September 17th

Time running out on US deal to suspend Jewish settlements ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National by Vita Bekker - September 17, 2009 - 12:00am The clock is ticking for George Mitchell. The top US envoy to the Middle East yesterday again failed to reach agreement with Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, on a suspension of Jewish settlement construction in occupied territory that Palestinians want for their future state. » Read more

A committee of inquiry is needed ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz (Editorial) September 17, 2009 - 12:00am The report by the commission headed by Judge Richard Goldstone on Operation Cast Lead in Gaza is one of the most serious indictments ever made against the government and the military in Israel. The report states that during the operation Israel committed war crimes and significant violations of international law. » Read more

Palestinian-Led Movement To Boycott Israel Is Gaining Support ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward by Gal Beckerman - September 17, 2009 - 12:00am Uzbekistan-born diamond mogul Lev Leviev announced late in August that his company, Africa-Israel, was drowning in debt of more than $5.5 billion that it could not repay. Over the next two days, shares in the company’s stock plummeted by more than one-third. It was relentless bad news for one of the world’s richest men. His holding and investment company had lost $1.4 billion since 2008, mostly due to failed real estate investments in the United States. Watching Leviev’s precipitous downfall from the sidelines were pro-Palestinian activists. And they were cheering. » Read more

IDF to raze 100 roadblocks across West Bank ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Anshel Pfeffer - September 16, 2009 - 12:00am The Israel Defense Forces began razing about 100 "dirt mound" roadblocks from the entrances to Palestinian villages across the West Bank on Wednesday, as part of an ongoing effort to improve life for Palestinians. The roadblocks had been erected at the start of the second intifada, as Israel was struggling to defend itself against a wave of Palestinian suicide terror attacks. » Read more

Amira Hass / The one thing worse than denying the Gaza report ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Amira Hass - (Opinion) September 17, 2009 - 12:00am On Friday an Israel Defense Forces soldier called to protest the publication of another story in Haaretz which in his words, tainted not only the troops' image but also his Sabbath day. The soldier was referring to Gaza resident Zinat Samouni's account of how soldiers killed her 46-year-old husband and their 4-year-old son Ahmed - just two of the 29 people of the same family the army killed between January 4 and 5. » Read more

Toronto film fest calls Israeli PR strategy into question ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) by Ben Harris - September 17, 2009 - 12:00am When Amir Gissin helped come up with an idea to remake Israel's international image several years ago, it's unlikely he imagined that the showcasing of Israeli films in Toronto would spark a star-studded Hollywood brouhaha over artistic expression and cultural boycotts. But that’s what happened as Israel became the major flashpoint at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival. » Read more

Mideast Discord Thwarts A Palestinian Love Story ATFP World Press Roundup Article from National Public Radio (NPR) by Lourdes Garcia-Navarro - September 16, 2009 - 12:00am They are engaged — Amani, a Palestinian woman from the Gaza Strip, and Basheer, her fiance who lives in the West Bank. But even though they are both of the same religion and the same nationality, they cannot get married. The house he has built for her sits in an orchard filled with ripe pomegranates, figs and lemons. It's fully furnished, but everything is too neatly in its place. It's lifeless, a home waiting to be lived in. Basheer » Read more

Op-Ed: U.S. Jews, Muslims must look forward, not back ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) by Salam Al-Marayati - (Opinion) September 17, 2009 - 12:00am In the 25 years I have served as a leader in the Muslim American community, I have watched and sometimes participated as the pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian camps have put all their energy into trying to convert each other to their own ways of thinking -- ideologically, not theologically. The conclusion I have reached is that agreement cannot and should not be a pre-condition for engagement. As Muslims, Jews and Christians who believe in peacemaking as a social and religious responsibility, we must be the drivers of change at the grass-roots level. » Read more

Rattling the Cage: A wake-up call from Judge Goldstone ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Larry Derfner - (Opinion) September 16, 2009 - 12:00am Maybe this will do it. Maybe the Goldstone report on Operation Cast Lead will be the thing that finally puts the fear of God into Israeli society, that shocks this country into deciding once and for all that the occupation must come to an end - for our sake if no one else's. » Read more

Fayyad praises local comedy-soap "Homeland on a Thread" ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency September 15, 2009 - 12:00am Ramallah – Ma’an – Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad received the actors of the comedy series Homeland on a Thread (Watan Ala Watar) in his office on Tuesday, and praised what he called a "meaningful television achievement." The Ramadan soap opera, played every night of the holy month of fasting, is broadcast on Palestine TV and has made a splash in the Palestinian and international arenas. The satirical comedy pokes fun at all levels of government, and holds no punches when it comes to the Israeli occupation or Palestinian customs. » Read more