July 28th

'Obama is a racist,' settler rabbi tells protestors in Jerusalem ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Chaim Levinson - July 28, 2009 - 12:00am The Yesha Council of settlements organized a demonstration in which some 1,500 rightists gathered near the home of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem on Monday to protest the Obama administration's demand for a total freeze on Israeli settlement construction in the West Bank. Among the speakers at the demonstration was Rabbi Eliezer Waldman, the head of the Nir yeshiva in the settlement of Kiryat Arba. "Obama is a racist," Waldman told the assembled crowd. "If he continues with his actions, he will bring about the disintegration of the American superpower." » Read more

Israel, U.S. claim 'progress' in settlement dispute ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz July 28, 2009 - 12:00am Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the top U.S. Mideast envoy said they made progress Tuesday on their dispute over West Bank settlements, but offered no sign of a breakthrough at a meeting in Jerusalem. President Barack Obama's envoy, George Mitchell, has been pressing Israel to halt all construction in settlements built on captured land claimed by the Palestinians, stressing that such a gesture would improve prospects for a peace deal. But Netanyahu says limited construction must be permitted to allow "natural growth" in the existing settler population. » Read more

Gates' Israel visit aims to ease tensions over Iran ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times by Richard Boudreaux - July 28, 2009 - 12:00am U.S. Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates promised Israeli leaders Monday that American overtures to Iran are "not open-ended" and said the Obama administration is ready to press for tougher economic sanctions if diplomacy fails to halt what the two allies say is Iran's progress toward building a nuclear weapon. » Read more

Why Won’t Obama Talk to Israel? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Aluf Benn - (Opinion) July 27, 2009 - 12:00am IN his global tours and TV appearances, President Obama has spoken to Arabs, Muslims, Iranians, Western Europeans, Eastern Europeans, Russians and Africans. His words have stirred emotions and been well received everywhere. But he hasn’t bothered to speak directly to Israelis. » Read more

July 27th

“Abusing Jerusalem to Assail Peace: the Case of the Shepherd's Hotel” ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Americans For Peace Now by Lara Friedman - July 22, 2009 - 12:00am “Abusing Jerusalem to Assail Peace: the Case of the Shepherd's Hotel” (Vol. 5, Issue 4 -- July 22, 2009) A publication of Americans for Peace Now ________________________________ Q: What does this current controversy in Jerusalem mean for peace? » Read more

US transfers $200 million in aid to Palestinians ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press by Karin Laub - July 24, 2009 - 12:00am RAMALLAH, West Bank — The United States has transferred $200 million to the Palestinian government to help ease a growing budget deficit, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Friday. Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad has been struggling in recent months to keep his government afloat, borrowing hundreds of millions of dollars from commercial banks just to cover the public payroll. » Read more

Reassessing our ties with US ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Yarden Gazit - (Opinion) July 27, 2009 - 12:00am Barack Obama's demand that Israel freeze all settlement activity in Judea and Samaria, including east Jerusalem, created a rift between Washington and Jerusalem. Similar rifts existed in the past. Such temporary rifts do not undermine the close relationship between the two countries. They do, however, raise questions about its nature. Given that both countries' interests are not always aligned, Israel should reevaluate its policy of depending so heavily on American support. » Read more

Rabbi Ovadia slams US: We're not their slaves ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Kobi Nahshoni - July 26, 2009 - 12:00am In his weekly sermon Saturday evening, Shas' spiritual leader Rabbi Ovadia Yosef slammed US President Barack Obama and other western leaders for pressuring Israel to freeze construction in the West Bank and east Jerusalem. "'You can't build here, you can't build there' – it's as if we were their slaves," the rabbi protested. "We are being ruled by slaves," he said," adding that, "Our messiah will come and throw them out." » Read more

Reality Check: Netanyahu's self-inflicted crisis ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Jeff Barak - (Opinion) July 27, 2009 - 12:00am Binyamin Netanyahu's second term as prime minister is proving the truth of Karl Marx's comment: "History repeats itself, first as tragedy, second as farce," although the speed with which his government is descending into the farcical is surprising, even for the most ardent of Netanyahu's critics. » Read more

Out of the Stone Age: Empowering a West Bank village ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Independent by Donald MacIntyre - July 27, 2009 - 12:00am To the visitor it may seem picturesque. But when you've spent several hours a day for 20 years vigorously shaking a dead goat's stomach filled with milk to make butter, the novelty has long worn off. In the village of Susiya, not having electricity keeps them in their own dark age. So for Samia Shineran, 30, who has been making goat's butter by hand since she was 10, the installation of a powered churn in the family tent this spring was an unalloyed delight, giving her that much more time for the many other tasks which fall to this Palestinian mother of 10. » Read more