July 1st

Court: Revise charges against soldier who shot at Palestinian ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Aviad Glickman - July 1, 2009 - 12:00am The trial of Lieutenant-Colonel Omri Borberg, and his subordinate L., charged of disorderly conduct over their involvement in shooting at a bound Palestinian, Ashraf Abu-Rahma, was called off by the Supreme Court on Wednesday, after the judges accepted a petition by human rights organizations that argued that the charges were extremely insufficient. The ruling was unanimous, and the judges ordered the Military Advocate General reexamine the case and reconsider the charges to be brought against the two. » Read more

Israel downplays settlement rift ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC World News July 1, 2009 - 12:00am Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak has denied any impasse with the US over Jewish settlement activity in the West Bank as talks ended without agreement. Mr Barak met US envoy George Mitchell as the two allies are struggling to end a rare public rift over the issue. The US wants Israel to stop all settlement activity in the occupied territory, but Israel wants to continue what it calls "natural growth". The Palestinians refuse to restart talks without a settlement freeze. "I don't think we are stuck," Mr Barak said after the meeting with Mr Mitchell on Tuesday. » Read more

Editorial: Odious personality ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News (Editorial) July 1, 2009 - 12:00am A couple of months ago, Israel’s controversial, very right-wing foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman, was in London for talks with the British government as part of a four-nation European trip. It was his first visit abroad as foreign minister and it would have been interesting to have been a fly on the wall when he met British Foreign Secretary David Miliband, if only to have seen the body language. All the reports point to a cold get-together. » Read more

Big screen returns to West Bank town ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National by Omar Karmi - June 30, 2009 - 12:00am Mustafa Odeh, 75, remembers well when there last was a cinema in Nablus. “Those were different days,” he said in front of his tiny plumbing repair shop in the centre of the city. “There were no satellite dishes, not many TVs, no 300 different channels. The cinema was good then.” And it would still be today, or so believe two local businessmen who last week opened a brand new commercial screen in the centre of the city just around the corner from Mr Odeh’s shop. » Read more