Commentary: Instant diplomacy
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from United Press International (UPI)
by Arnaud De Borchgrave - (Analysis) October 1, 2010 - 12:00am


Along with instant coffee, instant soup, instant oven cleaners, instant Viagra, instant pain relief from four-hour Viagra, it was only a matter of time before instant diplomacy made its debut on the nation's comedy channels. Some foreign leaders have concluded American youth -- and many older Americans, too -- have tuned out serious news and tuned in comedians who make fun of everything from the nuclear ambitions of superannuated Iranian mullahs to Osama bin Laden's air-conditioned deluxe cave in the Hindu Kush.


Rachel Corrie, an Israeli bulldozer, and our shared global fate
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Courtney E. Martin - (Opinion) September 30, 2010 - 12:00am


Last month, several state witnesses took the stand in a Haifa District Court to testify in the civil law suit filed by Rachel Corrie’s family against the state of Israel. Many may still recall the disturbing photographs that wallpapered the world’s media outlets of Ms. Corrie, a 23-year-old activist from Walla, Walla, Washington, being crushed under a military bulldozer while trying to defend a Palestinian home in Rafah, Gaza under threat of demolition.


Israeli principal summoned over history textbook that adds Palestinian view
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Catrina Stewart - September 29, 2010 - 12:00am


Israel’s Education Ministry is locked in a row with a liberal high school over its use of a history textbook that gives both the Israeli and Palestinian versions of the Arab-Israeli conflict. The ministry has summoned the principal of Shaar Hanegev high school in southern Israel for “consultations” over the decision to continue using the textbook, which has been banned from the national school curriculum. Critics denounced the move as a regressive step by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-leaning government to assert the Israeli narrative over the Palestinian one.


The unorthodox Israeli settlement leader - who isn't even a settler
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Joshua Mitnick - September 29, 2010 - 12:00am


It's no surprise that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's decision not to extend the Israeli settlement freeze this week was due in large part to pressure from settlers. But the man some credit as the driving force behind Mr. Netanyahu's controversial move is not the stereotypical settler. In fact, Naftali Bennett – director general of the umbrella settler leadership group, the Yesha Council – is not even a settler at all.


White House offers Israel a carrot for peace talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Glenn Kessler - September 30, 2010 - 12:00am


In its scramble to salvage Middle East peace talks, the Obama administration has dangled incentives before the Israeli government that touch on some of the most sensitive issues of final status talks between the two sides, administration sources said.


U.S. Presses Israelis on Renewal of Freeze
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Ethan Bronner, Helene Cooper, Mark Landler - September 30, 2010 - 12:00am


The Obama administration is trying to cajole the Israeli government into a 60-day renewal of the freeze on Jewish settlement building by offering it security guarantees, ranging from military hardware to support for a long-term Israeli presence in the strategically sensitive Jordan Valley, according to lawmakers and other officials briefed on the proposals.


White House offers Israel a carrot for peace talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Glenn Kessler - (Analysis) September 30, 2010 - 12:00am


In its scramble to salvage Middle East peace talks, the Obama administration has dangled incentives before the Israeli government that touch on some of the most sensitive issues of final status talks between the two sides, administration sources said.


U.S. Presses Israelis on Renewal of Freeze
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Ethan Bronner, Helene Cooper, Mark Landler - (Analysis) September 30, 2010 - 12:00am


WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is trying to cajole the Israeli government into a 60-day renewal of the freeze on Jewish settlement building by offering it security guarantees, ranging from military hardware to support for a long-term Israeli presence in the strategically sensitive Jordan Valley, according to lawmakers and other officials briefed on the proposals.


The West Bank's reluctant movie star
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Independent
by Donald MacIntyre - October 1, 2010 - 12:00am


Away to the west of Budrus, a startlingly red sun was sinking towards the horizon behind Jaffa as the Israeli border police patrol arrived. They had driven at speed in their two jeeps along the military road beside the footprint-detecting sand track and the electronic fence that help to make up the separation barrier here. To the north, beyond a straggling, rocky olive grove and perched on top of a 160ft pylon, we could just make out the security camera, capable of taking a recognizable image of a human face from three miles.


Fayyad signs $40 million World Bank agreement
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
(Analysis) September 30, 2010 - 12:00am


RAMALLAH (Ma'an) -- World Bank representative Miram Sherman signed an agreement with Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad on Thursday to deliver a $40 million grant to the PA. Fayyad said the grant was aimed at enabling the PA to continue building state institutions and developing the infrastructure for a Palestinian state. During the signing ceremony at Fayyad's Ramallah office, the prime minister thanked the World Bank for empowering the Palestinian state to meet the needs of Palestinians, particularly as the PA worked to complete its state-building initiative.



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