News Nosh 12.12.13

by APN 12/12/13
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APN's daily news review from Israel

Thursday December 12, 2013

 

Quote of the day:

"If you do not vacate the premises by 13 DEC 6PM, we reserve the right to demolish your premises without delay."
--Flyers put under doors of dorm rooms of students at University of Michigan in faux protest against Israeli demolitions of Palestinian and Bedouin homes.**


Front Page News:

Haaretz

Yedioth Ahronoth

Maariv

Israel Hayom

  • Snow celebration
  • Expose: The dark past of the X-Factor star
  • Storm of the blood donation (that the medics would not receive from the Ethiopian MK)

 

Peace Talk Highlights:

Snow in Israel and the refusal to accept the blood donation of an Ethiopian MK were today's top stories. Meanwhile, US Secretary of State John Kerry arrives today for closed talks with the Palestinian and Israeli leaders as Palestinian sources told Haaretz that peace talks are doomed because the US is no longer neutral after offering a security proposal that sides with Israel and reports of the US threatening the Palestinians it would postpone the third round of releasing Palestinian prisoners, scheduled for December 29, if it does not agree to the plan. A Palestinian Authority official said that if the release were postponed, the PA will sue Israel internationally. Haaretz writes that US has changed its modus operandi from passive to actively involved in the talks and that Kerry will be presenting a framework agreement. Justice Minister and chief Israeli negotiator Tzipi Livni said settlement construction outside settlement blocs harms Israel and accused Naftali Bennett's Habayit Hayehudi party of trying to derail the peace process. And the new Labor party leader Isaac Herzog wondered whether Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has the "mental willingness" to make peace.

 

Quick Hits:

  • Palestinian man attacked, stabbed by Israelis in West Jerusalem - Mohammad Marwan Oweis, 20, was stabbed on his way home from work and when he tried to defend himself nine Israelis described as "religious" attacked him with a club, hitting him over the head and body. (Maan)
  • In West Bank, Arab home faces demolition while Jewish ones get stamp of approval - Defense Ministry changes housing regulation according to whether the houses belong to Jews or Palestinians. (Haaretz)
  • UN slams Israel demolition of West Bank properties - West Bank home demolition harshly condemned by UN, human-rights NGOs. Issue highlights sensitive topic of West Bank construction. (Agencies, Ynet)
  • Prisoner visits canceled due to clashes in Israeli jail - Family visits for Palestinian detainees in Israel's Megiddo jail were canceled on Wednesday after clashes broke out between prisoners and Israeli prison guards. (Maan)
  • Likud MK Gamliel and Abbas to meet: "We have differences of opinion" - MK Gila Gamliel, 39, is expected to meet with (Palestinian President Mahmoud) Abbas in Ramallah Sunday in framework of a visit initiated by Labor MK Hilik Bar, who chairs the Lobby for the Solution to the Israeli-Arab conflict, and the National Student Association. She recently joined the lobby making her its only Likud member. (Israel Hayom, p. 7)
  • Peretz: New Labor leader makes Hatnua-Labor unity possible - Hatnua leader Tzipi Livni previously called for unity to 'counterbalance the alliance between Yesh Atid and Habayit Hayehudi.' (Haaretz)
  • "The next war could start by surprise" - According to the Commander of the Home Front Command, the battle will open with fire on the home front that will continue until the end. "The whole country is exposed to missiles and there are no areas not vulnerable," said General Eyal Eisenberg at the Kinneret Conference Wednesday. (NRG Hebrew)
  • Edelstein: Most countries didn't send prime ministers to Mandela memorial - South African official appreciated the Israeli delegation of MKs, insists the Knesset speaker. Following the ceremony, the six-MK delegation meets with the heads of South African Jewish leaders. (Israel Hayom)
  • Audit: EU pays Palestinians in Gaza to not work - EU should stop paying salaries of Fatah civil servants in Gaza, EU auditors said after learning that majority have stopped working since Hamas violently took control of Strip in 2006. Auditors further call for 'overhaul' of current EU aid. (Agencies, Ynet)
  • Video: Gazans with disabilities 'lost between 2 governments' - On International Day of People with Disabilities, Palestinians in Gaza marched in solidarity with over 100,000 disabled fellow citizens, who are regularly denied basic services. (Maan)
  • Azmi Bishara's comeback: a mediator between Hamas and Fatah - Six years after fleeing the country when suspected of aiding Hezbollah during the Second Lebanon War, former Balad party leader is involved in the reconciliation talks in Qatar. [Note: Bishara has severe diabetes and did not feel he was healthy enough to endure sitting in jail while a years-long trial ensued. - OH] (Maariv, p. 1/NRG Hebrew)
  • **Thousands of students 'evicted' in pro-Palestine solidarity campaign - Thousands of University of Michigan students woke up Tuesday morning to faux eviction notices slipped underneath their dorm room doors. The mock eviction was orchestrated by the student organization Students Allied for Freedom and Equality to raise awareness about the actual Israeli-directed evictions that are carried out on a regular basis in the Palestinian West Bank and East Jerusalem, in addition to the Negev. (Maan)


Features:
New dance performance depicts the body politic
In 'Bodyland' at Suzanne Dellal Center, dancers play France, Germany, Denmark, Israel and Palestinian Authority. (Haaretz)
It's time we bury 'Orientalism' in Jerusalem's Museum of Islamic Art
Nevet Yitzhak exhibit peels off the prevailing view of 'Islamic art' as 'monolithic and mysterious'. (Haaretz)

Commentary/Analysis:

Lapid, for Israel's sake, break with Bennett (Haaretz Editorial) The Israeli public is ripe for civic reforms that would sever the connection between religion and state. But there is an unholy alliance in the way.
Crunch time for peace talks (Dan Margalit, Israel Hayom) The round that starts today with Kerry's visit brings Netanyahu and Abbas to talk about territory, about the essentials and the substance.
Israel loyalists: Netanyahu needs our support (Israel Harel, Haaretz) Forty-seven years after the 1948 lines were aptly described as 'Auschwitz lines,' Israel is letting itself be pushed back into them again.
Saudi Arabia's choice: Iran or Israel (Dr. Yaron Friedman, Yedioth/Ynet) Despite shared interests, there is little chance for normalization in Saudi-Israeli relations.
Israel's 3 UN allies (Elliott Abrams, Israel Hayom) Israel can be proud of the three great democracies that voted with her.
A missed funeral and the true meaning of Zionism (Ari Shavit, Haaretz) We must make Israel the moral state it was meant to be, rather than playing into the hands of those who seek to push us into the world's dark corner.
Israel is no Czechoslovakia (Isi Leibler, Israel Hayom) We must never subordinate our security to third parties. As a last resort, we can only rely on our strength and ability to defend ourselves.
Israel's baiting game in Lebanon (Aaron Magid, Haaretz) It would only take one provocation too many, either by Israel or Hezbollah, and the deceptive quiet on Israel's northern border will turn into brutal conflict.
Beware: Political trap ahead (Dr. Haim Shine, Israel Hayom) I have warned people on the Right against putting their faith in Palestinian rejectionism.
 
 

Prepared for APN by Orly Halpern, independent freelance journalist based in Jerusalem.

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