Middle East News: World Press Roundup

NEWS: A Palestinian boys killed by Israeli forces during clashes with Palestinian militants in Gaza. DM Barak says Iran has slowed uranium enrichment. Palestinian farmers are increasingly adopting organic methods. Israel warns Syria about stray missiles landing in the occupied Golan Heights. Sudan says Israel will face a “painful response” to an alleged bombing attack. The Arab League says it will organize a “stand in solidarity” with the Palestinians. FM Lieberman faces possible indictment next month. PM Netanyahu is being criticizing Israel for openly supporting Mitt Romney in the American election. Fatah members in Gaza say Hamas refused to allow them to commemorate the death of the late Pres. Arafat. The Arab League says 51 states are still undecided about a Palestinian request for UN nonmember observer state status. Palestinians are circulating a draft of the proposed resolution. PLO officials say the UK is pressuring them to abandon the initiative. Israeli Amb. Oren says his country is coordinating closely with the US to thwart any Palestinian UN initiative. A report suggests Palestinians might be willing to postpone the initiative if they were presented with American incentives on negotiations with Israel. A photograph of a young Palestinian girl confronting an occupation soldier variously enrages and fascinates Israelis. Ireland says it would like, but thinks it will be unable to secure, an EU ban on Israeli settlement products. Palestinian ex-pats are building palatial homes in the occupied West Bank. COMMENTARY: The LA Times interviews controversial Israeli historian Benny Morris. Yossi Verter Says PM Netanyahu will never forget wrongly betting against Pres. Obama's reelection. Aluf Benn says Obama won't punish Netanyahu, but Eli Bardenstein says he might. Bradley Burston recalls the profound cultural impact in the United States of the fictionalized book and movie account of the founding of Israel, “Exodus.” Michael Herzog says the growth of extremism in Gaza has made it a powder keg. George Hishmeh says Obama should follow George Washington's advice about passionate attachments regarding Israel. The Arab News says Arabs should give Obama the benefit of the doubt on Iran and Israel. Nervana Mahmoud says it would be madness for Israel and the West to abandon Pres. Abbas in favor of a rising Hamas. Gershon Baskin says Obama has a historic opportunity to forge Israeli-Palestinian peace.

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Gaza: Boy Killed as Militants Clash With Israeli Force ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Fares Akram - (Analysis) November 8, 2012 - 1:00am A Palestinian boy was kille » Read more

Israel minister: Iran slowed down enrichment push ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press by Tia Goldenberg - (Analysis) November 9, 2012 - 1:00am   Israel's defense minister has said that Iran has slowed the timetable for enriching enough uranium to build nuclear weapons, implying that Israel would have more time to decide whether to strike Iran's enrichment facilities. » Read more

Palestinian farmers turn to organic farming ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press by Diaa Hadid - (Analysis) November 9, 2012 - 1:00am   The Palestinian olive harvest, an ancient autumn ritual in the West Bank, is going upscale. » Read more

Israel warns Assad over stray Syrian fire on Golan ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Dan Williams - (Analysis) November 9, 2012 - 1:00am    Israel warned Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Friday to prevent his anti-insurgency sweeps from spilling over into the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, saying it was prepared to defend itself. » Read more

Sudan's Bashir vows "painful response" to alleged Israel bombing ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Alexander Dziadosz - (Analysis) November 9, 2012 - 1:00am   President Omar Hassan al-Bashir promised on Thursday that Sudan would respond robustly to what he believes was an Israeli bombing of a Khartoum arms factory. » Read more

Arab League to launch solidaric stand with Palestinians ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua (Analysis) November 9, 2012 - 1:00am   Arab League (AL) Secretary General Nabil al-Arabi and his secretariat staff will organize Sunday a stand in solidarity with Palestinians in the main entrance of the AL headquarter in Cairo downtown, a statement issued by AL said Thursday. » Read more

Israeli FM's possible indictment to be decided in a month: attorney general ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua (Analysis) November 9, 2012 - 1:00am   Israel's Attorney General (AG) Yehuda Weinstein notified the Supreme Court Thursday that he will announce his decision on Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman's possible indictment within the next month. » Read more

Israel’s Netanyahu comes in for criticism in wake of U.S. presidential election ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post by Joel Greenberg - (Analysis) November 9, 2012 - 1:00am    The reelection of President Obama has left Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu suddenly vulnerable as Israel’s own national election campaign begins to gather steam. » Read more

Fatah says Hamas bans Arafat event in Gaza ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency (Analysis) November 8, 2012 - 1:00am Fatah sources said Thursday that the Hamas government in the Gaza Strip was refusing to allow an anniversary event marking the death of Yasser Arafat.  » Read more

Official: 51 states 'undecided' over Palestinian UN bid ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency (Analysis) November 9, 2012 - 1:00am  Fifty-one countries are undecided over whether to support in its bid to become a non-member state of the UN, an Arab League official said Friday. » Read more

Palestinians release draft of statehood bid ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) (Analysis) November 9, 2012 - 1:00am   Palestinian diplomats have circulated a draft resolution to U.N. member states that calls for recognition of "Palestine" as an observer state. The draft resolution could be put to a vote in the 193-nation U.N. General Assembly later this month, Reuters reported this week. » Read more

