August 28th

UN agency: Gaza won't be viable by 2020 due to population growth
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
August 28, 2012 - 12:00am

The United Nations agency that is responsible for Palestinian refugees warned Monday that the Gaza Strip will not be viable if population growth continues under closure. Robert Turner, operations director of the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), said at a news conference here that the population in Gaza will increase to over two million by 2020. The Gaza Strip's current population is 1.6 million.

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Israelis get gas masks, shelters in order
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
by Edmund Sanders - August 27, 2012 - 12:00am

With his wife expecting their third child next month, Ram Gilboa, a sports commentator who lives just outside Tel Aviv, recently found himself jotting down a list of baby supplies that friends and family could buy: a crib, diapers ... gas mask. "That's not normal," Gilboa, 32, recalled with a nervous laugh. "When you're making a list of gifts for a baby, gas mask is not supposed to be on it."

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Israel shells Gaza compounds after rocket attacks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Nidal al-Mughrabi, Dan Williams - August 27, 2012 - 12:00am

Israeli forces shelled two compounds run by the Hamas government's security services in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, wounding two Palestinians, Hamas said. Israel described the targets as weapons manufacturing and storage sites and said they were hit in retaliation for recent short-range rocket salvoes launches from the coastal enclave into the Jewish state. Two such salvoes, on Sunday and Monday, caused no casualties and were claimed by ultra-conservative Salafi Islamists who have a presence in Gaza and the neighbouring Egyptian Sinai.

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Anti-rocket school protects Israeli kids near Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
by Aron Heller - August 27, 2012 - 12:00am

For the first time in years, the children of Sderot can study in peace. Living under a constant threat of rocket fire from militants in the nearby Gaza Strip, their schooldays were often interrupted by mad dashes to bomb shelters. But on Monday, they started the school year safe from attack in a new, fortified, rocket-proof school building.

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After Attacks, Israeli Schools Confront Hate
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Isabel Kershner, Jodi Rudoren - August 27, 2012 - 12:00am

Palestinian student who speaks accentless Hebrew after years in a bilingual school that is about half Jewish, said he was not at all surprised when a mob of Jewish teenagers beat an Arab teenager unconscious this month while hundreds watched and did nothing to help.

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Court Rules Israel Wasn’t at Fault in U.S. Activist’s Death
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Jodi Rudoren, Danielle Ziri - August 28, 2012 - 12:00am

Rachel Corrie, the young American woman who was run over by a military bulldozer in 2003 as she protested housing demolitions in the Gaza Strip. The lengthy verdict in the civil case, read to a courtroom packed with supporters of Ms. Corrie’s family here, called the death an accident that occurred during “a military activity meant to prevent terrorist activity.”

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August 27th

NEWS: The family of Rachel Corrie awaits the verdict in their civil suit in Israel. Israel stops a large group of visiting activists from entering the occupied West Bank. Egyptian officials say that they have reopened the Gaza crossing point, but only for passengers. Israeli police have arrested suspects in a firebomb attack on a Palestinian taxi. 76 Egyptians are convicted in connection to an attack on the Israeli Embassy in Cairo. Hamas leader Hanniyeh drops plans to travel to Tehran during the Nonaligned Movement conference. Palestinian sources say Iran was “forced” to withdraw its invitation to him. Israel is closing a key Jerusalem checkpoint, relied on by the residents of the Shoafat refugee camp. PM Fayyad reportedly consults with Bank of Israel Governor Fischer on further steps to deal with the PA financial crisis. Qatar is reportedly opening an office in Gaza to oversee reconstruction efforts. PA Attorney-General al-Mughni has reportedly resigned. The US and Israel are reportedly divided over the latest IAEA report on Iran. Amid war rumors, an Israeli cabinet committee approves proposed changes to PM Netanyahu's personal investment portfolio. Former Israeli soldiers issue a booklet detailing their mistreatment of Palestinian children. Palestinians and Israeli settlers are struggling for control over market stalls in occupied Hebron. COMMENTARY: Chemi Shalev argues an Israeli attack against Iran would help Pres. Obama get re-elected. Susan Hattis Rolef says there is no consensus about the Oslo Accords in Israel today. Liron Libman says Israel should take an Egyptian request to modify the peace treaty regarding security in Sinai very seriously. Mohammad Fadhel says Egypt, too, needs to rethink its Sinai strategy. Linda Gradstein looks at FM Lieberman's rhetorical attacks against Pres. Abbas. Emad El Din Adeeb says Arabs need to ask themselves what, exactly, they would do in the event of an Iranian-Israeli war. Ghassan Khatib and Yossi Alpher explain why they are deciding to close their bitterlemons website.

Why we are closing
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons
by Yossi Alpher - (Blog) August 27, 2012 - 12:00am

We are closing bitterlemons' two weekly e-magazines. The publications that you, our readers, have known for the past 11 years will, with this special edition, cease to exist. You deserve an explanation as to why this is happening. It is not disconnected from what is transpiring around us in the Middle East and globally.

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The arc of the pendulum
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons
by Ghassan Khatib - (Blog) August 27, 2012 - 12:00am

When Yossi Alpher and I sat in my Jerusalem office in the year 2000, discussing plans for the first bitterlemons web magazine, we never imagined that it would grow to encompass four different publications and two books, or that it would span 12 years of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

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What if a war broke out?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat
by Emad El Din Adeeb - (Opinion) August 27, 2012 - 12:00am

What would happen if a regional war broke out between Israel and Iran? I'm not here to talk about who would be the "devil" or the "angel" in this political context. I will not enter into the issue of who is right and who is wrong, nor will I touch upon the overwhelming state of hostility towards Israel or the hostility that the majority of Arabs currently display towards Iran. Rather, I will focus my attention on answering the big question.

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