October 1st

Netanyahu nixes call for Israeli inquiry into Gaza war
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Barak Ravid - October 1, 2009 - 12:00am


Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has nixed the idea of setting up an inquiry committee into alleged Israeli war crimes in the Gaza Strip as a means of dealing with the Goldstone Commission's report.


A new US perspective on Middle East peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Common Ground News Service
by Hussein Ibish - October 1, 2009 - 12:00am


Under US President Barack Obama's Administration, the United States has vigorously re-engaged in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process and made commitment to Palestinian statehood a national security and foreign policy priority. Obama has said that it is "absolutely crucial" to American interests to resolve the conflict, and appears determined to persist despite all difficulties and obstacles. There are several crucial reasons for this intensification.


Violence between Palestinians, Israelis may spread
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
by Xu Gang, David Harris - September 30, 2009 - 12:00am


JERUSALEM, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- Violence between Palestinian Muslim prayers and Israeli troops and Jewish worshippers on Sunday at the holy site of al-Haram al-Sharif in East Jerusalem, or known as Temple Mount to the Jews, may spread in the near future, analysts said.


False symmetry
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times
by Daoud Kuttab - October 1, 2009 - 12:00am


One of the most frustrating things about the American policy towards the Middle East is how Israel seems to always be able to get away with it or at least treated symmetrically with the Palestinians, whether there is cause for such symmetry or not.


Creating new reality?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times
by Michael Jansen - (Opinion) October 1, 2009 - 12:00am


Sunday’s clashes at Jerusalem’s Haram Al Sharif between Palestinians and armed Israeli police and soldiers have been either misrepresented or underestimated by the world media. But not by the Palestinian Authority. On Tuesday, Prime Minister Salam Fayyad summoned all the foreign representatives to a crisis meeting in Ramallah where he warned of the dangers posed by such events. The Israelis arrested at least 50 Palestinians they said had taken part in the violence that spilled out of the compound into the narrow streets of the Old City.


MIDEAST: Riots May Point to Third Palestinian Uprising
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Inter Press Service (IPS)
by Mel Frykberg - September 30, 2009 - 12:00am


EAST JERUSALEM, Sep 30 (IPS) - Palestinian politicians and Israeli political analysts are warning of a third Palestinian Intifadah following serious rioting in East Jerusalem last Sunday. Clashes broke out between Palestinians protesters and Israeli security forces after a group of extremist Israeli settlers, escorted by Israeli soldiers and police, tried to enter the compound of Al-Aqsa Mosque, Islam's third holiest shrine which is situated in Jerusalem's old city.


Accounting for Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times
by Mary Robinson - (Opinion) October 1, 2009 - 12:00am


This week, the United Nations Human Rights Council will debate the report of the fact-finding mission led by Judge Richard Goldstone on human rights violations in the Gaza conflict. Let us hope it is a full and fair examination based on the report’s findings and recommendations.


Dashing hopes
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times
(Editorial) October 1, 2009 - 12:00am


Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is not serious about arriving at peace with the Palestinians. He is only marking time or, better yet, wasting precious time for all sides involved. Tzipi Livni, former Israeli foreign minister and leader of Kadima, the main opposition party in Israel, knows Netanyahu only too well, having engaged in lengthy negotiations with him to form a national coalition government after the Israeli elections in which her party emerged the winner.


Assistant US Secretary of State Jeffrey Feltman Talks to Asharq Al-Awsat
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat
by Manal Lutfi - October 1, 2009 - 12:00am


Jeffrey Feltman has stressed that there is a sense of urgency for dealing with the Iranian nuclear dossier and explained in an interview with Asharq Al-Awsat in New York that Iran has an "opportunity" at the 1st October meeting to cooperate with the international community and allow the [International Atomic] Energy Agency [IAEA] inspectors to enter the secret Qom installation.


Restricted: Visas Good for West Bank Only
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward
by Nathan Guttman - October 10, 2009 - 12:00am


Omar Rahman was on his way from America to a friend’s wedding in Jerusalem. The 25-year-old journalist, born and raised in Washington to parents of Palestinian descent, had visited the West Bank and Israel many times before, and although he was used to the four-hour wait at the border crossing, he had never encountered any problems. But last July, when Rahman went through the Allenby Bridge border crossing between Jordan and the Israeli-controlled West Bank, the Israeli officer put a new stamp on Rahman’s American passport, restricting his visit to only the West Bank.



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