Middle East News: World Press Roundup

NEWS: A new poll suggests that if Palestinian elections were held today, 42% would vote for Fatah while slightly under 20% would vote for Hamas. Palestinian citizens of Israel still face increasing levels of violence and poverty. A recent Senate Appropriations Committee vote on Palestinian refugees could complicate US policy and funding towards UNRWA. J Street appears to be growing as an alternative to traditional pro-Israel organizations. Israeli officials say they fear Syria Is headed towards becoming a failed state. Israel's internal security force says there was a spike in anti-Israeli or anti-Jewish terrorist attacks or plots last year. Israeli leaders express skepticism about Western diplomacy with Iran over its nuclear program. Two Americans are kidnapped in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula. A PA committee determines that the largest Palestinian public sector employee union "has no legal standing." Israeli Interior Minister Yishai says Israeli women are afraid to report rape by African migrants due to a stigma regarding AIDS. A majority of Israeli defense officials are reportedly against any attack against Iran under present circumstances. COMMENTARY: Salman Masalha says the Nakba is very much alive for both Arabs and Jews in Israel. Aaron David Miller says PM Netanyahu is well-positioned to be a great leader of Israel, but he is skeptical. The National says Israel's relationship with Turkey has never recovered from the deadly flotilla incident. Raphael Magarik looks at deep-seated Israeli fears about “infiltrators,” whoever they may be. Moriel Rothman tracks the harsh treatment by Israeli authorities of a Palestinian child in occupied East Jerusalem. Nida Tuma worries that Palestinian moderates are being undermined by the diplomatic impasse and untenable realities on the ground. Elliott Abrams dismisses the idea of a new UN Special Committee on Palestine proposed by Shlomo Ben-Ami, Thomas Schelling, Jerome Segal, and Javier Solana. Victor Kattan says UNRWA “reform efforts” will harm the peace process.

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Poll: Fatah would win national elections ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency May 31, 2012 - 12:00am BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- Fatah would win an election if it were held today, according to the results of a poll by the Jerusalem Media and Communication Center released Tuesday. Some 42 percent of Palestinians would vote for Fatah and 19.5 percent would elect Hamas, according to the poll which surveyed 1,188 people selected at random in the West Bank and Gaza. » Read more

Violence, poverty besets Palestinians in Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Jihan Abdalla - May 30, 2012 - 12:00am LOD, Israel (Reuters) -- "My friend is on the floor, dying, 11 holes in his body, and I only have 10 fingers," raps Tamer Nafar. "Don't close your eyes, blink if you can hear me." Nafar isn't rapping about violence and crime in urban America, but murders, drugs, guns and gang warfare in his own slum inside Israel. » Read more

Defining a Palestinian refugee a US complication ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press by Donna Cassata - May 31, 2012 - 12:00am WASHINGTON—A simple congressional request for the United States to distinguish between Palestinians displaced by the 1948 Arab-Israeli conflict and millions of their descendants poses a high-stakes diplomatic and political challenge for President Barack Obama. » Read more

Divergent Path on Israel Helps Lobby Group Grow ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Eric Lichtblau - May 30, 2012 - 12:00am WASHINGTON — There was a time not so long ago when political contributions from Americans supportive of Israel inevitably veered toward those Congressional candidates who were the most hawkish and outspoken in defending Israel and its security. » Read more

Syria set to become failed state-Israeli commander ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Douglas Hamilton - May 31, 2012 - 12:00am TEL AVIV, May 31 (Reuters) - Syria is heading for collapse and will become a "warehouse of weapons" for Islamist militants as it descends into chaos, a senior Israeli army commander said. "Syria is in civil war, which will lead to a failed state, and terrorism will blossom in it," said Major-General Yair Golan, making a rare public appearance at a conference at Bar Ilan University on Wednesday. "Syria has a big arsenal." » Read more

Shin Bet chief reports spike in terror plots against Israeli, Jewish targets ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua May 31, 2012 - 12:00am JERUSALEM, May 30 (Xinhua) -- Militant groups have stepped up efforts to strike both Israeli and Jewish targets worldwide during the past year, says the director of Israel's Shin Bet security service. "We've seen a significant acceleration in attempts to act against Israeli and Jewish targets in the world," Yoram Cohen said in a briefing to parliament's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on Wednesday. » Read more

Israeli leaders skeptical of new diplomatic efforts on Iran nuclear program ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post by Joel Greenberg - May 31, 2012 - 12:00am JERUSALEM — After an inconclusive round of talks this month between world powers and Iran about its nuclear program, Israeli leaders are expressing deep skepticism about the chances for a diplomatic breakthrough and urging tougher international demands. Following months of advocating stricter sanctions against Iran, Israeli officials are now pushing for a halt to all its uranium enrichment activity, warning that further delays could put the Iranian nuclear program beyond the reach of an effective military strike. » Read more

