The Israel-Egypt junta alliance
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Zvi Barel - (Opinion) August 31, 2011 - 12:00am

We were shocked. Suddenly we were told that Egypt is being run by a "military junta." We were also surprised to discover that after 33 years of peace, the peace agreement was signed with a dictator, and that we continued on with the dictator who followed him after he was assassinated. And now this peace is about to collapse, because the dictator is gone and the junta has arrived.

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New Egypt troop presence in Sinai a gamble for Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
by Edmund Sanders - August 30, 2011 - 12:00am

Reporting from Tel Aviv— The aftermath of the "Arab Spring" is forcing Israel to gamble with what had long been one of the foundations of its security: a demilitarized Sinai peninsula.

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New Egypt troop presence in Sinai a gamble for Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
by Edmund Sanders - August 30, 2011 - 12:00am

Reporting from Tel Aviv— The aftermath of the "Arab Spring" is forcing Israel to gamble with what had long been one of the foundations of its security: a demilitarized Sinai peninsula.

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August 30th

NEWS: The Israeli military is training settlers to fight Palestinian protesters. Larry Derfner is fired by the Jerusalem Post. Egypt is discussing raising its troop levels in Sinai with Israel. Israel says weapons are coming to Gaza from Libya. Hamas says reconciliation talks are going “very slowly.” PM Netanyahu meets with experts to discuss the possible borders of a future Palestinian state. Gaza NGOs express “horror” at new Hamas travel restrictions. Israeli officials say a 10-man cell is planning new attacks from Sinai. Egyptians debate their relationship with Israel. House Republicans propose a new bill to end funding to Palestinian refugees, among other measures. COMMENTARY: Amir Oren doubts Netanyahu really believes in military restraint. Akiva Eldar says Palestinian strategy will make it difficult for the US to oppose a UN initiative. Avi Yesawich says anything that happens at the UN will be purely symbolic and counterproductive. Khaled Diab says enemies need to begin to look for the good in each other. Gershon Baskin says resistance to Palestinian statehood by Israelis is national suicide and the Forward profiles him. Frida Ghitis says some are pushing for a new war in the Middle East. Palestinian refugees in Syria condemn attacks by the Assad regime. Geoffrey Paul looks in a new book by Hirsh Goodman on Israel's difficulties developing a viable peace strategy. House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Ileana Ros-Lehtinen says the US should punish the UN for any Palestinian initiative whatsoever by cutting off funds.

To protect Israel at U.N., money talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Miami Herald
by Ileane Ros-Lehtinen - (Opinion) August 27, 2011 - 12:00am

The recent onslaught of violent attacks against Israel reminds us of the growing threats facing the Jewish state. But even as extremists from Gaza fire rockets and mortars at civilians in southern Israel and cause death and destruction, we must not forget about another danger facing Israel: a unilateral campaign by Palestinian leaders to secure recognition from individual foreign governments and from the United Nations for a self-declared Palestinian “state.” This anti-Israel, anti-peace scheme must be stopped.

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The Anatomy of Israel's Survival
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Chronicle
by Geoffrey Paul - (Book Review) August 30, 2011 - 12:00am

There comes a moment when, if attempting an analysis of Israel's political and military dilemmas, you just have to get on with it hoping that, between pen and publication, nothing will happen - an intifada, a war, an assassination - that will make your assessment little more than footnotes to a volume of history. Hirsh Goodman, journalist, author and now senior fellow at Tel Aviv University's Institute for National Security Studies, is too experienced a hand to fall into the traps awaiting the unwary.

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Statement on Palestinian Refugees in Syria
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Arabiya
August 30, 2011 - 12:00am

An amateur video uploaded on a social platform shows members of the Movement of the Free Palestinian Refugees in Syria. The person on camera statement is the following: First statement of the Movement of the Free Palestinian Refugees in Syria: The Palestinian people were born free, lived free and will remain free and no one will be allowed to harm their dignity. They refuse to live under subjugation and injustice and no one will be allowed to trade in the Palestinian cause at the expense of Palestinian blood and dignity.

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Someone wants a war in the Middle East
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Miami Herald
by Frida Ghitis - (Analysis) August 30, 2011 - 12:00am

Something extremely important and exceedingly dangerous is unfolding in a most explosive part of the globe, but it is receiving only minimal attention by the media and by world leaders. An outbreak of violence in Southern Israel, Gaza, and along the Egyptian border, triggered by a recent attack against Israelis civilians, could easily escalate into much more serious fighting.

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Talking Peace Is Only Language He Understands
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward
by Nathan Jeffay - (Analysis) August 30, 2011 - 12:00am

When a series of terrorist attacks killed eight Israelis in and around the southern Israeli city of Eilat, Gershon Baskin knew immediately that the deaths had the potential to escalate into a full-blown conflict between Israel and Hamas, the Islamist group that rules Gaza. And he saw himself as one of the few individuals who could do something to stop it. You Say You Want Mediation: Peace activist Gershon Baskin is stepping down as head of the joint Israeli-Palestinian think tank he helped found. He has no plans to stop mediating disputes between the two sides.

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House Republicans Seek to Force UN Changes by Using U.S. Funding Leverage
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bloomberg
by Nicole Gaouette - August 30, 2011 - 12:00am

House Republicans are planning to introduce today legislation that seeks to force major changes at the United Nations, using as leverage the U.S.’s 22 percent contribution to the world body’s operating budget.

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