NewsRack: newstrust/Crisis-in-Gaza

John Kerry to visit Middle East this week to revive peace talks - The Guardian -- World Latest

Harriet Sherwood — Sun, 19 May 2013 18:30:00 GMT

British foreign secretary William Hague to join the US secretary of state's fourth visit to region in two months US secretary of state John Kerry arrives in the Holy Land this week on his fourth visit in two months amid deepening scepticism on all sides about his chances of breathing life back into the moribund peace process, and an acknowledgement by European diplomats that there is no "Plan B" in place in the event of its failure. The British foreign secretary William Hague will also join the Middle East diplomatic merry-go-round this week, with a visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories beginning on Thursday. The focus of Hague's trip, in which he is expected to meet politicians from both sides, is to support Kerry's mission to bring the two sides back to negotiations after an impasse of almost four years. Kerry's efforts have produced no tangible results so far, apart from both parties consenting to refrain from actions which could set back his efforts. But while the ...

Israeli inquiry says film of Muhammad al-Dura's death in Gaza was staged - The Guardian -- Front Page

Harriet Sherwood — Sun, 19 May 2013 18:30:00 GMT

Report says video of 12-year-old cowering with his father amid a gun battle shows no evidence he was killed by Israeli fire A film of a 12-year-old boy crying and cowering beside his father as a gun battle raged around them in Gaza has been challenged by an official Israeli report that suggests that the entire event may have been staged. The images, which became a symbol of the second intifada , contain no evidence that the child was injured or killed by Israeli fire, a committee of inquiry into television coverage of the death of Muhammad al-Dura concluded. But the committee's conclusions were rejected by France 2, the French public television channel that broadcast the report, its reporter Charles Enderlin, and the boy's father, Jamal al-Dura. All said they were ready to co-operate with an independent international investigation into the incident, and Enderlin and Dura added they were willing to undergo polygraph tests. The image of father and son crouched behind a barrel as bullets ...

Kerry to Mideast to advance struggling Syria plan - Boston Globe: Latest

Sun, 19 May 2013 18:30:00 GMT

Kerry to Mideast to advance struggling Syria plan

Israeli seeks interim deal with Palestinians - Salt Lake Tribune

Sun, 19 May 2013 18:30:00 GMT

by Josef Federman The Associated Press Published May 19, 2013 05:50PM MDT Jerusalem • Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s senior coalition partner says that reaching a final peace agreement with the Palestinians is unrealistic at the current time and the sides should instead pursue an interim arrangement. Finance Minister Yair Lapid’s assessment, delivered in a published interview Sunday just days before the arrival of U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, throws a contentious idea into the mix as the U.S. searches for ways to restart peace talks. It remains unclear wh... ...

Keeping alive Gaza's culinary traditions - BBC: World

Sun, 19 May 2013 18:30:00 GMT

Preserving the spice of life when ingredients and power are scarce

Report: Iran hangs 2 alleged spies working for Israel, US - MSNBC

Yeganeh Torbati, Reuters — Sun, 19 May 2013 18:30:00 GMT

Report: Iran hangs 2 alleged spies working for Israel, US

Palestinian kids swept up in wave of Israeli arrests - MSNBC

Lawahez Jabari, Producer, NBC News — Sun, 19 May 2013 18:30:00 GMT

Palestinian kids swept up in wave of Israeli arrests

Key Israeli leader calls for interim peace deal with Palestinians - Star Tribune: World

Sun, 19 May 2013 18:30:00 GMT

Israeli seeks interim deal with Palestinians - Boston Globe: Latest

Sun, 19 May 2013 18:30:00 GMT

Israeli seeks interim deal with Palestinians

Video shows kidnapped Egyptian security officers - Boston Globe: Latest

Sat, 18 May 2013 18:30:00 GMT

Video shows kidnapped Egyptian security officers

Will China mediate the Israeli-Palestinian peace process? - MSNBC

Ed Flanagan, Producer, NBC News — Sat, 18 May 2013 18:30:00 GMT

Will China mediate the Israeli-Palestinian peace process?

AP PHOTOS: Palestinians in Egypt exiled, forgotten - Boston Globe: Latest

Fri, 17 May 2013 18:30:00 GMT

AP PHOTOS: Palestinians in Egypt exiled, forgotten

Peninsula readers' letters: May18 - San Jose Mercury News: Peninsula

Fri, 17 May 2013 18:30:00 GMT

Letters from Daily News readers.

