July 15th

'Nuclear Iran less threat than chance of binational state' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Greer Fay Cashman - July 15, 2010 - 12:00am “A nuclear Iran is not the end of Israel. A binational state is the end of Israel,” political commentator and former consul-general in New York Alon Pinkas told members of the Israel Britain and the Commonwealth Association on Wednesday. Speaking at the Sheraton Hotel in Tel Aviv prior to the IBCA general meeting, Pinkas initially addressed outgoing British Ambassador Tom Phillips, to whom he said that in an ambassador’s average three-to-four year in Israel there are two wars, two elections and one peace process. » Read more

Soldiers convicted in Nil'in shooting ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post July 15, 2010 - 12:00am The special military court convicted Lt. Col. Omri Burberg and his soldier, Staff Sgt. (res.) Leonardo Corea Thursday for unsuitable, threatening behavior towards a Palestinian. The incident happened nearly two years ago in Nil'in when the soldier fired a rubber bullet at the feet of a bound Palestinian and his commander looked on as it happened. Burberg, former commander of Battalion 71 in the Armed Coprs was convicted for attempted threats and Corea for illegally using a weapon. Both were convicted for inappropriate behavior. » Read more

Libyan Gaza-bound aid ship enters Egyptian port ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Yusri Mohamed - July 14, 2010 - 12:00am A Libyan-chartered ship carrying aid for Palestinians reached an Egyptian port on Wednesday after altering its course following a warning from Israel's navy not to head to the blockaded Gaza Strip. An Egyptian official said the Moldovan-flagged Amalthea arrived in El Arish, on Egypt's Mediterranean coast about 45 km (27 miles) south of the border with Gaza, in mid-evening and would begin unloading cargo. » Read more

British Jews favour 'two-state solution' in Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian July 15, 2010 - 12:00am The majority of British Jews favour a "two-state solution" to the situation in Israel, and more than half would support negotiations with Hamas, according to research published today. The study carried out by the Institute for Jewish Policy Research (JPR) found Jews in Britain strongly identify with and support Israel, with nine out of 10 having visited the country. Nearly three quarters (72%) agreed Israel's action in Gaza in 2008 and 2009 was "a legitimate act of self-defence". » Read more

Palestinians in Lebanon deserve better ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News by Joseph A. Kechichian - (Opinion) July 15, 2010 - 12:00am Once again, the fate that befell 450,000 plus Palestinian refugees in Lebanon has preoccupied that hapless country's leaders. Like other neighbouring states, Lebanon warmly welcomed Palestinians expelled from Israel over the years, providing them with relative security even if weak governments failed to regularise their presence. After the hugely mistaken 1969 Cairo Accords, which allowed refugees to arm themselves — ostensibly to attack Israel — Lebanon compounded the Palestinian tragedy by authorising a new battlefront on its own territory. » Read more

Legitimate questions ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times by Daoud Kuttab - (Opinion) July 15, 2010 - 12:00am Over dinner in Bethlehem recently, I mentioned to my brother-in-law how Israel has strategically succeeded in cutting off Gaza Strip from the West Bank. While agreeing with me, he told me what a senior Israeli officer told him shortly after the beginning of the Oslo process. He said that Palestinians shouldn’t celebrate too much the withdrawal of Israel from Bethlehem, for before too long, Palestinians in Bethlehem will need to have a visa to enter Jerusalem. » Read more

Arabs, Israel's second class minority ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star by Raja Kamal - (Opinion) July 15, 2010 - 12:00am In a recent column in The New York Times, Thomas Friedman reflected on the strong Israeli economy, quoting a recent survey that put the number of Israeli millionaires at 8,419. » Read more

Fatah urges no direct Mideast talks for now ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Tom Perry - July 15, 2010 - 12:00am The Palestinian president's Fatah party said on Thursday there should be no move to face-to-face Middle East peace talks sought by the United States without progress in the indirect talks it is mediating. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, due to meet U.S. President Barack Obama's Middle East envoy on Saturday, is facing pressure from Washington to agree to direct negotiations with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu -- who says he is ready to start talks with the Palestinian leader right away. » Read more

The olive branch in the West Bank ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Bulletin by Hugh Gusterson - (Opinion) July 15, 2010 - 12:00am Israel's ambassador to the U.S., Michael Oren, was recently quoted as saying that relations between the U.S. and Israel were undergoing a "tectonic rift in which continents are drifting apart." If the quote is accurate, which Oren later disputed, it is surely an overstatement. Still, an interesting divergence is developing in the means by which the U.S. and Israeli militaries are dealing with Islamic militants in territories they are occupying. » Read more

Home demolition leaves mother, four children homeless ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times by Maher Abukhater - July 13, 2010 - 12:00am Dalal Rajabi, a mother of four children, came home Tuesday to find that her modest two-room house that has sheltered her family for two years had been razed. A team of Jerusalem municipal workers protected by a large police force came to the Rajabis' 200-square-foot home in Beit Hanina, an East Jerusalem Arab neighborhood, broke down the main door, took the furniture out and proceeded to demolish it. Dalal Rajabi was not home at the time. She had left the house to take her son to see a doctor when the workers and a bulldozer arrived. » Read more