Following night airstrike, Israeli bulldozers invade Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency September 4, 2009 - 12:00am Israeli warplanes bombed a tunnel allegedly linking the southern Gaza Strip with Israel early on Friday morning. Also on Friday, witnesses in Gaza said Israeli military vehicles, including three armored bulldozers, razed farmland about 100 meters east of Gaza City. Israeli forces also reportedly fired on houses in the area. |
Israel 'to back settlement work'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News September 4, 2009 - 12:00am The prime minister is expected to back work on hundreds of new homes next week in addition to 2,500 units already being built, a senior aide said. He will then consider a temporary halt to settlement building, as requested by the US in a bid to restart peace talks. The news angered the Palestinians who said it was "absolutely unacceptable". "The only thing suspended by this announcement will be the peace process," Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat told the AFP news agency. 'Moratorium' |
Israel to Approve Flurry of West Bank Building
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Ethan Bronner - September 4, 2009 - 12:00am Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will approve the construction of hundreds of new housing units in Israeli settlements in the West Bank in the coming days as a prelude to a building freeze of six to nine months aimed at restarting peace talks with the Palestinians, senior Israeli officials said on Friday. The plan is an attempt to ease pressure on Mr. Netanyahu from within his own Likud Party, which wants settlements to continue unimpeded, and from Washington, the Palestinian Authority and the rest of the Arab world, which want a total halt to such construction. |
If you build it, the state will come
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian by Ziad Asali - (Opinion) September 4, 2009 - 12:00am Palestinian prime minister Salam Fayyad's blueprint for what he has called "de facto Palestinian statehood" offers a new and important element to the quest for peace in the Middle East. |
If you build it, the state will come
In Print by Ziad Asali - The Guardian (Opinion) - September 4, 2009 - 12:00am Palestinian prime minister Salam Fayyad's blueprint for what he has called "de facto Palestinian statehood" offers a new and important element to the quest for peace in the Middle East. |
Blair: Israel thinks its time for talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Roni Sofer - September 3, 2009 - 12:00am Mideast Quartet envoy Tony Blair expressed optimism on a settlement freeze agreement in the near future, that will pave the way for renewed regional peace talks. Followings talks with Israeli officials in recent days, Blair told the British Independent: "I hope and believe... we can get a political negotiation launched on satisfactory terms." |
US officials: Netanyahu at pivotal moment
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Yitzhak Benhorin - September 3, 2009 - 12:00am WASHINGTON – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's envoys to US talks on the freezing of construction in settlements, Attorney Yitzhak Molcho and Brig. Gen. Mike Herzog, met US special envoy to the Middle East, George Mitchell, on Wednesday. The US State Department reported that it was a "good meeting," and that Mitchell will visit the region in the second half of next week. |
Beware Palestinian plot
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Gadi Taub - (Opinion) September 3, 2009 - 12:00am The “two-state vision” is no longer only endorsed by the Left or Center, but rather, it is backed by the Zionist consensus – ranging from Meretz to Likud. |
Israel rekindles its African ties
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News by Will Ross - September 2, 2009 - 12:00am Avigdor Liberman begins his trip in Ethiopia, where he will be accompanied by 20 business people. Officials say the trip is about building business links with Africa and also countering the influence of Iran on the continent. Israel hopes closer ties with Africa will help at the UN where African countries often vote in blocks. Ethiopia has strong links with Israel. During the 1980s and 90s tens of thousands of Ethiopian Jews were airlifted to Israel to resettle in what they considered to be their homeland. |