July 21st

A temporary Mideast deal could break the stalemate ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Globe and Mail by Shira Herzog - (Opinion) July 21, 2009 - 12:00am The latest Israeli-U.S. clash over construction in east Jerusalem indicates again how difficult it's going to be to shape the regional reality Barack Obama desperately wants. That's why there's a new deluge of policy proposals - not least of which is Israeli President Shimon Peres's trial balloon: a Palestinian state with provisional borders, leading to a permanent Israeli-Palestinian deal. Both parties officially reject the idea. But if properly formulated, it just might be a way of satisfying key Israeli and Palestinian needs. » Read more

Israel deploys cyber team to spread positive spin ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National by Jonathan Cook - July 21, 2009 - 12:00am The passionate support for Israel expressed on talkback sections of websites, internet chat forums, blogs, Twitters and Facebook may not be all that it seems. Israel’s foreign ministry is reported to be establishing a special undercover team of paid workers whose job it will be to surf the internet 24 hours a day spreading positive news about Israel. Internet-savvy Israeli youngsters, mainly recent graduates and demobilised soldiers with language skills, are being recruited to pose as ordinary surfers while they provide the government’s line on the Middle East conflict. » Read more

Settlements, and the California connection ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National July 20, 2009 - 12:00am ‘I will not cave in” announced the Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, “since this is a matter of 20 units only.” Mr Netanyahu’s curt response to the US government’s demand that Israel discontinue plans to build 20 apartments for Jewish settlers in Palestinian East Jerusalem underscores how this dispute has touched a nerve, and is of far greater significance than “20 units only”. » Read more

A desperate move ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times by Hassan Barari - (Opinion) July 20, 2009 - 12:00am It’s hard to avoid an impression that Palestinian politics is possibly beyond repair. The latest aspect of Palestinian political fragmentation and lack of strategic vision transpired when Farouk Kaddoumi, a senior PLO leader, accused President Mahmoud Abbas of playing a role in Yasser Arafat’s death. Kaddoumi has yet to substantiate his claim with hard evidence. » Read more

Amar: US settlement policy contravenes Torah ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Matthew Wagner - July 21, 2009 - 12:00am In his first public declaration on Jewish settlements in Judea and Samaria, Chief Sephardi Rabbi Shlomo Amar called this week on American Jews to explain to the Obama administration the religious obligation of every Jew to live in every part of the Land of Israel. » Read more

U.S. eyes Syrian, Palestinian tracks ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) by Leslie Susser - July 20, 2009 - 12:00am Despite the latest clash between Israel and the Obama administration over building -- this time in eastern Jerusalem -- the United States is pressing ahead with plans to reopen negotiations on both the Israeli-Palestinian and Israeli-Syrian tracks. » Read more

Encountering Peace: Oh no, Jerusalem ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Gershon Baskin - (Opinion) July 21, 2009 - 12:00am Israel Radio reported that the Obama administration has demanded an immediate halt to the construction of a Jewish housing project in an east Jerusalem neighborhood. The report said that Ambassador to the United States Michael Oren was summoned to the State Department and told that the project, which is being developed by an American citizen, must stop. » Read more

Palestinian killed on Gaza border ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News July 20, 2009 - 12:00am One Palestinian was killed and two were injured in incidents on the Israel-Gaza border on Sunday, Israeli officials and Palestinian medics have said. The man died in hospital in Israel after he was shot while approaching the border fence. The Israeli military said he did not heed warning shots. Separately, two Palestinians were hurt by Israeli tank fire, Gaza medics said. Israel's military said troops returned fire after a border patrol was targeted with a rocket-propelled grenade. But a pro-Hamas website said militants had been retaliating against Israeli fire. » Read more

Outgoing envoy: Conflict with US could hurt peace ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Yael Levy - July 21, 2009 - 12:00am Outgoing Israeli ambassador to the US, Sallai Meridor warned this week that direct confrontation with the United States over Israeli construction in the West Bank could prove detrimental to Israel's interests. In a conversation with Ynet, the man, who until Monday was in charge of Israel's ties with its closest ally, also criticizes Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's policy on the matter. » Read more

Netanyahu draws red line on settlement freeze ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor by Ilene Prusher - July 20, 2009 - 12:00am Tensions between the United States and Israel over settlement expansion in the West Bank escalated this weekend over a tinderbox issue: Israeli building in East Jerusalem, a predominantly Arab area that Israel claims as part of its "undivided and eternal capital." » Read more