Egypt police seal border with Gaza - BBC: World

Thu, 16 May 2013 18:30:00 GMT

Egyptian police sealed off the Rafah border crossing with the Gaza Strip in protest at the abduction of seven security personnel in Sinai.

Not-so fast food: Smugglers sneak KFC across border from Egypt into Gaza - MSNBC

Fares Akram — Wed, 15 May 2013 18:30:00 GMT

Not-so fast food: Smugglers sneak KFC across border from Egypt into Gaza

Gaza City Journal: Tunneling KFC to Gazans Craving the World Outside - NY Times: Middle East

By FARES AKRAM — Wed, 15 May 2013 18:30:00 GMT

Gaza City Journal: Tunneling KFC to Gazans Craving the World Outside

Clashes as Palestinians mark 65 years since displacement - Chicago Tribune: Nation

Noah Browning — Wed, 15 May 2013 18:30:00 GMT

Clashes as Palestinians mark 65 years since displacement

In commemoration of Nakba Day, Visualizing Palestine's latest infographic - Global Voices

Joey Ayoub — Wed, 15 May 2013 18:30:00 GMT

In commemoration of Nakba Day, the ‘Visualizing Palestine’ graphic team have released their latest infographic entitled “An ongoing displacement” which “quantitatively catalogues the multiple dimensions of Palestinian displacement and loss of land.”

Palestinians rally to commemorate their displacement in 1948 Mideast war - Star Tribune: World

Tue, 14 May 2013 18:30:00 GMT

From presidential yacht to ghost ship - MSNBC

Tue, 14 May 2013 18:30:00 GMT

From presidential yacht to ghost ship

Critics assail Israeli silence on Arab peace plan - AP Top News

By JOSEF FEDERMAN — Tue, 14 May 2013 18:30:00 GMT

JERUSALEM (AP) -- On the surface, the Arab League's improved peace initiative offers Israel everything it ever dreamed of - normal relations with an entire region that has long objected to the very existence of the Jewish state, and even the chance to keep some war-won land....

Pentagon to furlough civilian employees - Twincities.com: Nation

Tue, 14 May 2013 18:30:00 GMT

WASHINGTON -- The Defense Department will furlough most of its 800,000 civilian employees for 11 days, a decision Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel called "difficult" but necessary to meet mandatory federal spending cuts this year without harming national security.

Super-reality of Gaza funeral photo due to toning technique says contest winner - The Guardian -- World Latest

Roger Tooth — Tue, 14 May 2013 18:30:00 GMT

Paul Hansen, winner of World Press Photo competition, defends use of software that led to dramatically lit shot Something of a storm in a lightbox has blown up in the photo-journalism world over the revelation that the winner of the 2012 World Press Photo contest had a wee bit more than the usual darkroom techniques applied to it. The great picture from the Swedish photographer Paul Hansen – of two Palestinian children killed in an Israeli missile strike in Gaza being carried to their funeral – looked a worthy winner. But it did have a feeling of cinematic super-reality adding to the inherent drama. Some people even thought that the whole scene had been lit and staged for the camera. The photographer has explained the technique he used. He shot the picture as a "raw" file, straight or unprocessed from the camera's computer. Using just the one frame he used software which produced several versions of the image with varying tonal ranges, some with more contrast, some with less, which ...

Gaza gastronomy in a refugee camp - The Guardian -- World Latest

Harriet Sherwood — Tue, 14 May 2013 18:30:00 GMT

A women's collective in a refugee camp is serving up traditional homemade Palestinian dishes – with an authentic taste In a kitchen in the "martyrs' quarter" of the Aida refugee camp in Bethlehem, one of the toughest places in the West Bank, Islam Abu Aouda is preparing a soft dough of yoghurt, oil and flour. Soon she will fill small pockets with chopped spinach, sumac and lemon, and bake them in the oven. The mouthwatering parcels are called krass ; I ate four but I wanted 14. Less than 50 miles away, Reem Daloul is also kneading dough in a makeshift kitchen in Gaza City, lit only by a small window during one of the coastal enclave's regular eight-hour power cuts. This dough is for small cigar- and horseshoe-shaped pastries, filled with za'atar, a blend of spices, or soft, salty cheese mixed with hot chilli. These two Palestinian women are divided by walls, fences and checkpoints, but connected by a love of traditional food – and the will to use this to improve their circumstances. ...

Gas finds in east Mediterranean may change strategic balance - BBC News - Science & Environment

Sun, 12 May 2013 18:30:00 GMT

Gas finds off east Mediterranean bring tensions and hopes