Middle East News: World Press Roundup

NEWS: A new UN report says the Israeli occupation is continuing to impede Palestinian access to basic services. PM Netanyahu plans to tour Europe to discuss Iran. Pres. Abbas reiterates that Palestine will apply for UN nonmember observer state status sometime in the next 2 months. The PA says it is trying to coordinate with the EU over the language of the draft resolution. Hamas is reportedly upset about Egypt's new policies towards Gaza, and is seeking a free-trade agreement. Human Rights Watch says Hamas’ security forces in Gaza are committing severe abuses, including torture. Qatar is inviting bids on reconstruction projects it is financing in Gaza. The PA says it will comply with a court order to rehire teachers fired for “security reasons,” and that it will announce a minimum wage on October 15. EU foreign ministers are pushing to clearly label all Israeli settlement products. Israeli media reports suggest Netanyahu may be blaming DM Barak for instigating tensions with the United States, but Barak denies the accusations. The political science department at Ben-Gurion University is placed at risk due to a controversy over settlements. New reports in the Arab press suggest Gaza-based Hamas leader Hanniyeh may become the next head of the organization, not the Cairo-based Abu Marzouk. 20 more Palestinians are reported killed by bombing from Syrian government forces. COMMENTARY: Daniel Haboucha dissects Israel's new campaign to compare Palestinian refugees with Jewish refugees and migrants from the Arab world. Shmuel Rosner says Palestinians need to do more to acknowledge Jewish history in Jerusalem. Shaul Arieli says for all of the settlement activity, there isn't enough Jewish demographic dominance in the West Bank to make unilateral annexation possible. Shlomo Avineri says foreign donors, particularly conservative Americans, are dominating Israel's election financing, and distorting its democracy. Gershon Baskin says the UN charter requires 2 states for 2 people. Kenneth Bandler says the biggest obstacles to peace come from Palestinian attitudes. Gil Troy agrees, citing Abbas' UN speech. David Makovsky says the US and Israel should keep their bickering behind closed doors. Raja Shehadeh says Palestinians are being coerced, and even blackmailed, by Israeli occupation authorities over access to healthcare.

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UN Agency: Israel Continues to Impede Palestinians' Access to Basic Services ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Akiva Eldar - October 3, 2012 - 12:00am A new report published by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) last week stated that many of the movement restrictions in place on Palestinians in the West Bank were applied during the four years following the outbreak of the second Intifada, and most of them remain in place to this day, despite significant improvements in West Bank security. » Read more

Israeli premier to visit Europe, discuss Iran ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press by Ian Deitch - October 3, 2012 - 12:00am JERUSALEM — An Israeli official says Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will visit Europe in a few months to persuade leaders to step up sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program. The official spoke anonymously Tuesday because he was not authorized to discuss the issue with reporters. Netanyahu told the U.N. last week that Iran will likely have the bomb by next summer. He has said he does not rule out a military strike. » Read more

Vote on Palestinian UN bid within two months: Abbas ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua October 3, 2012 - 12:00am RAMALLAH, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas announced Tuesday that the bid for the UN recognition of Palestine as a non-member state will be presented and voted on in October or November. » Read more

PA seeks help from Europe over resolution draft ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Herb Keinon - October 3, 2012 - 12:00am The Palestinian Authority wants EU countries to help draft a resolution that would admit “Palestine” as a non-member state in the UN General Assembly in an effort to gain EU support for the move, The Jerusalem Post has learned. PLO negotiator Saeb Erekat met with the heads of EU missions in Jerusalem last month and asked them – either as individual countries or collectively as the EU – to help draft the resolution that will be taken to the world body. So far no country has expressed a willingness to do so. » Read more

Hamas upset about new Egyptian policy towards Gaza ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua October 3, 2012 - 12:00am GAZA, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- Islamic Hamas movement is upset about Egypt's mounting security campaign on the borderline area between Egypt and the Gaza Strip, a well-informed source in Gaza said Tuesday. The source, close to Hamas and speaking on condition of anonymity, told Xinhua that the movement watches with anger and disappointment the latest developments along the border. » Read more

