Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak, authorizes plans for 455 new housing units in Jewish settlements in the West Bank. Former President Jimmy Carter recounts his travels in the occupied territories, and Elliott Abrams responds, both in the Washington Post. Military rabbis are transforming the traditionally secular culture of the IDF. Egypt announces that it will open the Rafah crossing for two consecutive days. Israeli minister Uzi Landau calls the Palestinians "occupiers." Prime Minister Netanyahu reportedly visits the capital of an Arab country which does not have diplomatic ties with Israel.

Palestinian workers seek livelihood in Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Erika Soloman - September 8, 2009 - 12:00am

Before dawn, a crackling sound breaks up the cool, still air, as boots tread over rocks on a 7-km (4-mile)-long path that leads hundreds of illegal Palestinian workers into Israel each day. None holds an Israeli work permit and as the laborers make their way from the occupied West Bank, they risk a dangerous run-in with Israeli paramilitary border police. The small Arab village of Beit Iksa , nestled among foothills and surrounded by Jewish settlements, opens out to a dark panorama of Jerusalem studded by twinkling street lights.

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Palestinians warn of new "Intifada" against Israeli settlement
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
by Saud Abu Ramadan - September 7, 2009 - 12:00am

Palestinian political figures warned on Monday that if the United States and Europe fail to urge Israel to halt settlement, repression would prevail among the Palestinians, and "it would be an incitement for a popular uprising against Israel." Ghassan Daghlas, a senior Palestinian National Authority (PNA) official in charge of the Israeli settlement file in northern West Bank, said the current Palestinian status concerning the settlement expansion is like "fire under ashes."

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The hollowness of the one-state agenda
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star
by Hussein Ibish - (Opinion) September 8, 2009 - 12:00am

On college campuses in the United States and the United Kingdom, and increasingly among grassroots activists in the West generally, the cause of ending the Israeli occupation and securing independence for a Palestinian state is being abandoned in favor of a much more far-reaching goal of replacing Israel with a single, democratic state for all Israelis and Palestinians, including all of the refugees. Until now, this rhetoric has been largely unchallenged from a pro-Palestinian perspective, which has probably been a significant factor in its appeal.

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Barbaric Footsteps
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat
by Hussein Shobokshi - (Opinion) September 8, 2009 - 12:00am

The project of juadizing the city of Jerusalem is continuing at a steady pace and arduous efforts are being made in this regard. Forty years after the Al Aqsa fire that was masterminded by Israeli terrorists, crimes are still being carried out against residents of that city.

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The rise of Israel's military rabbis
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News
by Katya Adler - September 8, 2009 - 12:00am

Military rabbis are becoming more powerful. Trained in warfare as well as religion, new army regulations mean they are now part of a military elite. They graduate from officer's school and operate closely with military commanders. One of their main duties is to boost soldiers' morale and drive, even on the front line. This has caused quite some controversy in Israel. Should military motivation come from men of God, or from a belief in the state of Israel and keeping it safe? The military rabbis rose to prominence during Israel's invasion of Gaza earlier this year.

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Obama Mid-East plans in jeopardy
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News
by Roger Hardy - September 8, 2009 - 12:00am

The Netanyahu government in Israel has approved the building of 455 new homes for settlers in the West Bank - in defiance of Mr Obama's call for a complete settlement freeze. One former US diplomat with extensive experience of the Middle East calls it "a huge slap in the face" for the Obama administration. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is trying to have it both ways. He wants to appease the settler lobby by allowing new construction, and to appease the Americans by finalising an agreement on a temporary freeze. But he is in danger of satisfying no-one.

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Lieberman: Despite settlement freeze, Right won't topple gov't
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
September 8, 2009 - 12:00am

The Right will not bring down Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's government, and Israel Beiteinu will not leave the coalition in the face of the anticipated six-month moratorium on new construction in the West Bank, Foreign Minister and Israel Beiteinu Chairman Avigdor Lieberman said on Tuesday.

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New neighborhood launched in disputed E1 area
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
September 8, 2009 - 12:00am

"This is our answer to the international community's demand that Israel halt construction in the West Bank," Deputy Education Minister Meir Porush (United Torah Judaism) said Monday during a groundbreaking ceremony for a new residential neighborhood in E1, a sprawl of land connecting Jerusalem to Maaleh Adumim. The US is opposed to any construction in the area, claiming that it hinders peace negotiations with the Palestinians.

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Fayyad: We need to will Palestinian state
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
September 8, 2009 - 12:00am

Some two weeks after going public with his ambitious plans of establishing a de facto Palestinian State within two years, Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad of Monday said he was baffled as to Israel's displeasure and silence over his plans. In an interview to Newsweek, Fayyad said he did not understand why Jerusalem was so unwelcoming of his initiative, and said the Israelis were missing the point. "If you look at all the variables around us, we really don't have control over most of them," he told Newsweek.

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