Middle East News: World Press Roundup

Israel warns against UN recognition of Palestine. Germany pushes Israel to be more forthcoming on peace. Roger Cohen says Judge Goldstone has created confusion, Oudeh Basharat says he caved under emotional pressure, and lawsuits are filed against him. Up to 10 Palestinians are killed in Israeli air strikes on Gaza and several Israelis injured in a Hamas attack on a school bus. Israeli officials call their attack on Hamas members in Sudan “a policy of prevention.” Palestinian Christians demand freedom of access to Jerusalem during Easter. Olympic medalists help to promote sport in the West Bank. Pres. Abbas urges the West to stop Israeli airstrikes on Gaza. The Israeli military claims an anti-missile system successfully intercepted a rocket fired from Gaza. A new flotilla of up to 20 ships is expected for Gaza. Israel officials say Hamas is trying to establish a “balance of terror.” Ha’aretz says leaked documents show Israeli leaders saying different things in public and private. A new poll suggests 78% of Likud members oppose the creation of a Palestinian state. The US may be working to have the Goldstone Report withdrawn. George Hishmeh says Goldstone’s reconsideration’s don’t change the political situation. IPS says Israel is focusing on “soft targets.” Madawi al-Rasheed says tensions in Saudi Arabia, and Nathalie Tocci says the “Arab spring” in general, mean the Arab Peace Initiative is on hold for the moment.

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Warning by Israeli on U.N. Nod to Palestinians ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Dan Bilefsky - April 7, 2011 - 12:00am President Shimon Peres of Israel warned Thursday against potential attempts by the United Nations to impose a Palestinian state on Israel and said that the recent recanting of the harshest conclusions by the author of a United Nations report accusing Israel of war crimes was insufficient to undo the “libels” caused to Israel’s reputation. » Read more

Germany Pushes Israelis on Peace ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Judy Dempsey - April 7, 2011 - 12:00am As Germany moves closer to other European countries in adopting an increasingly tough stance toward Israel’s reluctance to resume peace negotiations with the Palestinians, Chancellor Angela Merkel said Thursday that it was more urgent than ever that the talks be restarted. With the Middle East highly volatile as fighting and protests continue in a number of countries, Mrs. Merkel warned the visiting Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, against any further delay in returning to the negotiating table. » Read more

The Goldstone Chronicles ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Roger Cohen - (Opinion) April 7, 2011 - 12:00am We have a new verb, “to Goldstone.” Its meaning: To make a finding, and then partially retract it for uncertain motive. Etymology: the strange actions of a respected South African Jewish jurist under intense pressure from Israel, the U.S. Congress and world Jewish groups. » Read more

Palestinian killed in Israeli strikes in Gaza ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times by Edmund Sanders - April 8, 2011 - 12:00am At least one Palestinian was killed and two Israelis were injured Thursday amid escalating violence between Israel's military and militants in the Gaza Strip. The clashes marked the first time the Israel Defense Forces successfully deployed a new short-range rocket interception system, Iron Dome, to destroy a Palestinian rocket launched toward the city of Ashkelon. » Read more

Israelis conducting global war on Hamas ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Times by Eli Lake - April 7, 2011 - 12:00am Israel's security agencies are stepping up targeted attacks throughout the world on Hamas' leadership in what one Israeli official called "intelligence-based prevention." In the past two months, Israeli operatives have intercepted a German ship in international waters, fired a missile at a suspected Hamas leader in Sudan, and captured a Hamas engineer in the Ukraine, according to Israeli and Western officials and press reports from the region. » Read more

11 killed in Gaza, dozens injured in series of strikes ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency April 8, 2011 - 12:00am Israeli air strikes and artillery fire have hit Gaza eight times Friday, killing six, and bringing the total number of dead over the past 24 hours to eleven, almost half of who were civilians. A mother and daughter, and elderly man were killed in two separate strikes near Khan Younis, and a fourth unidentified man was killed in the most recent strike near Gaza City. » Read more

Christians demand freedom of access during Easter ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency April 7, 2011 - 12:00am As Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza await news on permits from Israel to visit holy sites in Jerusalem, local Christians issued a call for the respect of freedom of worship. "For Christians, Holy Week in Jerusalem has a special spiritual connection," said a statement from the Kairos Palestine group on Wednesday. Holy sites "are equally important to the Palestinian Christians of Gaza and the West bank, who want to join their Jerusalemite Christian brethren in the liturgical events leading to the resurrection, the holiest celebration in Christianity." » Read more

Ahead of games, West Bank summons Olympic spirit ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency April 8, 2011 - 12:00am "It's one thing winning the medal, that's great, but I think some of the other things I've been able to experience because of this have been enriching as much as completing that original goal," says Jamie Staff, 2008 Beijing Gold medal winner for the UK. "It changed my life," he reflected on the tail end of a whirlwind trip to the West Bank. With the gold medal in his pocket, Staff arrived in the West Bank as part of London's Cultural Olympiad, in events celebrating 500 days to the opening of the Summer Games. » Read more

Abbas urges West to stop Israeli strikes on Gaza ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters April 7, 2011 - 12:00am Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas urged Western powers on Thursday to intervene after Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip killed four Palestinians. He called on the West "to immediately intervene to stop this aggression", the official Wafa news agency reported. Abbas also urged Palestinian militants not to give Israel an excuse to hit Gaza. The flareup of violence followed an attack on an Israeli school bus in which an anti-tank missile fired from Gaza wounded two people, drawing a swift Israeli response. » Read more

Minister: New Israeli defense system appears to successfully shoot down 1st Palestinian rocket ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press April 7, 2011 - 12:00am Minister: New Israeli defense system appears to successfully shoot down 1st Palestinian rocket.

