Middle East News: World Press Roundup

NEWS: Rocket and missile attacks continue between Israel and Gaza, with 3 Israeli civilians and at least 13 Palestinians, including several civilians, killed. Egypt reportedly asks the US to intervene to stop the violence and recalls its envoy to Israel. The US is reportedly trying to stop the conflict from breaking Egypt-Israel relations. The violence prompts a rise in international oil prices. AP recalls Israel's long history of assassinating Hamas leaders. Pres. Abbas calls for an urgent Arab meeting on the conflict, and PLO officials ask the UN to intervene. For Israel, the new conflict comes in the context of the changed regional political landscape.Ma'an provides an obituary for slain Hamas commander al-Jaabari. Peter Beinart is banned from an Atlanta Jewish book festival. The Student Senate at UC Irvine urges university divestment from companies “complicit” in human rights violations by Israel. COMMENTARY: Hussein Ibish says the price for the new round of violence between Israel and Hamas, motivated by their internal politics, will be paid by the ordinary Palestinians of Gaza. The New York Times says it's hard to see how a new war in Gaza will benefit Israel and that its policies would be more defensible if it were engaged in serious negotiations with the PLO. Some experts say Israel's escalation is an effort to restore deterrence. Eric Yoffie says progressive Jewish Americans should support Israel's “get tough policy” in Gaza. Barak Ravid says before the assassination, Israel did its best to lull Hamas into a false sense of security. Ha'aretz calls for calm. Eitan Haber says without a peace agreement Israel faces endless wars. Jonathan Rosen says, beyond rhetoric, its policies show the Netanyahu government wants a strong Hamas in power in Gaza. Eva Illouz looks of the disturbing pattern of Jewish and other critics of Israel's policies being automatically branded “anti-Semitic.” Elias Harfoush says the latest PLO UN initiative is pointless, but the Daily Star says it makes no sense for Hamas to engage in a conflict with Israel while the PLO is trying to achieve something at the UN. Yossi Alpher analyzes the strategic dimensions of Israel's decision to escalate in Gaza.

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Rocket Attacks and Airstrikes Resume in Gaza Conflict ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Fares Akram, Isabel Kershner - November 15, 2012 - 1:00am KIRYAT MALACHI, Israel — Israel and Hamas widened their increasingly deadly conflict over Gaza on Thursday, as a militant rocket killed three civilians in an apartment block in this small southern town. » Read more

Qassam members killed in Israeli airstrike east of Jabaliya ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency November 15, 2012 - 1:00am GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Israeli airstrikes on Thursday killed two Hamas militants in the northern Gaza Strip, bringing the Palestinian death toll to 13 in less than 24 hours. Al-Qassam Brigades members Rami Hamad and Khaled Abu Nasr were killed in an airstrike east of Jabaliya refugee camp. Their bodies were taken to the Kamal Adwan hospital, medics told Ma'an. » Read more

Gaza rockets kill 3 Israelis, hit near Tel Aviv ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press by Ibrahim Barzak - November 15, 2012 - 1:00am JERUSALEM —Palestinian militants barraged Israel with nearly 150 rockets on Thursday, killing three people and striking the southern outskirts of Tel Aviv as Israel pressed a punishing campaign of airstrikes on militant targets across the Gaza Strip. As nightfall approached, the fighting showed no signs of slowing, and the rocket attack on the city of Rishon Lezion, by far the deepest target reached by Gaza militants so far, raised the likelihood of an even tougher Israeli response. » Read more

Egypt asks US to stop Israel's Gaza offensive ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press November 15, 2012 - 1:00am CAIRO — Egypt asked the United States to push Israel to stop its offensive against Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip, warning that the violence could "escalate out of control," the Foreign Ministry said Thursday. » Read more

Egypt recalls envoy to Israel after Gaza strike ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press by Aya Batrawy - November 14, 2012 - 1:00am CAIRO — Egypt's Islamist president recalled the country's ambassador to Israel to protest its strikes in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday after coming under mounting domestic criticism for not taking a strong enough stance against Israel. » Read more

Obama works to avert Israel-Egypt break as Gaza violence persists ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Barak Ravid - November 15, 2012 - 1:00am The U.S. government is stepping up efforts to prevent any damage in the Israel-Egypt peace accord that might result from Operation Pillar of Defense taking place in the Gaza Strip. U.S. President Barack Obama spoke last night with Egypt's President Mohamed Morsi, and asked him not to take action that would worsen tensions with Israel. » Read more

Oil rise following Israeli airstrikes on Gaza ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press by Pamela Sampson - November 15, 2012 - 1:00am BANGKOK — Oil prices rose slightly Thursday, a day after Israel launched an offensive against Islamic militants in Gaza as analysts downplayed the risk that the fighting poses to energy supplies. » Read more

Israel has long history of killing Hamas leaders ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press November 14, 2012 - 1:00am Ahmed Jabari, the Hamas military chief, is the latest of a number of Hamas leaders killed by Israel in airstrikes over the past decade. — July 2002: An Israeli warplane drops a bomb on the home of Salah Shehadeh, the head of the Hamas military wing, killing him and 14 others, including women and children. » Read more

Palestinian leader Abbas calls for urgent Arab meeting ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters November 14, 2012 - 1:00am CAIRO, Nov 14 (Reuters) - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called on Wednesday for an urgent Arab League meeting on Israel's strikes on Gaza, Egypt's news agency MENA said, quoting a Palestinian official in Egypt. » Read more

