Middle East News: World Press Roundup

NEWS: The latest round of cross-border violence between Israel and Gaza is being shaped by new rocket defense systems and the emerging political order in Egypt. An Egyptian-mediated truce is calming tensions, and a Hamas official says Egypt promised to increase fuel supplies to Gaza. Three more Palestinian civilians have been killed in the latest barrage. As tensions ebb, Israel allows some aid into Gaza. This is only the latest experience of war for the people of Gaza. A new report finds Palestinian children struggle to return to normalcy after being in Israeli prisons. Israeli journalist turned politician Yair Lapid says Palestinians are to blame for the impasse in negotiations. A delegation of Knesset members is boycotting the United States after an MK was denied a US visa due to membership in a banned foreign terrorist organization, Kach. Supposedly pro-Israel American lawmakers push bills recognizing Israeli rule in the occupied territories, apparently without realizing this is one-state advocacy. COMMENTARY: Avi Issacharoff says with the new fighting, Islamic Jihad is trying to upstage Hamas. Amos Harel says behind the scenes, both Israel and Hamas want the violence to end. Gershon Baskin says because the status quo is untenable, leaders need to be imaginative. Leonard Fein says the recent flap about Israel's national anthem reveals deep rifts between Jewish and Arab citizens. Fareed Zakaria hosts a discussion on Iran, Israel and a Palestinian state.Peter Beinart says Pres. Obama has betrayed his ideals when it comes to Israel. John Tirman says the greatest existential threat to Israel is its own policies. Gershom Gorenberg says PM Netanyahu and "his Republican friends" should "shut up" about bombing Iran. Aaron David Miller says the US and Israel are not well-aligned on Iran yet.

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As Rockets Fly, New Conditions Shape Fight in Gaza ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Fares Akram, Isabel Kershner - March 12, 2012 - 12:00am JERUSALEM — Cross-border fighting between Israel and Palestinian militant groups in Gaza continued for a fourth day on Monday, with the Palestinian death toll rising from Israeli airstrikes and the militants’ rockets reaching farther into Israel. » Read more

Egypt-mediated truce calms Israel-Gaza border ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post by Karin Brulliard - March 13, 2012 - 12:00am JERUSALEM — A reported truce mediated by Egypt on Tuesday appeared to bring a shaky calm to the most intense cross-border fighting in three years between Israel and militants based in Gaza Strip. The cease-fire, which Egyptian state media said took effect hours before dawn on Tuesday, is intended to halt a four-day cycle of more than 300 militant-fired rockets into southern Israel and dozens of Israeli airstrikes on Gaza. Though both sides have warned that the conflict could expand, neither has seemed inclined to escalate to all-out war. » Read more

Hamas: Egypt offered fuel in return for calm ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency March 13, 2012 - 12:00am GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Egypt offered to provide fuel to Gaza if militants agree to a ceasefire with Israel, Hamas-affiliated MP Younis al-Astal said Monday. The Gaza Strip has faced up to 18-hour blackouts per day since Egypt cut fuel supplies through an underground tunnel network, and officials are negotiating an emergency route to stave the power crisis. Gaza's sole power station shut down on Saturday evening for the third time in the past month. » Read more

Toll rises in Israel-Gaza Strip crossfire ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times by Edmund Sanders - March 12, 2012 - 12:00am Reporting from Jerusalem— The toll on civilians from violence between the Israeli military and militants based in the Gaza Strip rose Monday as three Palestinians — a 15-year-old boy on his way to school and a father and daughter walking in the street — were killed by Israeli airstrikes, Palestinian officials said. » Read more

Israel lets aid into Gaza ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Yoav Zitun - March 13, 2012 - 12:00am Israel’s Ministry of Defense has decided to leave border crossings between Gaza and Israel open despite ongoing rocket attacks, in order to allow a flow of goods and aid delivered from Israel to the people of Gaza. Following the decision, the Kerem Shalom crossing remained open on Monday even though three mortar shells fired from the Gaza Strip landed on the Palestinian side of the crossing. During the latest round of fighting in the Gaza region, approximately 50 rockets aimed at Israel landed in Palestinian territory. » Read more

Gaza-Israel clashes: The view from each side ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News by Rupert Wingfield-Hayes - March 13, 2012 - 12:00am Sitting in the centre of Gaza City this mini-conflict has an almost surreal quality. With the windows open, a distant rumble very like thunder rolled across the city each time an Israeli strike hit home. But down below on the streets the cars kept passing, the shops stayed open, pedestrians kept walking home with their groceries. After years of blockade and repeated rounds of air strikes Gazans appear almost inured to the endless conflict. Further out of the city, closer to the Israeli border, the atmosphere is different. The streets are quieter. » Read more

Study: Children struggle to cope after Israeli detention ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency March 13, 2012 - 12:00am RAMALLAH (Ma'an) -- Thousands of Palestinian children struggle with mental health problems and reintegration into society after they are detained by Israel, a new report on child detention says. According to the study released by Save the Children Sweden and YMCA-East Jerusalem on Monday, 90.6 percent of detained children suffer Post Traumatic Stress Disorder after release. » Read more

Yair Lapid: Palestinians not ready to make peace ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Gil Hoffman - March 12, 2012 - 12:00am Journalist turned politician Yair Lapid blamed the Palestinians for the failure to reach a breakthrough in the peace process in a speech on Monday at Tel Aviv University. Lapid distanced himself from politicians on the Left who have blamed Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu for the diplomatic stalemate. “I don’t like the tendency to blame the Israeli side,” Lapid said. “Most of the blame belongs to the Palestinian side, and I am not sure that they as a people are ready to make peace with us.” » Read more

