September 26th, 2012

Netanyahu gets tangled up in US election
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News
by Mark Mardell - (Analysis) September 24, 2012 - 12:00am


Iran is not on the agenda. But it is on their minds. As the big United Nations meeting gets underway, the West's biggest foreign policy challenge is not likely to be discussed.


The Israeli prime minister is unfit to serve
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Sefi Rachlevsky - (Opinion) September 25, 2012 - 12:00am


Early in the summer of 1983 Menahem Begin became unfit to serve as prime minister. For weeks this fact was concealed from the Israeli public by cabinet ministers and military leaders.


Palestinians set for Pyrrhic victory in United Nations
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Crispian Balmer - (Analysis) September 26, 2012 - 12:00am


RAMALLAH (Reuters) -- If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. After failing last year to win recognition of full statehood at the United Nations, President Mahmoud Abbas returns to New York on Thursday to ask the General Assembly for a less ambitious status upgrade.


NEWS: Palestinian officials say they are likely to ask the UN for nonmember observer state status, but will push for a vote after the November US elections. This represents a lowering of expectations from last year. Pres. Abbas meets with Jewish Americans, and reiterates Palestinians would resume negotiations if Israel initiated a settlement freeze. Hundreds of protesters in the Gaza Strip call for the overthrow of Hamas following the death of a child in a fire triggered by power outages. Jordan condemns extremist Jewish Israelis for breaking into the yards of the Al Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem. Israel's left-wing Meretz party presents a new peace proposal. Qatar pledges millions in aid for Gaza rebuilding. Six Palestinians are reportedly killed, in a manner that reflects torture and execution, in Aleppo. Israel's official recognition of a settlement university puts its policies under test and scrutiny. A Palestinian citizen of Israel studying at the university says she was thrown off a bus at gunpoint by security officers. A Gaza family blames sewage and lack of sanitation for the loss of eight children in two years. Massachusetts Democratic Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren says Israeli-Palestinian peace must not “fall off the map.” The PA minister accused of sexual harassment is reportedly Civil Affairs Minister al-Sheikh, in charge of security coordination with Israel. COMMENTARY: ATFP Pres. Ziad Asali previews Abbas' UN speech. Crispian Balmer says the Palestinians are set for a Pyrrhic victory at the UN. Sefi Rachlevsky says PM Netanyahu is unfit to serve as prime minister. Mark Mardell looks at how Netanyahu has become part of the US election campaign. Osama Al Sharif says Abbas faces a set of unpalatable options. Semih Idiz says unless Israel changes its policies, its efforts to repair relations with Turkey won't work.Aaron David Miller says Netanyahu isn't solely to blame for the impasse on peace or deterioration in relations with the United States. Zvika Krieger looks at what he calls “Fortress Gaza.”

No Drama at Turtle Bay
In Print by Ziad Asali - The Daily Beast (Opinion) - September 26, 2012 - 12:00am

At the upcoming United Nations General Assembly meeting, the world will be watching—though with markedly less intensity than last year—to see what the Palestinians will do.


No Drama at Turtle Bay
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Beast
by Ziad Asali - (Opinion) September 26, 2012 - 12:00am


At the upcoming United Nations General Assembly meeting, the world will be watching—though with markedly less intensity than last year—to see what the Palestinians will do.


PA minister suspected of sexual harassment revealed to be Fatah member in charge of coordination with Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Avi Issacharoff - September 25, 2012 - 12:00am


The Palestinian minister that has been suspected of sexually harassing an employee was revealed to be Civil Affairs Minister Hussein al-Sheikh, a senior Fatah member and the person in charge of the civilian and security coordination with Israel.


U.S. Senate hopeful: Israeli-Palestinian peace shouldn't fall off the map
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Dina Kraft - September 25, 2012 - 12:00am


Watertown, MA. - Amid cheers of “We Want Liz,” Elizabeth Warren, the Democratic candidate in the most high-profile U.S. Senate race, seemed to be enjoying herself as she wound her way through thick crowds of supporters at the town fair in this working class Boston suburb.


Family blames sewage, trash for deaths of 8 children in Gaza camp
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
September 26, 2012 - 12:00am


GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- A family in Gaza that lost eight children over two years says the lack of sanitation around their home in al-Bureij refugee camp is responsible for their deaths. The Salim family lives meters from a landfill in the central Gaza camp, and their home is surrounded by open sewage and trash. Omar Salim, 30, told Ma'an that his son Mohammad pleaded not to be taken to the hospital when he fell ill with a fever and had blue spots on his skin.


For Arab student going to Ariel, the message is 'Yalla, get off the bus'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Jack Khoury - September 25, 2012 - 12:00am


An Arab student says security guards humiliated her and forced her off a bus at gunpoint on her way to Ariel University Center in the West Bank.



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