July 26th

Warning: Turbulence Ahead ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Foreign Policy by Aaron David Miller - (Opinion) July 25, 2012 - 12:00am "Everybody knows that relations with Israel have never been worse." So thundered the venerable John McCain, foreign policy preacher and iconoclast par excellence, in a sermon from the mountaintop on one of last Sunday's talk shows. The Arizona senator was commenting on President Barack Obama's claim last week in Palm Beach, one he has oft repeated on the campaign trail, that U.S.-Israeli ties are stronger than ever. » Read more

PNA accomplishes rehabilitation of Gaza's sole power plant ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua July 26, 2012 - 12:00am The Palestinian authorities announced Wednesday it has completed the rehabilitation of the sole power plant in the Gaza Strip. » Read more

Abbas: Bid for UN recognition to be decided on Sept. 6 ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua July 26, 2012 - 12:00am Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday announced that the Arab League will decide on September 6, the date for applying to the United Nations to recognize a Palestinian state. » Read more

Hamas slams municipal elections in West Bank only ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua July 26, 2012 - 12:00am Islamic Hamas Movement on Wednesday slammed the Palestinian decision to hold the municipal elections in the West Bank only. » Read more

Iran accuses Israel of plotting Bulgaria bus attack ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters July 25, 2012 - 12:00am Iran's U.N. envoy accused Israel on Wednesday of plotting and carrying out a suicide bomb attack on a bus in Bulgaria a week ago in which five Israeli tourists were killed. » Read more

Hamas Rising ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Foreign Policy by Jonathan Schanzer - (Opinion) July 25, 2012 - 12:00am Countries across the Middle East are opening their coffers to support the Palestinian cause -- but the funds are increasingly being diverted in a direction that portends renewed conflict with Israel. » Read more

Golan Heights provides glimpse of Syria civil war ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press by Blake Sobczak - July 24, 2012 - 12:00am As Syrian regime forces clash with rebels close to the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights, this windswept plateau has become a front-row seat to Syria's escalating civil war. » Read more

Gaza Christians fear for future of tiny community ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press by Ibrahim Barzak - July 25, 2012 - 12:00am Christians in overwhelmingly Muslim Gaza have long fretted in private about the survival of their tiny community. » Read more

Mitt's Pilgrimage ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Foreign Policy by Oren Kessler - (Opinion) July 26, 2012 - 12:00am The U.S. presidential race might be deadlocked, but when Mitt Romney visits Israel on Sunday, July 29, the presumptive Republican nominee can reasonably expect the most heartfelt welcome he'll receive anywhere outside Utah. Israeli enthusiasm for Romney is not necessarily the result of a carefully cultivated relationship -- as a former governor and business executive he had little time for foreign policy. Instead, affection for the candidate appears to be a clear case of ABO: Anyone But Obama. » Read more

PA official: Economic crisis will not be solved this year ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency July 26, 2012 - 12:00am A Palestinian Authority official said Wednesday that a World Bank report describing weaknesses in the Palestinian economy was accurate.  » Read more