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ATFP News Roundup October 14, 2016

News:

Israeli President Rivlin hosts a quiet meeting of Muslim and Jewish leaders. (New York Times)

The Palestinian Authority welcomes the passing of a UNESCO resolution that sharply criticizes Israeli policies. (Ma'an\Times of Israel)

The United States, Israeli officials and Jewish groups reacted with outrage to a preliminary vote by the United Nations cultural agency that denies a Jewish connection to the Old City of Jerusalem. (JTA\Ha'aretz)

Israeli Education Minister Naftali Bennett said Israel would suspend its cooperation with UNESCO, because of the UN agency’s decision to ignore Jewish ties to holy sites in Jerusalem. (JTA\Times of Israel)

The UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Nickolay Mladenov expressed concerns over the situation in Gaza, and urged Israel to understand that its policies on the besieged enclave only “escalates violence.” (Ma'an)

Anti-occupation groups Americans for Peace Now, B'Tselem to address UN Security Council session on settlements. (Ha'aretz)

DIY submachine guns are popping up across the West Bank. (Washington Post)

The number of terrorist attacks perpetrated in Israel dropped in August to 93 — the lowest monthly tally on record since March 2015 and the first dip since then below the 100-incident mark. (JTA)

Israeli soldiers raided a “mourning tent” dedicated to Misbah Abu Sbeih, who was killed by Israeli forces Sunday after carrying out a deadly shooting attack in occupied East Jerusalem, in the the occupied West Bank city of Hebron. (Ma'an)

Egyptian authorities decided to open the Rafah crossing on both sides this week on Saturdayand Sunday. (Ma'an)

Islamic State has crushed a rebellion plot in Mosul, led by one of the group's commanders who aimed to switch sides and help deliver the caliphate's Iraqi capital to government forces, residents and Iraqi security officials said. (Reuters)

Forces trained by the Turkish military at the Bashiqa camp in northern Iraq will take part in the planned operation to drive Islamic State out of the city of Mosul, Turkey's state-run Anadolu Agency reported on Friday. (Reuters)

Syria's Pres. Assad said that the Syrian army's capture of Aleppo, which has come under renewed bombardment in an effort to seize its rebel-held sector, would be "a very important springboard" to pushing "terrorists" back to Turkey. (Reuters)

At least 20 people, mostly Syrian rebel fighters, were killed after a car bomb exploded on Thursday near a checkpoint close to the Bab al Salama crossing on the Turkish-Syrian border in northern Syria, two witnesses said. (Reuters)

In Aleppo, a drone video reveals a destruction so complete that it obliterates even a sense of time. (New York Times)

Yemen sees U.S. strikes as evidence of hidden hand behind Saudi air war. (New York Times)

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi denied on Thursday Ethiopian accusations that his country was supporting the opposition after a wave of violent protests that left hundreds dead. (Reuters)

Turkey could hold a referendum on changing the constitution and introducing a presidential system before the spring, its justice minister said on Friday, days after the government revived plans that would hand incumbent Tayyip Erdogan greater powers. (Reuters)

Commentary:

Akiva Eldar says new data shows that the settlements in the West Bank are not an irreversible situation, and that most of the population growth in settlements is due to births — not immigration of Israelis into the settlements. (Al-Monitor)

Ahmad Melhem says Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' attendance at the funeral of former Israeli President Shimon Peres has angered the Palestinian public and political factions, increasing the chance of violence in the streets. (Al-Monitor)

Shlomi Eldar says when the wave of Palestinian violence broke out, most of the assailants were youngsters who believed that their acts would bring closer Palestinian statehood; but recent attacks seem motivated largely by religious beliefs. (Al-Monitor)

Raphael Ahren says outrageous as it may be, UNESCO’s Jerusalem vote has a silver lining. (Times of Israel)

Shlomo Sand says all those who don’t understand why it was so difficult for the Palestinian-Israelis’ political representatives to show their final respects to Shimon Peres, should recall Arafat’s funeral and the 'respect' shown him by the Israelis. (Ha'aretz)

Abdul Rahman Al Rashed says France is playing a key role in the Syrian conflict at a time when most countries have preferred to avoid confrontation. (The National)

Anna Lekas Miller writes that the Left can’t afford to ignore the facts on the ground in Aleppo. (The National)

Michael T. Klare says “take the oil” isn’t just an applause line — it’s a policy that has been discussed in Washington for decades. (Foreign Policy)

ATFP News Roundup October 13, 2015

 

News:

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday pardoned a military officer sentenced to a year in jail for criticizing him for attending the funeral of Israeli statesman Shimon Peres, an official said. (Reuters\Ma'an\Times of Israel)

