August 6th

Legalizing outposts the last thing we need ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Gili Heskin - (Opinion) August 5, 2012 - 12:00am A committee headed by former Supreme Court Justice Edmond Levy determined that Israel is not an occupying power in the West Bank and recommended that the State sanction the majority of illegal Jewish outposts in the region. Netanyahu announced that he would implement the panel's recommendations as soon as possible, as though the settlement policy has ever been subjected to legal or moral decisions. » Read more

Israel-Sinai border attack thwarted, but ominous signs loom ahead ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Amos Harel, Avi Issacharoff - (Opinion) August 6, 2012 - 12:00am Sunday’s confrontation on the Israeli-Egyptian border ended very successfully from Israel’s point of view. A concrete warning from the Shin Bet security service allowed the Israel Defense Forces to properly ready itself along the triangulated border near Rafah. Every terrorist that tried to infiltrate into Israeli territory was killed, while the Israeli side suffered no casualties. But if one takes a broader view, the incident testifies to the development of some very serious problems – for Egypt, in the near term, and for Israel, in the slightly longer term. » Read more

Israel’s Fading Democracy ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Avraham Burg - (Opinion) August 4, 2012 - 12:00am When an American presidential candidate visits Israel and his key message is to encourage us to pursue a misguided war with Iran, declaring it “a solemn duty and a moral imperative” for America to stand with our warmongering prime minister, we know that something profound and basic has changed in the relationship between Israel and the United States. » Read more

Adelson vs. Romney ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Beast by Dan Ephron, Eli Lake - August 6, 2012 - 12:00am Casino tycoon Sheldon Adelson, a major contributor to Mitt Romney’s election effort, is pressing the Republican nominee to come out for the release of Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard, a major Republican donor and associates of Adelson and Romney tell The Daily Beast. » Read more

Traditional stone walls help protect Palestinian land ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP) by Hossam Ezzedine - August 6, 2012 - 12:00am It has taken four years for Amer Dahabreh to build a traditional stone wall around his land, in what appears to be the ideal solution for protecting it from Jewish settlers. Within the safety of this stone enclosure, this 60-year-old farmer grows apricots, grapes, peaches and courgettes in the village of Ein Yabrud, which is overlooked by the neighbouring Jewish settlement of Ofra. The village is located in Area C, an area under total Israeli control which comprises some 60 percent of the West Bank. » Read more

New regulation may bar migrants, Palestinians from filing lawsuits in Israeli courts ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Tomer Zarchin - August 6, 2012 - 12:00am Justice Minister Yaakov Neeman has signed on regulations that require plaintiffs to cite their Israeli ID numbers or foreign passport numbers on the documents they file. Although the ministry said the cases of individuals such as migrant workers, Palestinian residents of the territories and stateless individuals who have no passport will be referred to a registrar or judge, civil rights activists say the new regulation will bar those without foreign passports from filing lawsuits in Israeli courts. » Read more

CEC: Voter registration opens in West Bank ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency August 6, 2012 - 12:00am Voter registration opened in the West Bank on Sunday to prepare for elections, the chairman of the Central Elections Commission announced. At a news conference in Ramallah, Hanna Nasser said 754 voter registration centers would be open from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Sunday until Thursday. Nasser added that he hoped it would be the last time he announced the start of local elections, which are overdue and have been stalled by the infighting between Hamas and Fatah. » Read more

Israel air strike kills radical Gaza gunman ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters August 5, 2012 - 12:00am An Israeli air strike killed a Palestinian gunman from a radical Islamist group and wounded another on Sunday as they rode a motorbike in southern Gaza, near the Egyptian border, hospital officials said. They identified the dead man as a former member of the Popular Resistance Committees militant group who had shifted allegiance to "Magles Shoura al-Mujahddin", among Salafi factions that are a fringe presence in Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip. » Read more

Palestinians send aid to Palestinians in Syria ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Jihan Abdalla - August 5, 2012 - 12:00am An aid convoy left the West Bank city of Ramallah on Sunday carrying food and medicine in a symbol of support for Palestinian refugees caught up in the crisis in Syria. "Today the first convoy will leave from here, from the West Bank, from Palestinian soil towards Syria," Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said at a press event marking the event. An official donations drive netted around $650,000 worth of food and medical aid from Palestinian companies, businessmen, and individuals during the charitable month of Ramadan. » Read more

Abbas to move on UN membership bid in September ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press by Mohammed Daraghmeh - August 4, 2012 - 12:00am Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will take a first procedural step toward seeking U.N. recognition of a state of Palestine when he addresses the General Assembly in late September, but has not decided when to ask for a vote on his request, the Palestinian foreign minister said Saturday. Timing is seen as crucial in the Palestinian bid to be recognized as a non-member observer state by the U.N. General Assembly, an upgrade they hope will firmly establish the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem, captured by Israel in 1967, as Palestinian territories in the eyes of the world. » Read more