August 5th

Shin Bet: Suspected Jewish terrorist Pearlman didn't work alone
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Liel Kyzer - August 5, 2010 - 12:00am


The Shin Bet security service and the police believe that Chaim Pearlman, suspected of murdering four Palestinians and wounding several others, committed the acts attributed to him with the help of accomplices. The suspicions emerged at Pearlman's remand in a Petach Tikvah court. Pearlman's remand was extended by six days. Sources close to Pearlman said "There has been no progress in the investigation ever since he was arrested. The Shin Bet insists on holding him for no reason."


Israel Fights Isolation With New Measures
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward
by Gal Beckerman - August 4, 2010 - 12:00am


Israel is taking significant new steps to relieve its international isolation following the fatal raid on a humanitarian flotilla and the accusatory Goldstone Report.


Netanyahu: Hamas responsible for rockets on Eilat; we will retaliate
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
August 5, 2010 - 12:00am


Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared on Israeli television Wednesday that Hamas was responsible for the deadly rocket fire on Israel's and Jordan's Red Sea ports on Monday, and that Israel would retaliate. Earlier Wednesday, Egyptian officials also confirmed that the rocket attacks, which had killed a Jordanian taxi driver in Aqaba, had been carried out by the militant Palestinian group operating from Egypt, after days of denials.


Contacts underway to set peace reference: Palestinian official
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
August 5, 2010 - 12:00am


A Palestinian official revealed on Tuesday that international and Arab contacts are underway to set the terms of reference for the peace process. "There are many contacts between the Palestinian leadership and international and Arab peace players to ensure that the Palestinian demands to start direct talks will be met," Fatah official Jamal Mohaisen told Xinhua following a meeting of the party's central committee that was chaired by President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah.


Obama Administration Presses Palestinians To Enter Direct Talks With Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward
by Nathan Guttman - August 4, 2010 - 12:00am


State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley strove hard to hit the right note August 2 in describing the Obama administration’s recent effort to push the Palestinians into direct peace talks with Israel.


Mubarak, Obama tackle over phone requirements of launching direct peace talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
August 5, 2010 - 12:00am


Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak received Wednesday a phone call from U.S. President Barack Obama during which they discussed the requirements for starting direct peace talks between the Palestinians and Israel, Egypt's official MENA news agency reported. Mubarak underlined during the conversation Egypt's appreciation of the commitment of U.S. president to establish peace and create a propitious atmosphere for launching peace talks in line with clear terms of reference and a specific time frame.


Hamas urges Fatah not to go to direct talks with Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
August 5, 2010 - 12:00am


Islamic Hamas movement warned on Thursday Fatah party of going to direct negotiations with Israel after the latter declined holding a tripartite meeting to set terms of reference for the stalled peace process. Salah al-Badawil, Gaza-based spokesman for Hamas, in a press release, demanded Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party not to return to "absurd talks" with Israel, urging the West Bank- ruling movement to give the priority for achieving national unity and isolating Israel.


Abbas: Either Fight or Negotiate!
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat
by Abdul Rahman Al-Rashed - August 5, 2010 - 12:00am


No one ever tells the whole truth, even in simple cases such as negotiations, and here is a story to illustrate that. Of all the American Presidents, Barack Obama is actually the most enthusiastic to establish a Palestinian state and liberate the West Bank and Gaza. This is something that the Arabs and their supporters have failed to achieve through war, bombings, demonstrations or zealous speeches over the past 40 years. It is natural to regard negotiations as an alternative to defeat, and even the "Oslo Accords" that were criticized by many achieved more than empty rhetoric.


Israel indicts 3 Arabs on espionage charges
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
August 5, 2010 - 12:00am


Israel has indicted three Arab men on charges of spying for Syria. The Shin Bet security service reported on Thursday that two Druse Arabs living in the Golan Heights and an Arab citizen of Israel were charged with passing information to the enemy and plotting to kidnap a Syrian pilot who had defected to Israel. Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria in the 1967 war. The two indicted Druse Arabs — a father and son — are Syrian citizens, like most of the Druse in the Golan Heights.


Israeli forces demolish rebuilt Area C structures
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
August 5, 2010 - 12:00am


Israel's Civil Administration returned to the Jordan Valley on Thursday to demolish 23 structures recently rebuilt by residents and farmers in Al-Farisiya. The town, in the Tubas district located across the highway from the Nahal Rotem settlement, is part of the nearby Sdemot Mehola. The area has a total of five settlements, most engaged in farming, with more than half of the settlement-occupied land in the northern part of the Jordan Valley used for agriculture.



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