August 9th

Translator shortage hinders probes into IDF abuses in West Bank
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Liel Kyzer - August 9, 2010 - 12:00am

A shortage of translators is seriously damaging Military Police investigations into complaints by Palestinians against Israeli soldiers, human rights organization Yesh Din said yesterday. In a letter to the officer monitoring such investigations, Yesh Din said complainants often travel far for prearranged meetings with investigators, only to find that the meetings have been canceled because no interpreter could be found.

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Palestinian urges probe into alleged Shin Bet abuse
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Israel News
by Aviad Glickman - August 8, 2010 - 12:00am

A Palestinian man claiming he was tortured by the Shin Bet filed a petition with the High Court of Justice on Sunday demanding an inquiry be launched into what he described as cruel and inhumane treatment by his interrogators. Allah Nasser Salem, 22, from Ramllah, and the Public Committee Against Torture claimed that they have yet to receive an answer to a complaint filed six months after the alleged abuse in October-November 2008 in which they demanded a criminal investigation against the interrogators.

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High Court: Seal illegal West Bank synagogue
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Tovah Lazaroff - August 9, 2010 - 12:00am

The High Court of Justice on Sunday upheld a June ruling and ordered the state to seal and fence off a synagogue that it said was illegally constructed in the El Matan outpost in Samaria. El Matan is located just south of the Ma’aleh Shomron settlement, but within its official boundaries. “There is no place for delaying the execution of this order,” the court said. But it added that there was no way to intervene in the authorities’ priorities for the area. The court asked the state for an update on the matter within 60 days.

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Inquiry shouldn’t let Israel off the hook
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
August 9, 2010 - 12:00am

What are the chances that Israel will be held accountable for the fatal raid on the Gaza aid flotilla in May? If history is any precedent, it is difficult to be optimistic. Last week, the United Nations announced that a panel would investigate the attack, an investigation in which Israel has since agreed to participate.

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Strategic acumen dictates Abbas' return to direct talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News
by Adel Safty - August 9, 2010 - 12:00am

There is something preposterous in the question that seems to characterise the current stage of the peace process in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict: To talk or not to talk directly. The final settlement of conflicts necessarily requires intense and sustained negotiations between the parties to the conflict. And this intensity and sustainability are evidently lacking in the so-called proximity talks in which the parties relay messages to each other through a third party.

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Steal This Movie
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Thomas L. Friedman - August 9, 2010 - 12:00am

I just saw a remarkable new documentary directed by Shlomi Eldar, the Gaza reporter for Israel’s Channel 10 news. Titled “Precious Life,” the film tracks the story of Mohammed Abu Mustafa, a 4-month-old Palestinian baby suffering from a rare immune deficiency. Moved by the baby’s plight, Eldar helps the infant and mother go from Gaza to Israel’s Tel Hashomer hospital for lifesaving bone-marrow treatment. The operation costs $55,000. Eldar puts out an appeal on Israel TV and within hours an Israeli Jew whose own son was killed during military service donates all the money.

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Abbas agrees on peacekeeping forces in future Palestinian state regardless of religion: aide
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
August 9, 2010 - 12:00am

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas agrees on deploying international peacekeeping forces in a future Palestinian state regardless of their religion, an aide to Abbas said on Saturday. Abbas' advisor Nemer Hammad denied U.S. media reports that the Palestinian leader would not agree to have any Jews among the peacekeeping forces that would be present alongside the Israeli- Palestinian borders after reaching a two-state solution. "These reports are totally baseless and untrue," Hammad was quoted by the official Palestinian Wafa news agency as saying.

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The new ghetto
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Yossi Beilin - (Opinion) August 9, 2010 - 12:00am

Political Zionism led by Theodor Herzl would not have come into existence were it not for anti-Semitism in Europe, pogroms in Russia and a fear lest the emergence of the Jews from the ghetto and their integration into the economic, political, media and academic systems of the day provoke a sharp and violent reaction. There were alternative Jewish movements aimed at reaching the Land of Israel on the basis of religious motives or in order to build a new society founded on agricultural settlement and social justice. But that was not the Zionist movement as established in 1897.

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August 6th

Israeli Amb. Oren says the Middle East is at a crossroads between war and peace. A thriving Jenin, with a reopened main cinema, is an example of Palestinian progress in the West Bank. Palestinians say the economy could grow by 20% per year under peace. Hamas' military wing welcomes rocket attacks from Sinai. Palestinian-Israeli and West Bank business leaders meet in Nablus. Several recent border incidents highlight Israeli security concerns. Older Gazans remember Israeli civilians, but youths know only the Army. Three are injured in a clash between Hamas and Islamic Jihad. Hamas leaders urge the kidnapping of Israeli settlers in the West Bank. Zeev Sternhell says it's time for both Israeli and Palestinian leaders to be honest about their intentions. Former HHS Sec. Donna Shalala says she was humiliated at Ben-Gurion Airport because of her Arab heritage. Saudi Arabia is coaxing the PLO to enter direct talks. The BBC profiles child labor in Gaza. Laila El-Haddad says calling Gaza “a prison camp” is an understatement. The New Statesman interviews Palestinian MK Haneen Zoabi. Ori Nir says it's time to confront Israel's extremists. Hussein Ibish says both Arab and Israeli leaders are behaving in an undignified manner.

Israeli Amb. Oren says the Middle East is at a crossroads between war and peace. A thriving Jenin, with a reopened main cinema, is an example of Palestinian progress in the West Bank. Palestinians say the economy could grow by 20% per year under peace. Hamas' military wing welcomes rocket attacks from Sinai. Palestinian-Israeli and West Bank business leaders meet in Nablus. Several recent border incidents highlight Israeli security concerns. Older Gazans remember Israeli civilians, but youths know only the Army. Three are injured in a clash between Hamas and Islamic Jihad. Hamas leaders urge the kidnapping of Israeli settlers in the West Bank. Zeev Sternhell says it's time for both Israeli and Palestinian leaders to be honest about their intentions. Former HHS Sec. Donna Shalala says she was humiliated at Ben-Gurion Airport because of her Arab heritage. Saudi Arabia is coaxing the PLO to enter direct talks. The BBC profiles child labor in Gaza. Laila El-Haddad says calling Gaza “a prison camp” is an understatement. The New Statesman interviews Palestinian MK Haneen Zoabi. Ori Nir says it's time to confront Israel's extremists. Hussein Ibish says both Arab and Israeli leaders are behaving in an undignified manner.

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