Middle East News: World Press Roundup

NEWS: Palestinian officials say they are likely to ask the UN for nonmember observer state status, but will push for a vote after the November US elections. This represents a lowering of expectations from last year. Pres. Abbas meets with Jewish Americans, and reiterates Palestinians would resume negotiations if Israel initiated a settlement freeze. Hundreds of protesters in the Gaza Strip call for the overthrow of Hamas following the death of a child in a fire triggered by power outages. Jordan condemns extremist Jewish Israelis for breaking into the yards of the Al Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem. Israel's left-wing Meretz party presents a new peace proposal. Qatar pledges millions in aid for Gaza rebuilding. Six Palestinians are reportedly killed, in a manner that reflects torture and execution, in Aleppo. Israel's official recognition of a settlement university puts its policies under test and scrutiny. A Palestinian citizen of Israel studying at the university says she was thrown off a bus at gunpoint by security officers. A Gaza family blames sewage and lack of sanitation for the loss of eight children in two years. Massachusetts Democratic Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren says Israeli-Palestinian peace must not “fall off the map.” The PA minister accused of sexual harassment is reportedly Civil Affairs Minister al-Sheikh, in charge of security coordination with Israel. COMMENTARY: ATFP Pres. Ziad Asali previews Abbas' UN speech. Crispian Balmer says the Palestinians are set for a Pyrrhic victory at the UN. Sefi Rachlevsky says PM Netanyahu is unfit to serve as prime minister. Mark Mardell looks at how Netanyahu has become part of the US election campaign. Osama Al Sharif says Abbas faces a set of unpalatable options. Semih Idiz says unless Israel changes its policies, its efforts to repair relations with Turkey won't work.Aaron David Miller says Netanyahu isn't solely to blame for the impasse on peace or deterioration in relations with the United States. Zvika Krieger looks at what he calls “Fortress Gaza.”

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Palestinian Leader Abbas Back at UN With Lowered Aims ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bloomberg by Flavia Krause-Jackson - September 26, 2012 - 12:00am This time last year Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas was a hero to his people as he waved an application for statehood recognition from the podium of the United Nations General Assembly. » Read more

Palestinians likely to ask UN GA for statehood ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press September 25, 2012 - 12:00am NEW YORK — A Palestinian legislator says President Mahmoud Abbas will likely ask the United Nation's General Assembly to vote on recognizing Palestine in November. » Read more

Abbas adopts 'Dershowitz Formula' for resuming talks with Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Chemi Shalev - September 25, 2012 - 12:00am Harvard jurist and well-known Israel advocate Professor Alan Dershowitz has secured Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ agreement to a settlement freeze formula that he hopes will break the diplomatic stalemate and lead to a resumption of peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. » Read more

Boy's death ignites rare anti-Hamas protests in Gaza ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Nidal al-Mughrabi - September 26, 2012 - 12:00am GAZA, Sept 26 (Reuters) - At least 500 protesters in the Gaza Strip have called for the overthrow of the ruling Islamist Hamas group in a rare demonstration triggered by the death of a three-year-old boy in a fire during a power outage. » Read more

Jordan condemns radical Israelis for breaking into Aqsa Mosque's yards ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua September 26, 2012 - 12:00am AMMAN, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) -- Jordan on Tuesday condemned radical Israeli settlers and rabbis as they broke into the yards of Al Aqsa Mosque, the state-run Petra news agency reported. » Read more

Israeli left-wing party introduces new peace plan to replace Oslo Accords ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua September 25, 2012 - 12:00am JERUSALEM, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) -- The head of Israel's left-wing Meretz party, Knesset (parliament) member Zehava Gal-On introduced her party's draft for a new peace plan with the Palestinians on Tuesday. » Read more

Qatar pledges millions in aid for Gaza rebuilding ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency September 26, 2012 - 12:00am GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Qatar is planning to provide half a billion dollars in assistance to the Gaza Strip over the coming three years to rebuild infrastructure destroyed in Israeli attacks. In a visit to the enclave Tuesday, Qatari ambassador Muhammad al-Imadi said the Gulf country's emir created a special committee to distribute some $450 million for infrastructure, development and education projects. » Read more

Group: 6 Palestinians killed in Syria ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency September 26, 2012 - 12:00am BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- Six Palestinians were killed in Syria on Wednesday, a local group said, with some of the bodies showing signs of torture. The coordinating committee of Yarmouk refugee camp told Ma'an that four Palestinians were killed at a security checkpoint near the city of Aleppo. » Read more

