Israel spying devices found by UN ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News October 19, 2009 - 12:00am Israeli spying devices that were planted during the 2006 war with Hezbollah have been discovered in southern Lebanon, the UN has said. UN peacekeepers discovered the buried devices when they were blown up by remote control by Israel on Sunday. Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora accused Israel of blatantly violating the UN Security Council resolution that led to the end of fighting. Israel has declined to comment directly on the matter. » Read more

Don't count Abbas out, Palestinian pollster says ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Hilary Leila Krieger - October 19, 2009 - 12:00am Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has suffered a serious blow to his standing versus Hamas in recent weeks, but he should be able to recover that ground, according to a top Palestinian pollster. Recently reported surveys show Abbas having lost support to Hamas Prime Minister in Gaza Ismail Haniyeh, with them each now commanding about 16 percent of the Palestinian public as opposed to a month earlier when Abbas pulled twice that figure. » Read more

Barak refuses to discuss Gaza probe ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Tovah Lazaroff - October 20, 2009 - 12:00am The security cabinet on Tuesday did not discuss the matter of establishing an independent inquiry into Operation Cast Lead in Gaza last winter, at the request of Defense Minister Ehud Barak. Barak opposes an Israeli probe into the offensive as a response to the Goldstone Commission's report. Goldstone in Gaza. During the meeting, the security cabinet discussed different ways to deal with the report. Attorney-General Menahem Mazuz gave the cabinet a number of options, including putting together a commission of inquiry. » Read more

PM to decide on inquiry committee on Goldstone claims ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Roni Sofer - October 20, 2009 - 12:00am The Cabinet is set to convene Tuesday morning in order to debate the international battle waged by Israel against the reverberations of the Goldstone Report, which claims Israel committed war crimes in Gaza. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has not yet announced whether he will order the establishment of an inquiry committee on Operation Cast Lead. Meanwhile Defense Minister Ehud Barak and IDF Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi have expressed their objection to such a move while the Justice Ministry said it may lend its support. » Read more

Ministers set up task force to ease West Bank settlement construction ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Mazal Mualem - October 20, 2009 - 12:00am The defense and interior ministers agreed on Monday to appoint a task force to facilitate construction in the West Bank. A similar team, which was responsible for establishing the ownership of West Bank lands, operated until about three years ago under the auspices of the Israel Defense Forces' Civil Administration. Officials say the team's work is essential to issuing building permits in the West Bank. » Read more

Top IDF officer warns: Settlers' radical fringe growing ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Anshel Pfeffer - October 20, 2009 - 12:00am The extremist fringe of West Bank settlers is growing, a senior officer on the Israel Defense Forces General Staff warned this week. Though most West Bank settlers are law abiding, the officer said, recent years have seen an upswing in violent attacks by extremist settlers against both IDF troops and neighboring Palestinians. » Read more

Palestinians angered over Al-Jazeera broadcast of mock anthem ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency October 20, 2009 - 12:00am Al-Jazeera Arabic played a mocking parody of the once Palestinian national anthem “My Homeland,” titled “It was my homeland” during an interview with Fatah and Hamas leaders from a Beirut studio Saturday, angering Palestinians. The lyrics of the song, originally a poem written by Palestinian poet Ibrahim Touqan put to music by Lebanese artist Mohammad Flaifel, served as the national anthem until the late 80s. The poem was an ode to the land, the people, the holy sites and the trees of Palestine. The opening lyrics of the song Al-Jazeera played were as follows: My homeland, My homeland » Read more

Painful Mideast Truth: Force Trumps Diplomacy ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Ethan Bronner - October 19, 2009 - 12:00am As the Obama administration tries to broker a resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, there is a dark truth lurking: force has produced clearer results in this dispute than talk. The results of the violence may prove short-lived — and possibly counterproductive; condemnation of Israel and Hamas is likely to grow after the United Nations Human Rights Council voted Friday to endorse a report detailing evidence of war crimes in Gaza. » Read more

The West Bank's gold ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post by Howard Schneider - October 20, 2009 - 12:00am For centuries, olive harvesting here has been a mostly local industry. Farmers, their relatives and neighbors beat the trees with sticks or strip the olives from branches by hand, then cart them to a local press and sell or trade the oil in nearby markets. Harvest workers keep a share of the crop for their labor, and olive press owners keep a share of the oil -- a testament to the small-scale, bartered nature of the undertaking. » Read more