July 27th

Reading the Conflict - A Quiet Revolution: The First Palestinian Intifada and Nonviolent Resistance ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Americans For Peace Now by Emily L. Hauser - (Opinion) July 26, 2011 - 12:00am When the first intifada hit Israel with the shock of a tidal wave, I was living in Tel Aviv. Many of my male friends - including the young man with whom I was in love and living at the time - found themselves called to endless rounds of reserve duty to face off against stone-throwing youth. » Read more

September critical for Mideast ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Newsday.com by Joel Brinkley - (Opinion) July 26, 2011 - 12:00am HAIFA, Israel -- Around here, everyone is deeply concerned about September. In fact, that's just about the only thing anyone is talking about. For Israelis and Palestinians, September is the universally understood shorthand for the likely United Nations vote that month on whether to recognize Palestine as a sovereign state. Right now, Israeli and Palestinian officials are traveling to European and other capitals, furiously soliciting votes. But no one on either side of the debate doubts that a majority of the U.N.'s 192 member states will vote with the Palestinians. » Read more

Security Council Debate Offers Preview of Palestinian Bid ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Neil MacFarquhar - July 26, 2011 - 12:00am UNITED NATIONS — A preview of the expected showdown over whether to admit a Palestinian state as a full member of the United Nations when world leaders gather here in September played out in the Security Council on Tuesday. Supporters evoked the Arab Spring, in which millions of people across the Middle East sought freedom from oppression, as a fitting backdrop for an endorsement of the Palestinian people’s release from 44 years of Israeli occupation. » Read more

Beck and the Jews: Does he get them? Do they get him? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) by Ron Kampeas - (Opinion) July 26, 2011 - 12:00am It depends on whom you ask – to a degree – but it also seems to depend on the day of the week. Here he is on the night of July 19: “The Jewish people have been chased out of almost every country on this planet,” he told a crowd of thousands at the annual Christians United for Israel gathering in Washington. "This is why the nation of Israel is vital.” » Read more

Israel needs a real opposition party ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Oudeh Basharat - (Opinion) July 27, 2011 - 12:00am What do Rothschild Boulevard in Tel Aviv and Tahrir Square in Cairo have in common? Both are the seeing the creation of authentic mass protest movements, and in both countries there is a lack of formal political opposition. In Cairo the opposition is informal. Here there is a formal body called Kadima, which is not an opposition. The Knesset is likely to become confused here between the opposition and the coalition. MK Shai Hermesh of Kadima found himself this week defending himself against an attack by MK Miri Regev of Likud on the issue of housing prices. » Read more

July 26th

PA minister: No plans to ease settlement boycott ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency July 26, 2011 - 12:00am HEBRON (Ma’an) -- The Palestinian Authority's economy minister Hassan Abu Libda said Monday that during 2010 settlement products were substantially reduced throughout the Palestinian marketplace. “It is shameful for us as Palestinians to support settlement activities and to contribute to their well-being while they’re occupying and confiscating our land,” Libda said. The law banning sale of such goods put a big dent in the settlement economy, which was estimated at some 200 million shekels per year when it was last legal to buy and sell them in 2010, he said. » Read more

News analysis: Israel-Turkey reconciliation mutually beneficial: analysts ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua by Adam Gonn - July 25, 2011 - 12:00am The publication of the United Nations Palmer Report on the Israeli raid on last year's Gaza- bound flotilla has been delayed a third time, reportedly so that Israel and Turkey may continue reconciliation talks. » Read more

2 convicted collaborators executed in Gaza ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency July 26, 2011 - 12:00am GAZA CITY (Ma’an) -- The government in the Gaza Strip announced Tuesday that two residents accused of collaborating with the Israeli occupation have been executed. Gaza's Interior Ministry told Ma'an that execution orders were issued in 2004 and were postponed several times until the crimes of the accused could be thoroughly proven. The two prisoners were executed on Tuesday morning. They were not identified. » Read more

Former Israeli diplomats in Washington: 1967 borders are defensible ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Natasha Mozgovaya - July 25, 2011 - 12:00am A group of former Israeli army officials and diplomats visited Washington Monday, claiming that a peace agreement with the Palestinians is urgent in spite of, and because of, regional turmoil, and that contrary to what Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claims, the 1967 borders are, in fact, defensible. The group visited the White House on Monday and met with the National Security Council Director for Middle East and North Africa Steven Simon, and were to have meetings later in the evening with acting Middle East envoy David Hale and officials at the Pentagon. » Read more

Christian Pro-Israel Group Stakes Claim on Right ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Forward by Nathan Guttman - July 26, 2011 - 12:00am Once a novelty, the shofar-blowing, hora-dancing Christian evangelicals are now an integral part of the pro-Israel advocacy scene. At its 5,000-strong national conference in Washington, Christians United for Israel, the large Christian-Zionist movement, made clear it is stepping up its activity on the two issues that now top the pro-Israel agenda: fighting efforts to delegitimize Israel, and working on college campuses to counter anti-Israel activity. » Read more