August 16th

Hamas ignored requests to hand over Arish suspects ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Masry Al-Youm August 15, 2011 - 12:00am Egyptian authorities on Monday presented an official request to the acting government in Gaza to arrest several armed Palestinians who participated in a recent attack on the Sinai police station in the city of Arish and returned to Gaza by way of tunnels. However, the authorities in Gaza have so far failed to respond to the Egyptian request. » Read more

Line Between Anti-Israel and Anti-Semitic Protests Splits AJC ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward by Rex Weiner - August 16, 2011 - 12:00am Group's Top Ranks Divided Over How To Respond to Campus Demonstrations As campus protests have continued against Israeli policies towards the Palestinians, and sometimes, against Israel itself, Jewish groups have been at odds over how to distinguish legitimate debate about Israel from anti-Semitism, and beyond that, at what point such protests may arguably constitute a violation of Jewish students’ civil rights. » Read more

Knesset Set To Define ‘Jewish State’, Critics See Threat to Democracy and Rights of Arabs ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward August 16, 2011 - 12:00am A proposal likely to pass the Knesset would for the first time clarify what it means that Israel is a Jewish state, sparking controversy over its potential to clash with principles of equality and civil liberties. » Read more

U.S. Senator seeks to cut aid to elite IDF units operating in West Bank and Gaza ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Barak Ravid - August 16, 2011 - 12:00am Senator Patrick Leahy claims Shayetet 13 unit, undercover Duvdevan unit, and the Israel Air Force Shaldag unit are involved in human rights violations in occupied territories. U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy is promoting a bill to suspend U.S. assistance to three elite Israel Defense Forces units, alleging they are involved in human rights violations in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Leahy, a Democrat and senior member of the U.S. Senate, wants assistance withheld from the Israel Navy's Shayetet 13 unit, the undercover Duvdevan unit and the Israel Air Force's Shaldag unit. » Read more

Abbas names PNC speaker to form constitution ATFP World Press Roundup Article from August 16, 2011 - 12:00am Palestinian National Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Monday nominated Salim Za'noon, speaker of the Palestinian National Council (PNC), as the chairman of a committee to form the Palestinian constitution. Nabil Shaath, a member of Fatah's central committee, was nominated as Za'noon's deputy, the state-run Wafa News Agency reported. The Palestinians will approach the United Nations Security Council and the General Assembly in September to gain a recognition of an independent Palestinian state established in the territories occupied by Israel in 1967. » Read more

Abbas makes Arab aid appeal, sees risk to U.N. bid ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Alertnet August 15, 2011 - 12:00am President Mahmoud Abbas on Monday appealed for Arab financial support to help the Palestinians deal with "pressures and threats" from Israel and its allies which he said were a risk to his plan to seek U.N. approval for statehood in September. The Palestinian Authority faces a financial crisis which forced it to cut wages by half in July. Policymakers have identified a shortfall in Arab aid as the main cause. » Read more

PLO official accuses Syria of crimes against humanity ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Alertnet August 16, 2011 - 12:00am An assault by Syrian security forces on a Palestinian refugee camp in the coastal city of Latakia amounts to a crime against humanity, a senior official in the Palestine Liberation Organisation said. "The shelling is taking place using gunships and tanks on houses built from tin, on people who have no place to run to or even a shelter to hide in," Yasser Abed Rabbo, the PLO secretary general, told Reuters. "This is a crime against humanity." » Read more

Outrage after Palestinian camp attacked in Syria ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency August 16, 2011 - 12:00am Syrian forces killed three people on Monday a day after gunboats pounded Latakia, forcing thousands of Palestinians to flee a refugee camp in the port city, activists and a UN agency said. The Palestinians condemned Syria over the violence as the UN Relief and Works Agency reported that more than 5,000 refugees had fled Ramel camp in southern Latakia under fire and demanded immediate access to the site. » Read more

Medics: 1 killed, 7 injured as Israeli airstrikes hit Gaza ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency August 16, 2011 - 12:00am One man was killed and seven others injured as Israeli warplanes struck targets in the central and southern Gaza Strip early Tuesday, Palestinian medical sources and the Israeli army said. Adham Abu Selmiya, spokesman for the Hamas-run emergency services in the Gaza Strip, said the strikes had killed one Palestinian and wounded seven. Several people were injured as Israeli forces fired at a group of people in the Az-Zaitoun neighborhood in Gaza City, Palestinian medical sources said. All of the victims were evacuated to Ash-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City. » Read more

Israelis protest costly housing – but not cost of settlements. Why? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor by Joshua Mitnick - August 12, 2011 - 12:00am Israel yesterday announced new homes in East Jerusalem to ease a housing shortage. But critics argue that the cost of building in contested territory is partially to blame for Israel's economic woes. The Israeli government, facing unprecedented public protests over the soaring cost of housing, yesterday announced it is advancing plans for thousands of new homes in contested East Jerusalem. » Read more