NEWS:
Israeli settlers begin evacuating a tiny “unauthorized” outpost. Pres. Putin visits the West Bank. Israel arrests 3 ultra-Orthodox Jewish suspects in a vandalism attack on its Holocaust Memorial. Pres. Abbas reiterates that negotiations are the only path to peace with Israel. Mohammed Morsy's presidential victory in Egypt causes alarm in Israel, and Hamas claims it will help win them international recognition. Senior Fatah leaders in Gaza resign. Sami Michael, head of the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, says it is “the most racist state in the developed world.” Palestinian road accident victims are caught between competing authorities in “Area C.” Israel demolishes a Bedouin village for the 39th time. Palestinians say Israel is preventing some 300 couples split between Gaza and the West Bank from reuniting. The New York Times looks at the threatened West Bank village of Battir.
COMMENTARY:
ATFP Executive Director Ghaith Al-Omari asks what “pro-Palestinian” American activists, totally alienated from their country's political system, have achieved. Adam Gonn says Israel is not a priority for Egypt's new Islamist president. Eric Yoffie says Israel's settlement project is undermining its relationship with Jewish Americans. Tom Segev profiles David Ben-Gurion. Uri Pasovsky says Israel could be a big loser in the emerging new global order. Bernard Avishai asks why, if Israel is really interested in creating the basis for a Palestinian state, it continues to prevent Palestinians educated in major Western universities from returning to the occupied territories. Elisheva Goldberg looks at left and right wing state party votes in the United States that undermine a two-state solution. Karin Laub and Ibrahim Barzak say the Muslim Brotherhood victory in Egypt's presidential election offers no quick fixes for Gaza or Hamas. Brian Levin says Jewish Americans should repudiate Islamophobia.
NEWS:
Hamas celebrates the victory of the Muslim Brotherhood candidate in Egypt's presidential election while Israel frets. Hamas threatens to escalate attacks against Israel. Israel and the US are planning their largest-ever joint military drill. PLO official Ishtayya says Palestinians are moving forward with efforts to gain membership in more UN bodies but the US has asked for a delay. Fatah says Pres.
Abbas and Hamas leader Mishaal have agreed to set a date for their next meeting.
The PA has arrested more than 100 people following the assassination of the governor of Jenin and is holding them under controversial circumstances. Settler Council leaders denounce extremist “price tag”
violence. The mixed Jewish-Arab town of Acre is drawing more tourists and Jewish extremists. A Palestinian man is reported to have been killed during an Israeli military training exercise in the occupied West Bank.
COMMENTARY:
The Washington Post interviews PM Fayyad, who says he may run in future elections. Nathan Thrall says a third intifada is “inevitable.”
Merav Michaeli says police are to blame for clashes with social justice protesters in Tel Aviv. Rivka Cohen says Israel's Jewish and Arab schools are separate and distinctly unequal. Khaled Abu Toameh says Hamas seems to be losing control of the Gaza Strip.
Maya Sela says Israelis could learn from Alice Walker's novel The Color Purple if she would allow a Hebrew translation. Walid Choucair says it makes no sense for Palestinians or other Arabs to put their cause on hold for the next US elections, which are always around the corner. Yael Gvirtz asks what the real costs of the settlements are to Israel. Aaron David Miller looks at how the Palestinian-Israeli peace process got sidelined. Akiva Eldar says it's a shame that Israeli “social justice” protesters don't notice of the plight of Palestinians living under occupation. Hazem Saghiyeh says that regarding the tragedy of the Nahr al-Bared Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon, there is no answer but the Lebanese state but no state to provide that answer.
NEWS:
Two more rockets are fired into southern Israel from Gaza, without causing any damage or injuries. Pres. Peres says Israelis and Palestinians must learn to forget the past in order to achieve peace. A Fatah official vows Palestinians will not turn their issue into a domestic Lebanese dispute and that “foreign powers” are inciting violence. After another West Bank mosque is torched, a synagogue is vandalized with graffiti. Israeli veterans describe serving in the occupied territories. Two Hamas militants die inspecting a bombed tunnel in Gaza. Palestinian officials say Israel must choose between peace and settlements. Mitt Romney says he would do the “opposite” of Pres. Obama on Israel. Palestinians and Israelis are closely watching developments in Egypt.
