August 24th

Hamas branded 'too secular' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Ahram by Saleh Al-Naami - August 24, 2009 - 12:00am In the biggest confrontation yet between the dismissed government of Ismail Haniyeh and an Islamic group, more than 30 people were killed last week, including 12 civilians and several policemen. The bloody confrontation came after Abdel-Latif Moussa -- also known as Abul-Nur Al-Maqdisi, leader of Jund Ansar Allah, or Soldiers of the Followers of God, and among the killed -- declared an Islamic emirate, or mini-state, in Rafah. Moussa, who promised to implement Islamic law, accused Hamas of being too "secular". » Read more

US must choose between the two voices of Hamas ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National by Amr Hamzawy - (Opinion) August 24, 2009 - 12:00am When will President Obama abandon the Bush doctrine of isolating Hamas? During a press conference in Gaza City a few weeks ago, Ismail Haniya, the Hamas leader in the Gaza Strip, declared: “If there is a real project that aims at resolving the Palestinian cause on establishing a Palestinian state on 1967 borders, under full Palestinian sovereignty, we will support it.” And in an interview shortly after, Khaled Meshaal, the exiled leader of Hamas’s political bureau, welcomed the “new language towards the region” from President Obama. » Read more

West Bank settlements: an impassable obstacle on the road to peace ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian by Ian Black - (Opinion) August 24, 2009 - 12:00am On a ridge high above the West Bank town of Nablus, a cluster of red roofs and neat white concrete homes mark the Israeli settlement of Elon Moreh, its security patrols on alert for attackers like the lone Palestinian gunman who mowed down four residents during the second intifada. » Read more

Boycotts only harden Israeli opinion ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian by Benjamin Pogrund - (Opinion) August 24, 2009 - 12:00am The most inaccurate way to describe Israel today is as an apartheid state. That's the exact opposite of what Neve Gordon said on Cif last week. Level whatever criticisms you want against Israel – start with West Bank occupation and oppression of Palestinians, and go on to the domestic discrimination suffered by the Arab minority – but the simple fact is that none of it is the apartheid of the old South Africa. Abundant evidence of this is readily available, in the Guardian and elsewhere. » Read more

Mixed reactions to plan for new e. J'lem homes ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Abe Selig - August 24, 2009 - 12:00am News that the Jerusalem Municipality was reviewing plans for the construction of 104 housing units in the east Jerusalem neighborhood of Ras al-Amud was met with mixed reaction by residents there on Sunday, as the streets of the predominately Palestinian neighborhood were quiet due to the onset of Ramadan. » Read more

Group says Left 'distorting' east Jerusalem construction plan ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Ronen Medzini - August 23, 2009 - 12:00am Claims that the Jerusalem Municipality has approved the construction of 104 housing units for Jews in the eastern neighborhood of Ras al-Amud continue to make waves. The Jerusalem Municipality has denied the claims made by the Ir Amim association, which says that the new project will be connected by a bridge to the Jewish neighborhood of Ma'aleh Hazeitim. » Read more

PM heads to Europe with backing for settlement freeze ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Roni Sofer - August 24, 2009 - 12:00am Behind Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's optimistic statement suggesting peace talks with the Palestinians may reignite by the end of September, is the apparent silent assurance that Yisrael Beiteinu chair and Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman will not extract his party from the coalition in the event Israel will comply with the US demand to halt all settlement expansion. Should Netanyahu have to force the narrow cabinet forum to make a decision on the matter, and with Lieberman abstained on the vote, he would have a majority of four. » Read more

Hamas to expel Gaza schoolgirls not wearing Muslim dress ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Avi Issacharoff - August 24, 2009 - 12:00am Female students in the Gaza Strip will be required to wear head coverings and full-length robes beginning this school year, the Hamas rules of the Gaza Strip announced on Monday. According to the new regulations, any female student that does not attend class in the proper attire will be sent home. The ministry also has ruled that male teachers cannot teach in girls' schools and women are not allowed to teach at boys' schools. » Read more

Pro-Israel group: Obama settlements policy backs 'ethnic cleansing' of Jews ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Gilad Halpern - August 23, 2009 - 12:00am A pro-Israel lobby group in the U.S. has launched a project intent on shifting the focus of the Obama administration away from West Bank settlements, claiming they are not an obstacle to peace and that their evacuation would amount to "ethnic cleansing." A manual called Global Language Dictionary, circulated among supporters of the right-wing Israel Project group, seeks to develop a strategy to downplay the centrality of settlement freeze in the American efforts to press on with the peace process between Israel and the Palestinians. » Read more

Netanyahu to tell Mitchell: Israel won't accept limits on Jerusalem ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Chaim Levinson, Barak Ravid - August 24, 2009 - 12:00am Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to tell the special U.S. Mideast envoy on Monday that Israel will not accept any limitations on its sovereignty over Jerusalem, and will allow settlers to continue to live in the West Bank. Netanyahu traveled to London on Monday, where he will meet with the U.S. envoy, George Mitchell, in order to continue the discussion on the Obama administration's demands for confidence-building measures between Israel and the Arab world. » Read more