Israeli officials file suit against Goldstone after regret over Gaza war report ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua by Dave Bender, Khaled Khalefe - April 8, 2011 - 12:00am Israeli President Shimon Peres is set to ask United Nations to invalidate Judge Richard Goldstone 's 2009 report on the Israeli army's role in Gaza during Operation Cast Lead. The presidential request comes in the wake of the South African jurist's regret over some of UN Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict probe's conclusions, in an op-ed published in The Washington Post last week. Peres has called the report "a mockery of history," and "fails to distinguish between the aggressor and those acting in self- defense." » Read more

Over 20 ships expected for second Gaza flotilla ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua April 7, 2011 - 12:00am A Turkish human rights organization said here on Thursday that it is organizing another Gaza flotilla of more than 20 ships as the anniversary for the first ill-fated voyage on May 31 approaches. The IHH Human Rights Foundation which organized last year's flotilla, which was attacked by Israeli commandos in international waters killing 9, is in the planning stage of a second larger flotilla. IHH board member Huseyin Oruc told Xinhua that currently there are activists from more than 20 countries interested in participating. » Read more

Goldstone's 'regret' is a result of emotional pressure ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Oudeh Basharat - (Opinion) April 8, 2011 - 12:00am In any event, when Richard Goldstone "retracted" he didn't really retract. Read his op-ed in the Washington Post once, twice - there's no retraction there on any substantial issues. And when he stated in his "regret" that Israel had started its investigation after his conclusions were made, that is a kind of reaffirmation of Goldstone's report. At the time, we should recall, Israel vehemently refused to conduct a probe of Operation Cast Lead. According to the strange interpretations of his "regret," 1,400 people - most of them civilians - were killed in Gaza by mistake. » Read more

Israel believes Hamas trying to establish 'balance of terror' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Amos Harel, Avi Issacharoff - April 8, 2011 - 12:00am A 16-year-old Israeli was critically injured on Thursday when an anti-tank missile fired from the Gaza Strip hit a school bus near Kibbutz Sa'ad. The missile attack was followed by additional mortar shelling from Gaza. The launch occurred just four to five kilometers from the target, from a point where it was clear students were on board and it was possible to keep the bus within sight. A senior defense source told Haaretz on Thursday night that he believes this was an act by the military wing of the organization, and that their aim was to deter Israel and establish a "balance of terror." » Read more

Removing Israeli leaders' masks of hypocrisy ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz (Editorial) April 8, 2011 - 12:00am WikiLeaks' "Israel file," parts of which appear in detail in today's newspaper, makes an important contribution to public discourse in Israel. The publication makes it clear that senior Israeli officials and public figures have presented positions to American officials different from those they voiced in public. Exposing the reports of the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv and general consulate in Jerusalem removes the masks of hypocrisy and doublespeak and contributes to political transparency and cleanliness. » Read more

Settlers' poll: 78% of Likudniks oppose Palestinian State ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Gil Hoffman - April 8, 2011 - 12:00am Three quarters of Likud members believe that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu should wait until the fate of uprisings in the Muslim world becomes clearer before he takes any steps toward the Palestinians, a Ma’agar Mohot poll sponsored by the Council of Jewish Communities in Judea, Samaria and the Gaza Strip revealed on Thursday. » Read more

US plotting strategy to have Goldstone report withdrawn ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Hilary Leila Krieger - April 8, 2011 - 12:00am The US is consulting with allies at the United Nations to work to end any consideration of the Goldstone Report by the international body, US Ambassador to the UN Susan Rice said on Thursday. The US has long been opposed to the report’s accusations that Israel intentionally targeted civilians in its war just over two years ago against Hamas, but has added momentum in its push to see the report shelved since its presiding jurist Richard Goldstone last Friday reconsidered his findings. » Read more

Goldstone’s message ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times by George S. Hishmeh - (Opinion) April 8, 2011 - 12:00am It was definitely coincidental - but harbouring many unclear scenarios - that Richard Goldstone’s infamous volte face came on April Fool’s day, when it appeared on the website of The Washington Post. » Read more

Israel Aiming Punitive Measures at Soft Targets ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Inter Press Service (IPS) by Mel Frykber - April 5, 2011 - 12:00am As the international community becomes increasingly critical of Israel's discriminatory treatment of Israeli-Arabs and the brutal occupation in the Palestinian West Bank, the Israeli authorities are venting their anger against soft targets such as Arab-Israeli parliamentarians and Palestinian and Israeli non-violent peace activists. The majority of Knesset (Israeli parliament) members recently voted in favour of stripping Israel-Arab Knesset member Haneen Zoabi of her parliamentary privileges following her participation in the ill-fated Mavi Marmara flotilla to Gaza last year. » Read more

Saudi dilemmas and the Arab Peace Initiative ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons by Madawi Al-Rasheed - (Opinion) April 6, 2011 - 12:00am The Arab Peace Initiative, proposed by Saudi Arabia's then-Crown Prince Abdullah (king since 2005) and announced during the Arab League summit in Beirut in 2002, is hard to resurrect amidst revolutions and protests in the region. Not only was the initiative a stillborn baby, but over time it became a corpse in need of a death ritual. We all know how important such rituals are for the living, but unfortunately, the illusion of peace persists while the reality attests that "no solution has become the solution". » Read more

The API in thrall to the Arab spring ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons by Nathalie Tocci - (Opinion) April 6, 2011 - 12:00am The Arab Peace Initiative, first endorsed at the Beirut summit in 2002, was born of a specific context. In the immediate aftermath of 9/11, what was to become the "moderate" Arab camp was intent on asserting its credentials to the West. Offering Israel full normalization of relations in return for an end of Israeli occupation of the West Bank, East Jerusalem, the Gaza Strip, and the Golan Heights and an (unspecified) "just" solution to the refugee problem was an unprecedented move. » Read more

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