Direct negotiations are anticipated shortly.The Israeli military condemns pictures of an ex-soldier posing with Palestinian prisoners, but she insists she did nothing wrong. The easing of the Gaza blockade may strengthen Hamas. The PLO says Israel is trying to block a Quartet statement on direct talks and is imposing preconditions. Hamas leaders accuse the PA of waging a “war against Islam.” The World Bank grants the PA $5 million for teacher training. A projectile fired from Gaza wounds two Israeli soldiers, and another is injured while a Palestinian is killed in a separate incident. An Israeli court holds the state responsible for the rubber bullet killing of a 10-year-old Palestinian girl. Ha'aretz says business is now the main topic of conversation in Ramallah. Israeli rightists plan a demonstration in support of rabbis who authorize the killing of non-Jews. Gershon Baskin asks what will happen in direct negotiations.Ben White says the Jordan Valley is a microcosm of Israeli colonization. Harvard says its sale of Israeli assets is not connected to any boycott. Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi says Palestinian education is crucial. Israel is criticized for discrimination against Palestinian citizens in higher education. Jonathan Cook says Israel must open the archives from 1948. Hussein Ibish looks at Palestinian efforts to use state building and education to bolster diplomacy.

College aid for Jews and not Arabs criticised
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
by Jonathan Cook - August 17, 2010 - 12:00am

Measures designed to benefit Jewish students applying for places in Israeli universities at the expense of Arabs have been criticised by lawyers and human rights groups. Critics have termed the controversial measures, including a programme to provide financial aid exclusively to students who have served in the Israeli army, a form of “covert discrimination”.

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Israel should not keep its history behind lock and key
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
by Jonathan Cook - August 16, 2010 - 12:00am

History may be written by the victors, as Winston Churchill is said to have observed, but the opening up of archives can threaten a nation every bit as much as the unearthing of mass graves. That danger explains a decision quietly taken last month by Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, to extend by an additional 20 years the country’s 50-year rule for the release of sensitive documents.

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Op-Ed: Palestinian leaders must foster hope, not hate
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA)
by Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi - August 16, 2010 - 12:00am

With a flurry of diplomatic activity regarding direct Israeli-Palestinian talks, a contingent from The Israel Project (TIP) including pollster Stanley Greenberg met in the West Bank with Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad and chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat.

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Harvard insists Israeli shares sale not driven by boycott
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Ewen Macaskill - August 16, 2010 - 12:00am

Harvard University has sold millions of dollars in shares in Israeli companies, a move that it insists is purely financial but which has already been claimed by a pro-Palestinian group as a victory in its boycott and divestment campaign against Israel. Groups sympathetic to the Palestinians have been pressing universities in the US, the UK and elsewhere to end investment in Israel and to boycott Israeli academics.

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Israeli-Palestinian direct talks expected to be announced soon
Media Mention of Hussein Ibish In Politico - August 17, 2010 - 12:00am

An announcement that Israelis and Palestinians have agreed to go into direct peace talks is expected in the coming days, U.S. officials, Mideast watchers and European diplomats said Monday. “We are close, we are optimistic,” a U.S. official said. “There’s still work to do, details remain.” One western diplomat said the announcement was expected Monday, adding that both parties are essentially agreeing to go into direct talks based on assurances they have received from the United States.

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Jordan Valley is a microcosm of Israel's colonisation
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Ben White - August 17, 2010 - 12:00am

The Jordan Valley, stretching all the way down the West Bank's eastern side, is a microcosm of Israel's discriminatory policies of colonisation and displacement. For 40 years, settlements have been established, military no-go areas declared, and Palestinians' freedom of movement restricted. There are now 27 colonies in the Jordan Valley – most of them had been established by the late 1970s under Labour governments. There are also nine "unauthorised" outposts. In the 1990s, the size of territory afforded to the settlements increased by 45%.

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PLO accuses Israel of imposing preconditions on talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
August 16, 2010 - 12:00am

The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Monday accused Israel of setting preconditions which would obstruct efforts to start direct peace negotiations between the Palestinians and Israel. Yasser Abed Rabbo, a member of the PLO's Executive Committee, said Israel "deliberately impose preconditions on the peace negotiations" by announcing its rejection to a statement by the Quartet. The Quartet comprising the United States, European Union, Russia and the United States, plans to issue a statement establishing the principles of peacemaking process between Israel and the Palestinians.

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Mass support rally planned for defiant rabbis
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Akiva Novick - August 15, 2010 - 12:00am

The summoning of Rabbis Dov Lior and Yaakov Yosef for police questioning stirred outrage among the religious and haredi public, and now the Religious Zionist Movement plans to hold a large gathering in support of the two, with the attendance of hundreds of rabbis. Last week the two rabbis were summoned for questioning – but refused to appear – after endorsing Rabbi Yitzhak Shapira's controversial book, "Torat Hamelech", in which he presented a halachic perspective on the killing of gentiles, including women and children.

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Palestinian killed, Israeli soldier wounded in southeast Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
August 17, 2010 - 12:00am

A Palestinian was killed and an Israeli soldier was lightly injured on Monday evening during clashes in southeast Gaza Strip, an Israeli army spokesman and Palestinian sources said. The spokesman told Xinhua that an Israeli army force noticed a group of Palestinian militants trying to plant a roadside bomb near the fence between southeast Gaza Strip and Israel. The spokesman said that the force had immediately opened fire at the group, killing one Palestinian, and the others ran away. The death of the Palestinian man was not confirmed by medics or security sources.

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