Middle East News: World Press Roundup

An American psychiatrist is helping children in Gaza cope with stress and trauma. Tom Friedman says it's time for Saudi Arabia to get involved in the peace process. The Arab press is skeptical about negotiations. The PA seeks to reduce public spending. Pres. Abbas says there can be no peace agreement that excludes Gaza. Israel considers impounding ships trying to break the blockade. A mortar launched from Gaza lands near Israeli schools, but causes no injuries. Hamas threatens the PA over arrests. Ha'aretz says the partial settlement moratorium will continue in practice. Aluf Benn says the most important thing Israel needs from negotiations is a border. The PA says it has arrested six people for last week's drive-by killing of Israeli settlers by Hamas. Pres. Obama and Sec. Clinton call on US Jews and Muslims to support peace. Palestinian politicians are outraged by a TV satire program. Ahmed Moor says Palestinian refugees in Lebanon should be disarmed and integrated. The JTA looks at settlements and other obstacles to peace, and interviews Israeli Amb. Michael Oren. Asharq Al-Awsat interviews Palestinian Spokesman Abu-Rudaynah. The Media Line looks at tensions between Palestinian and Iranian leaders.

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Finding a Steadier Path in Gaza ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Ethan Bronner - (Analysis) September 7, 2010 - 12:00am KHAN YUNIS, Gaza — Tough-looking ambulance drivers in this central Gazan city are drawing images of their fears with crayons. In the northwestern village of El Atatra, in an overheated hall without electricity, 10-year-olds are closing their eyes and imagining a reassuring place. In Gaza City, women who have lost children to political violence are dancing away their tensions, their black abayas shaking and flowing. » Read more

Saudi Time ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Thomas L. Friedman - (Opinion) September 7, 2010 - 12:00am It’s been a week and the newly minted Israeli-Palestinian peace talks have not broken down yet! Surely that is a good sign. It is a measure of how low expectations are for these talks that they have to be celebrated by the week. Now that they have begun, though, both sides will try to avoid being the one that scuttles them — and not only to avoid the wrath of the United States. » Read more

ARAB WORLD: Opinions grim about new peace talks ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times (Blog) September 7, 2010 - 12:00am When Middle East peace talks began this month in Washington, there were glimmers of optimism and excitement over the renewed discourse between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, which hadn't engaged in direct talks in almost two years.  But since then, Arab opinion makers have spoken. And the outlook is grim.  » Read more

PA to continue reducing public expenses ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency (Analysis) September 8, 2010 - 12:00am RAMALLAH (Ma'an) -- The Palestinian Authority will continue efforts to reduce public sending to reduce dependence on external financial support, a spokesman told Ma'an on Tuesday. Ghassan Al-Khatib said that while the reduction alone would not suffice to limit dependence on external support, the PA would also increase revenues through investment and the development of the Palestinian economy. » Read more

Abbas: No peace without Gaza ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency (Analysis) September 7, 2010 - 12:00am RAMALLAH (Ma'an) -- The Palestinian Authority would "not leave Gaza or the West Bank to Hamas or others,” President Mahmoud Abbas told the Kuwait-based daily newspaper Ar-Ray on Tuesday. The interview followed one in the Ramallah-based Al-Ayyam newspaper on Monday, where Abbas said that if he was forced to concede on key issues such as refugees or borders during the next round of direct negotiations with Israel, he would "pack my bags and leave." » Read more

Israel eyes impound of ships breaking Gaza blockade ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Dan Williams - (Analysis) September 8, 2010 - 12:00am JERUSALEM/LONDON, Sept 8 (Reuters) - Anticipating fresh bids by pro-Palestinian activists to sail against its Gaza Strip blockade, and hoping to avoid a repeat of its bloody boarding of a Turkish aid ship in May, Israel has turned to maritime law. Israeli officials say vessels will be warned in advance that they face costly impoundment and the possible detainment of crews -- a strategy first floated in July when the threat of such action helped turn a Libyan-chartered ship away from Gaza. » Read more

No injuries in Palestinian mortar attack on Israeli kindergarten ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua by Dave Bender - (Analysis) September 8, 2010 - 12:00am JERUSALEM, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian militants in northern Gaza fired a mortar into a nearby Israeli kibbutz community Wednesday morning that slammed down between kindergarten classrooms. The shell, which caused slight damage but no casualties, failed to trigger an early-warning system meant to detect rocket fire from the Hamas-ruled area. » Read more

Hamas warns PA: Stop arresting our people or we'll strike ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Avi Issacharoff - September 8, 2010 - 12:00am Hamas on Wednesday warned that it would harm the Palestinian Authority if security forces continued to arrest its operatives in the West Bank. In a harshly worded announcement, the Islamist group declared that "our patience will soon run out" and that they would not remain silent for long, Israel Radio reported. "You know that the hands that have reached the heart of the occupier can reach you too," Hamas warned, referring to its recent attacks against Israelis in the West Bank, adding that Hamas cannot be stopped, and will strike anywhere, at any time it wishes. » Read more

