Middle East News: World Press Roundup

NEWS: Two Palestinian teenagers are injured by Israeli gunfire at another protest in the occupied West Bank. (New York Times) Dozens are injured in additional protests. (Ma'an) A rocket fired from Gaza lands in southern Israel for the first time since last year's truce. (Reuters) Israel seals Gaza border crossings in response to the rocket attack. (Ma'an) Israeli officials say Iran has set up a camp of missile experts in Gaza. (Ha'aretz) Israel and some other observers fear the death of a Palestinian prisoner in custody and other pressures may lead to another intifada. (Reuters/CSM) The dead prisoner is buried by Palestinians with honors, as both sides appear to be trying to prevent further unrest. (Washington Post) The PA says an autopsy shows the prisoner died following extensive torture in Israeli detention. (Ma'an) The UN calls for an independent inquiry into the prisoner's death. (AFP) Pres. Abbas orders Palestinian security to maintain order despite provocations, and says Israel wants to provoke chaos. (Ha'aretz/Ma'an) Palestinian prisoners end their hunger strike over the death of their fellow detainee. (Xinhua) Israeli authorities order hunger striking Palestinian prisoners hospitalized after 28 days. (Ha'aretz) Israel bans Palestinian construction near the West Bank separation barrier for "security reasons." (Xinhua) UN officials declare the two-state solution to be on "life support." (Ha'aretz) Sec. Kerry says Pres. Obama plans to "listen" to Israeli and Palestinian leaders during his upcoming trip, not present a US peace plan. (Reuters) With the help of the UN, Palestinians establish their first national disaster loss database. (UN)

COMMENTARY: The National says peaceful Palestinian protests could prove a potent challenge to Israel's unsustainable occupation. (The National) Bradley Burston says just as Lincoln abolished slavery, Israel must abolish the occupation. (Ha'aretz) Palestinian filmmaker Emad Burnat recounts his difficult journey from Palestine to Hollywood for the recent Academy Awards. (Huffington Post) The Jerusalem Post argues Palestinians should be more upset about journalists in Palestinian detention rather than Palestinians in Israeli detention. (Jerusalem Post) Philip Stephens says PM Netanyahu's apparent eagerness for a conflict with Iran spurs the impression he is more interested in war than peace. (Gulf News) Ali Hashem says Israel and Hezbollah prefer a shadow war of assassinations and terrorism to any direct confrontation across the border. (Al Monitor) Omar Barghouti explains his understanding of the BDS movement. (New York Daily News) Brent Sasley says Sen. Marco Rubio needs a lesson in peace process history. (Daily Beast/Open Zion)

---

---

---

2 Palestinian Teenagers Hurt Amid Israeli Gunfire at Protest ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Jodi Rudoren - February 25, 2013 - 1:00am Palestinian teenagers were seriously injured Monday when Israeli soldiers used live ammunition to disperse a demonstration at a holy site outside Bethlehem, as clashes in the West Bank continued for a fifth day an » Read more

Dozens injured in second day of West Bank protests ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency February 26, 2013 - 1:00am Hundreds of people took to the streets in the West Bank and Gaza Strip on Monday in the second day of protests following the death of a Palestinian prisoner who PA officials say died as a result of torture. The PA Minister of Detainee Affairs said Sunday that results from an autopsy of Arafat Jadarat's body indicate that he died after being tortured in Israeli custody, and not from a cardiac arrest, as Israel's Prison Authority had claimed. » Read more

Rocket explodes in Israel, first attack from Gaza since truce ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Allyn Fisher-Ilan - February 26, 2013 - 1:00am A rocket exploded in southern Israel on Tuesday in the first such attack by militants in the Hamas Islamist ruled Gaza Strip since a truce ended a week of cross-border fighting in November, Israeli police said. The rocket caused some damage to a road near the city of Ashkelon but no injuries, police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said. "An explosion was heard in the Ashkelon region experts searched areas experts and found one rocket that struck, damaging a road but causing no injuries," Rosenfeld said. » Read more

Israel closes Gaza border crossings after rocket strike ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency February 26, 2013 - 1:00am Israeli authorities closed the Erez and Kerem Shalom border crossings with Gaza on Tuesday, after a rocket was fired from the coastal territory, a Palestinian border official said. Nazmi Muhanna, head of the crossings committee in Gaza, told Ma'an that Israel closed the borders as a security measure after a rocket landed near Ashkelon. Humanitarian cases will still be processed, he added.

