August 24th

Fatah official: Hamas requested elections delay
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
August 24, 2011 - 12:00am

Fatah central committee member Mahmoud Al-Aloul on Tuesday said Hamas requested the postponement of local elections. In a statement, Al-Aloul said a delegation representing Hamas requested that the vote be postponed until reconciliation with Fatah was finalized. President Mahmoud Abbas issued a decree on Monday postponing local West Bank elections, scheduled for Oct. 22, "until appropriate circumstances" exist. The October vote was planned to take place in the West Bank and the elections commission said Hamas had blocked efforts to organize elections in the Gaza Strip.

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Arab League supports Palestinian bid
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from United Press International (UPI)
August 24, 2011 - 12:00am

The Arab League's Peace Initiative Committee pledged to support the Palestinian bid for unilateral statehood at the United Nations next month. At a meeting in Doha Tuesday, members of the committee approved a work plan to build up international support for the move, paving the way for the Palestinians to secure full membership status with East Jerusalem as its capital, Gulf Times reported Wednesday. In an interview on al-Jazeera, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas accused Israel of initiating the recent tensions in Gaza to distract attention from the wave of social justice protests.

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UN bid 'endangers Palestinian rights'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
August 24, 2011 - 12:00am

The Palestinian team responsible for preparing the United Nations initiative in September has been given an independent legal opinion that reveals a high risk involved with its plan to join the UN. An initiative to transfer the Palestinians' representation from the PLO to a state will terminate the legal status held by the PLO in the UN since 1975 that it is the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people, according to the document.

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August 23rd

NEWS: Egypt says it never considered withdrawing its ambassador to Israel. The US is investigating possible ties of Al-Qaeda sympathizers to recent attacks in Israel. Glenn Beck's Israel tour raises questions about the Christian right and its agenda. Israel's anti-missile system may have helped stop an escalation with Gaza militants. Pres. Abbas postpones planned municipal elections in the West Bank. The UN report on last year's flotilla incident is again delayed. Israeli courts reject an appeal by Palestinians against the separation barrier. PM Netanyahu reportedly tells his cabinet why a large-scale assault on Gaza is not in Israel's interests. Resentment against Hamas is growing within Gaza's middle class. Gaza tunnel operators are focusing on moving people. Egypt bans the export of palm leaves to Israel. The Arab League chief reportedly suggests Palestinians reconsider any UN initiative. COMMENTARY: Rachel Tabachnick says Israel should shun Glenn Beck. Noam Sheizaf says Beck's tour could be disastrous. Eitan Haber says it makes sense for Israel to apologize to Egypt over the death of its soldiers. Sami Abdel-Shafi says the EU should aid Gaza. George Semaan says Israel faces a strategic crisis. Mohammad Salah says the incident over the flag at the Israeli embassy in Cairo is a symptom of Egypt's loss of influence. The Jordan Times says recent attacks in Israel only undermine the Palestinian cause. Uri Avnery says violence is being driven by extremists, including those in power.

The return of the generals
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News
by Uri Avnery - (Opinion) August 23, 2011 - 12:00am

Since the beginning of the conflict, the extremists of both sides have always played into each other's hands. The cooperation between them was always much more effective than the ties between the corresponding peace activists. This was proved again this week. At the beginning of the week, Binyamin Netanyahu was desperately looking for a way out of an escalating internal crisis. The social protest movement was gathering momentum and posing a growing danger to his government. The whole content of the public discourse had changed beyond recognition.

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Convenient occurrences
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times
(Opinion) August 23, 2011 - 12:00am

Tension is flaring up again between Israel and Gaza, after the recent attacks by unknown assailants against Israeli vehicles along the Israeli border with Sinai, which killed and wounded a number of Israelis, both military and civilians, and between Israel and Egypt. Israel’s knee-jerk response was to immediately send its military planes to strike Palestinian targets in Gaza Strip, killing and wounding a number of civilians, including children. Before that, Israeli forces killed five Egyptian soldiers on its border with Sinai, while allegedly in pursuit of attackers.

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“The Embassy… in the Building”
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Dar Al-Hayat
by Mohammad Salah - (Opinion) August 22, 2011 - 12:00am

Very innocent, pure and chaste are the feelings of pride that erupted among Egyptians when a young man was able to climb the tall building, the last floor of which is occupied by the Israeli embassy, bringing down the flag of the Hebrew state and raising the Egyptian flag in its stead. For more than quarter of a century, walking alongside the building or near it remained an endeavor rife with danger (the embassy was located in Iran Street in the Dokki district, before it moved to a building overlooking the Nile in Giza).

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New Strategic Flaw Affects Israel?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Dar Al-Hayat
by George Semaan - (Opinion) August 22, 2011 - 12:00am

The Arab action has started to cast its shadows over Israel, while the security repercussions of the Eilat operation on the Gaza Strip and the killing of the Egyptian soldiers with the bullets of the Israeli army on the border between the two countries might lead to political repercussions that could make the Hebrew state come face to face with a blunt strategic flaw. In the meantime, Benjamin Netanyahu’s government is standing before challenges for which it is not envied.

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The EU must give Gazan hope a hand
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Sami Abdel-shafi - (Opinion) August 22, 2011 - 12:00am

It is no longer fitting to wonder whether Gaza is a problem: of course it is, and will continue to be for as long as its residents are forced to survive on aid for lack of economic opportunity and are denied the simple freedoms to pursue a decent and peaceful life. Whenever violence breaks out in or around the Gaza Strip, whether Gazans are responsible or not, we end up bearing the brunt.

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Yes, apologize to Egypt
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Eitan Haber - (Opinion) August 23, 2011 - 12:00am

Some of the people reading this column, and possibly very many of them, are infuriated and fuming at this very moment: Apologize? To the Egyptians? Why should we? What for? And what about our “national honor”? Well, they can relax, take a tranquillizer and get some rest. The undersigned cares about national honor no less than they do, and possibly even more so. However, peace – as long as it’s alive – is more important. We have nothing that is more important.

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