West Bank building freeze to continue in practice, if not officially ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Akiva Eldar - September 8, 2010 - 12:00am The agreement beginning to take shape on the settlement construction freeze is based on an "unspoken understanding" that security authorities will not sign new building permits, but the government will not issue a formal resolution extending the freeze. Furthermore, a review found that the building moratorium is due to expire on September 30, not September 26, as previously thought. » Read more

Give us a border! ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Aluf Benn - (Opinion) September 8, 2010 - 12:00am The direct talks that were launched at the Washington summit should have one aim - to fix the border between Israel and the Palestinian state that will be set up in the West Bank. Israel needs a border that will delineate its borders, normalize its international status, end the dissent over the settlements and solidify the national consensus. This is Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's mission in life. If he succeeds, he will have justified his return to power and go down in history as a formative leader. » Read more

PA says nabbed West Bank terrorists ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Ali Waked - (Analysis) September 7, 2010 - 12:00am Palestinian Authority announced Tuesday that it had arrested six men who had carried out two terror attacks that killed four Israelis and injured two last week. The Palestinians say the first attack, which killed four residents of Beit Hagai at a junction near Hebron last Tuesday, was carried out by two shooters and an accomplice. A similarly composed terror cell was responsible for the attack that occurred one day later and injured a couple, according to the authority. » Read more

Obama, Clinton call on US Jews, Muslims to back talks ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Hilary Leila Krieger - September 8, 2010 - 12:00am US President Barack Obama indicated he understood recent Palestinian statements threatening to quit the peace process and rejecting compromise as political posturing, according to rabbis on a White House conference call Tuesday. Obama, who spoke with rabbis of various denominations in a call marking Rosh Hashanah, was asked by a participant about comments from Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas perceived in Israel as hostile to the negotiating process he launched with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu just last Thursday. » Read more

Palestinian TV satire Watan ala Watar unites political rivals – in anger ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian by Harriet Sherwood - September 7, 2010 - 12:00am Political rivals Hamas and Fatah are united – in anger. But the bite-sized nightly satirical sketches of Watan ala Watar have become a Ramadan sensation, cheering thousands of Palestinian television viewers through the holy month. The show has distracted families from the iftar meal that breaks their traditional daily fast, causing them to abandon half-eaten plates of chicken, lamb and rice for 10 minutes of intensive mockery of their political leaders. » Read more

Disarming Lebanon's Palestinians ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian by Ahmed Moor - (Opinion) September 8, 2010 - 12:00am Lebanon is regenerating. On balance, the country's collective sloughing off of history has been more successful than not. It is only 20 years since the civil war ended, and the memories of internecine atrocities remain; sporadic sectarian violence is a fact of life here. Fortunately, the Lebanese have avoided descending once more into civil war's morass but, despite all the healing, the Palestinian refugee issue still festers. » Read more

The peace talks—and their obstacles ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) by Ron Kampeas - September 7, 2010 - 12:00am Direct talks between Palestinians and Israelis have barely begun and already the sides are facing their first major hurdle -- the end of Israel's partial moratorium on settlement building. Several issues might beset the sides as they aim to meet the yearlong deadline suggested by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and endorsed (with considerable enthusiasm) by President Obama and (with less enthusiasm) by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. » Read more

Michael Oren, making the case for Obama ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) by Ron Kampeas - September 7, 2010 - 12:00am Michael Oren outlines what may be his toughest assignment: Making the case to a skeptical public for a leader who's hard to pin down. Pitching Bibi to the Americans? No, that's an easy one. The real problem for the Israeli ambassador to Washington is how to make Israelis understand President Obama. "Obama often doesn’t get the credit he deserves in Israel," Oren said in a pre-Rosh Hashanah interview with the U.S. Jewish media. "I think it’s important at some point that he visits us." » Read more

Palestinian Spokesman Abu-Rudaynah Talks to Asharq Al-Awsat ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat by Mina Al-Oraibi - (Interview) September 7, 2010 - 12:00am » Read more

Abbas vs. Ahmadinejad ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Media Line by Benjamin Joffe-Walt - September 5, 2010 - 12:00am The Mahmouds... For years they’ve appeared publicly to be allies. When resources were low, one rushed to the rescue of the other. When one of their rhetorical wheels would run dry, the other would pipe-in with eloquent axioms. But now, the truth about the Mahmouds has been revealed and these two former buddies have fallen out in a public barrage of invective. In the one corner we have disputed Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the self-proclaimed champion of the Palestinian cause and supporter of Palestinian militant movements. » Read more

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