Fatah official: UK pressuring PLO to abandon UN bid ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency (Analysis) November 9, 2012 - 1:00am The UK is pressuring the Palestinian Authority to abandon its bid to upgrade Palestine's status at the UN, a senior Fatah official said Thursday. » Read more

Oren—first item on U.S.-Israel agenda is Palestinian statehood bid ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) by Ron Kampeas - (Analysis) November 8, 2012 - 1:00am   The Palestinian Authority's bid for an upgrade in U.N. status is of immediate concern in the U.S.-Israel relationship, Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren said in a post-U.S. election interview. » Read more

Senior Palestinian official claims Abbas may postpone UN move, report says ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Times of Israel by Yoel Goldman - (Analysis) November 9, 2012 - 1:00am   A senior Palestinian official said Friday that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas may be willing to postpone a move for upgraded UN status if the US were to offer a “clear objective” for negotiations, Israel Radio reported. » Read more

Snapshot: (Palestinian) Girl, interrupted ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Tal Niv - (Analysis) November 8, 2012 - 1:00am   Everything is inverted in this sad, wrenching photograph by AP’s Majdi Mohammed, taken November 2. Inverted, because it is not possible to know whether the small, brazen, bold, desperate fist, held fearlessly and on the brink of mortal threat by the daughter of the Palestinian activist Nariman Tamimi, marks the moment in which a freedom fighter is forged and steeled, or the moment in which this girl is vanquished. » Read more

Irish FM: No chance for E.U. ban on settlement goods ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) (Analysis) November 9, 2012 - 1:00am    Ireland would support a European Union ban on settlement goods, but "there is no prospect for reaching an agreement" on such a ban, the Irish foreign minister said. » Read more

Palatial West Bank homes cost Palestinians dear ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times (Analysis) November 9, 2012 - 1:00am   Subhi Mustafa spent 35 years abroad, including a decade in the United States, but now that he has built his dream home in his West Bank village, he isn’t planning on going anywhere else. » Read more

Israel historian Benny Morris responds to critics left and right ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times by Edmund Sanders - (Interview) November 9, 2012 - 1:00am   Historian Benny Morris has a knack for enraging Israelis of every political stripe. » Read more

Betting on the wrong horse: The night Benjamin Netanyahu will not soon forget ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Yossi Verter - (Opinion) November 9, 2012 - 1:00am   » Read more

Netanyahu can relax, Obama won't punish him ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Aluf Benn - (Opinion) November 9, 2012 - 1:00am   National interests determine relationships between states, not the love or loathing between their leaders. So, despite the mutual antipathy between the reelected American president and the Israeli prime minister, Barack Obama is not likely to "punish" Benjamin Netanyahu for interfering in the election through his open support for Republican contender Mitt Romney. » Read more

Does Bibi Need to Worry About His Relationship With Obama? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Monitor by Eli Bardenstein - (Opinion) November 9, 2012 - 1:00am   » Read more

The 'Exodus' effect: The monumentally fictional Israel that remade American Jewry ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Bradley Burston - (Opinion) November 9, 2012 - 1:00am   The pantheon of Jewish-American novelists is as populous as it is distinguished. Among its titans are two Nobel laureates, Chicago native Saul Bellow and Polish-born Isaac Bashevis Singer; a justly celebrated string of Pulitzer winners from Edna Ferber through Philip Roth to Michael Chabon; and the creators of such works as "The Catcher in the Rye" and "Catch 22." » Read more

Powder keg in Gaza ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Michael Herzog - (Opinion) November 9, 2012 - 1:00am The violent blows exchanged between Israel and armed Islamist groups in Gaza over the past few weeks mark a dangerous shift. The pattern of occasional clashes established after Israel’s 2008-2009 Operation Cast Lead has given way to protracted fire with very short lulls. » Read more

The line Obama needs to learn ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times by George S. Hishmeh - (Opinion) November 9, 2012 - 1:00am   Barack Obama is back at the White House for four more years — a step that delighted many in a shockingly divided United States and elsewhere, despite the fact that the American president and his right-wing Republican opponent virtually split the popular vote — 50.4 per cent of the votes went to the African-American president and 48 per cent to Mitt Romney. » Read more

Israeli affront to Obama ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News (Editorial) November 9, 2012 - 1:00am JUST in case he had any illusions that the Israeli government has any interest whatsoever in supporting a new Palestinian peace initiative, on the very day of his re-election, president Obama received a slap in the face from Premier Benjamin Netanyahu.Even as the echo of the victory cheers of the president’s supporters were still » Read more

Abu Mazen Pressured By New Hamas Alliances ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Monitor by Nervana Mahmoud - (Opinion) November 9, 2012 - 1:00am   It may be subtle, it may be slow, but undoubtedly the uprisings in the Arab world — particularly in Egypt — have resulted in new dynamics on the Palestinian front. Hamas, whose members were once shunned and isolated by the Egyptian leadership under former President Hosni Mubarak, is now slowly gaining strength and support, not just from the Brotherhood in Egypt and Jordan, but also from Turkey and Qatar. » Read more

Yes He Can Make Peace ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Beast by Gershon Baskin - (Opinion) November 9, 2012 - 1:00am The Palestinians and the Israelis will not give the newly re-elected President time to breathe. In November, Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas will request that the General Assembly recognize Palestine as a non-member state with observer status. » Read more

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