July 30th

UN rights body tells Israel to end Gaza blockade
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Jonathan Lynn - July 30, 2010 - 12:00am


Israel must lift its military blockade of the Gaza Strip and invite an independent, fact-finding mission to investigate its raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla, a United Nations rights body said on Friday. The U.N. Human Rights Committee also told Israel to ensure that Palestinians in the occupied territories can enjoy the human rights that Israel had pledged to uphold in the main international human rights treaty.


UN envoy says acts in Jerusalem 'provocative'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
July 30, 2010 - 12:00am


Robert Serry, the UN special envoy to the Middle East peace process, condemned the takeover by armed settlers of a building in occupied East Jerusalem on Thursday. Two Jewish families, protected by Israeli police, entered the building, home to nine Palestinian families, with documents claiming that they owned the property. Israeli National Police spokesman Mickey Rosenfeld said police were examining the documents “to determine whether they are accurate or not."


For biased critics of Israel, even its defensive actions violate human rights
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Jeffrey Robbins - (Opinion) July 30, 2010 - 12:00am


In 1947, when excusing Soviet totalitarianism had become quite the rage in fashionable progressive circles, George Orwell eviscerated a British politician who consistently defended totalitarians but nevertheless denied that he was a defender of totalitarianism. “But of course he does,” Orwell wrote. “What else could he say? A pickpocket does not go to the races with a label ‘pickpocket’ on his coat lapel, and a propagandist does not describe himself as a propagandist.”


Breakthrough? Abbas gets Arab backing to enter Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Joshua Mitnick - July 30, 2010 - 12:00am


Setting the stage for the Palestinians to negotiate directly with Israel, the Arab League agreed in principle today to Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas holding face-to-face peace talks with the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The decision of the Arab League's forum on Israeli-Palestinian talks is significant because it provides political cover for Mr. Abbas, who has been locked in a battle for legitimacy with Islamists from Hamas who oppose negotiations with Israel.


From lynch to escort - cooperating with the PA is bearing fruit
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Amos Harel, Avi Issacharoff - (Blog) July 30, 2010 - 12:00am


Two reservists en route to their Israel Defense Forces base in the West Bank make a wrong turn and find themselves in the heart of a Palestinian city. They run into Palestinian policemen, who demand that they turn themselves in.


West Bank leader eyes ‘home stretch to freedom’
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Financial Times
by Tobias Buck - July 30, 2010 - 12:00am


Over the road from the offices of the Palestinian prime minister, a new commercial tower is taking shape – one of countless projects that have sprung up across Ramallah. The building site provides a noisy reminder of the economic boom under way in parts of the occupied West Bank, which registered growth of 8.5 per cent last year. Moreover, the upswing is taking place against a backdrop of relative stability and security. Yet the man most commonly associated with the West Bank’s transformation is far from content.


ATFP President, Senior Fellow Participate in Dominican Republic Peace Conference
Press Release - Contact Information: Hussein Ibish - July 30, 2010 - 12:00am

ATFP President Ziad Asali and Senior Fellow Hussein Ibish participated in a major conference on Middle East peace, the “FUNGLODE Forum for Peace at Cap Cana,” in the Dominican Republic from July 23-25. FUNGLODE is the acronym for the Dominican Global Foundation for Democracy and Development. The conference was presided over by the President of the Dominican Republic, Dr. Leonel Fernandez, who attended and participated in all the sessions, provided a welcoming address and several other interventions, and took notes throughout.


July 29th

The CSM describes Peace Now's monitoring of Israeli settlement activity. Aaron David Miller says direct talks may be a political trap for the Obama administration. Israel seizes a Palestinian building in occupied East Jerusalem. Pres. Abbas says he needs written assurances, but Egyptian officials say he has. Roadblocks continue to complicate life in the West Bank. Abbas says reunification must precede peace. The Arab League is set to reject direct negotiations, but PLO officials insist this is a purely Palestinian decision. PM Netanyahu says his government will fall if the moratorium is extended. Palestinian citizens of Israel say they have no choice but to build without permission. Israel speeds up construction of a barrier that will cut off a Palestinian village from its land. Larry Derfner says many Israelis who denounce Palestinian violence defend pre-state Jewish violence. D. Bloomfield worries about the prospect of Rep. Ros-Lehtinen becoming Chair of the House Foreign Relations Committee. Hamas bans lingerie displays in Gaza shops. Mahmoud Habboush says in spite of everything, Gaza is still his home. Daoud Kuttab describes the suffering of Palestinians trying to cross the Allenby Bridge in the summer heat. Michael Jansen says the easing of the Gaza blockade is largely cosmetic. The Arab News says PM Cameron was right to describe Gaza as a “prison camp.” Hussein Ibish describes the Catch-22 facing the Palestinian leadership on direct negotiations.

Police, settlers take over Jerusalem home
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
July 29, 2010 - 12:00am


Israeli settlers accompanied by police took over a building in the Old City of occupied East Jerusalem early Thursday morning, evicting families from three of the building's apartments. Israeli National Police spokesman Mickey Rosenfeld said two Jewish families entered the Old City home "based on documents claiming that they owned the property." He described the eviction as proceeding without incident.


Rattling the Cage: One man’s terrorist ...
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Larry Derfner - (Opinion) July 29, 2010 - 12:00am


One evening about 20 years ago, someone with a “Middle Eastern accent” called the Knesset and said a bomb was set to go off. I was working at The Jerusalem Post that night, and I can’t remember how much advance time the caller gave, but security guards went all around the Knesset and informed everyone, and some people left, but many stayed. It turned out there was no bomb.



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