August 20th

Anshel Pfeffer / It's all too easy for Israeli rights groups to call the IDF's bluff
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Anshel Pfeffer - August 20, 2010 - 12:00am

This week I published in Haaretz the story of a small group of reserve soldiers who last month, while on active duty in the Jordan Valley, decided to make a small modification to their routine: They replaced the standard collection of curt phrases in basic Arabic - used by generations of IDF soldiers to order Palestinian civilians to stop, open their car door, present documents and identify themselves - with the more pleasant greetings and respectful, traditional blessings of which Arabic is so full.

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Report Criticizes Gaza Restrictions
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Ethan Bronner - August 19, 2010 - 12:00am

Kamal Sweleim’s family has owned a farm in this northern part of Gaza for six decades. For most of that time, it was a mix of citrus orchards and plump cows, and the family made a handsome living selling its products to Israel, Jordan and the West Bank. But 10 years ago, when the second Palestinian uprising broke out, spreading violence in Israeli streets, Israeli tanks started repeatedly tearing through the family’s fields, chasing militants. Last year, during the Israeli war in Gaza, the Sweleims were ordered to move out, and their trees and wells were bulldozed.

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Israelis and Palestinians to Resume Talks, Officials Say
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Mark Landler - August 20, 2010 - 12:00am

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is expected to announce Friday that Israel and the Palestinians will return to direct negotiations for the first time in 20 months, delivering the Obama administration a small victory in its protracted effort to revive the Middle East peace process, two officials briefed on the situation said Thursday evening. The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and the president of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, have agreed to place a one-year time limit on the talks, these officials said.

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August 19th

A former Palestinian intelligence chief passes away. George Will calls the search for peace “obscene.” Palestinian students learn about the Holocaust. The UN welcomes Lebanon's easing of restrictions on Palestinian refugees, but the Arab News says it's not enough. The UN publishes Israeli and PA responses to the Goldstone report. Another settler rabbi is arrested suspicion of incitement and a rally is held in support of rabbis authorizing the killing of non-Jews. Israeli soldiers are accused of looting from the Gaza flotilla. A senior UN official calls on Israel to extend the settlement moratorium. Settlers and Palestinians recall the 2005 Gaza redeployment. Israeli groups launch Wikipedia editing seminars. After criticism from the right, the New Israel Fund considers guidelines for grantees. The Forward profiles Israeli Amb. Michael Oren. JJ Goldberg looks at the legality of the flotilla raid. Rami Khouri says Israeli leaders promote a culture of victimhood. Neil Berry profiles Palestinian writer Raja Shehadeh. Hussein Ibish looks at the new PA initiative on education.

You'll Never Guess What the Laws of War Say About Attacking a Neutral Vessel on the High Seas
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward
by J.J. Goldberg - August 19, 2010 - 12:00am

I don’t know about you, but I find on occasion that there’s nothing more relaxing than to curl up with some good reading material. Well, the other day I was getting cozy with my favorite Geneva Conventions on the laws of war, and to my surprise I came across an annex to the conventions detailing the ins and outs of what’s legal and what’s not legal in the conduct of warfare at sea. How about that? The document is fetchingly titled The San Remo Manual on International Law Applicable to Armed Conflicts at Sea, 12 June 1994.

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Wikipedia editing courses launched by Zionist groups
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Rachel Shabi - August 18, 2010 - 12:00am

Since the earliest days of the worldwide web, the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians has seen its rhetorical counterpart fought out on the talkboards and chatrooms of the internet. Now two Israeli groups seeking to gain the upper hand in the online debate have launched a course in "Zionist editing" for Wikipedia, the online reference site.

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Palestinians turn to educational reform
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Common Ground News Service
by Hussein Ibish - August 19, 2010 - 12:00am

In an important new move, the Palestinian Authority has recently begun highlighting education as one of the main centrepieces in the next phase of the state and institution building programme. Under the leadership of President Mahmoud Abbas, the PA understands that an effective and progressive educational system is essential for economic and social development, building a functional state, and laying the groundwork for peace with Israel.

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Raja Shehadeh’s Palestine
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News
by Neil Berry - August 18, 2010 - 12:00am

“Lawrence of Arabia” was typical of the British imperial class in expecting that they would “make the desert bloom”. He was typical of it, too, for all his romanticizing of the Arab world, in nursing no such expectation of Palestine’s “existing inhabitants”.

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Editorial: Not enough
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News
August 19, 2010 - 12:00am

Palestinians remain barred from working for the government and in the professions, including law and medicine. They are also still forbidden from owning property and taking advantage of government health and welfare provisions.

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IDF soldiers suspected of theft from Gaza flotilla ship
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
August 18, 2010 - 12:00am

Military Police arrested an Israel Defense Forces officer suspected of stealing laptop computers from activists aboard the Gaza-bound aid ship raided by Israeli commandos in May and selling them to other officers. The officer allegedly sold the computers to a friend, who in turn sold them to friends of his. Three officers who are suspected of having bought the computers have also been detained for questioning.

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