Hot off the Arab press

What citizens of other countries are reading about the Middle East

By COMPILEDTHE MEDIA LINE
US Ambassador SAMANTHA POWER,521 (photo credit: Courtesy)
US Ambassador SAMANTHA POWER,521
(photo credit: Courtesy)
ISRAEL KEEPS TABS ON PRO-PALESTINIAN HUMAN RIGHTS ORGANIZATIONS Al-Quds, Jerusalem, June 9 Palestinian human rights sources say Israeli authorities have prepared a list of names of Palestinian and Israeli organizations as well as foreign NGOs which support Palestinians, in order to punish them. The sources said sanctions that will be imposed on these institutions include preventing them from receiving assistance from the US and the EU, adding that Israel is working in cooperation with the EU to withhold funding from these institutions.
According to a report issued by NGO Monitor, which supervises EU funding for civil society organizations, the EU-funded Israeli and international organizations [are] working to mobilize the European community to support Palestinian rights. The report points out that these organizations are not subject to the requirements of the EU. They are working to mobilize public opinion to boycott Israel and to support the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people, by establishing their state on the pre-1967 borders with east Jerusalem as its capital.
ISRAEL’S RESERVE OF NATURAL GAS IS ENOUGH FOR 150 YEARSRaya FM, Ramallah, June 7 A Palestinian think tank says Israel possesses a reserve of gas that is sufficient for 150 years, with an estimated value of $300 billion. The study says the quantities of newly discovered natural gas in the Mediterranean will give Israel a sense of arrogance and enable it to persist in its policy of aggression.
Israel announced last March that it has started pumping gas from the Tamar field, at a distance of 90 km. from the coast of Israel. The Israeli Energy and Water Ministry said the gas will lead to lower production costs for the Israel Electric Corporation and reduce its dependence on foreign sources of energy.
The Zaytuna research center said in its strategic report that the natural gas is a strategic asset for Israel and will have a long-term impact on the political, economic, security and social situation. The improved economic conditions in Israel will reduce the need for foreign financial assistance. The discovery of the natural gas reminds us of the gas reserves off the coast of Gaza. Israel is making it harder to develop them, because it would help cover the relatively high Palestinian energy bill.
BREAKING THE IMPASSE Al-Hayat, London, June 10 The “breaking the impasse” initiative that has brought together leading Israeli and Palestinian businessmen is not an alternative to the peace process, but an attempt to support it. Munib al-Masri, the president of the Palestine Forum which is behind the initiative, says that the Palestinian private sector, as well as the Israeli participants in the initiative, rejected the idea of “economic peace.”
Since US Secretary of State John Kerry put forward ideas to stimulate the Palestinian economy, Masri believes it is important to say that the idea for the breaking the impasse initiative preceded the American proposal by several months.
Palestinian businessmen want to cooperate with the Israeli business elite and press them to lobby their government to revive the peace process and the twostate solution. Masri says that the decision not to adopt a joint political stance was because things were not ripe enough yet for the Israelis, who need time to come up with their position and attract other Israelis to it – Israelis who have influence on decision makers.
Masri and his friends may not succeed, but one must try, and they are trying.
APPOINTMENT OF POWER ANGERS ISRAELIS Palestine Today, Gaza, June 11 US President Barack Obama’s nomination of Samantha Power as the next ambassador to the UN sparked an angry reaction in the Israeli press. Power has reportedly made statements in favor of Palestinians, most prominent of which is for the US to abandon Israel.
Yediot Aharonot published a series of statements made by Power that Israel considers provocative. In a statement in 2005, Power said that a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict would resolve the broader Middle East conflict. According to Yediot Aharonot, Power, 43, is known to say what’s on her mind, including a statement in 2006 in which she said the US should abandon Israel and disarm it to open the door for a Palestinian state.
LAND SWAPS: A PALESTINIAN INTEREST OR A NEGOTIATIONS BLUFF?Al-Hal, Birzeit, June 10 Swapping occupied Palestinian lands with lands “controlled” by the Palestinian Authority is a controversial topic among Palestinians. Opponents think of it as a form of concession while others see in land swaps a Palestinian-Israeli benefit.
For the Palestinian writer Yehya Rabah, the land swap was presented incorrectly to the Palestinian public. He said that swaps like this happen willingly between two sovereign countries, explaining that expanding the area of the Gaza Strip by swapping lands would be a necessity in this heavily populated area that would benefit both Palestinians and Israelis.
Political analyst Abdul Sattar Qasem sees that the PA is not independent in its decisions, making the swap a solely Israeli benefit. Settlement expert Suhail Khalileh says that any swap should be of lands that are equal in size, value and nature. Palestinians still disagree on the topic of land swaps, which could be a part of the next political move.