September 9th

Abed Rabbo: Israel killing peace process before it begins
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
September 9, 2009 - 12:00am

Israel’s expansion of illegal settlements on Palestinian land in the West Bank is intended to terminate the peace process before it even starts, Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) official Yasser Abed Rabbo said on Wednesday. Abed Rabbo told the Russia Today TV network, “They know quite well that such steps will provoke the Palestinians and the Arabs, and even the international community who agreed that settlements must stop as a major part in the Road Map plan. Thus, the Israeli government’s aim is to thwart the political efforts that will eventually lead to the two-state solution.”

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Israel picks contractors for new settlement homes
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP)
September 9, 2009 - 12:00am

Israel has picked contractors for 486 new homes in a settlement in annexed Arab east Jerusalem, officials said on Wednesday, days after approving hundreds of new homes in the West Bank. "We published the winner of the bids," a spokesman for the Israel Lands Authority said. He was clarifying an earlier statement that said the tendering process had been reopened. Tenders were first invited in October 2008 but authorities rejected all the bids because of pricing disagreements. Authorities last month reversed the decision following an appeal by companies that had tendered.

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Israel pushes ahead with East Jerusalem building
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Jonathan Adams - September 9, 2009 - 12:00am

Israel announced building plans in contested East Jerusalem today in a move likely to complicate US-Israel talks over a freeze on Israeli settlements in disputed territories. The reports came days after Israel announced other plans to build new settlements in the West Bank (see a map of the settlements here). The Obama administration has pressed Israel for a freeze on all settlement activity as a condition for a return to peace talks with the Palestinians. Israel has shrugged off that demand.

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Taking Exception: A Genuine Effort for Peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Jimmy Carter - September 8, 2009 - 12:00am

I notice that Elliott Abrams has contradicted some points in my Sept. 6 op-ed "The Elders' View of the Middle East" (though my suggested title, "What Next for the Holy Land," would have been a better headline).

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September 8th

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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