July 21st

Abbas Blasts Israel Over Annapolis
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Kuwait News Agency (kuna)
July 21, 2008 - 3:53pm

BETHLEHEM, July 20 (KUNA) -- Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Sunday voiced concern over Israeli failure to meet the principles of the US Annapolis peace conference, mainly settlement suspension. Abbas was speaking at a joint news conference with visiting Prime Minister Gordon Brown in Bethlehem. He added that Israel had not yet responded to the Arab peace initiative, which envisions just and total peace between Israel and the Arab world and a viable Palestinian state.

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Israel Army Arrests 30 Palestinians In Nablus
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Kuwait News Agency (kuna)
July 21, 2008 - 3:50pm

RAMALLAH, July 21 (KUNA) -- The Israeli Army arrested, Sunday, around twenty Palestinians in Nablus City and its refugee camps. Security sources in the city said Hamas movement MP Mona Mansour was arrested after her house was besieged in Balatah Camp, east Nablus. A number of businessmen, owners of currency exchange shops, and workers at commercial establishments were also arrested, along with 8 university students who were arrested after their dorms at Al Najah University were raided.

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Israeli Forces Detain Hamas Lawmaker, Businessmen
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Dan Williams - July 21, 2008 - 3:47pm

NABLUS, West Bank (Reuters) - Israeli forces detained a Hamas woman lawmaker on Monday along with 14 managers of a West Bank business venture that Israel accuses of having links to the Islamist faction, Palestinian officials said. The detentions in Nablus looked likely to stoke tensions between Israel and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who is trying to advance his own law-and-order drive in the city and elsewhere in the West Bank since breaking with Hamas last year.

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British Leader Presses Israel To Halt Settlements
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
by Mohammed Daraghmeh - July 21, 2008 - 3:45pm

BETHLEHEM, West Bank - British Prime Minister Gordon Brown demanded yesterday that Israel cease settlement construction and promised more money to jump-start the battered Palestinian economy. In his first trip to Israel and the Palestinian territories as Britain's leader, Brown repeatedly stressed that economics are key to Mideast peace, and said Israel should ease travel restrictions in the West Bank that have hindered commerce.

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Israel Probes 'detainee Shooting'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bbc News
July 21, 2008 - 3:43pm

Israel says it has launched an inquiry after an Israeli human rights group released footage that appears to show a soldier shoot a Palestinian detainee. The video is blurred when the gun fires, but the Palestinian man says a rubber bullet hit his left big toe and he was treated by an army medic. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) called the incident "grave" and in "direct contradiction" of the army's values. Rights group B'Tselem said the incident occurred on 7 July in the West Bank.

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Jewish Guerrillas Told British: Quit Palestine Or Die
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Times
by Marcus Leroux - July 21, 2008 - 3:40pm

A pamphlet warning Britons to leave the Middle East or face death has come to light in a stash of illicit propaganda. The document does not hail from Basra or Baghdad, nor was it penned by the Islamists of al-Qaeda or the al-Mahdi Army. It was found in Haifa, about 60 years ago, and it was issued by the underground group led by Menachem Begin – the future Prime Minister of Israel and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize.

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Talks Signal Mideast Shift
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from International Herald Tribune
by Michael Slackman - (Analysis) July 21, 2008 - 3:37pm

BEIRUT: After years of escalating tensions and bloodshed, the talk in the Middle East is suddenly about talking. The shift is still relatively subtle, but hints of a new approach in the waning months of President George W. Bush's administration are fueling hopes of at least short-term stability for the first time since the invasion of Iraq in 2003.

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Israeli Soldier Arrested For Shooting Prisoner
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Times
by Anne Barrowclough - July 21, 2008 - 3:32pm

An Israeli soldier has been arrested after being caught on camera shooting a bound and blindfolded Palestinian prisoner in the foot. In the video, the Palestinian, Ashraf Abu Rahma, 27, is seen being led, handcuffed and blindfolded, to a Jeep by a high ranking officer of the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF). While the officer, a lieutenant-colonel, grips his arm, a second soldier aims his gun at Abu Rahma’s legs and fires a rubber bullet at him from about 1.5 metres away.

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July 20th

An IDF soldier is arrested following the release of video of the shooting of a Palestinian prisoner (1) (4). British Prime Minister Gordon Brown demands an end to Israeli settlement construction and promises more aid for the Palestinian economy (5). Israel continues its actions against allegedly Hamas-affiliated institutions in the West Bank (7). There is speculation that Israel might be willing to release Marwan Barghouti in exchange for IDF soldier Gilad Shalit (9) (11). Barack Obama is set to visit Israel and Palestine later this week (10) (12).

July 18th

Even The Arab Envoys Came To Bid Farewell To Israel's Un Ambassador
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Shlomo Shamir - July 18, 2008 - 3:32pm

Ambassadors from Arab countries and the Gulf states were among the guests at a reception yesterday for outgoing United Nations Ambassador Dan Gillerman, who is completing a six-year tour of duty. One veteran UN reporter for an American television network told viewers he could not recall such an impressive Arab turnout for a diplomatic event for a senior Israeli official. The envoys from Egypt, Jordan, Qatar and Oman were seen at the reception, which took place in the official apartment of the Israeli ambassador in Manhattan.

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