September 17th

No Deal, but Middle East Envoy Sets Further Talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Isabel Kershner - September 16, 2009 - 12:00am

JERUSALEM — The Obama administration’s special representative to the Middle East, George J. Mitchell, was set to leave Israel on Wednesday without agreement on a settlement freeze. But he was expected to return Friday to press his efforts to pave the way for resumed Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. Over the past two days, Mr. Mitchell has held two private meetings with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as well as talks with Palestinian leaders in the West Bank. Officials here indicated that he had not persuaded the two sides to restart the stalled talks.

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Israel Rejects Call for Gaza Inquiry
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Isabel Kershner - September 16, 2009 - 12:00am

JERUSALEM — Israeli officials on Wednesday bluntly dismissed one of the main recommendations of the United Nations fact-finding mission’s report on the three-week war in Gaza last winter: a call for the Israeli government to begin an independent investigation of “serious violations” of international humanitarian and human rights law, including evidence of war crimes, during the military campaign.

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Justice in Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Richard Goldstone - (Opinion) September 17, 2009 - 12:00am

I ACCEPTED with hesitation my United Nations mandate to investigate alleged violations of the laws of war and international human rights during Israel’s three-week war in Gaza last winter. The issue is deeply charged and politically loaded. I accepted because the mandate of the mission was to look at all parties: Israel; Hamas, which controls Gaza; and other armed Palestinian groups. I accepted because my fellow commissioners are professionals committed to an objective, fact-based investigation.

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September 16th

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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