August 17th

Israeli wins Fatah top body seat ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News August 16, 2009 - 12:00am A Jewish-born Israeli has been elected to the governing body of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah party. Uri Davis, 66, an academic who is married to a Palestinian, is an outspoken critic of what he calls Israel's "apartheid policies". As the only Israeli member of the Revolutionary Council he says he wants to represent non-Arab people who support the Palestinian cause. He called for an international campaign to boycott Israel to be toughened up. Dr Davis said his Israeli citizenship made no difference to his election. » Read more

Barak postpones cement delivery to Gaza Strip ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Yaakov Katz - August 17, 2009 - 12:00am The Defense Ministry is postponing the delivery of cement to the Gaza Strip out of fear that Hamas will get its hands on the material and use it to rebuild its military infrastructure damaged during Operation Cast Lead, officials said on Sunday. Defense Minister Ehud Barak was reconsidering the delivery of the cement after, according to IDF Southern Command intelligence, cement that was transferred for the renovation of a British War Cemetery in Gaza earlier this month was partially confiscated by Hamas. » Read more

Israeli envoy to visit U.S. for settlement freeze negotiation ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua August 17, 2009 - 12:00am Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's envoy to negotiations with the Obama administration will depart on Sunday for meetings with U.S. officials in an attempt to negotiate a possible future settlement freeze, local daily Ha'aretz reported on its website. Yitzhak Molcho, the envoy, is expected to meet with White House officials and with the staff of U.S. Middle East envoy George Mitchell, preparing the ground for a meeting between Netanyahu and Mitchell that is due to take place on Aug. 26 in London, according to the report. » Read more

Yishai says outposts not illegal ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Erfat Weiss - August 17, 2009 - 12:00am Interior Minister Eli Yishai, Minister of Strategic Affairs Moshe Ya'alon, Minister of Information Yuli Edelstein and Science and Technology Minister Daniel Hershkowitz toured illegal West Bank outposts Monday, at the invitation of the Shomron Regional Council. The ministers, traveling under heavy security, visited the outposts of Nofei Nehemia and Bruchin, both of which are awaiting the necessary zoning permits to become legal settlements, as well as Havat Gilad. The latter, according to its residents, was built on land purchased by Moshe Zar. » Read more

Palestinian state is not synonym for terrorist entity ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Akiva Eldar - (Opinion) August 17, 2009 - 12:00am The soldier at the Qalandiyah checkpoint gave a bored look at the car with the Israeli license plates. No one asked for documents or passes. Ten minutes later we were in the heart of Ramallah, the capital of the Palestinian Authority. The security forces obviously know there is no cause for concern. Nowadays Tel Aviv's beaches are more dangerous than the West Bank's cities. According to statistics from the Prime Minister's Office, more Israelis have been murdered in the past month in Israel than those murdered since January 2007 in the territory of the PA. » Read more

U.S. group invests tax-free millions in East Jerusalem land ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Uri Blau - August 17, 2009 - 12:00am American Friends of Ateret Cohanim, a nonprofit organization that sends millions of shekels worth of donations to Israel every year for clearly political purposes, such as buying Arab properties in East Jerusalem, is registered in the United States as an organization that funds educational institutes in Israel. » Read more

Abbas: Talks, not terror, is way to Palestinian state ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters August 17, 2009 - 12:00am Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said on Monday negotiation was the only path to statehood, espousing non-violence after his Fatah party backed an option of "resistance" against Israeli occupation. "We are peace seekers," the Western-backed leader said at a cabinet meeting in Ramallah of the Palestinian Authority. "The main and the only path is the path of peace and negotiations. We don't have any other path and we do not wish to use any other path." » Read more

In Israeli army, rabbis deepen religious tone. Is that kosher? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor by Joshua Mitnick - August 9, 2009 - 12:00am In the final days before his infantry platoon entered Gaza last January against Hamas, "M." and his reservist buddies were approached by a representative of the military rabbinate. Would they be interested in a chat with a military clergyman during a break in training? With no objections, they were introduced to a "Rabbi Chen," dressed in civilian clothes and red-bearded, who told the soldiers that "holiness of the people of Israel" would keep them safe. » Read more

Israel, Hezbollah threaten war – again ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor by Nicholas Blanford - August 15, 2009 - 12:00am Israel and its arch foe Hezbollah are waging an increasingly heated war of words, fanning concerns about another bruising encounter between the two enemies who fought a devastating but inconclusive conflict in 2006. » Read more

'Israel Is Real: An Obsessive Quest to Understand the Jewish Nation and its History' by Rich Cohen ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Ruth Andrew Ellenson - (Book Review) August 16, 2009 - 12:00am If you have an inclination to be a rabble-rouser and find yourself bored at a dinner party with American Jews, bring up Israel. You might not get invited back, but in the meantime you'll have fun throwing down a choice apple of discord. Just for kicks, ask people how they feel about Noam Chomsky, the Jewish American linguist who's famously critical of Israel's policies regarding Palestinians, and let the games begin. » Read more