September 25th

Israel: Syrian mortars accidentally land in Golan
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
by Daniel Estrin - September 25, 2012 - 12:00am


JERUSALEM — Several mortars fired by Syrian government troops targeting rebels hit the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights on Tuesday but no one was hurt in the shelling, the Israeli military said. The incident marks the second time Syrian mortars have landed on the border area since Syria's crisis erupted 18 months ago. In July, mortar shells fell about one kilometer (half a mile) from the Golan boundary.


Israeli DM's West Bank pullout bid ires right-wingers: report
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
September 24, 2012 - 12:00am


  JERUSALEM, Sept. 24 (Xinhua) -- Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak on Monday floated a controversial West Bank pullout plan which included unilaterally leaving areas beyond several large settlement blocs, with details that immediately drew fire from both his right flank and official Palestinian sources.


Palestinian leaders dismiss Barak's proposal for partial withdrawal
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
September 25, 2012 - 12:00am


BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- Palestinian leaders on Monday dismissed a proposal by Israel's defense minister suggesting a partial withdrawal from the occupied West Bank. Ehud Barak told the newspaper Israel Hayom that in the absence of peace talks, smaller illegal settlements in the West Bank should be evacuated, with the major settlement blocs remaining under Israeli control. Barak's proposal was swiftly shot down by Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Dan Meridor, who said the army will remain in the West Bank until a peace agreement is reached.


Before Palestinians Act at U.N., Israeli Officials Urge Other Steps
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Jodi Rudoren - September 24, 2012 - 12:00am


JERUSALEM — With the Palestinians planning to make their case this week to upgrade from organizational status to nonmember status at the United Nations General Assembly, one senior Israeli minister condemned the move as “the easy and wrong way out” on Monday, while another said the time had come for Israel to consider its own unilateral move toward a separate state: annexing parts of the West Bank and withdrawing from others.


Abbas set for scaled-down bid at U.N.
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Joel Greenberg - September 24, 2012 - 12:00am


RAMALLAH, West Bank — There is no fanfare this time, no campaign in support of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas as he heads this week to the United Nations to ask for an upgrade of the Palestinians’ status there to a non-member state.


September 24th

Two pipes for two peoples: The politics of water in the West Bank
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Amira Hass - (Opinion) September 24, 2012 - 12:00am


The IDF's Civil Administration is preventing the Palestinian Authority from laying a water pipe that would alleviate the acute water shortage for more than 600,000 Palestinians in the West Bank. The reason given for preventing the pipe's construction is that a section of less than two kilometers of it, laid on the margins of Route 50, would disrupt Jewish passenger traffic on the road.


'We want the PA to have stability and prosperity, even if we have to fund it'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Times of Israel
by Raphael Ahren - (Interview) September 23, 2012 - 12:00am


s the director-general of Strategic Affairs Ministry, Brig.-Gen. (res.) Yossi Kuperwasser has spent a lot of time researching Palestinian incitement against Israel and Jews. Under his tutelage, the ministry earlier this year published an Incitement Index, which listed numerous examples of statements made by senior Palestinian Authority officials who ostensibly demonized Israel, insulted Jews, marginalized the Holocaust and radiated a general unwillingness for peace and reconciliation.


Protesters Signal Political Crisis For the Palestinian Authority
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Monitor
by Lena Odgaard - (Opinion) September 23, 2012 - 12:00am


RAMALLAH – A World Bank report released Wednesday urged international donors to react quickly to a deep fiscal crisis in the Palestinian territories. The Palestinian Authorities have been under significant pressure this month due to a sudden eruption of continuous protests as thousands took to the streets in a cry of despair over increasing living expenses.


Asharq Al-Awsat talks to Hamas Deputy Leader Musa Abu-Marzuq
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat
by Salah Jumaa - (Interview) September 24, 2012 - 12:00am


Asharq Al-Awsat, Dr. Musa Abu-Marzuq, Deputy Chairman of the Hamas Political Bureau spoke about the situation in the Gaza Strip, the prospects of inter-Palestinian reconciliation and elections. Musa Abu Marzuq also touched upon numerous other topics including Muslim Brotherhood President Mohamed Mursi in Egypt, the worldwide Muslim protests against the US film that insulted the prophet and the killing of the US ambassador to Libya. The following is the full text of the interview:


Listen to Morsi
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
(Editorial) September 24, 2012 - 12:00am


Since being elected president of Egypt, Mohammed Morsi has said several times that his administration is committed to the peace treaty with Israel. Despite the fears raised by the regime change in Cairo, Egyptian security officials continue to cooperate with their Israeli counterparts against terrorists operating in Sinai. And despite their ideological and political affinity with Hamas, the heads of the ruling Freedom and Justice Party express support for the Israel-Palestinian peace talks, the two-state solution and the Arab Peace Initiative.



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