Middle East News: World Press Roundup

NEWS: Amnesty International says Israel should end “administrative detention” without trial. PM Netanyahu is seeking to relocate an “unauthorized” settlement outpost. The PA says Israeli prison guards attacked and beat Palestinian prisoners. Israel arrests three Gaza fishermen. Palestinians create a new electoral system for the PNC. Two Palestinians are wounded in new Israeli airstrikes on Gaza. The Knesset rejects a bill that would “legalize” “unauthorized” Israeli settlements built on privately-owned Palestinian land. Netanyahu says he will personally head a new ministerial committee on settlement affairs. Pres. Obama reportedly says he's concerned about the PA's interest in peace. Pres. Abbas urges Israelis not to turn their backs on peace. Submarine sales to Israel are controversial in Germany. A judo athlete from occupied East Jerusalem will be the first Palestinian to officially compete in the Olympics. COMMENTARY: ATFP Pres. Ziad J. Asali contemplates the lessons of the Nakba. The New York Times welcomes Netanyahu's decision to abide by the Supreme Court ruling on the Ulpana settlement and says Israel should cease all settlement activity. Miko Peled says his father believed Israel lost a golden opportunity for peace in 1967. Carlo Strenger says Netanyahu's government relies on stereotypes of Arabs. Allison Good says Americans should invest in Palestine.

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Amnesty tells Israel: End detentions without trial ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press by Ian Deitch - June 5, 2012 - 12:00am JERUSALEM — Amnesty International has appealed to Israel to end the practice of imprisoning Palestinians suspected of militant activity without trial, calling in a report issued Tuesday for the release of hundreds of detainees. The London-based rights group claimed that the prisoners are mistreated and that Israel is violating international law with its practice, known as "administrative detention," which Israel says is vital to prevent attacks. » Read more

Israeli parliament rejects attempt to save outpost ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press by Josef Federman - June 6, 2012 - 12:00am JERUSALEM — Israel's parliament has rejected an attempt by hardline lawmakers to prevent the demolition of an illegal West Bank outpost. The vote could set the stage for a showdown between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and hardline Jewish settlers and their supporters in his government. » Read more

Israeli guards attack Palestinian prisoners: official ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua June 6, 2012 - 12:00am RAMALLAH, June 6 (Xinhua) -- Israeli prison guards attacked Palestinians held at Ramon prison in southern Israel Wednesday, leaving several detainees with bruises and difficulties in breathing, a Palestinian official said. Eissa Qaraqe', the Palestinian minister of prisoners affairs, said the Israeli forces broke into the fourth section of the prison, where 120 prisoners are held. » Read more

Ministry: Fishermen detained off Gaza coast ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency June 6, 2012 - 12:00am GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Israeli forces arrested three fishermen off the coast of the Rafah beach near the Palestinian-Egyptian border, the local ministry of agriculture said Wednesday. The workers were on a fishing boat when Israeli navy forces detained them and took them to an unknown location, the fisheries directorate within the ministry said in a statement. The fishermen were identified as Mohammad Ali Sultan, Ismael Ali Sultan and Sami al-Naddi from Rafah. » Read more

Palestinians agree on electoral system for PLO's parliament ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua June 6, 2012 - 12:00am GAZA, June 5 (Xinhua) -- Representatives of Palestinian factions agreed Tuesday on the electoral system of the National Council, the parliament of Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). The agreement opens the door for factions like Hamas and the Islamic jihad to join the PLO, which represents all Palestinians, including those in Diaspora, or exile. The factions reached the deal during two days of discussions in Amman, Jordan, a statement said. » Read more

Israeli airstrike injures 2 in Gaza City ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency June 6, 2012 - 12:00am GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Israeli warplanes fired on a naval police base in the Gaza Strip early Wednesday, injuring two Palestinians. Medical services spokesman Adham Abu Salmiya said two people were evacuated to Shifa hospital, one of whom was in a critical condition. The dawn airstrike hit a naval police post in the Sudaniyya neighborhood of Gaza City, a Ma'an correspondent said. Witnesses also said Israeli fighter jets fired at a poultry farm in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip early Wednesday morning. No injuries have been reported. » Read more

