August 14th

Gazans hope Egypt will ease clampdown on smuggling tunnels
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Avi Issacharoff - (Opinion) August 14, 2012 - 12:00am

Last week's terror attack in Sinai, which claimed the lives of 16 Egyptian soldiers, prompted the authorities in Cairo to clamp down on the smuggling tunnels connecting Egyptian Rafah and the Gaza Strip. Dozens of bulldozers arrived at the Egyptian side of the Philadelphi Route and began demolishing tunnels. On the other side, Hamas closed the tunnel entrances, at least for the time being. For around 70,000 Palestinians whose livelihoods depend on the tunnels, it is a severe blow.

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Israel and Iran
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
(Editorial) August 13, 2012 - 12:00am

Israeli leaders are again talking about possible military action against Iran. This is, at best, mischievous and, at worst, irresponsible, especially when diplomacy has time to run.

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Palestinian Seeks Diplomatic Allies
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Jodi Rudoren - (Opinion) August 13, 2012 - 12:00am

Hanan Ashrawi, a member of the Palestine Liberation Organization’s executive committee, asked diplomats from two dozen countries on Monday to support the Palestinian Authority’s renewed bid for observer-state status at the United Nations, calling it “a test of the whole rule of law.” Speaking in East Jerusalem to envoys from countries in Europe, Latin America, Asia and the Middle East, Ms.

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Palestinian culture is not about failure
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star
by Ziad Asali - (Opinion) August 14, 2012 - 12:00am

Given the current conversation about issue of Palestinian culture and its relationship to politics and economics, I feel it is appropriate for me to add my own Palestinian-American perspective.

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August 13th

NEWS: The US and Egypt increase security talks after the Sinai attack. The Israeli tourism industry is booming. Memorials for victims of suicide attacks proliferate on a road in Jaffa. The Knesset is considering a bill that would segregate prayer times at the al-Haram al-Sharif/Temple Mount. Palestinians remain divided over an official's visit to Auschwitz. More Gaza families visit relatives in Israeli prison. 11 Palestinians are killed and many more injured in a car pileup at Bala junction east of Tulkarem in the occupied West Bank. A Palestinian media watchdog group says violations of media freedoms in the occupied territories were slightly lower in 2012 and 2011, the bulk still being committed by Israeli occupation authorities. Another Egyptian military official suggests Hamas probably knew about the Sinai attack in advance. Rhetoric and pro forma preparations for a potential attack on Iran are in full swing in Israel. Former Israeli settlers evacuated from Gaza are growing distant from the settler movement. COMMENTARY: Amira Hass says Palestinians are moving to exercise authority in “Area C.” Akiva Eldar says it's amazing that many Israelis still prefer the prospect of regional war over peace. Carlo Strenger says if things continue as they are, by the end of PM Netanyahu's term in office, the two-state solution will be dead as he has intended all along. Eitan Haber says Israel's present core of leadership lacks the experience to make momentous decisions such as those regarding Iran. Nathan Guttman looks at efforts in Congress to raise the issue of Jewish refugees from Arab states to offset the Palestinian refugee final status issue. Ben Caspit asks if Netanyahu and DM Barak are really determined to attack Iran, and Dimi Reider says military officials may defy them anyway. Brandon Davis looks at competing Israeli and Palestinian views of an Israeli settlement in the occupied West Bank built on privately owned Palestinian land. Pierre Klochendler looks at how Israelis and Palestinians struggle over archaeology and its interpretation in occupied East Jerusalem.

After seven years, Gaza evacuees are growing distant from the settler movement
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA)
by Ben Sales - August 7, 2012 - 12:00am

From an overlooking road, the district of this desert town called Nitzan B seems like a unified mass of identical red-roofed single-family homes, reminiscent of a crowded American postwar Levittown. “From far away it looks nice,” says Galit Kakon, a Nitzan B resident. Like the rest of the district’s 600 families, Kakon used to live in Gush Katif, the bloc of Israeli settlements in the Gaza Strip that Israel evacuated seven years ago this week in an operation called "the disengagement."

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Preparations and Rhetoric for Possible Israeli Strike on Iran
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Media Line
by Linda Gradstein - August 12, 2012 - 12:00am

Sometime this week, all Israelis will get the following SMS message in Hebrew on their cell-phones:  “Home Front, testing cellphone warning system.” The test is the final preparation before declaring the new warning system operational next month, according to military officials who explain that the mechanism is believed to be an effective way to transmit messages during wartime.

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Egypt: Hamas likely knew about Kerem Shalom attack
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Avi Issacharoff - August 13, 2012 - 12:00am

Senior Egyptian officials expressed skepticism Sunday about Hamas claims that the Islamist group would shut down the tunnels connecting Gaza and Sinai if Egypt permanently reopens the Rafah crossing to people and goods.

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In Jerusalem the Past Is Alike, And Alive
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Inter Press Service (IPS)
by Pierre Klochendler - (Opinion) August 13, 2012 - 12:00am

“This is King David’s palace!” proclaims the Israeli tour guide with much fanfare, ignoring the cautionary “King David’s Palace?” legend on the sign. Opportunely opening the Bible, he reads from 2 Samuel 6:16, “As the Ark of the Lord came to the City of David…” “Everything fits so well with the biblical descriptions!” marvels Amir Brightman, an Israeli security guard who escorts the tourists. “I feel so connected.”

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Contesting history: A tale of two Tekoas
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
by Brandon Davis - (Opinion) August 13, 2012 - 12:00am

The Gush Herodion Development Corporation has big plans for Tekoa. Already boasting a pizza parlor, a swimming pool and a horse ranch, this idyllic "Jewish village" of approximately 1,600 will soon add six new buildings with eight "spacious" apartments each, designed by the architect Jacques Gabay.

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