Dore Gold resigns as director general of the Israeli Foreign Ministry. (Ha'aretz)

Thirty-nine U.S. Congressmen and Senators have urged a United Nations agency to oppose a resolution that diminishes Jewish and Christian ties to the Old City of Jerusalem. (JTA)

A Palestinian child was allegedly killed by Israeli forces on Wednesday evening in the southern Gaza Strip, while Israeli authorities denied responsibility in his death. (Ma'an)

The Israeli human rights group B’Tselem faced criticism Thursday for its scheduled participation in a United Nations Security Council forum debate on Israeli settlements, where it says it will “lay out the reality of the occupation.” (Times of Israel)

Palestinians say they’ll go to court unless FIFA suspends settlement teams. (Ha'aretz)

The Israeli navy opened fire at Palestinian fishing boats off the coast of the northern Gaza Stripon Thursday, locals said. (Ma'an)

Billionaire Saban advises Clinton to differentiate herself from Obama on Israel. (Ha'aretz)

Renewed bombing of rebel-held eastern Aleppo has killed more than 150 people this week, rescue workers said on Thursday, as the Syrian government steps up its Russian-backed offensive to take the whole city. (Reuters)

Britain and France are leading EU efforts to impose more sanctions on Syrians close to President Bashar al-Assad in response to the devastating bombing of Aleppo, diplomats said, signaling that Russians may eventually be added to the list. (Reuters)

Britain is looking at its military involvement in Syria but any action would need to be part of a coalition involving the United States and is not likely to happen soon, foreign minister Boris Johnson said on Thursday. (Reuters)

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will meet his Russian counterpart in Switzerland on Saturdayto discuss Syria, officials said on Wednesday, as a devastating bombing campaign of the city of Aleppo intensified. (Reuters)

The U.S. military launched cruise missile strikes on Thursday to knock out three coastal radar sites in areas of Yemen controlled by Iran-aligned Houthi forces, retaliating after failed missile attacks this week on a U.S. Navy destroyer, U.S. officials said. (Reuters\New York Times)

Low crude prices and the war in Yemen have sent a shock through the kingdom’s budget and forced it to revise its social contract even as it seeks to diversify its businesses. (New York Times)

Commentary:

Adnan Abu Amer says Hamas' Interior Ministry in Gaza has appointed several new officials to top security positions, raising questions about its motives. (Al-Monitor)

Mohammed Bin Abdul Rahman Al-Thani says the world must not stand by while the Assad regime massacres Syrian civilians and here is a plan. (New York Times)

Afshon Ostovar says the war won’t end until Assad’s most powerful backer has a seat at the table — and that isn’t Putin. (Foreign Policy)

Diana Moukalled looks at the White Helmets and the Syrian conflict. (Al Arabiya)

April Longley Alley says the bombing of a funeral has empowered the country's worst forces and could drag America into the fray. (Foreign Policy)

 

The Washington Post says if Saudi Arabia continues to target civilians in Yemen, the Obama administration should pull its support. (Washington Post)

ATFP News Roundup October 12, 2016

News:

A 20-year-old Palestinian was shot and killed by Israeli forces Tuesday night during clashes that erupted in the town of Silwan in occupied East Jerusalem just south of the Old City, amid ongoing violent police raids in the Jerusalem area. (Ma'an)

The Palestinian Authority decided that municipal councils that had resigned from office in order to run in local elections would return to their original offices until the recently postponed elections were resumed. (Ma'an)

Dozens of Palestinians were shot and injured by live ammunition or rubber-coated steel bullets in the town of al-Ram in the Jerusalem district of the occupied West Bank Wednesday morning.  (Ma'an)

Residents of the Palestinian refugee camp Khan al-Shih in war-torn Syria southwest of Damascus city held a protest Tuesday condemning the bombardment of the camp and threats of heavier siege conditions. (Ma'an)

Israeli forces announced a series of closures and heightened security operations throughout the occupied West Bank, East Jerusalem, and the larger Jerusalem district in anticipation of the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur, according to Israeli police. (Ma'an)

German politicians called on Wednesday for the 'hero refugees' who captured a fellow Syrian migrant suspected of planning a bomb attack on a Berlin airport to be honored with a prestigious award, describing them as a model of integration. (Reuters)

Pope Francis, in his strongest appeal to date on the conflict in Syria, on Wednesday called for an "immediate ceasefire" to allow for the evacuation of civilians. (Reuters)

