March 12, 2013

Date: 
March 12, 2013

The next few months will be " make-or-break" time for the fate of the peace process between Israel and the Palestinians, UN Middle East peace envoy said here Monday.

"We feel that the two-state solution for the Israeli- Palestinian conflict is on life support and see 2013 as a critical year to get things moving in the stalled peace talks," Robert Serry, who has served as a special regional coordinator for the past five years, said during an event hosted by the One Voice non- governmental organization in the Tel Aviv University.



World Bank: Israel restrictions impede Palestinian economy

Media Outlet: 
Ma'an News Agency
Date: 
March 12, 2013

Israeli closures and restrictions are causing lasting damage to the competitiveness of the Palestinian economy, the World Bank said Tuesday.

Israeli-imposed economic restrictions continue to constrain sustainable economic growth, a situation that is unlikely to change without political progress, according to the World Bank's latest report.

The economic monitoring report warns that the Palestinian economy is in danger of losing its capacity in the global market.



Israeli army helicopter crash kills 2 pilots

Article Author(s): 
Daniel Estrin
Media Outlet: 
The Associated Press
Date: 
March 12, 2013

An Israeli military helicopter crashed on Tuesday during training, killing two pilots, the army said.

According to a military statement, the army lost contact with the Bell AH-1 Cobra helicopter in the middle of the night as the aircraft was en route from a routine training flight back to an air base in southern Israel.

The military said it was investigating the crash, and has grounded all similar helicopters until it can determine the cause of the crash.

The two pilots killed in the crash were reservists, the army said.



Jerusalem Arab residents contest highway route

Article Author(s): 
Diaa Hadid
Media Outlet: 
The Associated Press
Date: 
March 11, 2013

A new Israeli highway project is threatening to add to tensions in Jerusalem by cutting through a quiet, middleclass Arab neighborhood to link a large bloc of Jewish settlements to the city.

The project comes during a flurry of Israeli building in east Jerusalem, the section of the city claimed by the Palestinians as their future capital.



11 wounded in clashes at Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon

Media Outlet: 
Xinhua
Date: 
March 12, 2013

At least 11 people were injured Tuesday in renewed gunfights at the Ain el-Hilweh Palestinian refugee camp near the southern Lebanese city of Sidon.

The fighting erupted between the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and supporters of Bilal Badr at al-Fawqani, an official of the Fateh al-Islam extremist group, state-run National News Agency reported.

The gunmen used machine-guns and mortar shells in the fighting.

The clashes came a day after a former Fatah al-Islam member was shot.



Palestinian refugees in Syria face undue obstacles as crisis worsens: UN official

Media Outlet: 
Xinhua
Date: 
March 5, 2013

A senior UN official on Monday said that the Syrian crisis is having dire effects on Palestinian refugees living in Syria, who face obstacles in receiving humanitarian assistance and are increasingly being drawn into the conflict.

Filippo Grandi, the commissioner general of UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA), told a press conference here that keeping schools open and health centers open is "an increasing challenge in a situation of growing insecurity, lack of access and other problems."



On tape: Settler attacks Palestinian shepherd

Article Author(s): 
Elior Levy
Media Outlet: 
Ynetnews
Date: 
March 11, 2013

A Palestinian who was tending to his herd a few hundred meters from the Avigail outpost in the south Mount Hebron [23] area was attacked for no apparent reason by the outpost's security officer on Saturday.

The officer claimed two Palestinian children had approached the Jewish outpost.



Hamas’s Desengaño With Morsi

Article Author(s): 
Hussein Ibish
Media Outlet: 
The Daily Beast
Article Type: 
Opinion
Date: 
March 11, 2013

English has by far the largest vocabulary of any language, but there are still times when we have to look beyond its confines to convey a particular meaning. There is a Spanish word, desengaño, which connotes a combination of disappointment, disenchantment, disillusionment and despair, for which we have no precise English equivalent. And this, surely, best sums up the current attitude of the Hamas rulers in Gaza towards Egypt's new government.



The eternal disputes of the Dead Sea Scrolls

Media Outlet: 
Los Angeles Times
Article Type: 
Opinion
Date: 
March 10, 2013

In June 1954, a small advertisement ran in the Wall Street Journal [26]: "Biblical manuscripts dating back to at least 200 BC are for sale." The commercial offering was the start of a long and controversial path for

Article Type: 
Blog
Date: 
March 12, 2013

President Barack Obama [28]'s visit to Israel comes less than a month before Israel reaches retirement age. As Israel faces the 65th anniversary of its founding next month, the arrival of the American president [29] marks something of a crossroads in the history and the direction of the country.



Erdogan, this isn't Zionism

Article Author(s): 
Dmitry Shumsky
Media Outlet: 
Haaretz
Article Type: 
Opinion
Date: 
March 12, 2013

What did Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan mean when he recently compared Zionism to fascism and termed it a crime against humanity? He probably wanted to say that the Israeli occupation in the West Bank and the inhumane blockade of the Gaza Strip, the one that citizens of his country sought to break when they boarded the Mavi Marmara ship are similar to the cruel, abusive acts of fascist states toward their own citizen-subjects.



Racists a handful of hooligans

Article Author(s): 
Noah Klieger
Media Outlet: 
Ynetnews
Article Type: 
Opinion
Date: 
March 12, 2013

There is no need for me to stress my strong objection to racism of all kinds and types, especially violent racism against innocent civilians. The assault of the Arab woman [32], who arrived to console the bereaved at the home of her Jewish friend in Jerusalem, by Jewish girls or boys (Hilltop Youth-style) is indeed a serious incident. Clearly, the rioters must be punished and judged severely as soon as possible.



Palestinian unity hopes dim as Egyptian crisis grows

Article Author(s): 
Dalia Hatuqa
Media Outlet: 
The National
Article Type: 
Opinion
Date: 
March 12, 2013

The streets of Cairo have been seeing much action of late, as Egyptians rally against the government of President Mohammed Morsi. But even as that country's political landscape teeters, Palestinians have tried - fruitlessly it turns out - to make use of Egypt's reinvigorated role as a broker to reconcile Fatah and Hamas.

Meetings in Cairo last month would have been hailed as a feat were it not for the fact that Palestinians have been witnessing the sad dance carried out for years between the two feuding factions: kiss and make up before exchanging blame.



Is Hamas Considering Recognition Of Israel?

Article Author(s): 
Shlomi Eldar
Media Outlet: 
Al-Monitor
Article Type: 
Analysis
Date: 
March 11, 2013

Both Israel and the Palestinian Authority are busy preparing for President Barack Obama’s visit, but as it turns out, Hamas is also keeping a close watch on the American president’s visit.



What the city of Haifa taught me

Article Author(s): 
Octavia Nasr
Media Outlet: 
Al-Arabiya
Article Type: 
Opinion
Date: 
March 12, 2013

It has crossed my mind on several occasions during my lifetime that Haifa is the city I could one day live in. Diverse, lively and has a great beach.


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