September 11th

Nasrallah: No peace in Middle East as long as Israel exists ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz September 10, 2008 - 8:00pm Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah said in a recent interview that as long as Israel exists, there will be no peace in the Middle East. "The region will not see the light of peace or any stability because of Israel's aggressiveness and militant nature," Nasrallah said. Despite hiding out in a bunker since 2006's Second Lebanon War, Nasrallah recently spoke to the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting radio station, Army Radio reported. » Read more

West Bank: 2 soldiers lightly injured in clashes with settlers ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Erfat Weiss - September 10, 2008 - 8:00pm During the ensuing clashes with dozens of settlers, the tires of a vehicle belonging to the Civil Administration were punctured and, according to the IDF, one settler unleashed his dog on a soldier, who sustained light injuries. Another soldier broke his finger during the clashes. Police forces dispatched to the scene managed to calm the situation down. 'Commander forgot to leave his politics at home' » Read more

Naalin: 12-year-old arrested over violent riot ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Ali Waked - September 10, 2008 - 8:00pm Large IDF forces arrived Wednesday night at the West Bank village of Naalin in order to arrest 12-year-old Muhammad Hawaja, who is suspected of involvement in violent riots held in protest of Israel's construction of the security barrier. His father, Salah Hawaja, told Ynet that the forces, ?came in from the mountains, surrounded the house and removed Muhammad from his bed. "My wife and I can?t forget the image of IDF soldiers grabbing hold of Muhammad's pajama collar and leading him away as if he were a sheep crying and screaming," said the father, a paramedic. » Read more

In Jerusalem All Politics Isn?t Local ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Israel Policy Forum by Sadie Goldman - September 10, 2008 - 8:00pm The circus that is Jerusalem local politics is back in the headlines with the kick-off of its mayoral race. » Read more

Can an ex-convict be Jerusalem's mayor? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor by Ilene Prusher - September 10, 2008 - 8:00pm One of Israel's most charismatic and controversial political figures, who fell from grace when he was jailed in 2000 for bribery, is making a comeback that is quickly sowing controversy. Aryeh Deri, the former leader of the ultra-Orthodox Shas Party, said Wednesday he would run for mayor of Jerusalem, a key office that was held by Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert through much of the 1990s. » Read more

Palestinian police make a difference in Hebron ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters September 10, 2008 - 8:00pm A new chapter in the history of the biblical town of Hebron is being inscribed in a Palestinian police blotter. The record shows that in August Palestinian police arrested 139 people on suspicion of crimes ranging from murder, drug dealing and illegal arms trading. Nearly 700 traffic tickets were handed out. After years of rule by gunmen in the Palestinian side of the divided city in the occupied West Bank, some 400 pistol-toting Palestinian policemen in blue uniforms are beginning to make a difference, residents said. » Read more

West Bank settlers take over more land: report ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Ori Lewis - September 10, 2008 - 8:00pm Israeli authorities and settlers have seized large tracts of land in the occupied West Bank for security zones around Jewish settlements beyond an Israeli-built barrier, a human rights group said on Thursday. In a new report, the Israeli B'Tselem group said some 12 settlements east of the barrier had been fenced off under an official "Special Security Area" (SSA) plan, blocking Palestinian farmers from reaching their fields. » Read more

Enough of the Jerusalem Mantra ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post by Daniel Seidemann - (Opinion) September 10, 2008 - 8:00pm I was born American. Thirty-five years ago, I chose to become Israeli. My choice in no way reflects a lack of affection for the United States. But patriotism is monogamous: I am an Israeli patriot, and a platonic friend of the land of my birth. I have never voted in a U.S. election and I belong to no U.S. political party. I see myself as an observer of, rather than a participant in, American presidential election politics. But as a Jerusalemite, I do have a stake in the 2008 Presidential race, like it or not. » Read more

Israeli special forces kill Palestinian in West Bank ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Deutsche Presse Agentur (DPA) September 9, 2008 - 8:00pm Israeli soldiers shot dead a Palestinian during an arrest raid in the northern West Bank city of Nablus Wednesday evening, the Palestinian Ma'an news agency reported. An Israeli military spokesman in Tel Aviv said a special army force drove into Nablus to arrest a 'wanted' militant of President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah movement. During the incursion into the city's Ras al-Ayn neighbourhood, violent clashes erupted between the Israeli troops and Palestinian gunmen and stone-throwing residents. » Read more

September 10th

B?Tselem: Israel cutting Gaza from West Bank ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews September 9, 2008 - 8:00pm Israel is taking unilateral steps in order to institutionalize a new reality of separation between the Palestinian population in the Gaza Strip and the one living in the West Bank, human rights group B'Tselem stated in a new report released Wednesday. The report warns against harming Palestinians' human rights and their possibility to realize their right for self-definition. » Read more