August 2nd, 2011

Air strikes hit targets in the Gaza Strip
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
August 2, 2011 - 12:00am

GAZA CITY (Ma’an) -- Israeli warplanes struck two targets in the northern and southern Gaza Strip on Tuesday morning, with no casualties reported. Israeli air crafts fired at a target in Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip causing material damage but no human casualties, medical sources told Ma'an's correspondent. Israeli jets also fired missiles at a smuggling tunnel in the Al Brazil neighborhood of Rafah in southern Gaza, causing material damage only.

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US, Israel propose new talks to head off Palestinian UN bid
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
August 2, 2011 - 12:00am

JERUSALEM (AFP) -- Israel is willing to begin new peace talks using the 1967 lines as a basis for negotiations, if the Palestinians drop their UN membership bid, an Israeli government official confirmed on Tuesday. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official confirmed that Israel has been working with Washington and members of the international peace-making Quartet to draw up a new framework that could relaunch stalled talks.

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August 1st

NEWS: Israeli society is divided over free-speech rights. Gaza border violence is another major challenge to Palestinian statehood. Two Palestinians are killed by occupation forces in the West Bank. The PA says it will pay its employees full salaries starting Tuesday. One Lebanese soldier dies in an exchange of fire with Israeli troops at the border. PM Netanyahu says he's working with the United States to try to restart diplomacy. Israel plans to build another separation wall, this time in the Golan Heights. The “Palestinian Popular Committees” plan a civil disobedience campaign in the occupied territories for September. Fatah leader Mohammad Dahlan launches a barrage of accusations against Pres. Abbas. Palestinians in Lebanon voice growing support for Syrian protesters. COMMENTARY: ATFP President Ziad J. Asali urges the parties to find a compromise at the UN. Amira Hass interviews economist Raja Khalidi. Edgar Bronfman and Adam R. Bronfman say Netanyahu should go to Ramallah on a peace mission. Raghida Dergham says the atmosphere at the UN on the Middle East is starting to resemble the Cold War era. Charles Hawley looks at connections between the Israeli and European ultra-right. The Gulf News says Dahlan should be fully prosecuted. Dominique Moisi says Israel is much more economically fragile than it appears. Trudy Rubin says Israeli insiders are concerned about the drift away from 2-state discussions. Xelena Gonzalez says Israel's water discrimination in the occupied territories is disgraceful.

Israel's water management shameful
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from San Antonio Express
by Xelena Gonzalez - (Opinion) August 1, 2011 - 12:00am

Following a series of pro-Israel stories that reek of propaganda, your paper praised Israel's wise water management in the July 23 piece, “Israel trip is already paying off for SAWS.” This is ironic considering the dire situation faced by half country's population.

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3 Israeli insiders lament drift from two-state talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Philadelphia Inquirer
by Trudy Rubin - (Opinion) July 31, 2011 - 12:00am

It's time to start thinking about what will happen to Israel - and U.S. policy in the Middle East - when the peace process ends. Politicians don't openly discuss the deep threat to Israel's existence that would result from an end to negotiations over a two-state solution (meaning a Palestinian state living peacefully alongside Israel).

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A prosperous Israel is dancing on the rim of a volcano
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star
by Dominique Moisi - (Opinion) August 1, 2011 - 12:00am

It is difficult not to be struck by the contrast between the “Asian”-like energy of Israel’s economy and civil society and the purely defensive nature of its approach to political change, inside the country and out. A recent law passed by Israel’s Knesset bars Israeli citizens from supporting Western boycotts aimed at putting an end to the country’s settlement policies and at backing an independent Palestinian state. While Israel has never been so affluent, dynamic, and confident, it also has never been so isolated internationally.

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Dahlan must get what he deserves
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News
(Opinion) July 31, 2011 - 12:00am

Mohammad Dahlan, a former member of Fatah Central Committee, returned to Palestine from Jordan in the hopes of challenging his sacking from the Fatah party. Instead, his appeal has been rejected and his home has been searched and bodyguards arrested. Palestinian police removed weapons, files and computers from his house. He is now being investigated for corruption and murder charges in a case which is to be referred to the attorney-general.

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Europe's Right-Wing Populists Find Allies in Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Speigel International
by Charles Hawley - (Opinion) July 29, 2011 - 12:00am

Islamophobic parties in Europe have established a tight network, stretching from Italy to Finland. But recently, they have extended their feelers to Israeli conservatives, enjoying a warm reception from members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition. Some in Israel believe that the populists are Europe's future. Anders Breivik's 1,500-page manifesto is nothing if not thorough. Pages and pages of text outline in excruciating detail the ideological underpinnings of his worldview -- one which led him to kill 76 people in two terrible attacks in Norway last week.

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The Arab Revolutions: Victims of Obstructionism at the Security Council
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Dar Al-Hayat
by Raghida Dergham - (Opinion) July 29, 2011 - 12:00am

The international community is gearing up for a political battle that will take place in September at the United Nations, over the issue of the promised Palestinian statehood, while anticipating possible surprises in August, coming from either Syria, Libya or Yemen, where the revolutions are yet to be settled, either in favor of the people demanding change, or in favor of the regimes clinging to power. Nonetheless, the Security Council will most probably remain shackled with the start of India’s presidency of the UNSC that will last throughout August.

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Netanyahu should go to Ramallah to bring peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA)
by Adam R. Bronfman, Edgar M. Bronfman - (Opinion) July 31, 2011 - 12:00am

NEW YORK (JTA) -- For the Arab Spring, Israel represents the hope that in the Middle East, a nation can be both a national homeland and a free society. Israel is a modern, thriving democracy amid a region dominated by despotic regimes that brutally oppress their people and rape their land’s resources. Freedom enables Israel’s advancing economy, robust educational system, unique culture, prolific media and independent judiciary to thrive.

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