Turkish troops will remain at a military camp in northern Iraq until Islamic State is driven out of the nearby city of Mosul, Turkey's deputy prime minister said on Wednesday, signaling no respite in a row with Baghdad over the deployment. (Reuters)

Islamic State militants have placed booby traps across the city of Mosul, dug tunnels and recruited children as spies in anticipation of an offensive to dislodge the jihadists from their Iraqi stronghold, Iraqis and U.S. officials said. (Reuters)

Turkey has fired hundreds of senior military staff serving at NATO in Europe and the United States following July's coup attempt, documents show, broadening a purge to include some of the armed forces' best-trained officials. (Reuters)

The United States is seeing growing indications that Iran-allied Houthi rebels, despite denials, were responsible for Sunday's attack on a Navy destroyer off the Yemen coast, U.S. officials told Reuters. (Reuters)

Commentary:

Akiva Eldar says if Israeli PM Netanyahu insists on defying the US president and building a new West Bank settlement, Barack Obama could respond by abstaining in a UN Security Council vote on Palestinian Statehood. (Al-Monitor)

Shlomi Eldar says Salafi groups have adopted the tactic of firing rockets at Israel in an attempt to weaken Hamas by pushing it into a military confrontation with Israel. (Al-Monitor)

Entsar Abu Jahal says earlier in September, the Palestine Trade Center announced the Palestine Exporter Award for 2016, a national recognition to promote an export culture among Palestinian firms, encourage diversification in exports and support access to new markets in a bid to achieve national economic development. (Al-Monitor)

Oliver Bullough says the Kremlin wants to bomb Aleppo into submission and impose peace via a local strongman, just like it did in Grozny a decade and a half ago. (New York Times)

Sulome Anderson says ISIS brutalizes women in the name of Islam — and it still has thousands of female slaves in its grasp. (Foreign Policy)

 

Rauf Baker puts a spotlight on the plight of the Syrian middle class, five years and counting into the civil war. (The National)

ATFP News Roundup October 12, 2016

News:

A 20-year-old Palestinian was shot and killed by Israeli forces Tuesday night during clashes that erupted in the town of Silwan in occupied East Jerusalem just south of the Old City, amid ongoing violent police raids in the Jerusalem area. (Ma'an)

The Palestinian Authority decided that municipal councils that had resigned from office in order to run in local elections would return to their original offices until the recently postponed elections were resumed. (Ma'an)

Dozens of Palestinians were shot and injured by live ammunition or rubber-coated steel bullets in the town of al-Ram in the Jerusalem district of the occupied West Bank Wednesday morning.  (Ma'an)

Residents of the Palestinian refugee camp Khan al-Shih in war-torn Syria southwest of Damascus city held a protest Tuesday condemning the bombardment of the camp and threats of heavier siege conditions. (Ma'an)

Israeli forces announced a series of closures and heightened security operations throughout the occupied West Bank, East Jerusalem, and the larger Jerusalem district in anticipation of the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur, according to Israeli police. (Ma'an)

German politicians called on Wednesday for the 'hero refugees' who captured a fellow Syrian migrant suspected of planning a bomb attack on a Berlin airport to be honored with a prestigious award, describing them as a model of integration. (Reuters)

Pope Francis, in his strongest appeal to date on the conflict in Syria, on Wednesday called for an "immediate ceasefire" to allow for the evacuation of civilians. (Reuters)

Turkish troops will remain at a military camp in northern Iraq until Islamic State is driven out of the nearby city of Mosul, Turkey's deputy prime minister said on Wednesday, signaling no respite in a row with Baghdad over the deployment. (Reuters)

Islamic State militants have placed booby traps across the city of Mosul, dug tunnels and recruited children as spies in anticipation of an offensive to dislodge the jihadists from their Iraqi stronghold, Iraqis and U.S. officials said. (Reuters)

Turkey has fired hundreds of senior military staff serving at NATO in Europe and the United States following July's coup attempt, documents show, broadening a purge to include some of the armed forces' best-trained officials. (Reuters)

The United States is seeing growing indications that Iran-allied Houthi rebels, despite denials, were responsible for Sunday's attack on a Navy destroyer off the Yemen coast, U.S. officials told Reuters. (Reuters)

Commentary:

Akiva Eldar says if Israeli PM Netanyahu insists on defying the US president and building a new West Bank settlement, Barack Obama could respond by abstaining in a UN Security Council vote on Palestinian Statehood. (Al-Monitor)

Shlomi Eldar says Salafi groups have adopted the tactic of firing rockets at Israel in an attempt to weaken Hamas by pushing it into a military confrontation with Israel. (Al-Monitor)

