July 14th

Israelis need a Gandhi of their own ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Bradley Burston - (Blog) July 14, 2010 - 12:00am The more insoluble a conflict, it seems, the more durable the axioms that help keep a solution at bay. All too often, the problem is not that the axiom is unhelpful or untrue, but that over time it has come, ploughshare into sword, to be adopted by one side or the other as a weapon. So it is, that dyed-in-the-wool anti-Palestinians have long delighted in denouncing the Palestinian movement for having failed to produce a home-grown Mahatma Gandhi or Martin Luther King. » Read more

Medics: 1 killed, 5 injured by shelling near Gaza City ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency July 14, 2010 - 12:00am A Palestinian woman was killed and five other were injured Tuesday night by Israeli artillery fire in the residential area of Juhor Addik east of Gaza City, medics said. Chief of ambulance and emergency services Muawiya Hassanien told Ma'an that the injuries were serious and all were evacuated to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital for treatment. Ni'ma Abu Sa'id, 38, was pronounced dead upon arrival, he said. Witnesses said Israeli forces entered the neighborhood and fired artillery shells toward civilian homes, which is close to the northern Karni crossing with Israel. » Read more

Tough road ahead in Middle East ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Hill by Michael Singh - (Opinion) July 14, 2010 - 12:00am With their warm words and smiles for the cameras in the Oval Office last week, President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took an important step toward surmounting what has lately been a serious obstacle to progress in the Middle East peace process – a frosty U.S.-Israel relationship. Like galaxies in an expanding universe, each party to the process — Americans, Israelis, Palestinians and Arabs — seems to have been moving farther away from all of the others. » Read more

Trapped by Gaza Blockade, Locked in Despair ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Ethan Bronner, Michael Slackman - July 14, 2010 - 12:00am The women were bleary-eyed, their voices weak, their hands red and calloused. How could they be expected to cook and clean without water or electricity? What could they do in homes that were dark and hot all day? How could they cope with husbands who had not worked for years and children who were angry and aimless? Sitting with eight other women at a stress clinic, Jamalat Wadi, 28, tried to listen to the mental health worker. But she could not contain herself. She has eight children, and her unemployed husband spends his days on sedatives. » Read more

Trapped by Gaza Blockade, Locked in Despair ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Ethan Bronner, Michael Slackman - July 14, 2010 - 12:00am GAZA CITY — The women were bleary-eyed, their voices weak, their hands red and calloused. How could they be expected to cook and clean without water or electricity? What could they do in homes that were dark and hot all day? How could they cope with husbands who had not worked for years and children who were angry and aimless? Sitting with eight other women at a stress clinic, Jamalat Wadi, 28, tried to listen to the mental health worker. But she could not contain herself. She has eight children, and her unemployed husband spends his days on sedatives. » Read more

US criticises Jerusalem demolitions ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Jazeera English July 14, 2010 - 12:00am Israeli bulldozers have destroyed six buildings in occupied East Jerusalem, resuming the demolition of Palestinian property after a halt aimed at encouraging peace talks, provoking Palestinian anger and US "concern". Tuesday's demolitions were the first since a halt in October aimed at encouraging so-called peace talks, and Palestinians said they proved the Israeli government was not committed to the negotiations. » Read more

July 13th

Israel paves the way for killing by remote control ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National by Jonathan Cook - July 13, 2010 - 12:00am It is called Spot and Shoot. Operators sit in front of a TV monitor from which they can control the action with a PlayStation-style joystick. The aim: to kill. Played by: young women serving in the Israeli army. Spot and Shoot, as it is called by the Israeli military, may look like a video game but the figures on the screen are real people – Palestinians in Gaza – who can be killed with the press of a button on the joystick. » Read more

PA not ruling out direct talks ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Khaled Abu Toameh - July 13, 2010 - 12:00am Palestinian Authority officials in Ramallah on Monday did not rule out the possibility that the PA would agree to begin direct negotiations with Israel, in what appears to be a departure from its previous position. According to the officials, the PA was now inclined to agree to hold direct negotiations, especially following assurances from US President Barack Obama to PA President Mahmoud Abbas. “We don’t rule out direct talks,” said one official. “But before we move to these talks, we want to have a clear agenda and timetable.” » Read more

Israel not fooling anyone with report ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National July 13, 2010 - 12:00am It took only a month or so for the Israeli military to conclude its investigation into the deadly raid on the Freedom Flotilla and in particular, the Mavi Marmara. Given that the assault so outraged the world, alienated Israel’s allies and killed nine people, we would have thought it would take more than a few weeks to answer all the tough questions Israel is facing. But that, of course, is the point: Israel has no intention of answering inconvenient questions over an attack it feels entirely justified in carrying out. » Read more

U.S. conservatives form new pro-Israel lobby group ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz July 13, 2010 - 12:00am Washington observers may feel there is no obvious shortage of pro-Israel lobbyists in the city – but a group of leading American conservatives thinks otherwise and has set up a new campaign group to attack President Obama over his "anti-Israel" stance, U.S. website Politico reports. » Read more