A short roundup of what citizens of other countries are reading about the Middle East
By THE MEDIA LINEIDF soldiers on southern border 370(photo credit: Ronen Zvulun / Reuters)INTELLIGENCE WITH ISRAELAl Resalah, Gaza, March 11The government in Gaza has distinguished itself by campaigning to put an end to the dilemma of Gazans’ security collaboration with Israel. It has even scored success against the Israeli security forces in this regard. A considerable number of dangerous spies were uncovered working for Israel during the Pillar of Defense campaign in the Gaza Strip. Today a concentrated campaign is being conducted against Gazans working for Israeli intelligence. A serious attempt is being made to eliminate this phenomenon, which is considered a high priority at the national level. The most important aspect of the campaign is educating people on how to refrain from being coerced into spying for Israel. However, the campaign itself doesn’t mean we are living in a society of traitors, as the percentage of spies among Palestinians living in Gaza is less than any other community under occupation.CONGRATULATIONS TO THE NEW ISRAELI GOVERNMENTPalestine News Network, Bethlehem, March 10Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu will finally introduce his new cabinet in the coming days.The new government has a different flavor from previous ones. However, Israel’s “settlement” policy will definitely be maintained by Bayit Yehudi party leader Naftali Bennett.Bennett supports Israel’s largest settlement organization, Gush Emunim. As such, he wants to realize the saying that was popular in the 1990s that “the State of Israel is no longer controlling the settlements, but rather the settlements are controlling the state.”Netanyahu’s government will also include Shaul Mofaz, who returns as a friend of Netanyahu’s after they had been enemies in the past. Yair Lapid, as head of his centrist party, will continue making racist remarks against the Arabs as he did when he said, “I cannot imagine myself sitting with the Arabs in opposition.”What did Palestinian leaders prepare to counter this government? Or will we just wait for another government to be kind enough to give us our rights? ISRAEL FEARS SYRIAN ATTACKSAl Hayat, London, March 10Israel is on high alert along its borders with Syria, planting mines and improving the infrastructure and alarm system. It fears the advancement of the rebels in Syria toward its borders, particularly the al- Qaida and Jihadi groups and any potential attacks they might carry out. Israel hasn’t kept its concerns secret, as military officials expressed fears of attacks on Israel by the “extreme Islamist terrorist” operatives similar to what happened on the Israeli-Egyptian border in Sinai.Israel began lobbying countries whose members serve in the United Nations peacekeeping force along its borders with Syria to prevent their withdrawal after the kidnapping earlier this week of Filipino peacekeepers. Israel fears that the kidnapping will result in the withdrawal of UN troops from the cease-fire area, resulting in an uncontrollable escalation in the chances of a terrorist attack on its border with Syria.HIGH FERTILITY MAINTAINS ARAB PRESENCE IN ISRAELAl Ahram, Cairo, March 11High fertility rates among Israeli Arabs have succeeded in practically maintaining their percentage inside Israel since 1948. When Israel was established that year, 160,000 Palestinians remained, forming around 13.6 percent of the new state’s total population.Despite Jewish immigration from every corner of the world to Israel, Arabs still form 11.8% of Israel’s total population. What helped these Arabs to maintain this presence was their high fertility rates. A 2011 statistical study showed an increase in the number of Palestinians around the world. There were four million in the Palestinian territories and more than one million in Israel, while approximately five million were living in the Arab countries and about 636,000 in European countries.
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