July 27th

Turkey working to prevent Lebanese sail to Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Itamar Eichner - July 27, 2010 - 12:00am

Officials in Jerusalem were surprised to learn that Turkey is working to prevent Lebanese ships from attempting to sail to Gaza in violation of an Israeli blockade on the Hamas-run territory, the Yedioth Ahronoth daily reported Tuesday. Israeli officials estimate that Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, who visited Damascus and Beirut last week, asked the Lebanese government to prevent the flotilla's departure as part of Ankara's efforts to ease tensions with Israel.

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North remains target for settler violence
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
July 27, 2010 - 12:00am

Israeli forces entered the northern West Bank village of Beit Furik Monday night, residents reported, and sealed off a military checkpoint at its main entrance. Witnesses said troops patrolling the village after the checkpoint was closed opened random fire. An Israeli military spokesman said he was looking into the report. Beit Furik is located less than five kilometers northeast of Huwwara village and the Israeli military checkpoint at the edge of the area, where settlers set fire to several dunums of olive groves on Monday afternoon.

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Israel needs a Palestinian state
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Alon Ben-meir - (Opinion) July 27, 2010 - 12:00am

Israel’s national security and self-preservation as a democracy, if not its very existence, depend on its ability and willingness to come to terms with the reality of coexistence with the Palestinians on the basis of a two-state solution. Unfortunately, instead of seeking to promote the creation of a Palestinian state, the current government has sought to impede it.

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Ten years after Camp David, Israel has made peace even harder
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Ben White - July 26, 2010 - 12:00am

In an interview earlier this year with The Jerusalem Post, one of the Jewish settlers in Sheikh Jarrah, an area in Israeli-occupied East Jerusalem where Palestinians are being evicted from their homes, explained that he had no “personal problems” with “the Arabs” – but insisted that “they have to admit who the landlord is here.” This sentiment offers more insight into the current realities on the ground in East Jerusalem, and Palestine/Israel in general, than dozens of column inches spent analyzing the progress of “shuttle diplomacy,” “concessions,” and “indirect talks.”

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Israel signals new cooperation with UN over Gaza flotilla
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Joshua Mitnick - July 26, 2010 - 12:00am

Israel appears to have improved its cooperation with the United Nations over its controversial Gaza policy after coming under pressure from activists seeking to break Israel's sea blockade of the Hamas-controlled territory. The latest fleet of activist ships is preparing to set sail from Lebanon. On Friday, UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon’s spokesman, Martin Nesirky, said that the aid to Gaza should be delivered by established land routes rather than the sea – a remark that irked Hamas, which blamed the UN for "collaboration" with the Israeli government.

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Insufficient steps taken
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times
by Hassan Barari - (Opinion) July 27, 2010 - 12:00am

I was not moved this week when I read that the American administration decided to upgrade its diplomatic relations with the Palestinian Authority (PA) by granting its mission in Washington a higher status, yet still less than embassy. The upgrade is not expected to put an end to the Israeli occupation nor to improve the PA’s battered imaged among the Palestinians.

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If Kosovo, why not Palestine?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News
by John V. Whitbeck - (Opinion) July 27, 2010 - 12:00am

By a 10-4 majority, the court ruled that, because “general international law contains no applicable prohibition of declarations of independence”, Kosovo’s declaration of independence in February 2008, coordinated with and supported by the American and most EU governments and subsequently recognized by 69 countries, “did not violate general international law.” The clear implication is that no declarations of independence violate international law and that all are, therefore, “legal”.

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The Forgotten American
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Roger Cohen - July 26, 2010 - 12:00am

The Dogans were a quiet family little noticed by their neighbors here in upstate New York. Ahmet Dogan had come to the area from Turkey to study accounting at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. He was a serious student; the Dogans did little entertaining. But when their younger son, Furkan, was born in 1991, the family threw a party and a neighbor recalled a toast “to the first U.S. citizen in the family.”

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July 26th

Israel confirms soldiers killed an unarmed Palestinian near a West Bank settlement. Settlers and Palestinians clash during an outbreak of “price tag” violence, and the Israeli military says it will curb such incidents. Pres. Abbas tells the AU that Israeli policies are promoting a cycle of violence. Uri Avnery describes proposals from the Israeli right to annex the West Bank as “Rosemary's baby.” The PA says merchants selling banned settlement goods will be punished beginning in August. A leading settler rabbi is arrested for incitement to kill non-Jews. A report from the GAO says Israel is interfering with US efforts to enhance Palestinian security forces. Ha'aretz interviews bereaved Gaza Dr. Izzeldin Abuelaish. Israel bombs three targets in Gaza. Abbas says the “entire world” is pressuring for direct talks but Palestinians need more clarification. Seth Freedman says a controversial nine-year-old video of PM Netanyahu is no surprise. The Guardian interviews Palestinian MK Haneen Zoabi. As the blockade eases, a new mall opens in Gaza. The Pennsylvania Senate race turns into a competition of TV ads between Jewish American groups.

Why Binyamin Netanyahu tape is no real shocker
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Seth Freedman - (Opinion) July 26, 2010 - 12:00am

A recently released tape revealing Binyamin Netanyahu's contempt for both the Palestinian and US administrations has caused far less of a diplomatic storm than his opponents hoped it might. For all that Netanyahu's innate arrogance and self-aggrandisement was laid bare by the contents of the nine-year-old recording, the collective shrugging of shoulders implies that few expected anything else from a man who has been boasting of his own political prowess throughout his tumultuous career.

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