Middle East News: World Press Roundup

NEWS: Two American tourists kidnapped in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula are released. A Palestinian militant and an Israeli soldier are killed in a clash near the Gaza border. International consumers and states have difficulty distinguishing products made in Israel from those made in Israeli settlements. 3 Palestinians are wounded in Israeli airstrikes on Gaza. Israel is reportedly considering moving settlers from an “unauthorized” outpost to land in the occupied West Bank confiscated for a military base. The PA education Ministry approves a new high school qualification exam. Sec. Clinton tells Israel that there is no substitute for negotiations. Pres. Peres calls for an end to incitement and racism in Israeli society. Australia pledges $90 million for Palestinian refugees. Palestinians condemn proposed Israeli unilateral actions in the occupied West Bank, suggested by DM Barak. COMMENTARY: Hussein Ibish and Emily Hauser separately explain why Israeli unilateralism won't work. Adam Gonn says many Israeli officials are unimpressed with Barak's idea about Israeli unilateral measures in the occupied West Bank. Yossi Verter says Israeli unilateralism is a real possibility given the new coalition. Ha'aretz interviews Shlomo Sand. Danny Rubinstein says Israel's blockade in Gaza is actually strengthening Hamas politically and economically. Stephen Robert says PM Netanyahu needs to explain his vision of the future. Lara Friedman says it's laughable and disturbing that a Senate Committee would try to legislate the Palestinian refugee issue. Saleh Al-Naami says Palestinian reconciliation is being stymied by mutual mistrust and international pressures.

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Egypt: 2 American Tourists Are Freed After Being Seized in Sinai Peninsula ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press May 31, 2012 - 12:00am Two American tourists abducted by Bedouins in the Sinai Peninsula were released unharmed on Thursday after negotiations between local tribesmen and the kidnappers, a security official said. Security officials said the Bedouins seized the two men earlier in the day as they were traveling by car from Dahab to Nuweiba, resort towns on the Red Sea’s Gulf of Aqaba. The two men, in their 30s, had been stopped at a roadblock by protesting Bedouins, who were demanding the release of one of their tribesmen detained in connection with a drug trafficking charge, the officials said. » Read more

Clash kills Palestinian militant, Israeli soldier ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press by Ibrahim Barzak - June 1, 2012 - 12:00am A Palestinian militant sneaked into Israel early Friday, opening fire on Israeli troops and killing one soldier, the military said. The troops fired back, killing the infiltrator in the incident that touched off fresh violence in the volatile border area, which had been mostly quiet since March. The exchange began after the militant cut through the fence separating the Hamas-run Gaza Strip and southern Israel. The militant started shooting, prompting Israeli troops to respond, said Col. Tal Hermoni. » Read more

Made in Israel? Not a simple question ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press by Josef Federman - May 31, 2012 - 12:00am For decades, Israel has marketed an array of cosmetics and food products manufactured in the occupied West Bank as "Made in Israel," blurring their true origins in Jewish settlements opposed by virtually the entire international community. Now that practice is being challenged with demands that products made in the settlements be labeled accordingly. » Read more

Israeli war jets strike on southeast Gaza, 3 wounded ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua June 1, 2012 - 12:00am An Israeli war jet struck on Friday on a group of militants who were riding on a three-wheel motorcycle east of the southern Gaza Strip town of Khan Younis, medics and eyewitnesses said. Adhamed Abu Silmeya, Gaza emergency spokesman, told reporters that three were wounded -- two of them in critical conditions, adding that the three were taken by an ambulance to the hospital. » Read more

Israeli officials propose moving outpost to confiscated lands ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency June 1, 2012 - 12:00am Israeli defense officials are studying a proposal to move residents of a settler outpost to a nearby area confiscated by the Israeli military for an army base, Israeli media reported Friday. Israel's high court ruled in May that the Ulpana neighborhood in Beit El settlement, near al-Bireh, must be evacuated by July 1, 2012, after the Israeli government sought an extension to an earlier May deadline. » Read more

PA ministry approves new Tawjihi exam system ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency May 27, 2012 - 12:00am The Palestinian Authority Ministry of Education has approved a new high school exam system, an official told Ma'an on Friday. Basri Salih, undersecretary for planning and development, said that a simplified system for "Tawjihi" exams has been developed after months of consultations and discussions. The new system was prepared by a commission headed by Salih and submitted to the PA education ministry on April 28. As part of the changes, tenth and eleventh graders will be tested on 12 subjects over a two year period. » Read more

Clinton: There's no substitute for direct talks ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Yitzhak Benhorin - May 31, 2012 - 12:00am Only negotiations will bring about peace, said US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Thursday, rejecting Defense Minister Ehud Barak's statements on a unilateral step in the West Bank. "The United States believes there is no substitute for direct talks between the parties," Clinton told a press conference in Denmark. "It is the only route to achieving what has long been not only a Palestinian goal and an American goal, but an Israeli goal, which are two states living side by side in peace and security." » Read more

