July 27th

Settlers block West Bank roads to protest construction freeze ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz July 27, 2010 - 12:00am In protest of Monday's home demolition carried out by Israeli security forces at the Givat Ronen outpost, settlers blockaded 11 intersections across the West Bank on Monday evening. The demonstrations were organized by the Samaria and Benjamin regional councils. From early Monday morning, council activists telephoned citizens to encourage them to come out to the evening protests. The Neveh Tsuf, Kochav Hashachar, Tzomet Shiloh, Tzomet Hadoar, Tzomet Hawara and Tzomet Shavei Shomron intersections were among those that were blocked. » Read more

US presses Abbas to resume direct peace talks ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press by Karin Laub - July 26, 2010 - 12:00am A senior U.S. envoy warned the Palestinian president that he must move quickly to direct talks with Israel if he wants President Barack Obama's help in setting up a Palestinian state, according to an internal Palestinian document obtained by The Associated Press on Monday. The 36-page memo, sent to senior Palestinian officials, advised Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to resist growing U.S. pressure, warning that rescinding his conditions for face-to-face negotiations with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would be "political suicide." » Read more

Police release rabbi arrested for inciting to kill non-Jews ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Chaim Levinson - July 27, 2010 - 12:00am Police released the head rabbi of a prominent yeshiva yesterday hours after arresting him for encouraging to kill non-Jews. Rabbi Yitzhak Shapira, head of the Od Yosef Hai Yeshiva and author of "The King's Torah," was arrested early yesterday morning at his home in the West Bank settlement of Yitzhar. His book describes how it is possible to kill non-Jews according to halakha (Jewish religious law ). » Read more

Gazans want "Marshall Plan", Israel policy falls short ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Tom Perry - July 27, 2010 - 12:00am Wael El Wadiah's Gaza snack food factories once employed 250 people. Today, denied access to the West Bank market by Israel, he employs a few dozen workers in what is left of a business built up over 25 years. "I am right back to square one," he said. Jamal Basala once employed 20 people on his fishing trawler. Today, his access to the sea restricted by Israel, he employs four. He used to earn $5,000 a month. Today, he accepts assistance from aid agencies and can't afford his son's university fees. "I suffer depression," he said. » Read more

Abbas to ask for extension to proximity talks ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency July 27, 2010 - 12:00am President Mahmoud Abbas will request an extension to US-mediated indirect talks with Israel from the Arab Peace Initiative Committee when in Cairo on Thursday, a PLO official said Monday. Executive Committee member Hannah Amireh told Ma'an radio that Abbas would ask for talks to continue until 8 September, one month over the 4-month deadline sanctioned by the Arab League. Abbas will also discuss the possibility of re-entering into direct negotiations with Israel, Amireh said. » Read more

Turkey working to prevent Lebanese sail to Gaza ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Itamar Eichner - July 27, 2010 - 12:00am Officials in Jerusalem were surprised to learn that Turkey is working to prevent Lebanese ships from attempting to sail to Gaza in violation of an Israeli blockade on the Hamas-run territory, the Yedioth Ahronoth daily reported Tuesday. Israeli officials estimate that Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, who visited Damascus and Beirut last week, asked the Lebanese government to prevent the flotilla's departure as part of Ankara's efforts to ease tensions with Israel. » Read more

North remains target for settler violence ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency July 27, 2010 - 12:00am Israeli forces entered the northern West Bank village of Beit Furik Monday night, residents reported, and sealed off a military checkpoint at its main entrance. Witnesses said troops patrolling the village after the checkpoint was closed opened random fire. An Israeli military spokesman said he was looking into the report. Beit Furik is located less than five kilometers northeast of Huwwara village and the Israeli military checkpoint at the edge of the area, where settlers set fire to several dunums of olive groves on Monday afternoon. » Read more

Israel needs a Palestinian state ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Alon Ben-meir - (Opinion) July 27, 2010 - 12:00am Israel’s national security and self-preservation as a democracy, if not its very existence, depend on its ability and willingness to come to terms with the reality of coexistence with the Palestinians on the basis of a two-state solution. Unfortunately, instead of seeking to promote the creation of a Palestinian state, the current government has sought to impede it. » Read more

Ten years after Camp David, Israel has made peace even harder ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor by Ben White - July 26, 2010 - 12:00am In an interview earlier this year with The Jerusalem Post, one of the Jewish settlers in Sheikh Jarrah, an area in Israeli-occupied East Jerusalem where Palestinians are being evicted from their homes, explained that he had no “personal problems” with “the Arabs” – but insisted that “they have to admit who the landlord is here.” This sentiment offers more insight into the current realities on the ground in East Jerusalem, and Palestine/Israel in general, than dozens of column inches spent analyzing the progress of “shuttle diplomacy,” “concessions,” and “indirect talks.” » Read more

Israel signals new cooperation with UN over Gaza flotilla ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor by Joshua Mitnick - July 26, 2010 - 12:00am Israel appears to have improved its cooperation with the United Nations over its controversial Gaza policy after coming under pressure from activists seeking to break Israel's sea blockade of the Hamas-controlled territory. The latest fleet of activist ships is preparing to set sail from Lebanon. On Friday, UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon’s spokesman, Martin Nesirky, said that the aid to Gaza should be delivered by established land routes rather than the sea – a remark that irked Hamas, which blamed the UN for "collaboration" with the Israeli government. » Read more