Gaza Tunnel Demolitions Increase As Hamas Seeks Free Trade Zone ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Ayyam by Mohannad Abdel Hamid - October 2, 2012 - 12:00am Egyptian [security] forces continue to demolish tunnels [running between Gaza and the Sinai], following the Rafah attack that killed 16 Egyptian soldiers. An Egyptian security spokesman declared that 31 tunnels have been demolished out of 225. Despite contradictory information on the actual number of tunnels — which ranges from 225 to 1200 — these tunnels play a major role on the political and economic level, regardless of their numbers. » Read more

International rights group accuses Hamas security forces in Gaza of prisoner abuse ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press October 3, 2012 - 12:00am JERUSALEM — An international rights group said Wednesday that Hamas security forces in the Gaza Strip commit rampant abuses against Palestinian prisoners, including beatings with metal clubs and rubber hoses, mock executions and arbitrary arrests, and urged the Islamic militant group to swiftly reform its criminal justice system. » Read more

Qatar invites bids to reconstruct Gaza ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency October 3, 2012 - 12:00am GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- The Qatari government on Tuesday invited tenders for four construction projects, in the first stage of a $254 million project to rebuild the war-torn Gaza Strip. Qatar's ambassador to Gaza Muhammad al-Imadi is heading a committee overseeing the work. Consultants have been invited to submit designs for a city to be named after Sheikh Hamad Ben Khalifa al-Thani. » Read more

PA to rehire teachers dismissed for 'security reasons' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency October 3, 2012 - 12:00am RAMALLAH (Ma'an) -- The Palestinian Authority Ministry of Education will comply with court orders to rehire teachers fired for "security reasons" as jobs become available, the minister said Tuesday. Lamis al-Alami said the ministry had not yet received most of the high court orders to rehire dismissed teachers. » Read more

PA preparing to set minimum wage ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency October 3, 2012 - 12:00am BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- The Palestinian Authority will announce a minimum wage on October 15, the minister of labor said Tuesday. Ahmad Majdalani declined to reveal figures, but told Ma'an that detailed discussions on monthly, daily and hourly minimum wages had been held for two months. Palestinian labor law regarding internships and probation contracts had also been considered, Majdalani said. "We are close to reaching an agreement on the minimum wages," he said. » Read more

EU foreign ministers pushing to label all settlement products ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Barak Ravid - October 3, 2012 - 12:00am The foreign minister of Denmark, Villy Sovndal, is urging the European Union to set down regulations that would force European marketing chains and stores to clearly label products originating in Israeli settlements. The initiative, which is raising fears in Jerusalem, is getting backing from France, Britain and several other EU countries. » Read more

Netanyahu: Barak is trying to stir up trouble between me and Obama ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Jonathan Lis - October 3, 2012 - 12:00am Benjamin Netanyahu's office has declined to comment on a report that the prime minister has accused Defense Minister Ehud Barak of trying to damage relations between Israel and the Obama administration. » Read more

Barak fends off Netanyahu criticism ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Attila Somfalvi - October 3, 2012 - 12:00am Defense Minister Ehud Barak on Wednesday commented on accusations leveled at him by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu relating to the role he plays in Israeli relations with the United States. » Read more

Israeli university political unit at risk over stance on settlers ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National by Vita Bekker - October 3, 2012 - 12:00am TEL AVIV // The political science department at one of Israel's largest universities has become the latest battleground between the country's anti-settler movement and those who want to advance Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank. Israel's top higher education body, which is chaired by Gideon Saar, the right-wing education minister, and includes other pro-settler board members, will this month rule on possibly closing Ben-Gurion University's department of politics and government. » Read more

