Middle East News: World Press Roundup

NEWS: A new poll finds a majority of Palestinian youth in favor of a two-state solution. UNSG Ban says that a Palestinian state is long overdue. Israelis and Palestinians bitterly dispute the propriety of a TV show that included interviews with family members of convicted murderers. Israel's Supreme Court again orders the evacuation of the largest “unauthorized” settlement outpost. Analysts speculate that Hamas' policy shifts are designed to gain ascendancy. Palestinian security services detain two journalists on suspicion of mocking the leadership. Germany upgrades Palestine's diplomatic status. Israel may renege on designating 70 settlements as “national priority” areas. Israel asks the US to prompt the Palestinians into continuing low-level negotiations. Israeli military leaders warn against attacking Iran. Changes in Hamas' policies may be connected to a financial crisis. COMMENTARY: Chuck Freilich says Israel faces a momentous choice on Iran. Israeli Maj.-Gen. Kochavi says the Arab world is rediscovering its power through the uprisings. Ray Hanania says it's easier to be caught up in emotions than to make the hard choices for peace. George Hishmeh says Israel appears to be systematically undermining all hopes for peace. Leila Hilal looks at potential options dealing with the Palestinian refugee question. Steven White and P.J. Dermer ask if “hypocrisy is becoming the norm at the Jerusalem Post?” The Forward looks at the depiction of the Israeli occupation at the Sundance Film Festival. Victor Kotsev blames Israel largely for the failure of recent negotiations. Amira Hass asks if helping Palestinians serves as cover for the occupation.

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Results of a Specialized Opinion Poll among Palestinian Youth: Activism, Political Efficacy,Palestinian Internal Politics, Elections, Arab Spring and Negotiations ATFP World Press Roundup Article from AWRAD February 1, 2012 - 1:00am Fieldwork: 15-17 January 2012 Sample Size: 1200 Palestinian Youth (18-30 years old) West Bank & Gaza Margin of error: + 3 % Highlights: •The majority of youth are skeptical about the direction where the Palestinian society is heading. •48 percent of youth respondents describe themselves as politically very active. •20 percent of the youth participated in activities directed at ending the internal division. •72 percent are willing to participate in protest activities against the occupation. » Read more

U.N. chief tells Palestinians their state is long overdue ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times by Maher Abukhater - February 1, 2012 - 1:00am REPORTING FROM RAMALLAH, WEST BANK — United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday said an independent Palestinian state is long overdue. Ban arrived in Ramallah from Israel, where he met Israeli President Shimon Peres and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a bid to keep the latest peace talks between the two sides going. At a news conference with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, the U.N. chief urged the Palestinians and Israelis to return to direct negotiations, stressing that “the two-state solution can be achieved only through negotiations.” » Read more

Israelis, Palestinians at loggerheads over praise of settler killer ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press February 2, 2012 - 1:00am AWARTA, West Bank — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s latest complaints about Palestinian “hate speech,” after relatives of the killer of a Jewish settler family praised him in a phone call to the official Palestine TV, spotlight the intense animosity and mutual distrust that have blocked peace talks for years. Netanyahu argues that President Mahmoud Abbas’ government has failed to educate Palestinians for peace, stoking Israeli suspicions about a hidden Palestinian agenda, and that this poses a major obstacle to any peace deal. » Read more

Key settlement outpost slated for evacuation ATFP World Press Roundup Article from IRIN February 2, 2012 - 1:00am RAMALLAH (IRIN) -- Israel's High Court of Justice has ordered Israeli settlers in the Migron outpost in the West Bank to leave by March 31 in response to a 2006 petition filed by seven Palestinian landowners and Israeli pressure group Peace Now. "The prime minister is trying to implement the court's decision peacefully," by reaching an agreement with the Migron settlers which would include moving them from their homes to new housing on adjacent Israeli "state land", Mark Regev, spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, told IRIN. » Read more

Analysis: Hamas on the move, seeks Palestinian ascendancy ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Nidal al-Mughrabi, Douglas Hamilton - (Analysis) February 2, 2012 - 1:00am GAZA/JERUSALEM (Reuters) -- Political winds from the Arab Spring are filling the sails of the Hamas, as it seeks a course out of international isolation to the forefront of the Palestinian national movement. Hamas' ties to Syria and Iran are changing. This week, the two top men in the 25-year-old organization dedicated to crushing Israel and establishing Palestine "from the (Jordan) river to the sea" headed off in distinctly different directions for high-level talks, and they began to look intriguingly like rivals. » Read more

Palestinian security forces question 2 journalists ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press February 1, 2012 - 1:00am RAMALLAH, West Bank — Two Palestinian journalists said Wednesday they were detained and questioned by Palestinian security forces, one after mocking the Palestinian leadership and the other after reporting about alleged corruption at a Palestinian diplomatic mission. The detentions came as renewed criticism was aimed at Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' government for suppressing dissent. » Read more

Germany upgrades Palestinian diplomatic status ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press February 1, 2012 - 1:00am RAMALLAH, West Bank — Germany has upgraded the Palestinian diplomatic representation in Berlin from a delegation to a mission headed by an ambassador, visiting German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle announced Wednesday. The decision followed similar steps in recent months by France, Spain, Portugal and Ireland. It was seen as a boost to the Palestinian quest for international recognition. Germany is one of the most influential countries in Europe and one of Israel's most loyal allies. » Read more

Israel backtracks on housing benefits for West Bank settlements ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Barak Ravid - February 2, 2012 - 1:00am Housing benefits will not be granted to some 70 West Bank settlements unless specifically approved by the defense minister, who has authority over West Bank construction, the cabinet decided on Wednesday. The decision amended a cabinet resolution approved on Sunday that granted various housing benefits to people living in national priority areas. Since about 70 settlements are located in national priority areas, the new decision was passed to exclude them. » Read more

