August 25th

Terror Attacks Reveal Danger and Opportunity of Arab Revolution ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward by Yossi Alpher - (Opinion) August 25, 2011 - 12:00am The terrorist attack launched from Egyptian Sinai, just north of Eilat, on August 18, brought Israel into a headlong collision with the problematic fruits of the Egyptian revolution. » Read more

Rattling the Cage: Earthquake weather ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Larry Derfner - (Opinion) August 24, 2011 - 12:00am There’s a feeling of instability in the atmosphere, of built-up pressure hanging motionless. The air is hazy, the sky is pale and miasmic. Earthquake weather, it’s called. That’s the atmosphere in this country, geopolitically speaking. And while no one can predict an earthquake, I don’t know of any aware, realistic person who would predict that the relative calm we’ve known for nearly three years, since Operation Cast Lead, is going to last very much longer. A few months, maybe a year. More than that is hard to imagine. » Read more

Despite some Israel-Libya contacts, warm ties are not on the horizon ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Yossi Melman - (Opinion) August 25, 2011 - 12:00am The chances that Israel will establish even low-level relations with a new regime that takes shape in Tripoli are not great. This assessment is based on a Haaretz interview this week with Ahmad Shabani, a Libyan opposition leader. Since the rebel government formed about six months ago in Benghazi, envoys have been trying to figure out if there are hopes of establishing a diplomatic relationship with Israel. » Read more

The extreme Israeli right's alliance with lunatics ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz (Editorial) August 25, 2011 - 12:00am Against the backdrop of what Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his spokesmen call the "delegitimization" of Israel, a "support event" was held in Jerusalem yesterday evening led by American preacher-broadcaster Glenn Beck. Beck was accompanied by personages identified with the Republican Party's extreme right and a group of Christian Zionist evangelical leaders. » Read more

Palestine and Statehood: An historical overview ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency (Opinion) August 23, 2011 - 12:00am Until 1923, Palestine was part of the Ottoman Empire. In December 1917, British troops entered Jerusalem and ended 400 years of Ottoman rule. In 1922, the League of Nations issued the Mandate of Palestine which authorized the United Kingdom to become the Mandatory Power in Palestine. The Mandate Document, however, included several paradoxical stipulations contrary to the Mandate System as set forth in Article 22 of the League's Charter. Major stipulations » Read more

Ramadan discounts lure customers back to West Bank's ghost town ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP) August 25, 2011 - 12:00am An unlikely noise can be heard in the Old City of Hebron in the southern West Bank - the sound of Ramadan bargain hunters dipping in and out of shops and buying cut-price goods. The crowds milling in the ancient streets are a change of pace for vendors here, who for years have suffered the consequences of Israeli-imposed security restrictions that brought business to a near standstill. Israel says the restrictions are necessary to protect 600 hardline Jewish settlers who live in the heart of the city among a Palestinian population of about 6,000. » Read more

Israel, Ukraine and the mysterious case of Dirar Abu Sisi ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC World News by Gabriel Gatehouse - August 24, 2011 - 12:00am On the evening of 18 February, a Palestinian engineer boarded a train in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkov. Dirar Abu Sisi was the manager of Gaza's main electricity power plant. He hoped to obtain Ukrainian citizenship, and was travelling on the overnight sleeper to Kiev. He spoke to a friend on the telephone just as the train was pulling out of the station. All was well, he said, he was settling into his bunk for the night. But when the train arrived in Kiev the following morning, he was nowhere to be seen. Somewhere along the line, Dirar Abu Sisi had vanished. » Read more

September report to remain secret? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews August 25, 2011 - 12:00am As the situation in the South escalates and the Palestinians prepare for their statehood bid in the United Nations next month, the Knesset has been busy arguing over a report criticizing Israel's readiness for this upcoming September. The report, initiated by the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee (FADC) Chairman Shaul Mofaz (Kadima), is set to be publicized on Sunday. However coalition members have been hard at work to try and prevent its publication. » Read more

UN's Serry 'deeply concerned' over South, Gaza violence ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post August 25, 2011 - 12:00am UN special coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Robert Serry on Thursday expressed deep concern over a resurgence of violence in Gaza and southern Israel. "In the interest of protecting the lives of civilians and for the calm to succeed, a complete halt to the firing of rockets from Gaza and a display of maximum restraint by Israel are required,” Palestinian news agency WAFA quoted Serry as saying. The UN official urged all sides involved "to immediately take steps to prevent any further escalation.” » Read more

Rights group: Rockets injure Palestinians inside Gaza ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency August 24, 2011 - 12:00am Eight Palestinians, including two children and three women, were injured this week by rockets fired in populated areas across the Gaza Strip, a human rights group charged Wednesday. The Palestinian Center for Human Rights says a woman was seriously injured. After one incident, according to the PCHR, an ordinance disposal unit arrived at the scene and collected the rocket's shrapnel, but the civil police never showed up to investigate. » Read more