has not moved to Cairo, the party's representative in Yemen said Wednesday. "The movement's office in Syria did not move to Cairo, it was not closed and Hamas leaders are still in it but because of the current circumstances in Syria, we left and we’ll be back when the situation becomes stable," Abdul Muti Zaqqut told Ma'an. » Read more

IDF razes Palestinian infrastructure in West Bank communities ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Amira Hass - August 30, 2012 - 12:00am Israel yesterday destroyed five cisterns and several tents, sheepfolds and storage sites in four Palestinian communities in the West Bank. During the process, the contents of several feed sacks were spilled and damaged. Altogether, according to UN data, Israel razed some 400 Palestinian structures in the West Bank's Area C between the start of the year and mid-August, including 120 houses; more than 600 Palestinians were hurt by these demolitions. Area C is the part of the West Bank that the Oslo Accords assigned to full Israeli control. » Read more

University of Cali rejects anti-Semitism resolution ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) August 30, 2012 - 12:00am The California State Assembly approved a resolution calling on colleges and universities in the state to combat anti-Semitism on Wednesday, however the University of California says it will not support the resolution. » Read more

Two years after her father wished him dead, Abbas hosts Ovadia Yosef’s daughter ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Times of Israel by Philip Podolsky - August 30, 2012 - 12:00am Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas received on Monday in Ramallah a group of Israeli rabbis including Adina Bar-Shalom, the eldest daughter of Shas spiritual leader Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, in a rare meeting at a time when negotiations between Israel and the PA are at a virtual standstill. » Read more

Iran, Israel and the birth of new alliances ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency by Mahdi Abdul Hadi - (Opinion) August 30, 2012 - 12:00am The Non-Aligned Movement of 120 nations are at a crossroads in their 16th Summit in Tehran this week where the longer term impacts of the Second Arab Awakening (the Arab Spring) are likely to reveal themselves. The NAM was established in Ban Dong in 1955 by Nasser (Egypt), Nihro (India), and Sukarno (Indonesia), and joined later by Marshall Tito of Yugoslavia in 1961 to create an alternative political narrative to those offered by Western capitalist nations and Soviet-style socialism during the Cold War. » Read more

Israeli settlers have only themselves to blame for Migron outpost ruling ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Yossi Verter - (Opinion) August 30, 2012 - 12:00am No one was surprised by the High Court of Justice ruling ordering all residents of the settlement outpost of Migron to be out by next Tuesday - except, of course, for the settlers themselves. Television news shows reported that "shock" reigned in the illegal outpost last night. Its residents claimed the court had "raped" them. Once again, the robbed Cossacks are crying foul, a moment before they relocate to the shiny new settlement that the state built for them nearby at a cost of NIS 30 million. » Read more

Behold, Rachel, behold ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Gideon Levy - (Opinion) August 30, 2012 - 12:00am The spring of 2003 was an atrocious spring. An intifada was raging in the streets of Israel; explosives were going off next to the Gaza-Egyptian border, along the Philadelphi Route, and in Rafah, bulldozers mowed down hundreds of Palestinian homes, many of them belonging to innocent people. A few months earlier, a young American woman had arrived in Rafah from Olympia, Washington. » Read more

Requiem for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Carlo Strenger - (Opinion) August 30, 2012 - 12:00am Nachum Barnea is considered to be one of Israel’s most influential journalists, independent in his judgment, fair and balanced in his reporting and analysis. A few days ago he wrote an outspoken column in which he comes to the conclusion that the settlement project has reached its goal: the situation on the ground is irreversible, and the two-state solution is no longer possible. » Read more

Israeli colonialism in West Bank ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Oren Yiftachel - (Opinion) August 30, 2012 - 12:00am Netanyahu recently decided to shelve the report submitted by Justice Edmond Levy, and security forces are preparing for the imminent evacuation of the Migron outpost. But don't let this fool you – the Levy Report may have been officially dismissed and Migron may be moved to an alternate location a few meters away, but the report's conclusions continue to guide Jewish colonization in the territories. » Read more

Realities about racism ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Jonathan Rosen - (Opinion) August 30, 2012 - 12:00am One adult and eight minors were indicted on Tuesday for their alleged role in the brutal attack two weeks ago on a 17- year-old Palestinian boy in downtown Jerusalem. That attack, which came on the heels of the firebombing of a Palestinian taxi in the southern West Bank the week before, which had injured six people, produced a debate in the Israeli media, public and political arena. To their credit, politicians from across the spectrum all but uniformly decried the attacks and called for the perpetrators to be prosecuted and punished. » Read more

Was Yasser Arafat murdered? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Independent by Donald MacIntyre - (Opinion) August 30, 2012 - 12:00am Barber Mohammed Hamad was in no doubt about the reasons for Yasser Arafat's death just under eight years ago. As he trimmed a customer's hair in his shop in the Amari refugee camp yesterday, he welcomed the news that French prosecutors have opened a murder investigation. » Read more

Palestine central to Israel-Turkey relations ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Common Ground News Service by Faik Tunay - (Opinion) August 30, 2012 - 12:00am Approximately two years have passed since a flotilla of six ships, including the Turkish Mavi Marmara, set sail carrying hundreds of activists protesting the Israeli blockade of Gaza. Before reaching their destination the ship was boarded by Israeli naval commandos and nine Turkish activists were killed in a confrontation on board. » Read more

Three Reasons Israel Is Issuing More Permits for Palestinians ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Ayyam by Hani al-Masri - (Opinion) August 30, 2012 - 12:00am The Israeli government has been growing more extremist and stubborn, to the point of sabotaging all efforts and initiatives aimed at resuming negotiations and reviving the so-called “peace process.” Furthermore, it is waging a continuous campaign — headed by Foreign Minister Lieberman — against President Abbas, demanding that he be replaced because of the diplomatic and legal campaign he has undertaken against Israel and his plan to resort to the United Natio » Read more

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