How Will Jews React to ‘Budrus’? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Forward by Josh Nathan-Kazis - October 8, 2010 - 12:00am Protesters in the Palestinian town of Budrus were growing frustrated. After months of nonviolently demonstrating against the Israeli separation barrier being built through their olive groves, the demonstrators faced increased force from Israeli border police who were firing tear gas and swinging batons. Young Palestinians began tossing rocks at the soldiers despite pleas from protest organizers, and Israeli forces occupied the town, sending live ammunition down the narrow streets. » Read more

Bizarre blend of politics and diplomacy ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times by Rami Khouri - (Opinion) October 8, 2010 - 12:00am The revelation here in the United States last Wednesday that Washington was offering Israel new security-related guarantees in return for a two-month extension of the partial moratorium on new Jewish colonies in the occupied Palestinian territories is neither surprising nor encouraging. » Read more

Bizarre blend of politics and diplomacy ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times by Rami Khouri - (Opinion) October 8, 2010 - 12:00am The revelation here in the United States last Wednesday that Washington was offering Israel new security-related guarantees in return for a two-month extension of the partial moratorium on new Jewish colonies in the occupied Palestinian territories is neither surprising nor encouraging. » Read more

Israel's democracy rings hollow ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News by Faisal J. Abbas - (Opinion) October 8, 2010 - 12:00am Within hours, the YouTube video showing an Israeli soldier belly-dancing around Ehsan Al Dababsi, a Palestinian detainee who was bound and blindfolded, became headline news all around the Middle East. » Read more

Abbas has to make tough decisions ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News by Osama Al-Sharif - (Opinion) October 8, 2010 - 12:00am Several days ago the leader of the Israeli opposition Tzipi Livni said that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "must choose the real long-term interests of Israel rather than his own personal political interests." She was commenting on Netanyahu's refusal to extend the colony freeze moratorium which prompted the Palestinians to carry out their threat to walk away from direct talks barely a month after they were ceremoniously resumed in Washington. » Read more

How Will Jews React to ‘Budrus’? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward by Josh Nathan-Kazis - October 6, 2010 - 12:00am Protesters in the Palestinian town of Budrus were growing frustrated. After months of nonviolently demonstrating against the Israeli separation barrier being built through their olive groves, the demonstrators faced increased force from Israeli border police who were firing tear gas and swinging batons. Young Palestinians began tossing rocks at the soldiers despite pleas from protest organizers, and Israeli forces occupied the town, sending live ammunition down the narrow streets. » Read more

Gaza burns as Hamas declares war on drugs ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Independent by Donald MacIntyre - October 8, 2010 - 12:00am They made an incongruous sight, piled on to trestle tables in the car park outside a government office. Long bundles of dried marijuana branches – known as Bango here – the chocolate bar-shaped slabs of hashish, a few still half-covered with the blue Action cheese wrapping used to smuggle them in, and the smaller grubby blocks of off-white cocaine. » Read more

Gaza burns as Hamas declares war on drugs ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Independent by Donald MacIntyre - October 8, 2010 - 12:00am They made an incongruous sight, piled on to trestle tables in the car park outside a government office. Long bundles of dried marijuana branches – known as Bango here – the chocolate bar-shaped slabs of hashish, a few still half-covered with the blue Action cheese wrapping used to smuggle them in, and the smaller grubby blocks of off-white cocaine. » Read more

Washington Watch: Israel needs a real foreign minister ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by D. Bloomfield - (Opinion) October 6, 2010 - 12:00am It appears that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu will once more be dragged kicking and screaming to the peace table. In exchange for briefly extending the settlement moratorium, he is expected to get a generous package of American military aid, weapons systems, security guarantees, and political backing for years. » Read more

Israel, U.S. finalize F-35 stealth fighter purchase ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Shlomo Shamir - October 7, 2010 - 12:00am The purchase of U.S.-made F-35 stealth fighters ushers in a new era in Israel's ability to face security challenges, both near and far, a top Israeli security official said at a ceremony Thursday which finalized Israel's purchase of its first batch of advanced fighter jets. Under the contract signed in New York on Thursday by Ehud Shani, director general of the Israeli Ministry of Defense, Israel will get 20 of the warplanes for nearly $3 billion and will receive the jets in 2016. It has an option for 75 more. » Read more