Middle East News: World Press Roundup

NEWS: The former head of Israeli intelligence urges caution towards Iran, and calls Mitt Romney's rhetoric on the subject “irresponsible.” The Israeli public seems to be very wary of any military action against Iran. Hamas officials blame the PA for stalled unity talks. Hamas forces attack journalists in Gaza. A new study finds Palestinian women very vulnerable to violence from their husbands. Hamas apparently sends mixed messages on whether it would stay neutral in a conflict involving Iran. The PA steps up security measures at a holy site near Nablus. Israeli authorities say they're investigating the killing of a Palestinian man yesterday. Palestinian women detainees say they were severely abused in Israeli custody. Palestinian elections scheduled for May are unlikely to be held due to bickering between Hamas and Fatah. COMMENTARY: The New York Times hosts a debate between a range of Israeli commentators on whether Israel should accept a nuclear-free Middle East. Charles Krauthammer condemns Pres. Obama's policies towards Israel. Ha'aretz says Israel should distance itself from PM Netanyahu's “vulgar” language on Iran. Uri Savir says Israel needs to reevaluate its security posture due to regional changes. The BBC looks at Netanyahu's persistent “duck analogies.” The Forward says the Obama-Netanyahu conversations on Iran were a win-win for the two leaders. Alexander Joffe and Asaf Romirowsky say Israel should move quickly to bolster the Palestinian institution-building lead by PM Fayyad. Morgan Strong says Israel seems trapped in a cycle of endless conflicts.

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Israel’s ex-spy chief says more efforts needed before considering attack on Iran ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press March 9, 2012 - 1:00am JERUSALEM — The recently retired head of the Mossad intelligence agency has said Israel must consider alternatives to a military strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities, but another expert said Friday an Israeli attack could come within months. Ex-Mossad director Meir Dagan pointed to a need for caution after Israel’s prime minister hinted Israel might feel the need to attack. Among the alternative actions he suggested was supporting Iranian opposition groups working for regime change. » Read more

Ex-Mossad Chief Halevy: Romney’s Iran Talk is Irresponsible ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) March 7, 2012 - 1:00am WASHINGTON (JTA) -- Former Mossad chief Efraim Halevy said Mitt Romney's gibes at President Obama's Iran policy were irresponsible. "This means to an Iranian, if you will wait until another few months and there is a change in the White House, then maybe there will be trouble, so the lesson is, let's redouble our efforts to do it as quickly as we can," Halevy said in an interview with The Huffington Post posted Wednesday. "In the effort to demolish the president he is making the situation worse." » Read more

Israelis, like United States, wary about strike on Iran ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post by Karin Brulliard - March 8, 2012 - 1:00am JERUSALEM — As Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu returned from a visit to Washington this week, much of the discussion here centered on traffic-light hues. Had the Israeli leader been given a red light or a green light about attacking Iran’s nuclear facilities? The general assessment was that President Obama’s signal — his appeals to give diplomacy more time and his pledges of support for Israel — fell somewhere on the spectrum between yellow and red. To many here, that probably came as a relief. » Read more

Zahhar: Fatah’s Cooperation With Israel Stalling Unity ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency March 9, 2012 - 1:00am GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Senior Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahhar on Thursday said Fatah's cooperation with Israel was stalling national reconciliation. Hamas does not recognize Israel while Fatah, which leads the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, coordinates with Israel under agreements signed in the 1990s. Zahhar, speaking at a conference on the Arab Spring in Gaza City, said Fatah's security coordination had delayed the implementation of an agreement signed by the rival factions last May. » Read more

Hamas Security Forces Attack Journalists in Gaza City ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency March 9, 2012 - 1:00am GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Hamas security forces attacked three journalists covering a mass wedding in Gaza City on Thursday, the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate said Friday. Security forces beat the reporters in a nearby playground, it said. The journalists were covering a mass wedding of 500 couples, funded by a charitable organization and in coordination with Hamas. Local media identified the journalists as Muhammad Masharawi, a reporter for Sky News, and Adnan al-Barsh of the BBC. Another journalist, Amer Abu Omar, was assaulted in the incident, witnesses said. » Read more

Study: 37 Percent of Palestinian Women Exposed to Violence by Husbands ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency March 9, 2012 - 1:00am RAMALLAH (Ma'an) -- Some 37 percent of Palestinian women were exposed to violence by their husbands in 2011, says a new study revealed on International Women's Day. The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics says the highest percentage of the phenomenon was reported in Gaza, where 58.1 percent of women were subject to violence by their husbands. The Ramallah and Al Bireh district witnessed the lowest rates of domestic violence against women for 2011, with 14.2 percent of wives exposed to violence. » Read more

Hamas Unclear about Role in Israel-Iran Fighting ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press by Karin Laub - March 7, 2012 - 1:00am GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Gaza's ruling Hamas on Wednesday sent conflicting signals on whether it would stay on the sidelines if war breaks out between Israel and Iran. A Hamas spokesman said the group didn't have enough firepower the enter a regional war, while a senior official later reportedly threatened "retaliation with utmost power." » Read more

PA Steps Up Security Measures at Joseph’s Tomb ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Israel News by Akiva Novick - March 8, 2012 - 1:00am The Palestinian Authority has stepped up its fight against Breslov Hassidim's attempts to access Joseph's Tomb in Nablus without permission, Yedioth Ahronoth reported Thursday. Breslovers often try to enter the compound at night, sans authorization or coordination with the IDF and the Palestinian security forces. Such past incidents have caused clashes between the hassidim and Palestinian troops, with one tragic clash ending in the death of Breslover Ben-Yosef Livnat. » Read more

