October 14th

Freij cited for her philanthropy work
Media Mention of ATFP In ACCESS - October 14, 2011 - 12:00am

ACCESS Deputy Executive Director Maha Freij will be honored this month in Washington by the American Task Force for Palestine (ATFP) for the key role she played in raising funds to create the nation’s only Arab American National Museum. Each year, ATFP honors the contributions of Palestinian Americans who have enriched their community and provided great service or unique achievement in the United States. Freij will receive the ATFP Award for Distinguished Service in Philanthropy on Oct. 19 at the organization’s sixth annual gala at the Ritz Carlton in Washington.

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NEWS: The prisoner swap with Israel boosts Hamas' popularity but also reveals weaknesses. Analysts say it does benefit the group. The Jerusalem Post outlines how the deal was made. The transfer of prisoners will begin on Tuesday. The Red Cross has offered to play a role in the exchange. PM Fayyad says the PA will not collapse without foreign aid. Hamas sentences three Palestinians to death. Another senior Israeli commander warns against cutting funds to the PA. Pres. Abbas will meet with French Pres. Sarkozy in Paris. Israel is planning more settlement homes in occupied East Jerusalem. COMMENTARY: Israeli Amb. Michael Oren says Israel is not isolated. Akiva Eldar says Hamas did not win a victory but Fatah did suffer a defeat in the prisoner exchange. Amos Harel and Avi Issacharoff say Israel crossed some of its red lines in the agreement. Zeev Sternhell says settlers are taking control of Israeli politics. Herb Keinon says Hamas desperately needed a victory. The National says nonviolence is the Palestinians' strongest weapon. Patrick Seale asks if Israel might attack Iran without notifying the US. The Jordan Times says Israel's legal claims against Palestinian statehood are spurious. Aaron David Miller says the prisoner swap was just that, and has no broader significance. Alon Ben-Meir and Amr Yossef say Israel and Egypt can and should improve their relations.

Egypt and Israel: Within the Realm of Possibilities
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Huffington Post
by Alon Ben-Meir, Amr Yossef - (Opinion) October 13, 2011 - 12:00am

Over the past few weeks, Egypt and Israel have reached the lowest point in their relations in thirty years of peace. The attack in Eilat and Israel's killing of eight Egyptian policemen on the Sinai border led to a diplomatic blame game that was only exacerbated by the Egyptian mob attack on the Israeli Embassy in Cairo in early September. Top diplomats managed to prevent a disaster at the embassy, but the Israeli and Egyptian concerns over the episodes remains high.

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Sometimes a Deal Is Just a Deal
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Foreign Policy
by Aaron David Miller - (Opinion) October 13, 2011 - 12:00am

The five-year saga that will likely lead to the release of kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit -- in one of those bizarrely asymmetrical prisoner exchanges that make the Israeli-Palestinian conflict so tragic and intriguing -- has all the hallmarks of a John le Carré thriller.

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Indefensible arguments
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times
(Editorial) October 14, 2011 - 12:00am

Israel is busy preparing for a legal battle with the Palestinians over their application for full membership as a sovereign state in the UN. Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman has instructed his ministry to draw up plans to defeat the Palestinian bid on a legal basis. The Israeli legal grounds against the Palestinians, however, are flawed and cannot withstand a fair legal scrutiny.

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Will Israel bomb Iran without notifying the US?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News
by Patrick Seale - (Opinion) October 14, 2011 - 12:00am

In recent weeks, intense discussions have taken place in Israeli military and intelligence circles about whether or not to launch a military strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities. Apparently, the key question in the debate was how to ensure that the United States took part in the attack or, at the very least, intervened on Israel’s side if the initial strike triggered a wider war.

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Non-violence is the Palestinians' strongest force
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
(Editorial) October 14, 2011 - 12:00am

The prisoner exchange deal between Hamas and Israel, which should see the release of 1,027 Palestinians in exchange for the captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, has been hailed as a victory for both sides. It should not, however, be confused with a major political breakthrough.

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The reasons for Hamas’s ‘flexibility’ on Schalit swap
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Herb Keinon - (Opinion) October 14, 2011 - 12:00am

The framework deal for the release of kidnapped soldier Gilad Schalit that the cabinet approved on Tuesday evening – 1,000 for one – is pretty much the same one the German mediator put on the table two years ago. What changed are some of the key names on the list, and where the Palestinian prisoners will go after their release. Until a couple of months ago, Hamas – according to Israeli officials – was insisting that all the names it put forward be freed.

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Israeli society is standing by as settlers take the reigns
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Zeev Sternhell - (Opinion) October 14, 2011 - 12:00am

Like every year during the days around Yom Kippur, the big question arises once again: How is it possible that we didn't notice the signs of the approaching war? But not only wars have early-warning signs - destructive social and political events do not come like a bolt from the blue either.

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In Shalit deal, Israel crossed its own red lines
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Amos Harel, Avi Issacharoff - (Analysis) October 14, 2011 - 12:00am

The unofficial list of names of prisoners to be released in exchange for Gilad Shalit, which was posted Thursday on Hamas websites, reveals that Israel indeed crossed red lines in negotiating with Hamas. These are not just prisoners with "blood on their hands." Rather, the list includes some of the founders of the Hamas military wing, such as Zaher Jabarin and Yihya Sanawar, and prisoners involved in some of the most ignoble terror attacks in Israel, including the 1989 attack on bus 405 and the 1994 abduction of Israel Defense Forces soldier Nachshon Wachsman.

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