Iran missile experts set up camp in Gaza to aid Hamas and Islamic Jihad, report says ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz February 26, 2013 - 1:00am Representatives of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard have set up a presence in the Gaza Strip, senior Palestinian security forces told the Israeli media outlet Walla! News in a report published Tuesday. These representatives are expert missile builders who moved to the coastal territory to help Hamas and Islamic Jihad militants develop long-range missiles. Israel security and diplomatic sources have confirmed the Iranian presence, but would not release any more information. This is not the first instance of Iranian emissaries in Gaza, Walla! quoted the sources as saying. » Read more

Israel fears prisoner death may spark Palestinian uprising ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Dan Williams - February 25, 2013 - 1:00am Masked Palestinian gunmen fired in the air on Monday as thousands marched at the West Bank funeral of a prisoner whose death in an Israeli jail has raised fears in Israel of a new uprising. Arafat Jaradat's death on Saturday and a hunger strike by four other Palestinian inmates have raised tension in the occupied territory after repeated clashes between stone-throwers and Israeli soldiers in recent days. » Read more

Amid mounting pressures, some see potential for new Palestinian uprising ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Christian Science Monitor by Christa Case Bryant - February 25, 2013 - 1:00am Less than a month before President Obama is to visit Jerusalem and Ramallah, raising hopes he will help bring Israelis and Palestinians back to the peace table, some see the West Bank heading in a very different dir » Read more

Palestinian prisoner buried, as Israel, West Bank leaders try to prevent clashes ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post by Joel Greenberg - February 25, 2013 - 1:00am A Palestinian prisoner who died in an Israeli jail was given a hero’s burial with military honors in the West Bank on Monday amid signs that Palestinian and Israeli leaders were working to prevent days of street clashes from triggering a wider eruption of unrest. » Read more

Minister: Autopsy shows torture killed Jaradat ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency February 24, 2013 - 1:00am An autopsy has revealed that Arafat Jaradat died of extreme torture in Israeli custody and did not have a cardiac arrest, the PA Minister of Detainee Affairs said Sunday. At a news conference in Ramallah, Issa Qaraqe said an autopsy conducted in Israel in the presence of Palestinian officials revealed that 30-year-old Jaradat had six broken bones in his neck, spine, arms and legs. » Read more

UN calls for independent inquiry into Palestinian death ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Foreign Press February 25, 2013 - 1:00am The United Nations called Monday for an independent inquiry into the death of a Palestinian in Israeli custody, warning that mounting tensions risk an eruption of violence in the occupied territories. The Palestinians also demanded an independent investigation in a letter to the UN Security Council, which said that Arafat Jaradat, who died at the weekend, could have been tortured. UN Middle East peace envoy Robert Serry made the call for an investigation in a statement after talks with Palestinian prime minister Salam Fayyad on the Jaradat's death. » Read more

Abbas to Palestinian Authority security officials: Don't get drawn into Israeli violence ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Jack Khoury, Barak Ravid - February 26, 2013 - 1:00am Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas reportedly met Monday evening with Palestinian security chiefs in Ramallah and instructed them to enforce calm in the West Bank. » Read more

Abbas says Israel wants chaos ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency February 26, 2013 - 1:00am President Mahmoud Abbas said Monday that Israel was seeking chaos as Israeli forces clashed with protesters across the West Bank for the second day. "The Israelis want chaos ... We will not allow them to drag us into it and to mess with the lives of our children and our youth," Abbas told reporters in his office in Ramallah. The death of 30-year-old Arafat Jaradat in Israeli custody on Saturday has sparked mass protests across the West Bank and Gaza. An autopsy revealed Jaradat died of extreme torture, Palestinian officials said Sunday. » Read more

Palestinian prisoners in Israel end strike over prisoner's death ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua February 25, 2013 - 1:00am The Israeli Prison Service (IPS) announced Monday that a majority of the Palestinian security prisoners held in Israel ended their symbolic 24-hour hunger. Thousands of Palestinian prisoners launched the hunger strike Sunday over the death of an inmate, Arafat Jaradat who died in the northern Meggido prison Saturday. » Read more

New Israeli rule orders hunger striking detainees hospitalized after 28 days ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Dan Even - February 26, 2013 - 1:00am The Health Ministry issued a controversial regulation on Monday requiring hospitalization for hunger strikers if the action lasts more than 28 days. Palestinian security prisoners are currently holding hunger strikes to protest the death of detainee Arafat Jaradat last week at Megiddo Prison. "Every detainee and prisoner on a hunger strike in the security system and prison system should be hospitalized if the strike lasts more than 28 days, even if he is opposed to medical treatment," states the regulation, which was sent to hospital managers across the country. » Read more

Israel bans Palestinian construction near separation barrier for " security reasons" ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua February 25, 2013 - 1:00am Israel is banning Palestinians from building on more than 1,000 acres of land under the Palestinian civil control adjacent to the separation barrier, the Ha'aretz daily reported on Monday. The lands in question are under Palestinian control according to the 1993 Oslo Accords signed between Israel and the Palestinians. According to the Israeli Defense Forces, the ban is derived from "security reasons." » Read more