Israel Investigates Killing of a Palestinian in West Bank ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News March 9, 2012 - 1:00am Zakariya Abu Eram, who was 17, was shot dead by Israeli soldiers in the Palestinian town of Yatta, south of Hebron. The Israeli military said he was accompanying a man who stabbed a soldier with a knife. Local witnesses said he was an onlooker and not involved in the attack. An 18-year-old Palestinian was also injured. It is understood that Israeli soldiers were in Yatta to arrest a former prisoner, Khaled Makhamreh. » Read more

Palestinian Female Detainees Tell Horrific Stories of Abuse in Israeli Prisons ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Arabiya by Amjad Samhan - March 8, 2012 - 1:00am Throughout the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, around 800,000 Palestinians have been arrested by Israeli authorities, more than 10,000 of whom are women. Many of those female detainees were subjected to several forms of abuse, sexual in particular, but very few were willing to talk. On the eve of International Women’s Day, however, some decided to break their silence. S.H., who refused to disclose her full name, was arrested for a few days to put pressure on her husband, also detained at the time, and extract confessions from him. » Read more

Palestinian Elections Delayed by Hamas-Fatah Bickering ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National by Hugh Naylor - March 9, 2012 - 1:00am RAMALLAH // Palestinians will not hold presidential and parliamentary elections in May because of disagreements between the two main political factions, a Palestinian elections official said this week. The gridlocked Hamas-Fatah reconciliation has made it impossible for the Palestinian Central Elections Commission (CEC) to hold elections on May 4, the date originally set by the groups, said the Ramallah-based organisation's chief electoral officer, Hisham Kuhail. » Read more

Should Israel Accept a Nuclear Ban? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times (Opinion) March 8, 2012 - 1:00am The strained relationship between President Obama and Prime Minister Netanyahu during the last few days over Israel’s threats of unilateral action against Iran has focused the world’s attention on the sensitive issue of nuclear weapons in the Middle East. Would this mess be avoided, and would Israel be safer, if Netanyahu agreed to a regional nonproliferation treaty as will be discussed at a conference in Finland later this year? Or would giving up nuclear weapons be suicidal for Israel? Why Would Jerusalem Budge? By Mya Guarnieri, blogger, +927 » Read more

Obama vs. Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post by Charles Krauthammer - (Opinion) March 8, 2012 - 1:00am It’s Lucy and the football, Iran-style. After ostensibly tough talk about preventing Iran from going nuclear, the Obama administration acquiesced this week to yet another round of talks with the mullahs. This, 14 months after the last group-of-six negotiations collapsed in Istanbul because of blatant Iranian stalling and unseriousness. Nonetheless, the new negotiations will be both without precondition and preceded by yet more talks to decide such trivialities as venue. » Read more

Israel must not bind itself to Netanyahu's vulgar rhetoric on Iran ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz (Editorial) March 9, 2012 - 1:00am Anyone who cares about Israel's future could not help but feel a chill upon hearing Benjamin Netanyahu's recent speech at the AIPAC conference - if not because of the gravity of the existential threat it described, then because of its sheer vulgarity and bad taste. The prime minister, as if he were no more than a surfer leaving feedback on a website, did not hesitate to crassly compare Israel today to the situation of European Jewry during the Holocaust. » Read more

Between Damascus and Tehran ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Uri Savir - (Opinion) March 8, 2012 - 1:00am On February 22, a good friend of mine, the courageous Sunday Times reporter Marie Colvin, who reported from almost every war zone in the world to present the readers with the horror, brutality and futility of war, was killed by Syrian forces in the city of Homs. » Read more

Why is Israel calling Iran a nuclear duck? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News by James Reynolds - (Opinion) March 7, 2012 - 1:00am "A nuclear armed Iran must be stopped," Benjamin Netanyahu told the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) lobby group in Washington on Monday. "Amazingly, some people refuse to acknowledge that Iran's goal is to develop nuclear weapons." So, how might Israel's prime minister try to persuade the sceptics? A couple of paragraphs later, Mr Netanyahu decided to deploy a favourite rhetorical device of recent Israeli leaders. It's a phrase always used whenever an Israeli politician wants to come over as wittily plain-spoken to English-speaking audiences - the duck analogy. » Read more

On Iran, a Win-Win ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward (Editorial) March 9, 2012 - 1:00am The conventional wisdom is that the latest meeting between President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, even if more cordial and productive than their eight prior exchanges, highlighted the stark differences between the two leaders as their nations face the threat of a nuclear Iran. And this gulf, so some urge us to believe, presents a serious schism for Americans who care about Israel’s security and this most special of special bilateral relationships. Permit us to offer another perspective. » Read more

Building Palestinian prosperity ATFP World Press Roundup Article from National Post by Alexander Joffe, Asaf Romirowsky - (Opinion) March 9, 2012 - 1:00am The Palestinian cause has never been more marginalized than it is today. That was the message conveyed by Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad in a recent meeting in Ramallah. The Arab Spring has deflected the attention of the international community and the Arab world, to the detriment of the Palestinians. But Fayyad was also frank that the uprisings were inevitable. The fundamental lack of respect for citizens in places such as Syria, Tunisia and Egypt, he stated, could not be sustained forever. » Read more

The tragedy of success ATFP World Press Roundup Article from United Press International (UPI) by Morgan Strong - (Analysis) March 9, 2012 - 1:00am BRICK, N.J., March 9 (UPI) -- Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu visited U.S. President Barack Obama Monday. He has tried, and failed, to convince Obama to join Israel in attacking Iran. Netanyahu says the purpose in attacking Iran is to prevent the development of nuclear weapons that Iran will use against Israel. That is sheer fantasy. Iran is very far from the development of nuclear weapons. Even if Iran were to succeed in building a primitive nuclear device, they could never match Israel's vast nuclear arsenal. » Read more

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