Israel asks U.S. to prod Palestinians to continue peace talks ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Barak Ravid - February 2, 2012 - 1:00am Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday asked U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to press Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to continue the talks with Israel that began last month in Amman. The Prime Minister's Office said that the conversation with Clinton lasted 45 minutes, and quoted Netanyahu as saying, "Israel is interested in continuous talks with the Palestinians while preserving the security interests of Israeli citizens." » Read more

Israel's military leaders warn against Iran attack ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Independent by Donald MacIntyre, Kim Sengupta - February 2, 2012 - 1:00am Almost the entire senior hierarchy of Israel's military and security establishment is worried about a premature attack on Iran and apprehensive about the possible repercussions, a former chief of the country's defence forces told The Independent yesterday. Lt-Gen Amnon Lipkin-Shahak, who is close to Defence Minister Ehud Barak, said there had been little analysis of what happens the "day after" when the Tehran regime and its paramilitary allies retaliate. He warned that an assault may lead to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad benefiting from popular anger against foreign aggression. » Read more

Change in political landscape leaves Hamas in financial shortfall ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National by Hugh Naylor - February 2, 2012 - 1:00am JERUSALEM // Keeping up with the dramatic changes in the political map of the Middle East is one reason the leaders of Hamas are buzzing around the region in an unprecedented diplomatic campaign. Another less talked about reason is money. The rulers of the Gaza Strip are desperate for it, analysts say. The group's leader, Khaled Meshaal, and its prime minister, Ismail Haniyeh, have spent recent weeks visiting eight countries including Jordan and Qatar. Such trips would have been almost unthinkable before the Arab Spring. » Read more

Israel's profound choice on Iran ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times by Chuck Freilich - (Opinion) February 2, 2012 - 1:00am In the end it will come down to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. His senior officials will make their cases, but he alone will have to make one of the most critical decisions inIsrael's history: whether to attackIran's nuclear program. I do not envy him. » Read more

MI chief: Iran can produce 4 bombs ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Neri Brenner - (Opinion) February 2, 2012 - 1:00am "Iran has enough nuclear material for four bombs," Director of Military Intelligence Major General Aviv Kochavi warned Thursday. Kochavi made a rare appearance at the 2012 Herzliya Conference, where he reviewed regional changes, the effects of the Arab Spring and the Iranian threat. "Iran is vigorously pursing military nuclear capabilities and today the intelligence community agrees with Israel on that. Iran has over four tons of enriched materials and nearly 100kg of 20% enriched uranium – that's enough for four bombs," he said. » Read more

Hallucination of peace ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Ray Hanania - (Opinion) February 1, 2012 - 1:00am Two of my “friends” on Facebook started going at it, as Facebook people often do, over my recent column analyzing the failure of Palestinian activists to achieve any of their goals. The debate quickly got off-topic and started careening over the cliff of Palestinian-Israeli futility at a very high speed. It became obvious that neither was really listening to the other. Both were repeating the same old arguments that have muddled Palestinian-Israeli peace efforts. » Read more

Israel adds to its crimes ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News by George S. Hishmeh - (Opinion) February 2, 2012 - 1:00am Ten years ago about 50 Israeli soldiers, including some officers, refused to serve in the Occupied Territories, roughly the size about 22 per cent of the original state, Palestine, which until mid-1948 was a mandate under British rule. » Read more

Implementing a Negotiated Settlement on the Palestinian Refugee Question: The International Dimensions ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Chatham House by Leila Hilal - (Analysis) January 1, 2012 - 1:00am Today there are an estimated six million Palestinian refugees. Resolving their plight has been a core part of the peace agenda in the Middle East since 1948. While considerable diplomatic effort in the past two decades has centred on reaching a bilateral Israeli–Palestinian permanent status agreement, implementing any such agreement will present an equally massive challenge. » Read more 1 attachment

Hypocrisy Becoming the Norm at the Jerusalem Post? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Huffington Post by PJ Dermer, Steve White - (Opinion) February 1, 2012 - 1:00am Jerusalem Post Editor Steve Linde's "revelation," followed by his near instantaneous retraction that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told him "the two main enemies facing Israel are the New York Times and Israeli newspaper Haaretz," only add to the hypocrisy of the mini-saga surrounding our unsuccessful effort to publish a reasoned response to the slanderous attack Jerusalem Post commentator Carolyn Glick levied against the person and character of Major General Nitzan Alon in her editorial, "Our World: Netanyahu's misleading lessons in governance." » Read more

Images of Occupation at Sundance ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward by Abra Cohen - (Film Review) January 31, 2012 - 1:00am Selling out a screening or getting a standing ovation at Sundance is hard enough for a seasoned filmmaker, let alone for a farmer from the West Bank. But director Emad Burnat, from the village of Bil’in, brought Park City, Utah, to its feet with his debut documentary about his family’s life beyond the security barrier and amid Israeli settlements. » Read more

Theatrical failure of peace talks ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asia Times Online by Victor Kotsov - (Opinion) January 31, 2012 - 1:00am The Palestinians demand a clear Israeli position on borders (the borders of a prospective Palestinian state). Against all odds, the Palestinians receive a clear Israeli position on borders. The Palestinians then abandon the negotiations, blaming Israel. » Read more

Does helping Palestinians beautify the occupation? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Amira Hass - (Opinion) January 30, 2012 - 1:00am There is a thorn in the side of the Israeli prohibitions industry, in the guise of several stubborn and persistent women of retirement age. In a word: nudniks. They are the MachsomWatch volunteers, who during the past seven years have been offering their persistence in order to appeal the travel ban that the Shin Bet security service imposes on Palestinians who seek work in Israel." » Read more

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