UN peace process envoy to Haaretz: Two-state solution 'on life support' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Amos Harel - February 26, 2013 - 1:00am The two-state solution is in extremely grave condition, the UN's special coordinator for the Middle East peace process warned in an interview with Haaretz last week. "The two-state solution is now on life support," Robert Serry said. "This is in fact a critical year. Everyone should know that if we do not provide a credible diplomatic horizon for the two-state solution this might lead to very serious results." » Read more

Kerry: Obama plans to 'listen', not present peace plan ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters February 26, 2013 - 1:00am US President Barack Obama will not bring a peace plan for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict next month, but rather intends to listen, Secretary of State John Kerry said on Tuesday. Obama's plan to visit has raised speculation of a new US push to revive Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, stalled since 2010 in a dispute over Israeli settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank. But Kerry, speaking to German students during his first foreign trip as Washington's top diplomat, played down expectations. » Read more

Palestinians establish first national disaster loss database with UN help ATFP World Press Roundup Article from United Nations News Service February 25, 2013 - 1:00am With support from the United Nations, Palestinian officials today launched the first database designed to provide information on disaster losses that will help develop planning policies and strengthen community resilience. » Read more

Peaceful protest to keep pressure on Israeli policy ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National (Editorial) February 26, 2013 - 1:00am Arafat Jaradat, a 30-year-old Palestinian petrol-station attendant and father of two young children, was arrested on February 18 after a protest at an Israeli settlement near Hebron. After he died in jail on Saturday, Israeli officials said with bland effrontery that a heart attack was the probable cause of death. » Read more

As Lincoln abolished slavery, Israel must abolish occupation ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Bradley Burston - (Opinion) February 26, 2013 - 1:00am I've been hearing people say lately, that if they hear one more negative thing about Israel, it will drive them nuts. I've heard this from people who hate Israel to death, from people who adore Israel all but uncritically, and from the group I belong to, people who love this place and find it maddening in every sense of the term, painful to love, painful to leave, terrifying in prospect, an indelible, at times miraculous shadow sewn to the soul. » Read more

My Journey From Palestine to Hollywood ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Huffington Post by Emad Burnat - (Opinion) February 22, 2013 - 1:00am My wife and I had seen that look before -- on the faces of our kids, mostly. After all, like all Palestinian children living in the West Bank, ours have grown accustomed to the humiliation of ID checks and interrogations. But we had never seen our youngest son, Gibreel, as disappointed as he was on Tuesday, when American immigration officials threatened to deny us entry to the United States and to the 85th Academy Awards for which we had traveled two days to attend. » Read more

Wrong Cause ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post (Editorial) February 24, 2013 - 1:00am Many injustices plague Palestinian society, few of which can be blamed on the Jewish state, even by the farthest stretches of the imaginations of Israel’s enemies. These are self-inflicted injustices. In the Gaza Strip, an Islamic quasi-state ruled by the totalitarian regime of Hamas has in the past few weeks arrested or summoned for interrogation at least 16 journalists as part of a campaign aimed at intimidating the local media, as reported by The Jerusalem Post’s Khaled Abu Toameh. » Read more

An Israeli folly to the fore ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News by Philip Stephens - February 25, 2013 - 1:00am Israel and Australia are involved in a spat over the death of a young man held in an Israeli prison. It is a cloak-and-dagger tale. Ben Zygier, who is said to have hanged himself in 2010 after being detained in conditions of great secrecy, held dual citizenship. Media reports in the two countries suggest the former Mossad employee had threatened to reveal details of the way Israeli intelligence agents carry other nations’ passports on overseas operations. » Read more

The Israel-Hezbollah Shadow War ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Monitor by Ali Hashem - February 24, 2013 - 1:00am Five years ago, when Hezbollah's military commander Imad Mughniyah was assassinated in Damascus, fingers were quickly pointed toward Israel. The group's secretary-general, Hassan Nasrallah, promised to launch an open war on Israel to avenge his slain comrade. Everyone was worried the blood of the most wanted Hezbollah member might ignite a regional conflict. » Read more

The BDS movement explained ATFP World Press Roundup Article from New York Daily News by Omar Barghouti - (Opinion) February 25, 2013 - 1:00am In many media reports on the recent panel held at Brooklyn College on the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement against Israel, BDS was subjected to relentless vilification and unfounded allegations. » Read more

Rubio Needs A Lesson In Peace Process History ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Beast by Brent Sasley - (Opinion) February 25, 2013 - 1:00am In ritualistic fashion, Marco Rubio’s visit to Israel included a defense of Israeli policy toward the peace process. Explaining how things work, he proclaimed that “The greatest advancements in this process have always been made when Israel felt secure. There is a direct relationship between Israel’s security and the ability to make concessions and move forward.” » Read more

---

---