July 21st

Israel urged to stop faking foreign passports ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Itamar Eichner - July 21, 2011 - 12:00am Various countries have sent secret messages to Israel informing Jerusalem that they are aware that Mossad agents are using their passports in overseas operations, Yedioth Ahronoth reported Thursday. The countries, all friends of Israel, demanded to halt all use of such passports in messages to Israeli embassies and as part of the consular discourse. The protest had caused considerable embarrassment to Israel in several cases. In other cases, Israel could not respond to the claims as they did not include names and details of the alleged Mossad agents. » Read more

Israel deals with Gaza-bound flotilla with lessons learnt: analysts ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua by Adam Gonn - July 21, 2011 - 12:00am JERUSALEM, July 20 (Xinhua) -- Israeli naval commandos boarded the only ship participating in the second Gaza flotilla Tuesday without any violent resistance from the passengers and crew. The takeover was in stark contrast to last year's events when nine pro-Palestinian activists, mainly Turkish, in the "Mavi Marmara" ship were killed in clashes with Israeli soldiers as Israel intercepted the first flotilla. The death of the Turkish participants led to the deepening of an already deteriorated relationship between Israel and Turkey. » Read more

Israelis pay price of persecuting Palestinians with soaring cost of living ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National by Vita Bekker - July 21, 2011 - 12:00am Danny Tavory regularly shows up at Tel Aviv's biggest marketplace just before it closes for the night, when vendors sell fruit, vegetables and other products at large discounts or give them away. Mr Tavory, 21, a university mathematics student, says he can barely afford to buy food as most of his monthly income of 2,500 shekels (Dh2,670) from giving private lessons and counselling troubled youth goes toward his rent. » Read more

Israeli lawmakers kill bill to probe dovish groups ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press July 20, 2011 - 12:00am JERUSALEM — Israel's parliament has voted down a bill that would have established an inquiry commission to investigate foreign funding of dovish activist groups. The vote followed approval this week of a bill targeting Israelis who promote boycotts against Jewish settlements in the West Bank. Dovish lawmakers denounced both laws as antidemocratic attempts to stifle free expression. Laws of the type defeated Wednesday show growing polarization in Israeli society. » Read more

Omar H. Rahman: Economic crisis looms as Palestine nears UN push in September ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Arabiya by Omar Rahman - July 20, 2011 - 12:00am The Palestinian territories may soon be experiencing an economic crisis that is, at least in part, directly tied to their diplomatic initiative scheduled for the United Nations in September. The cash-strapped Palestinian Authority is facing a massive budget shortfall and has reached a ceiling in its borrowing from local banks and the private sector, with the situation becoming increasingly acute. » Read more

FEATURE-Wife battering, sexual abuse get attention in Gaza ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Nidal al-Mughrabi - July 20, 2011 - 12:00am GAZA, July 20 (Reuters) - Most safe-houses in the Gaza Strip are meant to provide protection for armed militants on Israel's target list. Now Gaza is offering protected shelter to battered Palestinian women. Its lone women's safe-house, opened two months ago, has had eight clients, all guarded by police from the Islamist Hamas movement that runs the enclave and enforces a conservative though not radical Muslim religious code. » Read more

Worldview: Can once-friendly Israel and Turkey mend frayed ties? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Inquirer Digital by Trudy Rubin - (Opinion) July 21, 2011 - 12:00am As blood flows in Libya, Yemen, and Syria, and the region continues its meltdown, the only two Mideast democracies out there are Israel and Turkey. Ideally, these two would be working together, especially as Syria, which is sandwiched between them, shows signs of regime failure. Of course, the times are far from ideal. Israeli-Turkish relations, once close, are in the deep freeze; they nearly snapped last year after nine Turkish civilians were killed in an Israeli raid on the Mavi Marmara, an aid ship that tried to run Israel's blockade of Gaza. » Read more

Abbas: UN bid will not affect peace process ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency July 21, 2011 - 12:00am BARCELONA (AFP) -- Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas said his efforts to seek UN membership for the Palestinians would not affect negotiations "that we want to continue to have" with Israel. Abbas is in Spain as part of a foreign tour aimed at drumming up support for United Nations recognition of a Palestinian state amid a long stalemate in peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians. » Read more

Former CIA Man: Don't Bet on Israel Bombing Iran on My Speculation! ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Time by Robert Baer - (Opinion) July 21, 2011 - 12:00am To paraphrase Ronald Reagan, I wonder what the Ten Commandments would have looked like if Moses had first discussed them on talk radio. Having found myself at the center of a bizarre series of stories claiming that Israel is planning to attack Iran in September as a result of some speculative answers to a talk-show host's questions, I think I now know. » Read more

For Refugees, a Frustrating Feeling of Permanence ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Rana F. Sweis - July 20, 2011 - 12:00am AMMAN — When Iraqi militias threatened Ghasswan Al Taee, 36, in 2006, he fled to Jordan. Five years later and with three children born here, his state of limbo has become a constant. Since 2003 an estimated four million Iraqis have fled their homes, the largest exodus since Israel’s creation in 1948. Deepening violence and sectarian strife have led to the internal displacement of many Iraqis and have driven others out of the country, largely to Syria and Jordan, but also to Lebanon, Egypt, Turkey and the Gulf. » Read more