The UN investigation of the war in Gaza finds that both Israel and Palestinian militant groups committed war crimes, Israeli witnesses defend the report, and Haaretz examines the repercussions for Israeli policy. Bargaining continues with the hope that a tripartite meeting will be held at the UN next week as expected. Women remain excluded from peace negotiations while they bear the brunt of the conflict. A group of prominent Israelis and Palestinians present a blueprint for comprehensive peace. Hamas leader Naser Ash-Sha’er expected to be released by Israeli army.

Goldstone's daughter: My father's participation softened UN Gaza report
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
September 16, 2009 - 12:00am

Had Richard Goldstone not served as the head of the UN inquiry into the Gaza war, the accusations against Israel would have been harsher, Goldstone's daughter, Nicole, said in an interview conducted in Hebrew with Army Radio on Wednesday. "My father took on this job because he thought he is doing the best thing for peace, for everyone, and also for Israel," Nicole Goldstone told Army Radio. She added that her father wrestled with the decision to take on the task. "It wasn't easy [for him]," Nicole Goldstone said. "My father did not expect to see and hear what he saw and heard."

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Israeli forces target family of anti-wall protest organizer in Bil'in
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
September 16, 2009 - 12:00am

Israeli soldiers backed by six armored vehicles broke into the home of Abdallh Abu Rahmah, coordinator of the Bil'in Popular Committee's Anti Wall protests staged each Friday. The troops ransacked the home, questioned the family and delivered an arrest warrant.

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Former Deputy PM Ash-Sha'er to be released from Israeli prison
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
September 16, 2009 - 12:00am

The Israeli army is expected to release Former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education Naser Ash-Sha’er, an Israeli High Court decided Wednesday. Ash-Sha’er has been in administrative detention for two consecutive three month periods and was held without charge in the Magido and Negev prison facilities. A court decision said the period of detention would not be renewed, and the lawmaker, popular with both Fatah and Hamas, is expected to be released in the coming days.

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Israeli settlements: Where, when, and why they're built
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Ilene Prusher - September 6, 2009 - 12:00am

Amid rising anticipation of a US-Israeli agreement on a settlement freeze, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US envoy George Mitchell said they would meet again Wednesday after an inconclusive visit Tuesday in Jerusalem.

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How to get Mideast peace talks out of 'dark corner' of Israeli settlements
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Ilene Prusher - September 15, 2009 - 12:00am

A group representing prominent Israelis and Palestinians, including former negotiators, released a "cookbook" for peace on Tuesday designed to help decisionmakers reach a two-state solution to the conflict. The release of the Geneva Accord and Annexes coincided with the visit of US Middle East envoy George Mitchell, who met Tuesday with both Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. He is just the kind of diplomatic "chef" that the group, known as the Geneva Initiative, is targeting.

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Israel, Jewish groups seek to discredit new U.N. report on Gaza war
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA)
by Ron Kampeas - September 16, 2009 - 12:00am

Israel's government and its supporters are promoting a one-sentence strategy to counter a 574-page U.N. report on last winter's Israel-Hamas war in Gaza: Consider the source. "The same U.N. that allows the president of a country to announce on a podium its aspiration to destroy the State of Israel has no right to teach us about morality," Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin said, referring to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

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A captive Palestinian market
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Rachel Shabi - (Opinion) September 16, 2009 - 12:00am

It's boom time in the West Bank – the right kind of boom this time. Weeks ago, you couldn't flick on an Israeli TV or radio channel without hearing the good news. Parts of the international press did the same, with a flurry of articles pronouncing the West Bank open for business. The boost in financial fortunes is attributed to Israel easing up on some checkpoints, the Palestinian Authority (PA) police tackling city street crime and the Israeli government's promotion of something called economic peace.

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Middle East peace effort's missing key: female negotiators.
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Rachel Brown - (Opinion) September 15, 2009 - 12:00am

While Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and representatives of the MiddleEast Quartet debate whether evictions of Palestinian families are a barrier or catalyst to a two-state solution, Israeli and Palestinian women alike confront the realities of the conflict on the ground. These women work toward a sustainable peace as committee members, as demonstrators, and as mothers raising and educating their children despite occupation. But their representation in formal negotiations is inadequate.

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Israel threatened with international law
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Ian Black - September 15, 2009 - 12:00am

Controversy surrounded Richard Goldstone's investigation for the UN Human Rights Council into the Gaza war from the very start, with Israel flatly refusing to co-operate because it regarded it as irredeemably biased. But Palestinians and their supporters will see it as an authoritative if long overdue indictment.

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