August 10th

Satirical Palestinian TV show elicits anger in West Bank
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Khaled Abu Toameh - August 10, 2011 - 12:00am

Palestine TV’s controversial satire show, Watan ala Watar (Homeland on a String), has angered the Palestinian Authority police force in the West Bank, whose commanders have decided to sue the station for libel. The police are furious with the satire – especially because of a scene where two traffic policemen stop a drunk driver for inspection. The policemen are portrayed in an obnoxious manner that suggests that they too are under the influence of alcohol.

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Israel's rights groups condemn 'Jews only' businesses
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
by Jonathan Cook - August 10, 2011 - 12:00am

NAZARETH // We don't employ Arabs - so dozens of companies listed in Israel's Yellow Pages plainly state. The businesses, which include a bus firm, plumbers, electricians and a removal firm, openly advertise under the banner of "Hebrew labour" - a policy to hire only Jews that Israeli civil rights groups say is a violation of the country's anti-discrimination laws. The groups believe such advertising is one of a series of initiatives that aim to give preferential treatment to Jewish job-seekers over the country's Arab citizens, a fifth of the population.

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US chides Israel over new east Jerusalem project
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
August 10, 2011 - 12:00am

The United States is "deeply concerned" by Israel's plan to build a new housing project in the southeast Jerusalem neighborhood of Har Homa, the State Department said on Tuesday. The State Department warned that such "unilateral actions" were detrimental to the peace process. Last week, the Jerusalem Zoning Commission approved 930 new housing units in Har Homa. Actual building on the site is at least two years off. Alongside its rare rebuke of a close ally, the State Department said Israelis and Palestinians should settle their differences on Jerusalem through negotiation.

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Peres: Israel-Palestinian peace still possible
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
August 10, 2011 - 12:00am

President Shimon Peres on Wednesday told a delegation of visiting U.S. Democratic congressmen that he believes that it is still possible for Israel to reach peace with the Palestinians, Israel Radio reported. Peres said that both sides understand that they need to overcome differences and renew negotiations before the United Nations General Assembly session in New York next month at which the Palestinians have said they will seek recognition of statehood.

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Western diplomat: UN statehood bid will harm U.S.-Palestinian Authority ties
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Barak Ravid - August 10, 2011 - 12:00am

Cooperation between the U.S. and the Palestinian Authority will be harmed if the PA goes through with its plan to seek United Nations recognition of a Palestinian state at the UN General Assembly session in September, a senior Western diplomat told Israeli journalists on Wednesday during a briefing in Tel Aviv.

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Israel: Chinese military chief to visit
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Statesman
by Associated Press - August 8, 2011 - 12:00am

JERUSALEM — The Chinese military's chief of staff will visit Israel next week for the first time, the Israeli military said Monday, in what may signal a renewed warming of ties between the Jewish state and Beijing. Chen Bingde will be a guest of the Israeli military chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz, the military said. Bingde's visit follows Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak's trip to China two months ago. That was the first visit of an Israeli defense minister in a decade. Chinese officials were not available for comment about the visit.

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Marwan Barghouti warns of protests if US wields veto
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
August 10, 2011 - 12:00am

CAIRO (AFP) -- A Palestinian leader jailed in Israel has warned Washington that vetoing a Palestinian state at the United Nations would spark huge regional protests, Egypt's official MENA news agency reported Wednesday. Marwan Barghouti, a leading member of the dominant Fatah party convicted of organizing attacks against Israelis during the second intifada, gave an interview to MENA through his lawyer from an Israeli prison.

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APNewsBreak: Israel and Arabs tentatively agree to exploratory talks on Mideast nuke-free zone
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Associated Press - August 10, 2011 - 12:00am

VIENNA — Israel and Arab nations have tentatively accepted an invitation by the U.N. nuclear agency to discuss a Middle East free of atomic arms, in correspondence shared with The Associated Press. Whether the meeting takes place may depend on the participants’ willingness to compromise on preconditions. An official from a delegation accredited to the International Atomic Energy agency says IAEA chief Yukiya Amano planned to meet with the Arab group on Sept. 5 to try and bridge differences.

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In Tumult, New Hope for Palestinian Cause
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Anthony Shadid - August 9, 2011 - 12:00am

BEIRUT, Lebanon — In the Palestinian refugee camp of Shatila, a corner of Beirut bearing the scars of massacres and an enduring despair, the words of a young barber hinted at an emerging optimism about what the Arab revolts could mean for a central issue of the last half century in the Middle East: the fate of Palestinians. The barber, Mohammed Assad, was not naïve; life here is too grim for that. But in a region whose politics are being recalculated, he celebrated the rising influence of popular will on governments that long ignored it. “There is hope,” he said.

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August 9th

NEWS: Palestinians are still studying their options for a UN initiative. Lebanon and Qatar may play a crucial role. PM Netanyahu lobbies international diplomats against Palestinian statehood. Hamas is late in paying its employees wages. Israel arrests 11 Palestinians in the West Bank. Projectiles fired from Gaza land in Israel without causing injuries. Gazans defy handicaps to lead full lives. A Palestinian textile factory is booming online. Israel arrests another actor from the Jenin freedom theater. COMMENTARY: Ha'aretz says Netanyahu must distance himself from inflammatory comments by FM Lieberman. Gabriel Bacalor says Palestinians are ready for peace but Israeli policies are not. Yossi Alpher says Israel's West Bank separation barrier was justified despite many mistakes, but Ghassan Khatib says it was illegal, unjustified and ultimately destructive. Alon Ben-Meir says Israeli-Palestinian coexistence is inevitable and they must determine its form. Hussein Ibish says the latest Israeli settlement announcement shows how desperate the situation is for Palestinians.

American Task Force on Palestine - 1634 Eye St. NW, Suite 725, Washington DC 20006 - Telephone: 202-262-0017