September 28th

Israeli agency urges funding to be cut from extremist settler college ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Independent by Donald MacIntyre - (Analysis) September 28, 2011 - 12:00am Israel's domestic intelligence agency is urging the government to stop funding a religious college in a Jewish West Bank settlement after warning that its senior rabbis are encouraging students to attack Palestinians. The intelligence agency, Shin Bet, pressed a month ago for an immediate block on the annual £226,000 grant for the religious college, or yeshiva, in the notoriously extreme settlement of Yitzhar, near Nablus. The Education Ministry has reportedly yet to take a decision despite two meetings with Shin Bet. » Read more

Abbas’ move was not a gambit, but the right thing to do ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News by Osama Al-Sharif - September 28, 2011 - 12:00am It was described as a gambit, a gamble, a historic bid, a mistake, a unilateral action, a hostile move and a triumph. Regardless of where one stood on the issue of declaring Palestinian statehood; its timing and mode of delivery, its value and outcome and its long-term consequences on the Arab-Israeli conflict and Israel’s occupation of Palestine, Abbas’ move signaled a crucial milestone in the decades-old struggle to fulfill Palestinian right to self-determination as a nation. » Read more

Koch on board with Obama ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) September 27, 2011 - 12:00am WASHINGTON (JTA) -- Ed Koch says he's now on the "Obama Reelection Express." The former New York mayor told supporters in an e-mail Monday that he is backing the president in the wake of his pro-Israel speech last week at the United Nations, among other factors. Koch credited his role in the Democrats' loss of this month's special congressional election in a heavily Jewish Democratic stronghold in New York City. Koch had urged voters to back the Republican candidate to send a message to President Obama, whom he accused of distancing himself from Israel. » Read more

‘Post’ poll finds surge in Obama popularity in Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Gil Hoffman - (Analysis) September 28, 2011 - 12:00am US President Barack Obama succeeded in reaching out to Israelis with his speech last Friday to the General Assembly and his efforts to block the UN from unilaterally declaring a Palestinian state, according to a Keevoon Research poll sponsored by The Jerusalem Post this week. When asked about the Obama administration’s policies, 54 percent said they were more favorable toward Israel, 19% said they were more pro- Palestinian, and 27% called them neutral. » Read more

Palestinians finally shed victimhood ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star by Rami Khouri - September 28, 2011 - 12:00am The Palestinian request last Friday for United Nations recognition of a Palestinian state in the land occupied by Israel in 1967 created quite a diplomatic stir. This came after weeks of anticipation and guessing whether the Palestinian leadership would ask the Security Council for full U.N. membership, or take the safer route of asking the General Assembly for non-member observer state status. » Read more

Israel's cabinet fails to reach consensus on Quartet plan for talks with Palestinians ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Nir Hasson, Avi Issacharoff, Jonathan Lis, Natasha Mozgovaya, Shlomo Shamir - (Analysis) September 28, 2011 - 12:00am Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the eight senior cabinet members were unable to reach an agreement regarding the Quartet's initiative for renewed talks between Israel and the Palestinians, despite prolonged discussions lasting until 2:00 A.M. on Wednesday. Netanyahu was expected to support the Quartet's proposal; however, due to a lack of consensus with the senior cabinet members, no decision was reached. » Read more

Op-Ed: Jewish vote in play for 2012 ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) by Lawrence Grossman - September 26, 2011 - 12:00am NEW YORK (JTA) -- Will the Jewish vote, normally overwhelmingly Democratic, be up for grabs in 2012? That question became a subject of intense debate when a Republican was elected recently to the House of Representatives from New York’s 9th Congressional District for the first time in 90 years. The district, which encompasses parts of Brooklyn and Queens and is about one-third Jewish, had been predictably Democratic and liberal. But in the blink of an eye it gave the non-Jewish Republican candidate an 8-point victory over the Democrat, an Orthodox Jew. » Read more

Palestinians look for modifying Paris agreement signed with Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua by Emad Drimly, Osama Radi - (Analysis) September 28, 2011 - 12:00am RAMALLAH, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian officials and analysts said Tuesday that substantial modifications of Paris agreement, signed in 1994 and aimed at coordinating the economical ties with Israel, would be essential to strengthen the characteristics of the Palestinian state. Mohamed Ishteya, director general of the Palestinian Economical Council for Development and Reconstruction (PECDR), said the Paris agreement depended on the basis of free movement of trade, workers and goods in both directions. » Read more

Rhetoric vs. reality: ‘Lawfare’ and the PA statehood bid ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Josh Mintz - September 27, 2011 - 12:00am In February 2010, Avichai Mandebilt, the IDF’s chief military advocate-general was quoted in a diplomatic cable as saying that a successful Palestinian Authority attempt to take Israel to the International Criminal Court (ICC) on charges of war crimes would be considered an act of war by the IDF. » Read more

Palestinian prisoners to start hunger strike against worsening condition in Israeli jails ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua by Mu Xuequan - (Analysis) September 28, 2011 - 12:00am JERUSALEM, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- Palestinians jailed in Israeli prisons are going to start a hunger strike Wednesday to protest against what they call "an escalating series of punitive measures by the Israel Prison Service (IPS)." Beginning this week, the prisoners will go on a hunger strike every Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday, together with other forms of disobedience, including refusal to wear prison uniforms or cooperate with any other IPS demands, according to a press release from Addameer, a non-governmental organization working to promote Palestinian prisoners' rights. » Read more