August 18th

Turkey plans diplomatic assault on Israel after its refusal to apologize for Gaza flotilla raid ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Barak Ravid - August 18, 2011 - 12:00am Turkey plans to launch a diplomatic and legal assault on Israel after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu refused on Wednesday to issue an apology to Turkey for the raid on the Gaza aid flotilla last year in which nine Turkish pro-Palestinian activists were killed. Sources in the Foreign Ministry said Turkey now intends to implement "Plan B", which will include an anti-Israel campaign in UN institutions, with an emphasis on the International Court of Justice. Turkey also plans to encourage the families of the raid's victims to file suits against senior Israeli figures in European courts. » Read more

Hamas official: Party not moving headquarters to Cairo ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency August 17, 2011 - 12:00am A senior Hamas leader said Wednesday that the party has no intention of moving its headquarters in exile from Damascus to Cairo. Salah Bardaweil rubbished reports that the recent visit to Egypt by exiled Hamas leader Khalid Mashaal was to discuss moving the party's offices to Cairo. “Hamas has not discussed moving its office from Syria, neither was this the goal of Mashaal’s visit to Cairo,” Bardaweil told Ma'an. The Cairo trip was not a surprise visit, he added, and had been previously scheduled. » Read more

Rights group: Hamas ban on study abroad students 'illegal' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency August 18, 2011 - 12:00am The Palestinian Center for Human Rights denounced Wednesday the decision by Hamas to ban Gaza scholarship students from studying in the United States. "PCHR believes that this decision contradicts basic human rights standards, especially the Universal Declaration of Human Rights," a statement said. The rights group said that the students were banned from traveling for "social and cultural reasons" by the Ministry of Education in the Gaza Strip. » Read more

Palestinians talk of protest, little sign of action ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Alertnet (Analysis) August 18, 2011 - 12:00am Calls for Palestinian protests to back a diplomatic push for statehood at the United Nations next month have put Israel on guard; the peace process in deep crisis, some see a violent September, inspired by the Arab Spring. Yet to many, a sustained Intifada, or uprising, appears unlikely, at least for now. To ordinary Palestinians, the significance of U.N. manouvres in New York is hard to fathom, their leaders in the West Bank are wary of violence with Israel and their national movement remains weakened by a deep schism. » Read more

Israelis, Palestinians brace for massive statehood protests ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times by Edmund Sanders - August 17, 2011 - 12:00am Palestinians say it will trigger the biggest West Bank demonstrations in years. Israelis are bracing for another intifada. A month before a potentially historic United Nations showdown over Palestinian statehood, the two sides are mobilizing for the possibility of mass street protests that some fear could spiral into a violent uprising. » Read more

7 Dead in Attacks on Israelis Near Egypt ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by J. David Goodman, Isabel Kershner - August 18, 2011 - 12:00am Attackers mounted at least three separate strikes on Israeli civilians and soldiers around the popular Red Sea resort of Eilat on Thursday, in what the country’s defense minister called a “grave terrorist incident.” Seven Israelis were reported killed and 20 wounded, and the military said seven attackers were killed. » Read more

August 17th

Middle East Quartet Statement ATFP World Press Roundup Article from August 16, 2011 - 12:00am The Quartet is greatly concerned by Israel's recent announcements to advance planning for new housing units in Ariel and Easter Jerusalem, and reiterated its position in this regard, in particular its statement of March 12, 2010. The Quartet reaffirms that unilateral action by either party cannot rejudge the outcome of negotiations and will not be recognized by the international community. Jerusalem in particular is one of the core issues that must be resolved through negotiations between the parties, which underscores the urgent need for the parties to resume serious and substantive talks. » Read more

A Palestinian view: progeny of a colonial state ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons (Opinion) August 15, 2011 - 12:00am The so-called "price tag" campaign is regarded as a product of the illegal Israeli settlement of Yitzhar, yet the price tag of Israeli occupation and fanatical land grabbing is much more generally aligned with the policies and practices of Israel, the state. The price tag campaign, after all, is the settler pursuit to claim as much indigenous land as possible by terrorizing Palestinians with arson, gunfire, vandalism and other forms of harassment and even death. » Read more

Agenda for Abbas ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star (Editorial) August 17, 2011 - 12:00am The visit by Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority, is easy enough to explain in “political” terms. Abbas will preside Wednesday over the official opening of a Palestinian embassy in Lebanon, while the visit is also dealing with next month’s meeting of the United Nations General Assembly, and how Beirut can provide support in the run-up to the declaration of a Palestinian state. » Read more

Obama isn’t being treated fairly on Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) by Marc Stanley - (Opinion) August 15, 2011 - 12:00am I was amused by Adam Serwer's recent blog post titled “Is Bibi anti-Israel?” in which he pointed out that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu conditionally offered this month to negotiate with the Palestinians using the pre-1967 borders as a framework. Amazingly, there was no outcry by American Jews that Netanyahu was abandoning Israel by suggesting a return to supposedly “indefensible” borders. » Read more