August 8th

Abbas urges donors to support Palestinian budget ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua August 8, 2012 - 12:00am Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday urged donor countries to support the Palestinian National Authority (PNA)'s crippling budget deficit. "The PNA suffers a difficult financial situation," Abbas said at a meeting with Toni Blair, the former British prime minister who is now the envoy of the International Middle East peacemakers, known as the Quartet. » Read more

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 The Associated Press August 8, 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 8, 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 The Associated Press by Ibrahim Barzak - August 8, 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 6, 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 7th

A difference beyond question ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post by Richard Cohen - (Opinion) August 6, 2012 - 12:00am Before the Jews of Hungary were emancipated in the 19th century, they were not permitted to own land. By the end of the century, they were on their way to owning fully one-fifth of Hungary’s large estates and were hugely successful in business and the arts. The Jews of Germany had a similar history. » Read more

Israel Must Accommodate The Arabic Language ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Yedioth Ahronoth by Gilad Kariv - (Opinion) August 6, 2012 - 12:00am Not long ago while on an El Al flight, I received an explanation from a service manager about the plane’s sound system. On a list hung on the side of the control box was a roster of the numerous languages used in the in-flight announcements. Only one language did not appear: Israel's second official language, Arabic. » Read more

Israel’s future depends on two states ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by David Halperin, Peter A. Joseph - (Opinion) August 6, 2012 - 12:00am The Israel Policy Forum clearly struck a chord when it sent a letter signed by a politically diverse group of over 40 philanthropists and Jewish leaders to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu urging him not to adopt the Levy Report. » Read more

On Apartheid ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Gershon Baskin - (Opinion) August 6, 2012 - 12:00am Spending days with the Jewish community of South Africa at Limmud is a unique opportunity to meet another dynamic, engaged Jewish community in the Diaspora. » Read more