Israel must end the Gaza blockade ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz (Editorial) October 31, 2011 - 12:00am This weekend the bloody ritual in the south exacted the life of a resident of Ashkelon, interfered with the lives of thousands of citizens and caused extensive damage to property. As in previous rounds, after the inhabitants of the region - on both sides of the border - paid the price of the violence a truce was declared, which was violated in short order. The spokesman of the military arm of Islamic Jihad in the Gaza Strip announced that "the organization reserves the right to react to any aggression from the Israeli side," and boasted that "it is the enemy who will beg for a cease-fire." » Read more

UN envoy: Israel must take Abbas threats to dismantle PA seriously ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Barak Ravid - October 31, 2011 - 12:00am Israel must take heed of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’ threats to resign and dismantle the PA, a UN official who is close to the PA president told Haaretz, adding that the deadlock between Israel and the Palestinians could cause violence to erupt in the West Bank, and the rest of the world will not bail out Israel if that happens. » Read more

Israeli ex-soldier jailed for leaking secret papers ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Alertnet October 30, 2011 - 12:00am JERUSALEM, Oct 30 (Reuters) - An Israeli court sentenced a former soldier to four and a half years in prison on Sunday for leaking classified military documents to a newspaper, which later reported allegations of a policy to assassinate Palestinian militants. Anat Kamm, 24, was convicted in February of possessing and distributing secret information, after striking a plea bargain with Tel Aviv District Court, where judges agreed in exchange to drop more serious charges of harming state security. » Read more

Arab League says will look at UN bid alternatives ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency October 31, 2011 - 12:00am DOHA (AFP) -- Arab League foreign ministers said Sunday they would look into alternative action if their efforts fail to secure full Palestinian membership of the United Nations. "We support the Palestinian demand for full UN membership," ministers said in a statement after talks in Doha. But the Arab League agreed to form a "committee of experts to study legal and political alternatives." » Read more

Arab Rejection of ’47 Partition Plan Was Error, Palestinian Leader Says ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times October 28, 2011 - 12:00am The Palestinian president said Friday that the Arab world had erred in rejecting the United Nations’ 1947 plan to partition Palestine into a Palestinian and a Jewish state. The Palestinian and Arab refusal set off widespread fighting, then Arab militaries attacked Israel after it declared independence the following year, a war the Arab states lost. “It was our mistake,” the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, above, said in a rare interview on Israeli television. “It was an Arab mistake as a whole.” Referring to Israel, he added, “But do they punish us for this mistake for 64 years?”

Analysis: How Islamic Jihad is becoming a threat to Hamas ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Khaled Abu Toameh - October 31, 2011 - 12:00am Once Hamas was the second- largest armed group in the Gaza Strip, after the Palestinian Authority. With the help of Iran and Syria, Hamas became so strong that one day, in June 2007, its men managed to seize control over the entire Strip. In recent years, however, Hamas has found itself in the same position as the PA was back then. Now it’s the Islamic Jihad organization that has replaced Hamas as the second- largest armed group in the Gaza Strip. Today, it poses a serious challenge to the Hamas government. » Read more

Israel: A true ally in the Middle East ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times (Opinion) October 31, 2011 - 12:00am American leaders have traditionally explained the foundations of the U.S.-Israel relationship by citing shared democratic values and the moral responsibility America bears to protect the small nation-state of the Jewish people. Although accurate and essential, this characterization is incomplete because it fails to capture a third, crucial aspect: the many ways in which Israel advances U.S. national interests. » Read more

Israelis, Palestinians Deploy New Technology in Fighting ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Media Line by David Rosenberg - October 30, 2011 - 12:00am The flare-up in fighting between Israel and Palestinian militants in Gaza that left 10 dead before a ceasefire gradually took hold on Sunday was as much a showcase for military technology as it was a forceful statement of the two sides’ political agenda. Islamic Jihad, the biggest of the Gaza-based Palestinian movements responsible for the three-day barrage, showed off a multi-barreled rocket launcher mounted on a light truck, a weapon platform not seen to date in Gaza. Meanwhile, Israel put its Iron Dome anti-rocket network into use for the third time since it was unveiled in April. » Read more

Israel: A true ally in the Middle East ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times by Robert Blackwill, Walter B. Slocombe - (Opinion) October 31, 2011 - 12:00am American leaders have traditionally explained the foundations of the U.S.-Israel relationship by citing shared democratic values and the moral responsibility America bears to protect the small nation-state of the Jewish people. Although accurate and essential, this characterization is incomplete because it fails to capture a third, crucial aspect: the many ways in which Israel advances U.S. national interests. » Read more

Overnight airstrike brings Gaza deaths to 12 ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency October 31, 2011 - 12:00am GAZA CITY (Ma’an) -- Two militants were killed overnight Sunday as Israeli forces targeted the Gaza Strip, bringing the death toll in the coastal enclave to 12 since Saturday. Palestinian medical sources identified the victims as Yousif Rawhi Mahmoud Abu Abdu and Ali Abdullah al-Aqad, both from Khan Younis, south Gaza. Both victims were transferred to Nasser hospital in Khan Younis. The Al-Ansar brigades, a military wing of the Al-Ahrar movement, said in a statement that the victims were fighters in the group. They vowed to retaliate for the deaths. » Read more