September 13th

Israel to allow car parts into Gaza ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency (Analysis) September 13, 2010 - 12:00am GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Israeli authorities said they would be allowing the entry of car oil and spare parts into Gaza on Monday for the first time since its blockade of the coastal territory was enforced in 2006, a Palestinian liaison official said. Raed Fattouh said one terminal, the Kerem Shalom crossing in southern Gaza, would be open for the transfer of five truckloads of car parts and oil, as well as 165 truckloads of other goods. » Read more

Israeli shelling kills 3 in north Gaza ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency (Analysis) September 13, 2010 - 12:00am GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Israeli shelling killed three people including an elderly man in the northern Gaza Strip late Sunday, witnesses said. The bodies of shepherds Ibrahim Abu Said, 91, and Ismail Abu Odeh, 21, were taken to a hospital in Beit Hanoun, medics said. Ibrahim was apparently Ismail's grandfather. An Israeli military spokesman said forces identified a number of suspects attempting to fire an RPG toward an Israeli position. He said forces fired on the Palestinians, apparently hitting them. » Read more

What's so wrong with giving peace a chance? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Chicago Tribune by Ron Grossman - (Opinion) September 13, 2010 - 12:00am Perhaps never before has a bit of diplomatic theater received such ho-hum reviews as when Mahmoud Abbas and Benjamin Netanyahu had dinner at the White House earlier this month, unless the record belongs to a previous sit-down between Palestinian and Israeli leaders. And yet . . . The Middle East is the land of "and yet." It's been the sign-off phrase for myriad attempts to end decades of stalemate and violence. » Read more

Who's bluffing: Abbas or Netanyahu? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post by Jackson Diehl - (Opinion) September 13, 2010 - 12:00am The conventional wisdom about Mahmoud Abbas and Binyamin Netanyahu as they head into the second round of Mideast peace talks this week goes something like this: Abbas is a moderate who genuinely wants a two-state settlement but may be too weak politically to deliver. Netanyahu is a hawk who holds a commanding political position in Israel but doesn't really accept Palestinian statehood. » Read more

Obama: Israeli-Palestinian peace talks might focus first on possible border ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post by Glenn Kessler - (Analysis) September 10, 2010 - 12:00am President Obama on Friday signaled that Israeli and Palestinian negotiators might begin their peace talks by focusing on the potential border between the two states in order to overcome conflicts over Israeli settlement growth on the West Bank. » Read more

Israel Bends Slightly on Settlement Building ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Isabel Kershner - (Analysis) September 12, 2010 - 12:00am JERUSALEM — The prime minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, signaled for the first time on Sunday that he was willing to limit, though not completely halt, construction in the West Bank settlements after a partial building moratorium expires later this month. The hints of flexibility came as diplomats worked to defuse a potential crisis over settlement building that threatens to derail fledgling Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. » Read more

September 10th

Jewish settlers confident talks will fail ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Financial Times by Tobias Buck - (Analysis) September 9, 2010 - 12:00am In the coming weeks, Danny Dayan and his neighbours will be at the centre of diplomatic attention as policymakers from Washington to Jerusalem try to breathe life into a new round of Middle East peace talks. He, in turn, will do his utmost to ensure that the latest diplomatic effort is stillborn. » Read more

Conscription in Gaza? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Media Line by Omer Ghraieb - (Analysis) September 7, 2010 - 12:00am [Gaza] It started first with the introduction of high taxes on cigarettes. It was the de facto government’s hope that this would prevent merchants from selling cigarettes, and that if they do, the cost would be too much for an average citizen to afford. Hamas believed this would eventually lead to the end of cigarette smoking in Gaza. Islam strongly discourages smoking and some even say that Muslims are forbidden from smoking cigarettes, since it is harmful to one’s health. » Read more

Stand up to fascist threat ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Shulamit Aloni - (Opinion) September 9, 2010 - 12:00am As the Jewish New Year begins, people spend time with their families, hope for the best in the coming year, and are said to be engaged in self-reflection. Yet this is rather banal if the latter refers to those heading to synagogues. » Read more

Renew our days ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz (Editorial) September 8, 2010 - 12:00am "Hope is the thing with feathers," wrote the American poet Emily Dickinson. In Israel, the hope for peace is today like a plucked, limp-winged bird that many people, including the foreign minister, believe is not even fit for the pre-Yom Kippur kapparot sacrifice. » Read more