Palestine calls for UN action on Israeli strikes on Gaza Strip ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua November 15, 2012 - 1:00am UNITED NATIONS, Nov. 14 (Xinhua) -- Palestine on Wednesday called on the United Nations and its Security Council to take a stand on Israel's latest strikes on the Gaza Strip in a bid to "ensure that the international peace and security is maintained in our region." » Read more

Israel attack on Gaza: Familiar tension, new circumstances ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Los Angeles Times by Edmund Sanders - November 15, 2012 - 1:00am JERUSALEM — Israel's surprise air assault on Gaza Strip militants killed the top military commander of Hamas and set the rivals on a familiar course that could end with another major confrontation — but in unpredictable new circumstances created by the "Arab Spring." » Read more

Obituary: Ahmad al-Jaabari (1960 - 2012) ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency November 15, 2012 - 1:00am GAZA CITY (Ma’an) -- An Israeli airstrike killed Ahmad Said Khalil al-Jaabari, Hamas' most senior military commander, in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday. Al-Jaabari was born in 1960 in the Shujaiyya neighborhood of Gaza City, where he obtained a bachelors degree in history from the Islamic University. The military leader survived several Israeli targeted assassination attempts and was lightly injured in one of the attempts in 2004. » Read more

Author barred from Atlanta Jewish book festival ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press by Michael Biesecker - November 14, 2012 - 1:00am ATLANTA — An author whose outspoken criticism of Israel's occupation of the Palestinian West Bank got him banned from a Jewish book festival in Atlanta spoke Wednesday night at a sold-out event at an alternate location. » Read more

California Students Call for Israel Divestment ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) November 15, 2012 - 1:00am The student senate of the University of California, Irvine unanimously passed a non-binding resolution calling on the school to divest from companies doing business with Israel. » Read more

Operation Cast Lead 2.0 ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Foreign Policy by Hussein Ibish - (Opinion) November 14, 2012 - 1:00am Israel's assassination of Hamas military commander Ahmed al-Jaabari in a missile attack has shattered the short-lived and fragile calm in the Gaza Strip, and could be another step in the transformation of the basic balance of power within Hamas -- and even the broader Palestinian national movement. » Read more

Another Israel-Gaza War? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times (Editorial) November 14, 2012 - 1:00am No country should have to endure the rocket attacks that Israel has endured from militants in Gaza, most recently over the past four days. The question is how to stop them permanently. » Read more

Israel goes for broke in targeting Hamas military chieftain ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua by Gur Salomon - (Analysis) November 15, 2012 - 1:00am JERUSALEM, Nov. 15 (Xinhua) -- Israel's leadership unleashed its air power against Hamas's military chieftains in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday afternoon, locking on Ahmed al-Jaabari, the head of the group's military wing, and prompting the organization to "declare war" on Israel. » Read more

A call to U.S. progressive Jews: Support Israel's 'get tough' policy in Gaza ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Eric H. Yoffie - November 15, 2012 - 1:00am The government of Israel has launched a military operation in Gaza. It is an operation that is justified, and in fact overdue. American Jews across the political spectrum should be offering their support. » Read more

Ahead of Gaza offensive, Netanyahu's Israel did its best to lull Hamas to sleep ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Barak Ravid - (Opinion) November 15, 2012 - 1:00am » Read more

Calm things down ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz (Editorial) November 15, 2012 - 1:00am Ahmed Jabari, the Hamas chief of staff, was a military man who dedicated his life to war against Israel. His assassination yesterday by the Israel Defense Forces is supposed to send a message to Hamas, to the effect that it would do well to have more moderate figures as its leaders. However, past experience teaches that pinpoint assassinations of the heads of political movements and military organizations are not necessarily effective, and that they usually give rise to even more extreme leaders instead. » Read more

An endless war ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Eitan Haber - (Opinion) November 15, 2012 - 1:00am The seculars among us congratulated the IDF on Wednesday while the religious between us prayed for the army and for the State of Israel, as the IDF launched Operation Pillar of Defense in response to the unstoppable rocket fire from the Gaza Strip. » Read more

Scarlet 'A' Is for 'Anti-Semitism' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward by Eva IIIouz - (Opinion) November 14, 2012 - 1:00am Like Hester Prynne, the heroine of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s 1850 novel “The Scarlet Letter” about the rigid and harsh religiosity of 17th century Puritans, many contemporary Jewish intellectuals are marked with the infamous letter ‘A’ (not for adultery as in the novel, but for anti-Semitism). » Read more

Beyond Gaza rhetoric ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Jonathan Rosen - (Opinion) November 14, 2012 - 1:00am The Gaza Strip erupted in yet another convulsion of violence this past week. Over the course of three days, Palestinian militiamen fired more than 100 missiles, rockets and mortar shells at Israeli civilian and military targets, sowing terror among the hundreds of thousands of people who live in southern Israel. » Read more

Is This the Real Concern of the Palestinians? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Hayat by Elias Harfoush - (Opinion) November 14, 2012 - 1:00am There is a question that requires some courage to be asked at this point in time, i.e. » Read more

Improper timing ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star (Editorial) November 15, 2012 - 1:00am After several days of tension, the fragile Gaza Strip has once again grabbed the world’s headlines with the type of explosion of violence that has become predictable and puzzling. » Read more

Strategic Dimensions Of Attacking Gaza ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Beast by Yossi Alpher - (Opinion) November 14, 2012 - 1:00am There can be no doubt that the Hamas leaders in Gaza brought this on themselves. Recent rocket attacks from the Strip no longer made any pretence of being perpetrated by more extreme Salafists and assorted jihadists. Rather than distance itself from the attacks, Hamas has been taking the credit for sending up to one million Israelis in the Gaza periphery into safe rooms and shelters. » Read more

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