Gaza border violence heats up: Israel enters, factions retaliate ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency September 10, 2009 - 12:00am Clashes erupted as Israeli bulldozers and armored vehicles entered 800 meters beyond the Gaza border near Beit Hanoun and began destroying agricultural land near the border, witnesses said Wednesday afternoon. Israeli soldiers reportedly fired on civilians in the area as they began bulldozing lands. Farmers fled the area and shortly after they reported hearing explosions from the same direction. The Military wing of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, the Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades, claimed they launched a rocket propelled grenade shell at the invading forces. » Read more

A frustrating vicious cycle ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times by Daoud Kuttab - (Analysis) September 10, 2009 - 12:00am Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision to approve new Jewish settlements just as a possible settlement freeze was being suggested shows yet again his country’s disregard of reason, a trend exhibited for over 40 years now. » Read more

Rare TV satire mocks Palestinian politicians ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press by Mohammed Daraghmeh - September 10, 2009 - 12:00am Palestine TV was once the boring channel that viewers skipped over while searching for entertainment. But this time, the state-run station has picked a winner — an irreverent comedy show that mocks and often bites the hand that feeds it: the government. "Homeland on a Thread" satirizes inept Palestinian politicians, police bullies and Muslim extremists. It's Palestine TV's first ever attempt at political satire, an art form that remains rare in the Arab world where authoritarian regimes abound. » Read more

Netanyahu risks US anger by building settlements ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press by Josef Federman - September 10, 2009 - 12:00am Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has given the green light for hundreds of new homes in a Palestinian-claimed area of Jerusalem, officials confirmed Wednesday, part of a gamble to mollify his restive coalition without sparking a major confrontation with the U.S. » Read more

Seized Israeli Writes of Deep Depression ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press September 10, 2009 - 12:00am An Israeli soldier seized by Palestinian fighters more than three years ago described his captivity as an "intolerable and inhumane nightmare" in a 2006 letter to his parents that was made public Wednesday. In carefully printed script, Sgt. Gilad Shalit reported deteriorating health and deep depression, making an anguished appeal to the Israeli government to release him from his "closed and solitary prison." Shalit, now 23, wrote the 14-line letter three months after gunmen affiliated with the Gaza Strip's Islamist Hamas rulers captured him in a cross-border raid. » Read more

The West Bank's Deceptive Growth ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Zahi Khouri - (Opinion) September 10, 2009 - 12:00am Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has long tried to substitute the slogan of “economic peace” for genuine progress with the Palestinians on the political front. Yet the International Monetary Fund’s projected growth of 7 percent in the West Bank for 2009 is largely the result of Palestinian reforms undertaken in spite of the obstacles Israel continues to place in the way of Palestinian development. Too many in the West remain unaware of the impediments to economic development — not to mention political freedom — we Palestinians continue to face. » Read more

The New Israel Lobby ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by James Traub - September 10, 2009 - 12:00am In July, President Obama met for 45 minutes with leaders of American Jewish organizations. All presidents meet with Israel’s advocates. Obama, however, had taken his time, and powerhouse figures of the Jewish community were grumbling; Obama’s coolness seemed to be of a piece with his willingness to publicly pressure Israel to freeze the growth of its settlements and with what was deemed his excessive solicitude toward the plight of the Palestinians. » Read more

Getting real about a Palestinian state ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times by Daoud Kuttab - (Opinion) September 10, 2009 - 12:00am Writing From Ramallah, West Bank - Something different is happening among the Palestinians. Their political leaders and civil servants are spending more time planning for a Palestinian state than criticizing the Israelis for their intransigence. » Read more