Entsar Abu Jahal says earlier in September, the Palestine Trade Center announced the Palestine Exporter Award for 2016, a national recognition to promote an export culture among Palestinian firms, encourage diversification in exports and support access to new markets in a bid to achieve national economic development. (Al-Monitor)

Oliver Bullough says the Kremlin wants to bomb Aleppo into submission and impose peace via a local strongman, just like it did in Grozny a decade and a half ago. (New York Times)

Sulome Anderson says ISIS brutalizes women in the name of Islam — and it still has thousands of female slaves in its grasp. (Foreign Policy)

 

Rauf Baker puts a spotlight on the plight of the Syrian middle class, five years and counting into the civil war. (The National)

ATFP News Roundup October 11, 2016

News:

PM Netanyahu tells Sec. Kerry he expects the U.S. won't advance UN resolution on Israeli-Palestinian conflict before Obama leaves office. (Ha'aretz)

A Palestinian resident of eastern Jerusalem has been arrested for planning terror attacks in the Jerusalem area. (JTA\Times of Israel)

Israeli forces raided the city of Nablus and demolished the home of Amjad Aliwi, who Israeli intelligence accused of being one of the masterminds of a shooting attack on Oct. 1, 2015, which left two Israeli settlers dead. (Ma'an)

Having criticized the government five months ago for its handling of security, the hard-liner Avigdor Lieberman has not done much to reshape Israeli policies. (New York Times)

A group of Israeli settlers attacked a Palestinian family and damaged their car while they were picking olives on their private land south of Nablus in the northern occupied West Bank on Monday. (Ma'an)

Undercover Israeli forces detained eight Palestinian children from Aida refugee camp in the southern occupied West Bank city of Bethlehem. (Ma'an)

Whoever occupies the White House next, he or she will inherit one of the most complex and brutal crises in the world: the war in Syria. (AP)

Russian Pres. Putin will not come to Paris next week after declining to meet President Francois Hollande only for talks on Syria, a source in Hollande's office said, the latest deterioration in ties between Moscow and the West. (Reuters)

A senior British lawmaker has accused Russia of targeting civilians in Syria in the same way the Nazis behaved at Guernica during the Spanish civil war of the 1930s. (Reuters)

Turkey and Russia signed an agreement on Monday for the construction of a major undersea gas pipeline and vowed to seek common ground on the war in Syria, accelerating a normalization in ties nearly a year after Turkey shot down a Russian warplane. (Reuters)

Close allies and Arab powerhouses Egypt and Saudi Arabia are having their first public spat since Egyptian Pres. Sissi took office two years ago, a quarrel over Syria that points to a wider, but mostly muted, divergence in the handling by Cairo and Riyadh of regional issues. (AP)

The spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition helping the Iraqi military defended recent pronouncements that the operation to retake Mosul is imminent, saying the advanced warning gives civilians hope they will soon be liberated and encourages defections of extremist fighters. (AP)

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says his country is determined to take part in a possible operation to recapture the Iraqi city of Mosul despite objections from Iraq, adding to tensions between the two neighbors. (AP)

The Islamic State is releasing fewer propaganda items and has shifted its message away from that of a well-run caliphate. (New York Times)

Yemen's Houthi movement launched a ballistic missile deep into Saudi Arabia and may have also fired on a U.S. warship, two days after an apparent Saudi-led air strike killed 140 mourners at a funeral attended by powerful tribal leaders. (Reuters)

Updated guidelines published by the U.S. Treasury Department ease restrictions on foreign companies attempting to do business with Iran in what is being called a “loosening of sanctions.” (JTA)

Commentary:

Ha'aretz says precisely because Israel wants to be a home for the Jewish people demands that its leaders show empathy for the impossible situation of the Arab minority. (Ha'aretz)

Ahmad Abu Amer interviews Hamas leader Ahmad Yousef. (Al-Monitor)

Ben Caspit says Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman seems to have realized that attacking Hamas targets in retaliation for rocket fire from rogue groups could damage the organization’s efforts to contain those elements. (Al-Monitor)

Entsar Abu Jahal says a heavy budget deficit — though lighter than those of other Palestinian universities — led Birzeit University to call for a tuition hike, sparking a protest movement by the student council that closed the school's gates for a month. (Al-Monitor)

Raphael Ahren says as Turtle Bay observes its first-ever Yom Kippur, Israel’s envoy discusses his effort to bring more Judaism to the UN, clandestine meetings with Arab officials, and concerns about Palestine-related moves at the Security Council. (Times of Israel)

The New York Times says President Obama must cut off military aid to Saudi Arabia unless it ends the carnage and returns to peace talks. (New York Times)

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