Knesset votes down bill to sanction illegal West Bank outposts ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Jonathan Lis, Oz Rosenberg - June 6, 2012 - 12:00am Israel's Knesset on Wednesday voted down a bill that aimed at legalizing homes on the Ulpana Hill neighborhood in the West Bank settlement of Beit El, which were built on privately owned Palestinian land. In a preliminary reading, 69 Knesset members voted against the bill, while 22 voted for it. » Read more

PM to head ministerial committee on settlement affairs ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Attila Somfalvi - June 6, 2012 - 12:00am In a move meant to placate right-wing ministers, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday that he will head a new ministerial committee that would deal with settlement affairs. The announcement was made hours before the Knesset convened to vote on a bill aiming to legalize homes built on contested land in the West Bank. » Read more

Obama worried PA not interested in peace ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) June 6, 2012 - 12:00am WASHINGTON -- US President Barack Obama is worried that Palestinian leadership was no longer as interested in advancing toward peace, he said in a conversation with Orthodox Jewish leaders on Tuesday. » Read more

Abbas to Israelis: Don't turn your backs on peace ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Khaled Abu Toameh - June 6, 2012 - 12:00am Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday called on Israel “not to turn [its] back to the prospects of peace” and cautioned that the chances to achieve peace may not remain for too long. » Read more

Germany and Israel's 'special relationship' in spotlight ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News by Stephen Evans - June 5, 2012 - 12:00am If ever there were two countries with a truly "special relationship", they are Germany and Israel. For obvious reasons of history, they are bound together. The genocidal madness of a previous generation of the one and the suffering of the victims of a previous generation of the other make them intertwined in a way no other two countries are. But is the relationship changing? There are certainly signs that it is being re-examined in Germany. What was taken as a given in the past is now up for questioning. » Read more

Palestinian Athlete Heads to the Olympics, Makes History ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'ariv by Yossi Eli, Rimon Margia - June 4, 2012 - 12:00am Palestinian sports just made history: 28-year-old Maher Abu Ramila from Jerusalem’s Old City, met the Olympic qualifications and earned a trip to compete in the 2012 London Olympic games next month. Thus he has become the first Palestinian athlete to compete in the games on his own merit, and not as a “solidarity gesture” — awarded by the Olympic committee as a mark of identification. » Read more

Learning from the Nakba ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Common Ground News Service by Ziad Asali - (Opinion) June 5, 2012 - 12:00am I do not need anyone to teach me about the Palestinian Nakba. It is the defining moment of my existence. During the war in 1948, my family had already fled our home in Talpiot in southeast Jerusalem and taken shelter in a monastery. We quickly gathered some possessions and climbed down and up the mountain to Bethany, and then to Jericho. » Read more

A Glimmer? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times (Editorial) June 5, 2012 - 12:00am There is a plenty of blame to be shared for why peace talks between the Israelis and Palestinians are going nowhere. But Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s insistence on expanding Israeli settlements in the West Bank and Jerusalem are a big part of the problem. There may be some glimmer of hope in Mr. Netanyahu’s decision to support an Israeli Supreme Court order to close an illegal neighborhood, known as Ulpana, in the West Bank settlement of Beit El. » Read more

Six days in Israel, 45 years ago ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times by Miko Peled - (Opinion) June 6, 2012 - 12:00am In early June 1967, as I cowered with my mother and sisters in the "safest" room of our house near Jerusalem — the downstairs bathroom — we feared the worst. None of us imagined that the war that had just begun would end in six days. » Read more

The Netanyahu government and the Arab stereotype ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Carlo Strenger - (Blog) June 6, 2012 - 12:00am It used to be an old Jewish habit to try to understand our surroundings. One reason was curiosity; the other was to figure out whether current events are good for the Jews or not – because this allowed Jews to survive under often very difficult circumstances. The first motivation is certainly laudable; the second reflects good old prudence. » Read more

Invest in Palestine ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Beast by Allison Good - (Opinion) June 5, 2012 - 12:00am Israel's top brass made much ado about the peace process during the International Institute for Security Studies conference last week. “This is an opportunity to advance the peace process, an opportunity which may not repeat itself, in my opinion, in the next ten years,” Prime Minister Netanyahu said about his 94-member Knesset coalition. Netanyahu can invoke historic conditions all he wants, but the numbers are in, and a Palestinian state, if declared in the near future, would be economically unsustainable. » Read more

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