July 28th

Hamas may employ Gaza army draft ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press July 28, 2010 - 12:00am The top security official in Hamas-ruled Gaza said Tuesday he is considering setting up a bigger military force, first with volunteers and eventually with conscripts as well. Such a step could further tighten Hamas' control of Gaza and deepen the rift with the group's Western-backed rivals in the West Bank. Hamas seized Gaza by force in 2007, wresting control from forces loyal to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Currently, Hamas has a paid security force of about 18,000. » Read more

Israel razes homes in Bedouin village ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times by Edmund Sanders - July 28, 2010 - 12:00am For the sixth time in a decade, farmer Ismail Mohamed Salem watched Israeli bulldozers raze his home in this disputed Bedouin village. Hours later, he sat next to the rubble and vowed to rebuild — yet again. "This is my land," said Salem, 70, as his grandchildren lay sleeping on straw mats next to the demolished structure, now a 20-foot pile of twisted aluminum, broken concrete and splintered wood. "Why should I leave?" Salem's home was among 45 demolished early Tuesday as part of a long-running dispute between Arab tribes in the Negev desert and the Israeli government. » Read more

US revamps its ‘Muddle East’ policy ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Ehud Yaari - July 28, 2010 - 12:00am The foreign policy team of US President Barack Obama is undertaking a reassessment of its policy all over the Middle East, including Israel. No one has made or will make a public declaration about such a change, but a reassessment is nonetheless under way, and we can already detect the first products of this rethinking of policy. » Read more

Pressure mounts for Mideast talks as Israel's settlement freeze nears end ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post by Janine Zacharia - July 28, 2010 - 12:00am While Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak visited Washington this week to talk about peace gestures toward the Palestinians, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman was planting a tree in a Jewish settlement in the West Bank -- an indication of permanence that few Palestinians would welcome. The contrast showed the confusion U.S. officials face in figuring out how willing Israel might be to cede territory as part of a two-state solution to the conflict. » Read more

David Cameron describes blockaded Gaza as a 'prison' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News July 28, 2010 - 12:00am UK Prime Minister David Cameron has condemned the blockade of the Gaza Strip, describing the territory as a "prison camp". He also criticised Israel for launching an attack on a convoy transporting Turkish activists and aid to Gaza. Nine Turkish citizens died in the raid. He was speaking to an audience of businessmen during a visit to Ankara. The Israeli embassy in London said Gazans were prisoners of Palestinian militant Islamist group Hamas. Israel and Egypt enforce a blockade on Gaza which restricts goods and people from coming in or out freely. » Read more

Global Airline Pilots Not Happy About Israeli Security Program ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Christine Negroni - July 28, 2010 - 12:00am Pilots of commercial airlines that fly into Israel are expressing increased opposition to a security program imposed by the country’s Ministry of Transport that they say could subject inbound flights to possible attack by Israeli warplanes. Last week, an Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 flight to Tel Aviv was intercepted as it approached Israeli airspace when pilots failed to correctly submit a code confirming their identity as required under the security program. The plane was prohibited from landing until it was determined not to be a security threat. » Read more

Student Injury at Protest Leads to Battle in Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Isabel Kershner - July 28, 2010 - 12:00am A macabre legal wrangle is under way over who should pay the hospital bill for an American art student who lost an eye after being struck by a tear-gas canister fired by an Israeli border police officer at a Palestinian-led protest in the West Bank. The student, Emily Henochowicz, 21, was injured on May 31 after she joined Palestinian and foreign activists protesting that morning’s deadly raid by Israeli naval commandos on a Turkish boat trying to breach the blockade of Gaza. Israeli security forces fired tear gas to disperse the demonstration after a few Palestinian youths threw rocks. » Read more

The Israeli right has a new vision – Jews and Arabs sharing one country ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian by Jonathan Freedland - July 28, 2010 - 12:00am If David Cameron is feeling a tad frustrated by the lack of progress in the Middle East – breaking with usual diplomatese during a visit to Turkey todayto brand Gaza a "prison camp" – then he is not the only one. "Everything is stuck," sighs Jamal Zahalka, a Palestinian member of the Israeli parliament on a visit to London. The small Arab nationalist party he leads is formally committed to the two-state solution which would see a Palestinian state alongside Israel, but he sees no prospect of it. Those in charge are interested only in "conflict management, not resolution", he says. » Read more

Proximity talks have their uses ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons by Yossi Alpher - (Opinion) July 28, 2010 - 12:00am Later this week, the Arab League will decide whether to recommend that the PLO move from proximity to direct talks in its negotiations with the Netanyahu government. The American-led Quartet and the moderate Arab states are reportedly pressuring President Mahmoud Abbas to request precisely such a recommendation. This, then, is a good opportunity to reflect on the advantages of US-brokered proximity talks as opposed to direct talks in the Israeli-Palestinian context. » Read more

Martin Indyk: I think the settlement issue will be resolved ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Natasha Mozgovaya - (Interview) July 28, 2010 - 12:00am Martin Indyk served as the U.S. ambassador to Israel from 1995 to 1997 and from 2000 to 2001. Today he is vice president for foreign policy at the Brookings Institution think tank in Washington. Assuming Benjamin Netanyahu's government has no intention of extending the freeze on construction in the settlements in September, what impact might that have on direct talks? » Read more