Israeli lawmakers nix U.S. conference over visa rejection ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) March 12, 2012 - 12:00am JERUSALEM (JTA) -- A delegation of Israeli lawmakers will not attend a Washington conference because the United States has barred entry to one member because he belonged to a banned terrorist group. Knesset member Michael Ben Ari of the right-wing National Union party had been affiliated with Kach, the anti-Arab group founded in the 1970s by the late Meir Kahane. Kach is banned in the United States, the European Union and Canada, and outlawed in Israel. » Read more

Pro-Israel Lawmakers Promote One State ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward by Josh Nathan-Kazis - (Opinion) March 12, 2012 - 12:00am A resolution calling for a one-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has been adopted in two state legislatures and is headed for more. Usually, such a call would be interpreted as a pro-Palestinian move that many fear could obliterate Israel as a Jewish state. But not in these cases. Instead, these resolutions are protests against U.S. efforts to implement a two-state solution, the endorsed policy of both the United States, Israel and the Palestinian Authority. » Read more

The reasons behind Islamic Jihad’s incessant rocket fire at Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Avi Issacharoff - (Opinion) March 13, 2012 - 12:00am There's no doubt that one reason Islamic Jihad is continuing its rocket fire on southern Israel is its glaring lack of success. After firing more than 200 rockets at the Negev, they still haven't killed any Israelis. What's more, the Iron Dome anti-missile defense system, which has shot down many of the rockets, is proving to be a formidable obstacle, one the terror group has not been able to overcome, even by firing a barrage of rockets at the same time. » Read more

Behind the scenes, both Israel and Hamas want violence to end ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Amos Harel - (Opinion) March 13, 2012 - 12:00am Israel and Hamas are delivering quite similar messages behind the scenes, in contrast to their public statements. Both powers in the Gaza conflict want to see the end of the current round of violence, which started Friday. A cease-fire is being stymied right now by two factors: heavy rocket fire by Islamic Jihad, taking full advantage of the weapons it received from Iran; and the lack of an effective way to end the face-off. » Read more

Planning beyond the possible ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Gershon Baskin - (Opinion) March 12, 2012 - 12:00am In October 1992, a year before the Oslo agreement was signed, I initiated a series of “Track II” talks in London between a group of Israeli security experts and their Palestinian counterparts. The Palestinian delegation was composed mostly of PLO representatives, with whom it was illegal for Israelis to meet face-to-face at the time. » Read more

Judge's Silent Protest of Israeli Racism ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward by Leonard Fein - (Opinion) March 11, 2012 - 1:00am The scandal took place at the home of Israel’s president, where members of the nation’s leading legal and political echelon had gathered to pay tribute to the retiring president of the Supreme Court and to welcome her successor to that august office. Among those present were the other justices of the Court, including Justice Salim Joubran, the first Israeli Arab to be counted among its 15 members. » Read more

GPS Panel: Iran, Israel and a Palestinian state ATFP World Press Roundup Article from CNN by Fareed Zakaria - (Interview) March 12, 2012 - 12:00am Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave President Obama a gift in Washington this week. It was a copy of the book of Esther, which tells the tale of a benevolent king who saved the Jewish people from an enemy who wished to destroy them - a Persian enemy (not very subtle). So where does the Israel-Iran conflict end? On Sunday, I had an excellent panel to talk about that and much more. Daniel Levy is co-director of the Middle East Task Force of the New America Foundation. Bret Stephens is the foreign affairs columnist for the Wall Street Journal. » Read more

Obama Betrayed Ideals on Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Beast by Peter Beinart - (Opinion) March 12, 2012 - 12:00am Bibi was coming again, and the White House was determined: this visit would not play out like the last one. On Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's previous trip to Washington, Obama had proposed that Israel and the Palestinians negotiate a peace deal based on the armistice lines drawn after Israel’s birth. Netanyahu reacted badly, lecturing the president publicly that “we can’t go back to those indefensible lines.” » Read more

The "Existential Threat" to Israel Is Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Huffington Post by John Tirman - (Opinion) March 12, 2012 - 12:00am The nearly complete mastery of U.S. politics that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu again displayed in Washington last week belies a dark reality for the Jewish State. That is the startling prospect that it has sown the seeds of its own destruction, one which will come to its ghastly fruition in a matter of a few years. » Read more

Please Shut Up ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Beast by Gershom Gorenberg - (Opinion) March 12, 2012 - 12:00am Rhetorically filling the fuel tanks of warplanes is all the rage. Benjamin Netanyahu did it at the AIPAC parley last week, dismissing diplomacy, sanctions and deterrence for dealing with Iran, and equating sorties over Qom with bombing Auschwitz. Rick Santorum used that venue to promise to "tear down" Iranian nuclear facilities. Mitt Romney was slightly more restrained, but his intent was the same: Bomb, baby, bomb. When Barack Obama tried to shush "loose talk of war," he got as much traction as a vicar giving a sermon during a soccer riot. » Read more

Why U.S., Israel aren't neatly aligned on Iran ATFP World Press Roundup Article from CNN by Aaron David Miller - (Opinion) March 13, 2012 - 12:00am (CNN) -- Over the years, I've seen a good many meetings between U.S. presidents and Israeli prime ministers on big issues during critical moments. It usually takes a few days before we can begin to make sense of what occurred and what to expect. Here's a guide to interpret last week's meeting between Barack Obama and Benjamin Netanyahu on the Iranian nuclear issue and how to read the next several months. Best meeting yet but don't be fooled » Read more

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