August 26th

Legal opinion challenges PLO statehood bid ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Jazeera English by Guy Goodwin Gill - (Opinion) August 26, 2011 - 12:00am A legal opinion highlighting the challenges and risks facing the Palestinian people in their quest for statehood has been obtained by Al Jazeera, in the lead up to the Palestinian Liberation Organisation's bid at the United Nations in September. » Read more

Stage is set for much bigger conflagration in Middle East ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News by Patrick Seale - (Opinion) August 26, 2011 - 12:00am As if sparked by the intense summer heat, fierce fighting and other acts of extreme violence have broken out across the Middle East. The danger is that one of these nasty local conflicts will escalate into a full-scale war, setting the whole region on fire. In retaliation for an ambush of a Turkish military convoy on August 17 by guerrillas of the Kurdish Workers Party (PKK), which killed eight soldiers and wounded another 15, the Turkish Air Force, a couple of days later, struck at 60 suspected PKK hideouts and bases in the mountains of northern Iraq. » Read more

Egypt, Israel and Palestine: an awkward three-way dance ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian by Khaled Diab - (Opinion) August 26, 2011 - 12:00am It has been a tense week in Egyptian-Israeli relations. It all started when unknown assailants crossed from Sinai to carry out a series of co-ordinated terrorist attacks in southern Israel, which left eight Israelis dead. Terror was met with more terror and counter-terror, as Israel bombed embattled Gaza, leading to the deaths of at least 14 people, despite the absence of evidence that Gazans were behind the attack (some of the alleged perpetrators appear to be Egyptians), and Islamist militants in Gaza fired their Grad rockets into southern Israel. » Read more

Social justice also means ending the occupation ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Zeev Sternhell - (Opinion) August 26, 2011 - 12:00am Be the internal ills of Israeli society as they may, and they are too numerous to count, most of them can be treated and even cured; but the occupation and colonialism are terminal illnesses. Therefore anyone who refuses to understand - as did Shelly Yachimovich in her interview with Haaretz's weekend magazine - that the socialism of masters, and on behalf of masters, is no less ruthless and despicable than the neoliberalism of the rich on behalf of the rich, is not worthy of seeking the leadership of a party that has pretensions of charting the future. » Read more

Lebensraum as a justification for Israeli settlements ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Yossi Sarid - (Opinion) August 26, 2011 - 12:00am Until now Israel had supported the occupation of the territories with two pillars: history and security - its right to inherit the land and its obligation to defend it. In recent weeks a third pillar was added, which all these years was hidden under straw and stubble. And maybe it's not a pillar but a snake, whose head must be crushed while it's still small. » Read more

Springtime in Sinai ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Economist August 26, 2011 - 12:00am “Sometimes you have to subordinate strategic considerations to tactical needs,” says Ehud Barak, Israel’s defence minister, former prime minister and the country’s most decorated military man. This is one such time: Mr Barak, backed by the current prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, is going to agree to Egypt deploying thousands of troops in Sinai even though the Israel-Egypt peace treaty strictly forbids it. They will have helicopters and armoured vehicles, Mr Barak says, but no tanks beyond the lone battalion already stationed there. » Read more

From stabbing IDF soldiers to having them as teammates, Palestinian uses football for peace ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) August 25, 2011 - 12:00am Sulaiman Khatib is an ordinary Palestinian with an extraordinary past. Born in the West Bank near Jerusalem, he grew up as a “freedom fighter,” as he describes it, fighting against the Israeli occupation by throwing stones and preparing Molotov cocktails. » Read more

How Israel takes its revenge on boys who throw stones ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Independent August 26, 2011 - 12:00am The boy, small and frail, is struggling to stay awake. His head lolls to the side, at one point slumping on to his chest. "Lift up your head! Lift it up!" shouts one of his interrogators, slapping him. But the boy by now is past caring, for he has been awake for at least 12 hours since he was separated at gunpoint from his parents at two that morning. "I wish you'd let me go," the boy whimpers, "just so I can get some sleep." » Read more

EU diplomat says aid to Palestinians in question ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Statesman by Daniella Cheslow - August 25, 2011 - 12:00am Europe's financial crisis is causing some European Union lawmakers to question whether the bloc can continue to deliver millions in aid to the Palestinians, an EU diplomat said Thursday. The EU is the largest single donor to the Palestinians, contributing about 500 million euros ($720 million) a year to build institutions for a future state and pay salaries. Under Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, the Palestinians embarked in 2009 on a two-year state-building plan to be ready for independence by September. » Read more

Palestinian, Jew give both sides on joint Jerusalem tours ATFP World Press Roundup Article from CNN by Catriona Davies - August 26, 2011 - 12:00am As a soldier in the Israeli Defense Forces, Kobi Skolnick once fired shots at Aziz Abu Sarah's aunt's house in the West Bank town of Hebron. Ten years later, Skolnick, a former Israeli settler, who grew up in an ultra-orthodox household, and Abu Sarah, once a Palestinian militant, work together explaining both sides of the Middle East conflict to tourists. They discovered the uncomfortable coincidence during a tour in Hebron for Mejdi, a "dual-narrative" tour company co-owned by Abu Sarah, where every tour is jointly led by Jewish and Palestinian guides. » Read more