Prime Minister in Gaza Likely To Become Hamas Leader ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Hayat by Fathi Sabbah - October 2, 2012 - 12:00am Palestinian sources told Al-Hayat that "[the Prime Minister in Gaza] Ismail Haniyeh is likely to be elected as chairman of the executive committee of the Hamas movement in the next few days or weeks, thus succeeding the current head of the movement’s political bureau, Khaled Meshaal.” The sources said that the name of the new chairman of the executive committee will likely remain a secret. » Read more

Group: 20 Palestinians killed in Syrian refugee camp ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency October 3, 2012 - 12:00am BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- Twenty Palestinians were killed overnight Tuesday in a refugee camp in southern Syria, a Damascus-based Palestinian group said. The coordinating committee of Yarmouk refugee camp told Ma'an that 20 Palestinians in Deraa camp were killed and dozens injured in heavy bombing by the Syrian army. » Read more

Danny Ayalon and the Jewish refugee fallacy ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Times of Israel by Daniel Haboucha - (Opinion) October 1, 2012 - 12:00am The Israeli government has recently launched a campaign to win international recognition for the plight of the approximately 700,000 Arab Jews, or Mizrahim, who fled their homes during the 20-odd-year period following Israel’s establishment in 1948. » Read more

Our Jerusalem ATFP World Press Roundup Article from International Herald Tribune by Shmuel Rosner - (Blog) October 3, 2012 - 12:00am JERUSALEM — A week ago, just days before his U.N. speech, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas met a small number of so-called American Jewish leaders. It wasn’t the first time he tried to talk with a group that supposedly holds sway with both American and Israeli audiences. » Read more

The lies about the settlements ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Shaul Arieli - (Opinion) October 3, 2012 - 12:00am "More and more people are internalizing the fact that our presence here as emissaries of Israeli sovereignty is a fait accompli," declares Dani Dayan, head of the Yesha Council, the mainstream settler leadership, in a short promotional film summing up the past year. » Read more

Foreigners taking over Israeli democracy ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Shlomo Avineri - (Opinion) October 3, 2012 - 12:00am An amazing fact emerged, almost by chance, from reading Chaim Levinson's report in Haaretz last week that was headlined, "Netanyahu and Romney share ideology, donors": Of the 46 people who contributed money to Benjamin Netanyahu for the Likud leadership primary last January, 37 were Americans. » Read more

Two states for two peoples ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Gershon Baskin - (Opinion) October 2, 2012 - 12:00am In his United Nations speech, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called on the Security Council to “to urgently adopt a resolution comprising the basis and foundations for a solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict that would serve as a binding reference and guide for all if the vision of two states, Israel and Palestine, is to survive and if peace is to prevail in the land of peace.” In November 2009 I drafted a proposal for a Security Council resolution which I shared with the leaders of » Read more

Peace journey ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Kenneth Bandler - (Opinion) October 2, 2012 - 12:00am The scenic, 18-acre riverfront property that is United Nations headquarters is protected international territory, legally distinct from its New York environs. For some heads of state who make the annual September pilgrimage to address the UN General Assembly, the enclave also is a welcome shelter from political reality. » Read more

Commitments Not Reaffirmed ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Beast by Gil Troy - (Opinion) October 2, 2012 - 12:00am Are there any progressives out there sufficiently committed to the peace process and the two-state solution to criticize Mahmoud Abbas’s speech to the U.N. General Assembly? » Read more

The Case for Humility ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Foreign Policy by David Makovsky - (Opinion) October 2, 2012 - 12:00am Speaking at the United Nations on Sept. 27, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu used a red marker to graphically sharpen the focus on the need for a "red line" in halting the Iranian nuclear program. » Read more

License to Care ATFP World Press Roundup Article from International Herald Tribune by Raja Shehadeh - (Blog) October 2, 2012 - 12:00am JERUSALEM — Last month I took my wife to Al Makassed Islamic Charitable Hospital in East Jerusalem to have the head of the orthopedic ward, Dr. Rustom Nammari, examine her arm; she broke it this summer during a hike in Scotland. Since its establishment in 1968, this hospital has been the medical institution of choice for Palestinians in the West Bank. » Read more

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