August 29th

National reconciliation ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times by Nermeen Murad - August 29, 2011 - 12:00am The underlying political current against reform in Jordan is closely tied to the continued ripple effects of the 1970 clash between Palestinian “resistance groups” and the Jordanian government. Unspoken is the fear that any relaxing of the restrictions on the security-driven containment of the Jordanians of Palestinian origin or refugee residents of camps in Jordan could recalibrate the tenuous political balance in the country and provide grounds for civil conflict. » Read more

Israel mulls ties with a changed Egypt ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post by Joel Greenberg - (Analysis) August 27, 2011 - 12:00am JERUSALEM — A deadly border incident this month that drew a threat by Egypt to recall its ambassador to Israel has starkly revealed the changed political terrain in the relationship between the two countries. Israeli officials who relied on former president Hosni Mubarak as a partner in upholding the 1979 Israeli-Egyptian peace treaty are now contending with the newly assertive voice of public opinion in Egypt and its influence on that country’s leadership. » Read more

Congressional tourists avoid apartheid in Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Salon.com by Ahmad Tibi - August 26, 2011 - 12:00am Americans, do you know where your member of Congress is? He or she may well be visiting Israel right now. In fact, 81 members of the House of Representatives -- nearly 20 percent of the whole body -- are expected here this month, according to new reports. If challenged, the representatives (numbering 55 Republicans and 26 Democrats) are likely to say a few words about looking for business opportunities good for their constituents or the need to provide for the security of Israel, which has cost American taxpayers billions of dollars. That's their business and yours. ? ? » Read more

Palestinians Thirsting for Justice in Water-Starved Occupied Territories ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Inter Press Service (IPS) by Thalif Deen - August 26, 2011 - 12:00am STOCKHOLM, Aug 26, 2011 (IPS) - In the strife-stricken Middle East, oil has always been in the realm of politics. But in the Israeli-occupied territories of Gaza and the West Bank, oil has been supplanted by water. Shaddad Attili, head of the Palestinian Water Authority, told IPS that the Palestinians have not only been deprived of water as a basic human right but that water is also being used as a weapon of war by the Israelis. » Read more

With Mideast in Turmoil, Israel Debates Strategy ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Ethan Bronner - (Analysis) August 26, 2011 - 12:00am JERUSALEM — Eight days after Israel suffered a terrorist attack from Egyptian Sinai and weeks before it faces a Palestinian statehood resolution at the United Nations, its officials say they are struggling with a painful set of strategic and diplomatic challenges produced by the region’s popular uprisings. » Read more

August 26th

Fear of engagement ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Avi Issacharoff - (Opinion) August 26, 2011 - 12:00am Israel's southern cities were bombarded by rocket and missile fire from Gaza as the weekend approached. There had been talk of a cease-fire at the beginning of the week, but this situation is actually a new form of tahadiyeh (lull ): It has different rules than the one after Operation Cast Lead two years ago. When Israel has an opportunity to attack, it does so, as it did Wednesday, killing Islamic Jihad operative Ismail al-Asmar in an air strike. That bombing sparked a new flare-up. » Read more

Legal opinion challenges PLO statehood bid ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Jazeera English by Guy Goodwin Gill - (Opinion) August 26, 2011 - 12:00am A legal opinion highlighting the challenges and risks facing the Palestinian people in their quest for statehood has been obtained by Al Jazeera, in the lead up to the Palestinian Liberation Organisation's bid at the United Nations in September. » Read more

Stage is set for much bigger conflagration in Middle East ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News by Patrick Seale - (Opinion) August 26, 2011 - 12:00am As if sparked by the intense summer heat, fierce fighting and other acts of extreme violence have broken out across the Middle East. The danger is that one of these nasty local conflicts will escalate into a full-scale war, setting the whole region on fire. In retaliation for an ambush of a Turkish military convoy on August 17 by guerrillas of the Kurdish Workers Party (PKK), which killed eight soldiers and wounded another 15, the Turkish Air Force, a couple of days later, struck at 60 suspected PKK hideouts and bases in the mountains of northern Iraq. » Read more

Egypt, Israel and Palestine: an awkward three-way dance ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian by Khaled Diab - (Opinion) August 26, 2011 - 12:00am It has been a tense week in Egyptian-Israeli relations. It all started when unknown assailants crossed from Sinai to carry out a series of co-ordinated terrorist attacks in southern Israel, which left eight Israelis dead. Terror was met with more terror and counter-terror, as Israel bombed embattled Gaza, leading to the deaths of at least 14 people, despite the absence of evidence that Gazans were behind the attack (some of the alleged perpetrators appear to be Egyptians), and Islamist militants in Gaza fired their Grad rockets into southern Israel. » Read more

Social justice also means ending the occupation ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Zeev Sternhell - (Opinion) August 26, 2011 - 12:00am Be the internal ills of Israeli society as they may, and they are too numerous to count, most of them can be treated and even cured; but the occupation and colonialism are terminal illnesses. Therefore anyone who refuses to understand - as did Shelly Yachimovich in her interview with Haaretz's weekend magazine - that the socialism of masters, and on behalf of masters, is no less ruthless and despicable than the neoliberalism of the rich on behalf of the rich, is not worthy of seeking the leadership of a party that has pretensions of charting the future. » Read more