2 American tourists kidnapped in Egyptian Sinai ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency May 31, 2012 - 12:00am El-ARISH, Egypt (Ma'an) -- Two American tourists were kidnapped by armed men in the Sinai peninsula early Thursday, Egyptian security sources said. Jonathan Shizarlasky and Carter Brabon were kidnapped in the Red Sea city of Nuweiba. The two US citizens were seized at gunpoint from a car near the Hilton hotel and taken to a mountainous area, security sources said. » Read more

Abbas committee declares largest Palestinian workers union illegal ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency May 31, 2012 - 12:00am BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- A committee set up by President Mahmoud Abbas has found the union of public sector employees has no legal standing, six years after it first started representing government workers. The committee report, of which Ma'an obtained a copy, concludes: "There is no legal body or organized legal framework for the so-called 'public sector workers union'." » Read more

Eli Yishai: Israeli women afraid to report rape by African migrants due to AIDS stigma ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz May 31, 2012 - 12:00am In further remarks on migrant workers from Africa, Interior Minister Eli Yishai said Thursday that many Israeli women have been raped by migrant workers “but do not complain out of fear of being stigmatized as having contracted AIDS.” In an interview with Israeli newspaper Maariv, Yishai stated that the solution to the current problem is “more prisons and migrant detention camps," and that Israel must “prepare more military bases where we can jail all of them without exception.” » Read more

'Security officials oppose Iran strike' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Attila Somfalvi - May 31, 2012 - 12:00am The majority of Israel's defense chiefs are against a military strike in Iran at this time, Ynet has learned. » Read more

The Nakba is alive for both Jews and Arabs ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Salman Masalha - (Opinion) May 31, 2012 - 12:00am Let's set aside for a moment the discourse about human rights and the debate about natural rights, because no salvation will come from them. Moreover, they will never lead to a solution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. On the contrary, they pour oil on the flames and encourage people to continue wallowing in the mud. » Read more

The Curious Case of Benjamin Netanyahu ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Foreign Policy by Aaron David Miller - (Opinion) May 30, 2012 - 12:00am James Baker temporarily banned him from the State Department. Madeleine Albright described him as an Israeli Newt Gingrich (and it wasn't a compliment). Bill Clinton emerged from his first meeting with Benjamin Netanyahu in 1996 (then serving his first term as prime minister) more than a little annoyed by his brash self-confidence. "Who's the fucking superpower here?" Clinton exclaimed to aides. Netanyahu is the first Israeli premier to trigger truly bipartisan recoil. » Read more

Gaza's ripple effect ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National (Editorial) May 31, 2012 - 12:00am Two years ago today, Israeli commandoes boarded the Mavi Marmara, part of an aid flotilla headed to Gaza, killing nine of the 40 activists on board. The relationship between Israel and Turkey, previously close regional allies, has never recovered. » Read more

Infiltrated by History ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Beast by Raphael Magarik - (Opinion) May 30, 2012 - 12:00am Israeli right-wingers have it rough. After last week’s Tel Aviv riot against African immigrants, likudniks like MKs Danny Danon (who said, “The infiltrators are a national plague”) and Miri Regev (who called immigrants “a cancer” and then backed off… sort of) came under fire for their inflammatory rhetoric. » Read more

A Silwan Story: Palestinian Child Arrested, Abused by Israeli Authorities and Barred From Finishing 9th Grade ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Huffington Post by Moriel Rothman - (Blog) May 31, 2012 - 12:00am Someone is pounding on the door. It is 3:45 a.m. The pounding gets louder. The father goes to open the door, and immediately they enter: two men dressed in civilian clothes, flanked by police officers bearing heavy guns. They go straight towards the boy, who has pulled on a baggy sweatshirt and stepped out of his room, snake their hands under his arms, and take him. "He will only be gone for a few hours," they say. "Don't worry." Outside the house, the boy's hands are tied with plastic packaging bands and he is pushed into the police car. » Read more

From Across the Line: Now what? The West Bank scene ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Nida' Tuma - (Opinion) May 31, 2012 - 12:00am Last September, the Palestinian UN initiative caused an international stir. Some described it as taking the lead; others – particularly Israelis – considered it a non-helpful unilateral move. Last year, the Palestinian political scene, stagnant for years, sprang back to life. Journalists went from talking about the slow progress after the Arab revolutions, to attending conferences, producing stories and looking for analysis on politics and international laws. » Read more

Going Directly To the Wastebasket: Another Plan for the “Peace Process” ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Council On Foreign Relations by Elliott Abrams - (Analysis) May 30, 2012 - 12:00am Some “peace processors” never give up. In the New York Times today, four of them try an old and very bad idea: forget about negotiations, and substitute the views of some un-elected elderly “statesmen” and of the UN Security Council. » Read more

'UNRWA reform' effort will harm Middle East peace effort ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Hill by Victor Kattan - (Blog) May 31, 2012 - 12:00am Israel’s friends in Washington are at it again, working to discredit the United Nations and its specialized agencies in the Middle East. Last October, the chief target of their wrath was the United Nations Education, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) because its member states admitted Palestine as a member after more than two-thirds rejected American intimidation and chose to vote in favor. In response, and after much pressure from pro-Israel groups and U.S. » Read more

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