October 7th

It's only a matter of time until Netanyahu falls
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Yoel Marcus - (Opinion) October 7, 2011 - 12:00am


Something bad happens to us during the holiday period. Not only is work not work, not only is it unclear what's open and what's closed and whether the clock is showing summer time or winter time - official intelligence also goes on vacation. You have to be emptyheaded in order to get to a situation in which German Chancellor Angela Merkel - the only leader in Europe, if not in the entire world, who treats us with understanding and empathy - loses trust and is disappointed in our prime minister.


Palestinians Feel Effects Of Frozen U.S. Aid
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from National Public Radio (NPR)
by Sheera Frenkel - October 7, 2011 - 12:00am


The Obama administration is urging Congress to rescind a decision blocking some aid to the Palestinians. The congressional decision to put a hold on $200 million of aid money was prompted by the Palestinian Authority's bid for statehood recognition at the United Nations —something both the administration and Congress oppose. The funding cut is already having an impact in the Palestinian territories.


Swedish academics call for boycott of Israeli institutions
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA)
October 7, 2011 - 12:00am


More than 200 professors and students from Sweden have signed on to a call for an academic boycott of Israeli institutions. The boycott petition was initiated by the Action Group for the Boycott of Israel at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm.


Israeli reservists called up for surprise pre-Yom Kippur drill
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA)
October 7, 2011 - 12:00am


The Israeli military called up reservists for a surprise drill on the 38th anniversary of the start of the Yom Kippur War. Two reserve divisions in central and northern Israel were mobilized Wednesday evening and participated in the exercise until Thursday afternoon, according to reports. The exercise was held due to events in the region, Ynet reported. The divisions were declared to be ready by military officials. Lt.-Gen. Benny Gantz, the Israeli military's chief of staff, observed the exercise.


B'Tselem: Israeli govt responsible for Qusra attacks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
October 7, 2011 - 12:00am


Israeli authorities are failing to stop settler attacks on Nablus village Qusra, which has faced a repeated campaign of harassment from Israeli settlers, an Israeli rights group said on Thursday. Israeli settlers uprooted 200 olive trees in the south of the village overnight Wednesday. Israeli organization B'Tselem said due to a new Israeli army post overlooking the valley, "the attack occurred in an open area with excellent visibility."


PA official: IDF protects settlers who attack Palestinians
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Khaled Abu Toameh - October 7, 2011 - 12:00am


The IDF dismissed accusations by the Palestinian Authority that it was protecting settlers who attack Palestinians and/or their property in the West Bank as ridiculous on Thursday. “It is both baseless and ridiculous to say the IDF is supporting such activity,” an army source said. “The IDF together with other law enforcement bodies constantly work to prevent and investigate unlawful activities in the West Bank, whether they are perpetuated by Palestinians or Israelis,” the sources said.


Hamas, Israel's enemy or economic partner?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Amos Harel, Avi Issacharoff - October 7, 2011 - 12:00am


The line of trucks at the entry to Kerem Shalom, the southern crossing point into the Gaza Strip, is more than a kilometer long. The trucks, mostly from Israel and some from the West Bank, carry a variety of goodies: equipment from the German company Siemens for Gaza's power station, boxes of soft drinks, sacks of cement. North of the crossing point, on the Israeli side, renovation work to expand the terminal continues energetically, at an estimated cost of some NIS 100 million.


Carter: Obama must make good on Nobel Prize and back Palestinian statehood
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
October 7, 2011 - 12:00am


U.S. President Barack Obama needs to make good on the promises that won him the Nobel Peace Prize, fellow laureate and former U.S. president Jimmy Carter said on Thursday. Carter called on the current American president to back the Palestinian’s bid to the UN for statehood and seize the opportunity provided by the Arab Spring to facilitate Palestinian-Israeli peace.


Abbas urges Europe: Support Palestinian spring
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
October 7, 2011 - 12:00am


President Mahmoud Abbas told the Council of Europe on Thursday that security is created through peace, and not force. Addressing the council's parliamentary assembly in Strasbourg, Abbas appealed to Europe to support Palestine's bid for full UN membership, which is under review by a Security Council standing committee. "Today we are at the heart of the Arab spring: we say that the hour of the Palestinian spring has struck," he told European parliamentarians. "You supported the Arab spring which was seeking democracy and freedom," he said.


Ties Between Israel and Arab Allies Fray Over Mosque Burning
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Isabel Kershner - October 7, 2011 - 12:00am


The founders of this Bedouin Arab village in the Israeli countryside tied their fate to that of their Jewish neighbors even before the establishment of the Israeli state in 1948. Israeli police officers fired tear gas at residents of the village protesting the arson attack.



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