August 9th

Israeli FM's anti-Abbas remarks anger Palestinian leadership ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua August 8, 2012 - 12:00am Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman's comments against Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas angered the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) on Wednesday. Nabil Abu Rdineh, a PNA spokesman, said the Israeli foreign minister's statements "reveal the mentality of killing peace and fueling conflict." » Read more

Israel: Hezbollah smuggled explosives into Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press August 9, 2012 - 12:00am Israeli security forces say Hezbollah militants have smuggled explosives into northern Israel using a network of drug dealers on either side of the Lebanese-Israeli border. Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said Wednesday the explosives were to be used in attacks on Israelis. He says 14 Israeli Arabs were arrested over the past few weeks in connection with the case. The arrests followed a months-long undercover operation. » Read more

Official: Rafah crossing to reopen ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency August 9, 2012 - 12:00am Egyptian authorities are expected to reopen the Rafah land crossing to Palestinian travelers in the coming days, says Mahir Abu Sabha, director of crossings in the ministry of interior in Gaza. Abu Sabha told Ma’an that he expected the Rafah crossing to be opened Thursday-Saturday. He asserted that talks with the Egyptian side over reopening the crossing were ongoing. Abu Sabha reiterated that the Gaza Strip had nothing to do with the "terrorist" attack on Egyptian soldiers Sunday which left 16 dead. » Read more

Gaza closure sends prices soaring, smugglers say ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press August 9, 2012 - 12:00am Gazans say the sealing of their territory following a weekend attack by Islamic militants on the Egypt-Israel border has sent prices soaring and is leaving hundreds of medical patients stranded. Egypt says the attackers who killed 16 Egyptian soldiers had help from Gaza. In response, Egypt closed its border crossing and shut down hundreds of smuggling tunnels. » Read more

Egypt Military: 'Elements from Gaza' involved in Rafah border attack ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ahram Online August 9, 2012 - 12:00am In a military audio statement aired on state television Monday afternoon, the armed forces presented their account of the deadly attack on the Egyptian-Israel border Sunday. "A terrorist group of 35 people attacked a border guard south of Rafah Sunday evening at 7pm, right around Ramadan Iftar time, where 16 of our soldiers were martyred and 7 injured; three of them severely injured. The terrorist group then took over an army Armed Personnel Carrier and used it to penetrate the Egypt-Israel border where Israeli forces destroyed it." » Read more

August 8th

An Intifada in Fatah's Future ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Ideas Daily by Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi - (Opinion) August 2, 2012 - 12:00am Could we soon begin to see the end of Fatah and the Palestinian Authority (PA) as a coherent Palestinian national movement? There is much evidence that appears to point in that direction. To begin with, it is apparent that there is a deep contradiction in the stance of Fatah and the PA. As Avi Issacharoff notes, they feel a need to glorify terrorists such as Dalal Mughrabi, who was one of the perpetrators of a massacre in 1978 that killed 37 Israelis. » Read more

The Elephant in the Map Room ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Frank Jacobs - (Opinion) August 7, 2012 - 12:00am My better half: “Are you sure about this? They’ll kill you.” Me: “Sure I’m sure. You can hardly expect me to write a series called Borderlines, about the strange lines that people draw to distinguish ‘us’ from ‘them,’ and then finish it without discussing the border between Israel and Palestine.” Better half: “Do what you have to. But they are going to kill you.” Me, slightly apprehensive: “You mean metaphorically kill me, right?” » Read more

Reality and the rule of law ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Shaul Arieli - (Opinion) August 8, 2012 - 12:00am Anyone who seeks to undermine Israel's future as a democratic country and as the state of the Jewish people could find no better way to do so than to adopt the Levy Committee report. In fact, should the Israeli government adopt the committee's recommendations, it would constitute further proof of the political blindness and abandonment of the Zionist idea that seem to be the principles guiding this government in its management of the conflict with the Palestinians. » Read more

Was there an occupation? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Zvi Barel - (Opinion) August 8, 2012 - 12:00am All told, what did the justice minister really want to do? Insert a small correction. Clerical. Fair, like most of the minister's ideas. Courts, he decided, cannot review claims that do not cite the identity card number or passport number of the plaintiff. Yet this is no naive directive. It is designed to nullify the basic rights of thousands of work migrants and residents from the territories. It will stop them from lodging claims in Israeli courts. One small step for bureaucracy, one giant leap for the occupation. » Read more

No religious freedom in Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Yizhar Hess - (Opinion) August 8, 2012 - 12:00am I am the son of a Yekke. My father was born in Germany. His parents, my grandparents, fled to Palestine just before the war broke out. Two doctors who did not speak the language and were out of a job. But order is order. Grandma was strict about everything, particularly words. "You don't talk just for the sake of talking," she used to say. » Read more