Peres calls for stop to racism and incitement ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Greer Fay Cashman - May 31, 2012 - 12:00am Racism has no place in Judaism, President Shimon Peres declared on Thursday at a swearing-in ceremony at the Supreme Court, and said that, as president and as a citizen of Israel, he was appalled by revelations of incitement and racism. » Read more

Australia giving $90 million to Palestinian refugees ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) May 30, 2012 - 12:00am Australia is donating $90 million over five years to aid the health and education of Palestinian refugees. Foreign Minister Bob Carr announced the aid package earlier this week, saying he is "very proud" that since 2007 Australia has helped 470,000 Palestinian children attend school. » Read more

Palestinians condemn Israeli unilateral plan to withdraw from some parts of West Bank ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National by Vita Bekker - June 1, 2012 - 12:00am Palestinians yesterday blasted a plan raised by the Israeli defence minister that called for Israel to unilaterally withdraw from parts of the West Bank if peace talks remain stalled. On Wednesday, Ehud Barak told a security conference in Tel Aviv that Israel "cannot afford to tread water" and has to "consider an interim arrangement or even unilateral steps". » Read more

Why Unilateralism Won't Work ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Beast by Hussein Ibish - (Opinion) May 31, 2012 - 12:00am Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak recently warned that if negotiations with the Palestinians do not yield results soon, Israel might consider "unilateral measures" in the occupied West Bank. He didn't specify what those might be, but several others have suggested that Israel create “temporary” or “provisional” unilaterally-imposed new borders in the territory. This idea is simple, superficially appealing and profoundly dangerous.  » Read more

What You Need to Know About Unilateralism ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Beast by Emily L. Hauser - (Opinion) May 31, 2012 - 12:00am In a speech at Tel Aviv University’s Institute for National Security Studies on Wednesday, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak floated the idea, as if it were a new one, that if two-state negotiations with the Palestinians fail, Israel “must consider an interim arrangement or even a unilateral move." » Read more

Israeli gov't unimpressed by defense minister's unilateral withdrawal pitch ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua by Adam Gonn - (Opinion) June 1, 2012 - 12:00am Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak on Wednesday said that while it is important that Israel tries to reach an agreement with the Palestinians, should these attempts fail Israel might have to act on its own. "If it turns out not to be possible, we need to think about an interim agreement, or even unilateral steps. Israel does not have the luxury to remain in a stalemate," said Barak, according to The Jerusalem Post. » Read more

Now that Netanyahu is surrounded by veteran unilateral withdrawers, is a surprise in store? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Yossi Verter - (Opinion) June 1, 2012 - 12:00am For many long minutes on Wednesday, Defense Minister Ehud Barak stood at the podium at Tel Aviv's Institute for National Security Studies. He spoke lucidly about everything - Iran, the Palestinians, Syria, the budget, the Tal Law, party primaries. His main message related to the Iranian threat. "You can't sleep quietly at night with a sword hanging over your neck," he declared.

Author of 'The Invention of the Jewish People' vents again ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Dalia Karpel - (Opinion) May 24, 2012 - 12:00am The concept of homeland is one of the most amazing and also, perhaps, one of the most ruinous of the modern era, says Prof. Shlomo Sand. In his new book, “When and How Was the Land of Israel Invented?” ‏(Kineret, Zmora-Bitan Dvir, Hebrew‏), Sand examines the attitude of the Zionist movement toward that territory since its inception. More particularly, he is out to discover how Zionism adopted the idea...

Gaza Bustling Under Hamas Despite Economic Isolation ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Calcalist by Danny Rubenstein - (Opinion) May 29, 2012 - 12:00am The isolation policy applied by Israel, separating the Gaza Strip from the West Bank both economically and socially, is designed to weaken and possibly even bring down the Hamas government. » Read more

Come Clean, Mr. Prime Minister ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Beast by Stephen Robert - (Opinion) June 1, 2012 - 12:00am Defense Minister Ehud Barak announced this week that he favors unilateral withdrawal from the West Bank. But who will ultimately determine when and where—and if—the Palestinians are to be granted a state?  » Read more

Legislating the Refugee Problem ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Beast by Lara Friedman - (Opinion) May 24, 2012 - 12:00am You have to laugh, or it would make you cry. That is, if you are someone who genuinely cares about Israel and believes that the two-state solution is the only thing that can save Israel as a democracy and a Jewish state, and that can end the occupation and permit the Palestinians to live, finally, as a free people with dignity and self-determination. » Read more

Crisis of confidence ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Ahram by Saleh Al-Naami - (Opinion) June 1, 2012 - 12:00am Suddenly the sound of laughter broke the silence on a bus transporting dozens of students from the centre of the Gaza Strip to the district where university campuses are located in southern Al-Rimal in Gaza City. One student had mentioned that delegates from Hamas and Fatah were in Cairo again to finalise details about a consensus government as stipulated in the Doha Declaration. » Read more

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