October 24th

Palestinian caught trying to smuggle bombs into Jerusalem
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
October 23, 2012 - 12:00am

JERUSALEM, Oct. 23 (Xinhua) -- Israeli border police at a busy checkpoint between Palestinian-held areas and Jerusalem on Tuesday detained a Palestinian man found trying to smuggle pipe bombs into the city.

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More than 70 rockets and mortars hit south Israel, three wounded
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
October 24, 2012 - 12:00am

Militants in the Gaza Strip fired more than 70 rockets and mortar shells at southern Israel over the course of Wednesday, leaving three people wounded.

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Bomb wounds Israeli officer on Gaza border
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
October 23, 2012 - 12:00am

JERUSALEM, Oct 23 (Reuters) - An Israeli officer was severely wounded on Tuesday when a bomb went off beside an army patrol along the border with the Gaza Strip, a military spokeswoman said.

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Israeli airstrikes kill 4, injure 8 in Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
October 24, 2012 - 12:00am

GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Multiple Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip have killed four people and injured eight since late Tuesday, medics said. Israeli warplanes struck a target in Rafah early Wednesday, killing Muhammad al-Sheikh, 32, a member of the PRC's military wing the Nasser Saladin Brigades. One other person was also injured in the attack.

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Qatar visit breaks Gaza ice, delights Hamas
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Nidal Al-Mughrabi - October 23, 2012 - 12:00am

GAZA, Oct 23 (Reuters) - The Emir of Qatar embraced the Hamas leadership of Gaza on Tuesday with an official visit that broke the isolation of the Palestinian Islamist movement, to the dismay of Israel and rival, Western-backed Palestinian leaders.

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Qatar’s Emir Visits Gaza, Pledging $400 Million to Hamas
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Jodi Rudoren - October 23, 2012 - 12:00am

JERUSALEM — The emir of Qatar on Tuesday became the first head of state to visit the Gaza Strip since Hamas took full control of it in 2007, the latest step in an ambitious campaign by the tiny Persian Gulf nation to leverage its outsize pocketbook in support of Islamists across the region — and one that threatened to widen the rift between rival Palestinian factions.

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October 23rd

NEWS: The Emir of Qatar visits Gaza. The Gaza trip is seen as the latest part in Qatar's efforts to develop more regional influence. Fatah officials say they were not invited to meet him. An Israeli soldier is wounded by a bomb on Israel-Gaza border. Pres. Obama and GOP candidate Romney both pledge support for Israel in their final debate. Former Pres. Carter questions whether Israel is interested in a two-state solution, as a new survey indicates most Jewish Israelis would support an apartheid regime in their country. The Israeli Housing Ministry is marketing at least 700 new settlement housing units in the occupied West Bank.UNRWA staff go on strike to protest cuts in services. An Israeli former military lawyer says international opinion on Israel's actions in the occupied territories undermines its self-defense. Israel's Arab citizens are struggling to attend universities. The JGA profiles maverick Gaza journalist Asmaa al-Ghoul. Israel is forbidding the unification of married Palestinian couples between Gaza and the West Bank. Israel is also refusing to allow Gaza students with US-funded scholarships to study in the West Bank. COMMENTARY: Gideon Levy says Israel is an openly, shamelessly apartheid state. Akiva Eldar looks at a new book on Israel's policies towards Lebanon. Anshel Pfeffer says PM Netanyahu is still counting on a Romney victory next week. Harriet Sherwood says intensifying Israeli settlement activity is an indicator of the consequences of Obama's failure to secure a peace agreement. Asharq Al-Awsat interviews a prominent Salafist-Jihadist based in Gaza. Yigal Sarna reviews the film “5 Broken Cameras,” and Marshall Yarbrough reviews “'Sons and Others.” Ibrahim Abu-Ta'a says, whoever wins, the next American president must confront the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Hanan Ashrawi says it's absurd to expect Palestinians to ask Israel's permission when applying for international recognition.

Israel's grand illusion on Palestinian UN recognition
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Hanan Ashrawi - (Opinion) October 23, 2012 - 12:00am

The artful magician relies on basic tricks in order to perform his illusions. He talks to distract the audience, giving irrelevant details to keep their minds occupied. He uses his skills to draw their attention to a certain place. Then, while all eyes are focused in one direction, he subtly and deftly carries out his deception, making them believe in a distorted reality; something their common sense tells them cannot be, but that their minds are inclined to accept.

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Obama and Romney need to confront, solve Israeli-Palestinian divisions
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Hill
by Ibrahim Abu Ta'a - (Blog) October 22, 2012 - 12:00am

I was born and raised in Jerusalem. Most of my work colleagues are Jewish, and despite the growing tension between Jews and Palestinians in Israel, years of working together have made us quite close. I speak Hebrew fluently, as well as my native Arabic, and I have always engaged my Jewish acquaintances with the same openness and respect I would give to anyone else.

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Sons and Others
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Cinespect
by Marshall Yarbrough - (Film Review) October 23, 2012 - 12:00am

The French title of “The Other Son,” “Le fils de l’autre,” translates literally as “the son of the other.” The original title better expresses director Lorraine Lévy’s intentions in this, her third feature. Set in Israel, the film takes as its subject two eighteen-year-old boys, one Israeli, one Palestinian, brought together by strange circumstances and forced to confront their differences.

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