COMMENTARY:
Ha'aretz interviews former negotiator Itamar Rabinovich and Deputy PM Ya'alon. Richard Haass thinks American dominance over the Mideast peace process is ending. Jon Donnison says Hamas was flexing its muscles in a recent exchange of rocket fire with Israel. The National says Hamas' violence undermines real Palestinian resistance. Patrick Seale looks at the Norwegian role in the Middle East. Paul Salem says Hezbollah is deeply concerned about current trends in the Middle East. Alex Fishman says the Hamas-Israel escalation in Gaza has explosive potential. Shaul Arieli looks at the potential negative consequences of Israeli unilateralism in the occupied West Bank. Saleh Al-Naami says Deputy PM Mofaz's peace initiatives are merely designed to buy time.
NEWS:
Egypt reportedly brokers a cease-fire between Hamas and Israel, as two more Palestinians are killed under Israeli fire. Israel is considering settling nomadic Bedouins on a landfill. Israel says “all options” are on the table if Western talks with Iran fail. Some Palestinian refugees still dream of returning home after 64 years. The PA fines date dealers for selling settlement products. A new report finds that only 6 percent of public sector employees in Israel are Palestinian citizens of the country. Deputy PM Mofaz says he thinks there's a good chance negotiations with Palestinians will resume soon, and the Obama administration is also reportedly working on renewed talks. Hamas publicly celebrates what it hopes is the victory of the Muslim Brotherhood candidate in the Egyptian presidential election. Palestinians are reportedly interested in a new Israeli technology combining solar and wind generated power. A UN expert criticizes censorship by Israel, the PA and Hamas. Palestinians are seeking to attract more Muslim visitors to the al-Aqsa Mosque. Palestinian refugees in Lebanon work to contain the fallout from recent deadly clashes with the Lebanese military.
COMMENTARY:
The Washington Post interviews DM Barak and Pres. Peres. Gideon Levy says Hamas and the Israeli government are behaving like kindergartners. Khaled Diab says both principle and pragmatism call for an end to the Gaza blockade. The Forward says the Olympics should honor slain Israeli athletes. Danny Rubinstein looks at the future of the Palestinian high-tech sector. Moriel Rothman looks at the logic behind Israel's planned destruction of a Palestinian village near Hebron.
NEWS:
Israel is considering its next move in an exchange of violence with Hamas, as another Palestinian is killed. A toddler in Gaza is killed when militants apparently misfire a rocket. Three Lebanese soldiers and ten Palestinian refugees are wounded in clashes in a refugee camp in northern Lebanon. Israeli settlers are expanding an outpost near Nablus. A new poll suggests that a large majority of Palestinians have no confidence in reconciliation between Fatah and Hamas. Political tensions in Egypt are fueling unrest in Sinai. Recent Palestinian corruption convictions raise the question of political prosecutions. A small group of Israeli settlers prepare to evacuate an "unauthorized"
outpost. Former Mossad chief Dagan says "Israel is in a unique place to make peace with Arabs." Japanese investment in a business park near Jericho aims to help Palestinian society towards economic sustainability. American novelist Alice Walker refuses to authorize a Hebrew translation of “The Color Purple” in protest against Israeli policies.
COMMENTARY:
Crispian Balmer looks at Israeli anxieties about the Egyptian presidential election. Pres. Peres says the Middle East badly needs a two-state solution. Barak Ravid asks if PM Netanyahu's speech 3 years ago endorsing a two-state solution was sincere. Carlo Strenger says "national-religious messianism" is endangering Israel. Norman Ornstein profiles the late Economist Jerusalem Bureau chief Peter David. Osama Al Sharif looks at the possibility of a war in the Middle East this summer. John Daly says Israel's growing relations with China are compromised by disputes over Iran and energy. Colum Lynch looks at the Palestinian bid to have the Church of the Nativity listed as a World Heritage Site in Palestine.