September 30th

How we didn't defeat Obama ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Yehuda Ben Meir - (Opinion) September 30, 2009 - 12:00am There is great rejoicing in the settler camp and among its supporters on the right. As they see it, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu defeated U.S. President Barack Obama in an arm wrestling match when, at the tripartite summit, the latter had to retreat from his demand for a total settlement freeze. The settlement freeze, say the settlers, is off the agenda and the danger of American pressure from the school of Barack Hussein Obama has vanished from the earth. » Read more

US urges Israel to probe Gaza crimes to boost peace ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Stephanie Nebehay - September 29, 2009 - 12:00am The United States called on its close ally Israel on Tuesday to conduct credible investigations into allegations of war crimes committed by its forces in Gaza, saying it would help the Middle East peace process. Michael Posner, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State, said that Hamas leaders also had a responsibility to investigate crimes and to end what he called its targeting of civilians and use of Palestinian civilians as human shields in the strip. » Read more

Defying, again ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times September 30, 2009 - 12:00am It is vexing to see Israel repeatedly refusing to understand that Al Aqsa Mosque, the entire Haram Al Sharif compound, is a red line that should not be crossed unless it seeks to trigger another militant Palestinian Intifada. And so it is that a few days ago, Jewish zealots and Israeli security forces clashed with Palestinian worshippers defending the sanctity of their holy sites from intruders in and around the area. » Read more

Fayyad demands end to Israeli attacks, settler violence ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency September 29, 2009 - 12:00am “What is going on in Jerusalem, the Israeli attacks, is against the International law,” Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad told reporters in Ramallah Tuesday. “Both Arab and foreign countries must take clear positions to compel Israel to stop its arbitrary practices" he said specifically referring to the clashes that broke out in the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem when extremist Israelis entered the area with armed soldiers on Sunday. » Read more

No radical change in American policy ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News by Sobhi Ghandour - (Opinion) September 30, 2009 - 12:00am US President Barack Obama has been in office for eight months, but there have been no major changes in American foreign policy, apart from the decision to cancel the missile shield planned for Eastern Europe. The absence of any other significant changes in US policy has been a great disappointment, especially in this region, which was pinning much hope on the new administration with regard to the Arab-Israeli conflict. » Read more

Former Arafat aide: Third Intifada on its way ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency September 30, 2009 - 12:00am Bassam Abu Sharif, a former senior advisor to late President Yasser Arafat, added his voice to a chorus of those raising the possibility of a third Intifada, or uprising against Israel. » Read more

Has Obama Dashed Arab Hopes? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat by Tariq Alhomayed - (Opinion) September 30, 2009 - 12:00am The question being asked today is; has Obama dashed the hopes of the Arabs regarding his seriousness towards seeking a solution to the Arab – Israeli conflict? The barometer [being used to answer this question] is the extent of the US President's ability to put a halt to the construction of Israeli settlements. » Read more

Two die in smuggling tunnels after airstrike ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency September 30, 2009 - 12:00am Two Palestinians died as a result of a gas leak inside a smuggling tunnel along Gaza’s border with Egypt in the city of Rafah, medics said on Wednesday. Medicals at Abu Yousef An-Najjar Hospital in Rafah said Muhammad Jalal Abu Sef, 45, and Riziq Al-Masri, 28, were dead when they arrived. Thirteen others were injured as a result of the gas leak, which occurred after Israeli warplanes bombed the tunnels. It was not immediately clear if the gas leak was a direct result of the airstrikes. » Read more

New negotiations will test Netanyahu’s commitment ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National by Ziad Asali - (Opinion) September 30, 2009 - 12:00am Yasser Arafat was enticed to attend a meeting with Ehud Barak at Camp David during the summer of 2000 with the promise that he would not be blamed if it turned out to be a failure. It did, and he was. Last week the president of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, was invited to attend a meeting with the Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu in New York without any such promise. He was not blamed and the meeting was not a failure. » Read more

Israel, Hamas in mutual gestures on prisoners ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post by Nidal Al-Mughrabi - September 30, 2009 - 12:00am Israel will free 20 Palestinian women from jail as early as Friday in exchange for a videotape from Hamas proving an Israeli soldier held in the Gaza Strip since 2006 is alive, officials on both sides said on Wednesday. Egyptian and German mediators are continuing to work on a final deal to swap the soldier, Gilad Shalit, for hundreds of Hamas prisoners. The negotiations are part of international efforts to ease Israel's blockade of the Hamas-run Gaza Strip. » Read more