West Bank university puts Israeli policies to the test ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Maayan Lubell - September 26, 2012 - 12:00am ARIEL, West Bank (Reuters) -- An Israeli government move to upgrade Ariel University Center in the occupied West Bank to a full-fledged university has put the 30-year-old school at the center of a debate at the core of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict: how the settlements will figure in defining a future Palestinian state. » Read more

For Arab student going to Ariel, the message is 'Yalla, get off the bus' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Jack Khoury - September 25, 2012 - 12:00am An Arab student says security guards humiliated her and forced her off a bus at gunpoint on her way to Ariel University Center in the West Bank. » Read more

Family blames sewage, trash for deaths of 8 children in Gaza camp ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency September 26, 2012 - 12:00am GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- A family in Gaza that lost eight children over two years says the lack of sanitation around their home in al-Bureij refugee camp is responsible for their deaths. The Salim family lives meters from a landfill in the central Gaza camp, and their home is surrounded by open sewage and trash. Omar Salim, 30, told Ma'an that his son Mohammad pleaded not to be taken to the hospital when he fell ill with a fever and had blue spots on his skin. » Read more

U.S. Senate hopeful: Israeli-Palestinian peace shouldn't fall off the map ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Dina Kraft - September 25, 2012 - 12:00am Watertown, MA. - Amid cheers of “We Want Liz,” Elizabeth Warren, the Democratic candidate in the most high-profile U.S. Senate race, seemed to be enjoying herself as she wound her way through thick crowds of supporters at the town fair in this working class Boston suburb. » Read more

PA minister suspected of sexual harassment revealed to be Fatah member in charge of coordination with Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Avi Issacharoff - September 25, 2012 - 12:00am The Palestinian minister that has been suspected of sexually harassing an employee was revealed to be Civil Affairs Minister Hussein al-Sheikh, a senior Fatah member and the person in charge of the civilian and security coordination with Israel. » Read more

No Drama at Turtle Bay ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Beast by Ziad Asali - (Opinion) September 26, 2012 - 12:00am At the upcoming United Nations General Assembly meeting, the world will be watching—though with markedly less intensity than last year—to see what the Palestinians will do. » Read more

Palestinians set for Pyrrhic victory in United Nations ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Crispian Balmer - (Analysis) September 26, 2012 - 12:00am RAMALLAH (Reuters) -- If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. After failing last year to win recognition of full statehood at the United Nations, President Mahmoud Abbas returns to New York on Thursday to ask the General Assembly for a less ambitious status upgrade. » Read more

The Israeli prime minister is unfit to serve ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Sefi Rachlevsky - (Opinion) September 25, 2012 - 12:00am Early in the summer of 1983 Menahem Begin became unfit to serve as prime minister. For weeks this fact was concealed from the Israeli public by cabinet ministers and military leaders. » Read more

Netanyahu gets tangled up in US election ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News by Mark Mardell - (Analysis) September 24, 2012 - 12:00am Iran is not on the agenda. But it is on their minds. As the big United Nations meeting gets underway, the West's biggest foreign policy challenge is not likely to be discussed. » Read more

Abbas’ grim options ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times by Osama Al-Sharif - (Analysis) September 25, 2012 - 12:00am Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas finds himself in an unenviable position as he prepares to fly to New York to pursue the difficult goal of upgrading Palestine’s status from observer status to a non-member observer state. » Read more

Can Israel Win Turkey Over? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Milliyet by Semih Idiz - (Opinion) September 25, 2012 - 12:00am Israel is probing its relations with Turkey. Moderate remarks from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his extreme right-wing Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman reflect their search for reconciliation. » Read more

Stop Blaming Bibi ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Foreign Policy by Aaron David Miller - (Opinion) September 25, 2012 - 12:00am It's been a bad month for Benjamin Netanyahu. The Israeli prime minister has been hammered for being trigger-happy on Iran, he won't see his good friend Barack Obama at the opening of the U.N. General Assembly, and he's being blasted for intervening in American politics. » Read more

Welcome to 'Fortress Gaza,' Home of the Newly Radicalized Hamas ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Atlantic by Zvika Krieger - (Opinion) September 25, 2012 - 12:00am Top officials in Hamas have confirmed this week that the group's leader, Khaled Mishaal, has decided to resign his post. Hamas official Salah al-Bardawil tried to dismiss any suspicions of internal discord: "He has decided to retire to make room for the younger members." But Mishaal's decision belies significant shifts within the organization. » Read more

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