Middle East News: World Press Roundup

NEWS: Israeli officials say an antiaircraft missile was fired at an Israeli warplane from Gaza. Israeli officials insist they estimated food needs in Gaza when designing the blockade. Prosecutors say they will appeal the acquittal verdicts for former PM Olmert. DM Barak denies he met with Pres. Abbas last week. Palestinian protesters block a highway in the occupied West Bank, as settlers continue to destroy olive trees and groves. PM Netanyahu is going into Israel's campaign season foregrounding his “tough guy” image. Abbas sends a letter to Pres. Obama explaining the renewed UN bid and reiterating support for two states. Palestinian public sector employees say they're going to strike over unpaid salaries. The Israeli government says it will accept some “practical recommendations” regarding settlement construction of the Levy Report, but bypass its legal findings. New study suggests only 5.5% of municipal properties in Jerusalem are serving its Arab residents. Hamas leader in Gaza Haniyyeh has reportedly transferred operational authority to his deputy to concentrate on the Politburo leadership contest. Palestinians are preparing to vote in West Bank municipal elections. Palestinian sources say a French team investigating the death of the late Pres. Arafat will arrive in Ramallah on November 26, and have reportedly interrogated his widow. COMMENTARY: Bradley Burston says only Netanyahu can defeat himself in the upcoming Israeli election. Ha'aretz says, in spite of Israeli government rhetoric, a binational reality has already emerged in the areas under Israeli control. Dalia Hatuqa looks at the ways Hamas is redefining itself after breaking with the Syrian regime. The Daily Star says Palestinians need to act in their own interests no matter what the US says. Hannah Weisfeld says Israel needs to clearly label products from settlements. Wendy Kaminer says it's essential to protect the free speech rights of even the most extreme anti-Zionists.

---

---

---

Middle East: Antiaircraft Missile is Fired From Gaza, Israeli Officials Say ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press October 16, 2012 - 12:00am Israeli defense officials say that Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip have for the first time fired an antiaircraft missile at Israeli aircraft. The officials say the militants fired a Strela shoulder-fired missile at an Israeli helicopter operating over Gaza last week but missed their target. The officials said Israeli intelligence has long believed that militants in Gaza possessed these weapons, but this was the first time they were fired. » Read more

Israel counted food needs in Gaza blockade ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press by Amy Teibel - October 17, 2012 - 12:00am JERUSALEM — The Israeli military calculated the number of calories Gaza's residents would need to consume to avoid malnutrition during a sweeping blockade imposed on the Palestinian territory between 2007 and mid-2010, according to a document the Defense Ministry released under a court order. Critics claim the document is evidence that Israel limited food supplies in order to put pressure on Hamas, the violently anti-Israel militant group that seized power in the coastal strip in mid-2007. » Read more

Israeli ex-PM Olmert faces appeal against his corruption case acquittals ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua October 17, 2012 - 12:00am JERUSALEM, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) -- The Israeli State Attorney's office announced Tuesday evening it is appealing the acquittals of former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in two corruption cases to the Supreme Court. The State Attorney's office notified Olmert's legal team about the appeals on Tuesday. » Read more

Israeli DM denies reported meeting with Abbas in Jordan ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua October 16, 2012 - 12:00am JERUSALEM, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) -- Israel's Defense Ministry on Tuesday denied a Palestinian report alleging that Minister Ehud Barak recently met with Palestinian National Authority (PNA) President Mahmoud Abbas in Jordan. » Read more

Palestinians protesters shut West Bank highway to avoid settlers' raids ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua October 16, 2012 - 12:00am RAMALLAH, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian protesters and international peace activists on Tuesday briefly blocked a street in the West Bank allocated for the use of Israeli vehicles only. The protesters shut Route 443 on a highway linking Jerusalem and Tel Aviv near Ramallah city, causing traffic jam for half an hour. » Read more

Uprooting of olive trees brings bitter harvest for Palestinians ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Irish Times by Mark Weiss - October 17, 2012 - 12:00am PALESTINIANS PROTESTING against the uprooting of olive trees by West Bank Jewish settlers yesterday blocked the main 443 motorway to Jerusalem before being dispersed by Israeli border police using stun grenades. » Read more

Israel's Netanyahu banks on tough guy image to win early elections ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Christian Science Monitor by Christa Case Bryant - October 16, 2012 - 12:00am Jerusalem Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has come charging out of the gate with his reelection campaign, fashioning himself as a tough leader who is unrivaled in his ability to keep Israel safe and prosperous at a crucial time. » Read more

In letter, Abbas tells Obama still wants 2 states ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters October 17, 2012 - 12:00am RAMALLAH (Ma'an) -- President Mahmoud Abbas sent a letter to US President Barack Obama on Tuesday insisting his government was still committed to the two-state solution. The letter, according to Abbas' political adviser Nimir Hammad, explains that the intended bid to the UN General Assembly to obtain the status of a non-member state was not a unilateral move. » Read more

