Obama seeking 'upgrade' for Netanyahu-Abbas summit ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Barak Ravid - September 22, 2009 - 12:00am The White House is making a last-minute diplomatic effort to come up with some significant statement signaling the revival of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks to conclude the tripartite summit in New York Tuesday. However, the White House Monday said the administration has no "grand expectations" for President Barack Obama's meeting with the Israeli and Palestinian leaders. White House spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters Monday that Obama was looking to "continue to build on progress" in regional talks. "We have no grand expectations out of one meeting," said Gibbs. » Read more

Israeli troops kill Jerusalem man near settlement checkpoint ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency September 22, 2009 - 12:00am Israeli troops shot and killed a Jerusalem resident at the Betar Illit-area military checkpoint west of Bethlehem on Tuesday morning. The Palestinian, identified as 27-year-old Walid Rabi At-Tawil, allegedly refused to stop his car after being ordered to do so by Israeli forces manning the post. In a statement, the Israeli military said At-Tawil "ignored calls to undergo the required security checks, accelerated towards the soldiers and drove through the crossing." It said soldiers chased after the vehicle, which they said they found it at a nearby gas station. » Read more

Israel should learn from U.S. how to pace diplomacy ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Aluf Benn - (Opinion) September 22, 2009 - 12:00am Most Israelis like the United States, but cannot connect to the American character. Here we improvise and don't wait in line - there friends arrange to meet far in advance and read the instruction manual before operating electrical appliances. So too in diplomacy. In Israel war is declared after a two-hour debate, and daring peace plans are concocted without deliberations or consultations. In America months are devoted to preparing every diplomatic or military move. » Read more

Fayyad holds Eid prayer at site of nonviolent protests ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency September 22, 2009 - 12:00am Caretaker Prime Minister Salam Fayyad attended the Eid prayer on Sunday in a mosque in the West Bank village of Bil’in, which is known for its lively nonviolent demonstrations against the Israeli separation wall. Khaled Al-Qawasmi, the minister of Local Government, and Jamal Zakout, the Prime Minister’s media advisor, also attended the prayer session. The three also laid a wreath at the tomb of Yasser Arafat at the presidential compound in Ramallah. » Read more

How Israel silenced its Gaza war protesters ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Akiva Eldar - September 22, 2009 - 12:00am A new report from Adalah shows how the courts and police attempted to stamp out opposition to Operation Cast Lead. "This is a time of war, and every incident harms the people's morale." This was not a sentence in a right-wing journal, but rather a statement by an Israel Police representative during Operation Cast Lead seeking to persuade the Tel Aviv District Court to block anti-war protesters from the city. » Read more

The Israelis of Bil’in: Joining Palestinians against the wall ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency September 18, 2009 - 12:00am For over four years the international media has reported on the weekly protests in the small West Bank village of Bil’in. They report that Israel has moved the separation wall so it annexes over 60% of the village, that the residents of Bil’in once worked the confiscated land as a source of livelihood and that after every Friday prayer there is a non-violent protest that gets dispersed by tear gas. What is left out from such accounts is that many who attend these West Bank protests are Israelis Jews. » Read more

Palestine's Peaceful Struggle ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Nation by Mohammed Khatib - (Opinion) September 11, 2009 - 12:00am A few weeks ago, in the dead of night, dozens of Israeli soldiers with painted faces burst violently into my home. If only they had knocked, I would have opened the door. They arrested me. My wife, Lamia, was left alone with our four children. My youngest, 3-year-old Khaled, woke up to the image of Israeli soldiers with painted faces who were taking his father away. He has not stopped crying since. A few nights ago he woke up in terror, sobbing: "Daddy, why did you let the soldiers take me?" That's the way our children sleep--in a constant state of fear. » Read more

UN must act on Goldstone's report ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News by Linda S. Heard - (Opinion) September 21, 2009 - 12:00am The recently released Report of the United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict is unequivocal in its condemnation of Israel. Led by Justice Richard J. Goldstone - a South African judge who served as Chief Prosecutor for the UN's Rwanda and former Yugoslavia international criminal tribunals - the report pulls no punches. » Read more

Trilateral talks head on path to nowhere ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Politico by Aaron David Miller - (Opinion) September 22, 2009 - 12:00am In fall 2001, assigned as a State Department adviser to Middle East envoy Tony Zinni, I asked the general why he wanted to ruin a brilliant career by taking on the Israeli-Palestinian issue. Smiling, he replied that he liked hopeless causes. In that case, I said, he’d come to the right place. Tuesday’s three-way meeting in New York among President Barack Obama, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Mahmoud Abbas strongly suggests that after six months of hard labor, another great American — George Mitchell — is being ground up in the maw of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. » Read more

This judge may have little sway over Israel’s sentence ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National by James Reinl - (Opinion) September 22, 2009 - 12:00am Last week’s UN report on war crimes committed during the Israeli invasion of Gaza leads to an inescapable conclusion: those behind the atrocities must be brought to justice. Yet despite lofty talk of global legal frameworks, the world is still a long way from realising the dream of an impartial legal system that can spring into action when evidence is presented that atrocities have been committed. » Read more