August 3rd

Who will speak up for Israeli citizens' right to free speech?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Daphna Baram - (Opinion) August 3, 2010 - 12:00am


The most widely mentioned text in Israel over the last few weeks has been the famous quotation by Pastor Martin Niemöller from 1946, which begins: "First they came for the Communists".


Israel approves new east Jerusalem apartments
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
August 3, 2010 - 12:00am


Israeli municipal officials have approved the building of 40 apartments in a Jewish neighborhood in Jerusalem's disputed eastern sector. The move could undermine efforts to restart direct Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. It comes as U.S. peace envoy David Hale is visiting the region. Municipality spokesman Stephen Miller confirmed the approval and said on Tuesday that construction would continue for residents of all faiths in Jerusalem.


In the midst of Gaza's calamity lies an opportunity
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star
by Joseph Mayton - August 3, 2010 - 12:00am


Beyond the most obvious hardships brought about by the Gaza blockade, there is another less commonly discussed environmental calamity in the making that could have terrible long-term implications. According to the United Nations Environment Program, the blockade on the Strip is causing severe water shortages and preventing farmers from tilling their land, leading to environmental damage that could take decades to repair.


Israel, Turkey and the U.N.
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
(Editorial) August 3, 2010 - 12:00am


It took too long, but Israel made the right decision in saying it would cooperate with a United Nations-led investigation into its disastrous attack on a Gaza-bound aid ship. Only a transparent and credible inquiry has a chance of calming international outrage over the incident and beginning to repair fractured Israeli-Turkish ties.


Is one-state solution an answer to Greater Israel dreams?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA)
by Leslie Susser - August 3, 2010 - 12:00am


In one of the more curious twists in Israeli politics, prominent figures on Israel’s right wing have begun pushing for a one-state solution with Israelis and Palestinians as equal citizens with full voting rights. The one-state solution previously had been the preserve of the post-Zionist left, Palestinian hard-liners and left-leaning European intellectuals who envisioned turning Israel proper, the West Bank and Gaza into a single state in which the Palestinians soon would become the majority and assume the reins of government.


U.S. group launches campaign against West Bank settlement construction
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Natasha Mozgovaya - August 3, 2010 - 12:00am


Americans for Peace Now, a sister group to the dovish Israeli group Peace Now, has announced the launching a unique campaign on Monday, meant to sway public opinion against containing settlement construction. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared the construction freeze West Bank settlements, due to expire on September 26, in last November, after months of pressure from the Obama administration, and following a Palestinian refusal to begin talks without one.


August 2nd

A rocket, probably aimed at Israel, lands in Jordan killing one man and injuring several. Efraim Karsh argues that Palestinians should forget about Arab support. Some analysts say recent rocket attacks are an effort by Hamas to derail peace talks, but others say it has an interest in keeping Gaza quiet. An Israeli airstrike in Gaza injures 42 Palestinians. PLO officials deny claiming the US threatened to cut ties. The World Bank appoints a new official to Palestine. Israel says officers will be assigned to protect civilians in future conflicts. Pres. Abbas meets US officials and proposes a trilateral meeting before direct talks. A building boom in Ramallah indicates economic growth in the West Bank. Israel agrees in principle to a UN investigation into the Gaza flotilla attack. Israelis and Palestinians use theater to promote peace. Robert Fisk says Israel has become a de facto member of the EU without anyone realizing it. US companies may have been involved in financing the assassination of a Hamas operative in Dubai. The Arab News questions Pres. Obama's policy of pressuring the PLO. PM Fayyad vows no unilateral declaration of statehood and rejects calls to abandon the fight for Palestinian independence.

Fruitless talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News
(Editorial) August 2, 2010 - 12:00am


Suddenly the mood music for a resumption of direct talks between the Palestinians and the Israelis has changed key and grown louder. The Arab League Thursday endorsed such negotiations subject to Palestinian judgment on timing. It would seem Israeli Premier Benjamin Netanyahu’s speculation that direct talks could be under way by the middle of this month, was not merely diplomatic window-dressing.


U.S. companies helped finance Dubai slaying
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA)
August 2, 2010 - 12:00am


Money transfers made through U.S. companies may have used to help finance the January assassination of a senior Hamas leader, the Wall Street Journal reported. The transfers were discovered by American investigators cooperating with the probe into the Jan. 20 assassination of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in a hotel room in Dubai.


Robert Fisk: Israel has crept into the EU without anyone noticing
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Independent
by Robert Fisk - August 2, 2010 - 12:00am


The death of five Israeli servicemen in a helicopter crash in Romania this week raised scarcely a headline.



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