January 28th

Israel should focus on Mideast peace, not Iran's nukes
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Yoel Marcus - (Opinion) January 28, 2011 - 1:00am


When in June 1981 the Israel Air Force bombed the nuclear reactor under construction in Iraq, opinions about the operation were divided. This writer thought that Menachem Begin, the prime minister and defense minister at the time, was at his best. Others considered it a mistake because Iraq would neither forgive nor forget, and at the first opportunity would bomb Israel. This “opportunity” really did present itself 10 years later, when the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait led to Operation Desert Storm, led by the United States and its allies. Iraq launched 39 Scud missiles at Israel.


Hezbollah agents entering Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
by Josef Federman - January 27, 2011 - 1:00am


Israel's minister of strategic affairs said Thursday the Lebanese Hezbollah guerrilla group has infiltrated agents into the Gaza Strip to train Palestinian militants. Gaza is ruled by the Hamas militant group, which, like Hezbollah, is sworn to Israel's destruction. The minister, Moshe Yaalon, Israel's former military chief of staff, told reporters that "Hezbollah experts can get into the Gaza Strip, like the Iranian rockets are coming to the Gaza Strip." He said Hezbollah militants can go from Lebanon to Sudan, then to Egypt and on to Gaza.


Leaks deepen Palestinian split
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
by Karin Laub - (Analysis) January 28, 2011 - 1:00am


If an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal seemed remote before, it looks downright unattainable after a stormy week of leaks of confidential Mideast protocols by Al-Jazeera TV. The disclosures hurt the credibility of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas among his people, weakening him as a leader. They deepened the chasm between him and Hamas, distancing already faint hopes of restoring Palestinian unity as the Islamic militants burned him in effigy and branded him a traitor.


Israelis act out Palestinian independence push
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Dan Williams - January 27, 2011 - 1:00am


An Israeli simulation of reactions to the Palestinian push to declare independence concluded on Thursday that it would isolate and divide Israel but that big powers would not rush to recognise a state declared unilaterally. The gathering of academics and ex-officials, playing key political roles, saw Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu scrambling to calm rightists in his government while Washington urged accelerated peace talks as an alternative to U.N. approval of "Palestine" within 1967 borders.


Little recourse for victims of gender-based violence
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
January 28, 2011 - 1:00am


Gender-based violence in the occupied Palestinian territory remains at epidemic levels, according to UN agencies, local NGOs and women, while victims lack legal recourse and often face a family backlash for reporting crimes. The number of sexual assault cases reported from 2006 to 2009 increased more than seven times, while the number of attempted murder cases [of women] increased five times, according to the Palestinian Authority women's affairs ministry. The figures do not including numerous cases of drowning and falling in which a family member was responsible for the incident.


Al-Jazeera correspondent in Ramallah resigns
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
January 27, 2011 - 1:00am


The Ramallah correspondent for Al-Jazeera International resigned Wednesday, Ma'an has learned. Nour Odeh was the English-language network's first reporter in the occupied Palestinian territories. She joined in 2006. Odeh declined to comment on her departure. Al-Jazeera International did not return calls.


2nd Palestinian shot by settlers
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
January 28, 2011 - 1:00am


HEBRON (Ma'an) -- Two Palestinians were injured Thursday, by a group of religious Jews locals described as settlers from a nearby area. One man was beaten and the second shot, and said to be "clinically dead." The shooting is the second in as many days. Spokesman for the village Mohammad Awad said that more than 150 settlers from Bat Ayin had descended from the illegal hilltop community and entered the village of Safa early in the morning.


Papering over the problem in Palestine
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Foreign Policy
by Khaled Elgindy - January 26, 2011 - 1:00am


As the Palestinian leadership struggles to contain the damage caused by Al Jazeera's release of leaked documents detailing years of their negotiations with Israel, there is one lesson that risks being buried in all of the current hype. The Palestine Papers, and much of the response to them, demonstrate the increasingly narrow line the Palestinian leadership must walk between satisfying its U.S. and Western benefactors, as well as Israel, and maintaining credibility in the eyes of its own people.


Warily Eyeing Egypt, Israelis Feel Like Spectators
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Isabel Kershner - January 26, 2011 - 1:00am


After the Tunisian revolution and the emergence of a Hezbollah-backed government in Lebanon, Israelis are confronting another jolt to the system as mass protests rock Egypt, the partner in Israel’s oldest and most important Middle East relationship. While the recent upheavals have not been about Israel, they could have a potentially momentous impact on its future. Yet Israel, often a major player, now finds itself in the less familiar, and somewhat unnerving, role of spectator.


Olmert Memoir Cites Near Deal for Mideast Peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Ethan Bronner - January 27, 2011 - 1:00am


Ehud Olmert, the former prime minister of Israel, says in new memoirs that he and Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, were very close to a peace deal two years ago, but Mr. Abbas’s hesitation, Mr. Olmert’s own legal troubles and the Israeli war in Gaza caused their talks to end. Shortly afterward, a right-wing Israeli government came to power.



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