August 6th

American and Israeli delusions of peace ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Douglas Bloomfield - (Opinion) August 5, 2009 - 12:00am No wonder the State Department is known as the Fudge Factory. Not once but twice in three days, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton stood by smiling while getting verbal slaps in the face from two of our closest Arab allies. The Jordanian and Saudi foreign ministers publicly declared they have no intention of offering the administration more than gratuitous advice on resuscitating the Arab-Israeli peace process. » Read more

'Economic peace no replacement for a political solution' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Ron Friedman - August 5, 2009 - 12:00am A new study published by the Peres Center for Peace argues that economic peace, though a helpful tool, cannot replace a political solution with the Palestinians. The study was released last week at a special conference on the topic at Tel Aviv University, following a meeting between Vice Prime Minister Silvan Shalom and Palestinian National Economy Minister Bassim Khoury. » Read more

Fatah: Israel behind Arafat's death ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Ali Waked - August 6, 2009 - 12:00am The Fatah Congress on Thursday unanimously concluded that Israel was behind the death of former PA President Yasser Arafat. The congress decided to set up a Palestinian inquiry commission to probe the matter. The congress also called for an international commission to investigate the circumstances of Arafat's death. Arafat died in the end of 2004. In October of that year his physical condition dramatically deteriorated, and shortly afterwards – with Israel's authorization – he was transferred to a French military hospital » Read more

From Sheikh Jarrah to Sheikh Munis ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Gideon Levy - (Opinion) August 6, 2009 - 12:00am At the top of the hill, a few dozen meters from where a house now stands, there used to be an irrigation pool for the village citrus groves. I swim every morning at the municipal swimming pool built on the ruins of the village irrigation pool. Palestinian Jaffa oranges grew in the now-vanished groves. My house stands there now. The land was "redeemed," as land acquisition was called in Zionist propaganda. » Read more

J Street, ADL launch war of words over Obama Israel policy ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Natasha Mozgovaya - August 6, 2009 - 12:00am Nearly seven months after the inauguration of Barack Obama, feuding among major U.S. Jews organizations is taking place behind closed doors and could be reaching its worst point in recent memory. Left-wing U.S. Jewish organizations have been buoyed by the election of Obama, and according to some Jewish Democrats in Washington, tensions have been worsened by the lessening of right-wing Jews' access to senior White House officials, in contrast to the near-monopoly they had on access to Bush administration officials for the past eight years. » Read more

U.S. asks Israel for one-year settlement freeze ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Barak Ravid - August 6, 2009 - 12:00am American Middle East envoy George Mitchell has asked Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak for a "deposit," an advance commitment of a one-year freeze on construction in West Bank settlements. Mitchell raised the idea in his talks with Netanyahu and Barak in Israel last week. He argued that the Arab states will not make gestures toward normalization with Israel without a guarantee of an end to building in the settlements. Mitchell said an Israeli agreement to temporarily freeze construction would facilitate concessions from the Arab states. » Read more

How East Jerusalem went from Jordanian to Israeli to disputed control ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor by Dan Murphy - August 5, 2009 - 12:00am Ilene Prusher’s story Tuesday explored the symbolic and emotional dispute over control of East Jerusalem by telling the story of the Hanoun family, who were evicted from the home they’d occupied for 50 years by Israeli forces over the weekend – and immediately replaced with Jewish settlers. The eviction was legal under Israeli law, but Israel’s decision to do so will at minimum slow the Obama administration’s efforts to restart Middle East peace talks. » Read more

'Stormy' start to Fatah's historic summit ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor by Ilene Prusher - August 6, 2009 - 12:00am The first Fatah conference in two decades was off on Wednesday to what a senior Palestinian official acknowledged was a "stormy" start as some 2,200 party delegates wrangled over a variety of issues and showed reluctance to accept top-down decisions from the party's elite. Foremost among these was a directive to accept the 51-page text of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's speech – which he took two hours to deliver at the opening of the conference on Tuesday – as the report of record explaining Fatah's progress to its Central Committee since they last met in 1989. » Read more

Old guard "hijacks" Fatah congress, say reformers ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Mohammed Assadi - August 6, 2009 - 12:00am The first congress in 20 years of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah has been "hijacked" by an older generation, reformers said, threatening to blunt their efforts to rejuvenate the movement. Younger members, seeking a more transparent Fatah ahead of elections due in early 2010, said on Wednesday that the "old guard" had packed the congress with delegates loyal to them in a bid to maintain the status quo. » Read more

Fatah extends stormy conference ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News August 6, 2009 - 12:00am Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah faction's first party congress for 20 years has been extended amid rows between rival camps. The meeting, which was originally scheduled to last three days, will go on for at least an extra day. Participants are divided over the process for voting in new members of its powerful central committee. Younger members want to wrest more control from older leaders seen as corrupt and ineffective. Nabil Amr, a spokesman for the conference, told local media the second day, Wednesday, was "stormy". » Read more