PA workers to strike over unpaid salaries ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency October 17, 2012 - 12:00am RAMALLAH (Ma’an) -- The Palestinian Authority's public workers union has called for full strike Wednesday and Thursday and again next week in protest of the government's failure to pay salaries. The head of the union, Bassam Zakarneh, said Tuesday that the Palestinian Authority was allowing the United States and Israel's pressure over the UN bid to affect the Palestinian people. » Read more

Netanyahu cabinet to adopt parts of Levy report on legal status of West Bank outposts ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Barak Ravid - October 17, 2012 - 12:00am Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's cabinet will adopt parts of a report by a cabinet-sanctioned panel that advised to legalize West Bank outposts and which rejected the claim that Israel's presence in the territories is that of an occupying force, Israel Radio reported on Wednesday. » Read more

Just 5% of J'lem municipality property serves Arabs ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Melanie Lidman - October 16, 2012 - 12:00am Only 5.5 percent of the 2,600 properties owned by the city of Jerusalem are serving the Arab residents of the capital, according to a new database created by the Jerusalem Awakening party and the Public Knowledge Workshop. » Read more

Hamas PM transfers powers to deputy, as he vies for top political role ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Times of Israel by Elhanan Miller - October 16, 2012 - 12:00am Hamas’s Gaza Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh reportedly transferred his authorities to his deputy Ziad Zaza on Tuesday, in a move analysts consider the start of his campaign to replace Khaled Mashaal as head of Hamas’s political bureau. » Read more

Palestinians to vote again after 7-year hiatus ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News by Dalia Hatuqa - October 17, 2012 - 12:00am Ramallah: Just ahead of the much-vaunted local Palestinian elections, tensions flared amidst rivalling campaigners and billboards and brochures peppered the West Bank cities and villages. » Read more

Arafat death probe to Ramallah next month: Palestinian ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP) October 16, 2012 - 12:00am RAMALLAH, Palestinian Territories — French investigators into the death of Yasser Arafat will arrive on November 26 in Ramallah, where the former Palestinian leader is entombed, a Palestinian source familiar with the case said on Tuesday. » Read more

Arafat widow questioned in French murder probe: source ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP) October 17, 2012 - 12:00am French investigators probing the death of Yasser Arafat questioned his widow Suha, who claims the veteran Palestinian leader may have been poisoned, in France in mid-September, a source told AFP Wednesday. France opened a murder enquiry in late August after Arafat’s family launched legal action following reports he may have died from radioactive polonium near Paris in 2004. » Read more

Only one Israeli leader can unseat Netanyahu: Netanyahu ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Bradley Burston - (Opinion) October 16, 2012 - 12:00am In the Israeli electoral landscape, there is only one leader capable of unseating Benjamin Netanyahu. He's done it before, more than once, and if current indications hold, he can surely do it again. With some 100 days remaining before Israelis go to the polls, the prime minister has but one serious rival standing between him and re-election: Benjamin Netanyahu. » Read more

Binational reality ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz (Editorial) October 17, 2012 - 12:00am With the start of the election campaign, the major parties are displaying a worrying tendency to put social, economic and security issues at the top of the agenda while evading the diplomatic issue at the root of Israel's democratic identity. » Read more

Hamas redefines itself after leaving Syria for new allies ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National by Dalia Hatuqa - (Opinion) October 17, 2012 - 12:00am This month, Hamas's political leader Khaled Meshaal took part in a conference hosted by Turkey's ruling AKP party. A commentator on Syria's state-run Al Dunya television channel compared Mr Meshaal to "an orphan" looking for shelter after being rebuffed by other countries, further admonishing the group's leader for his seeming ingratitude to Syria. » Read more

Ulterior motives ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star (Editorial) October 17, 2012 - 12:00am Palestine has once again faced vocal rejection of its statehood bid, this time in a statement from the United States declaring that such a move would set back the peace process. The U.S. has said the decision must include Israel, and has further warned European countries, in a private memo, not to support Palestine’s bid. » Read more

Stick a Label On It, Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Beast by Hannah Weisfeld - (Opinion) October 16, 2012 - 12:00am There is, apparently, much concern in Jerusalem over renewed attempts within Europe, led by the Danes, to force Israel to label products being exported from the West Bank with their place of origin. The goods are not party to the preferential EU-Israel trade agreement, and there is increasing pressure from consumers to know where the goods are produced. » Read more

The Danger of Banning Anti-Zionist Protests ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Atlantic by Wendy Kaminer - (Opinion) October 16, 2012 - 12:00am Jewish Americans of my parents' generation endured open, outright, self-righteous discrimination in employment, education, and public accommodations -- discrimination that was not just respectable but legal until the passage of mid 20th century civil rights laws. They lived through World War II, witnessing the Holocaust not as history but in real time. Speaking from experience, they bequeathed to us one wry definition of an anti-Semite as "someone who hates Jews more than he should." » Read more

---

---