September 10th

Peres to Abbas: Netanyahu is a trustworthy partner ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Barak Ravid - (Analysis) September 9, 2010 - 12:00am Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called President Shimon Peres on Thursday evening to offer greetings for the Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashanah. During the telephone conversation, Peres pleaded with Abbas to "trust [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu." » Read more

1 dead in West Bank shooting ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency (Analysis) September 9, 2010 - 12:00am BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- Gunmen shot dead one person near the illegal settlement of Ma'ale Adumim in the occupied West Bank late Thursday, Israeli security sources said. One other person was seriously injured in the apparent attack, medics said. Israel Radio reported that the victims were Palestinian citizens of Israel, and no suspected motive was immediately announced.

Overnight airstrikes hit Gaza, 5 said injured ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency (Analysis) September 10, 2010 - 12:00am GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Israeli airforce planes flew over Gaza on Friday morning, dropping six shells on sites throughout the Strip, reportedly in retaliation for two projectiles launched from the coastal enclave earlier in the day. An Israeli military spokeswoman said a "terror target" and two smuggling tunnels, in the north and southern Strip respectively, were the targets of the attacks. » Read more

Fatah: Settlements deepen occupation ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency (Analysis) September 10, 2010 - 12:00am RAMALLAH (Ma'an) -- "Settlements deepen the occupation, they steal Palestinian lands and water; with settlements there is no peace," a statement from the Fatah Central Committee said Thursday. In an effort to clarify the staunch stance of Palestinain negotiators around the settlement issue, a document was released by the committee following a Ramallah meeting ahead of Eid Al-Fitr, as negotiations will resume on 14 September, a day after the Eid holiday closes. » Read more

A West Bank Enclave Is on Edge ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Isabel Kershner - (Analysis) September 9, 2010 - 12:00am ARIEL, West Bank — When a group of Israeli artists recently refused to perform in the new theater at this large Jewish settlement, local residents reacted with a mixture of hurt and defiance. When scores of leftist Israeli academics, prominent writers and intellectuals said that they would not lecture at the Ariel University Center or in any other settlement, many here said that nobody had asked them to come. » Read more

September 9th

Occupation, split complicate Palestinian forces' reform: report ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua September 8, 2010 - 12:00am Reforming Palestinian security forces in the West Bank would remain difficult as long as Israel occupies large parts of the area and internal Palestinian political split persists, a new report said. "Security reform is one of the Palestinian National Authority's (PNA) most notable successes," says the report named "Squaring the Circle: Palestinian Security Reform under Occupation," released this week by the Brussels-based International Crisis Group. » Read more

How to Make Peace in the Middle East in Six Months or Less Without Leaving Your Apartment ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor by Jessica Allen - (Book Review) September 8, 2010 - 12:00am Peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians, brokered by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, are set to resume in two weeks’ time. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says reconciliation is “difficult but possible.” That was last month. » Read more

Another War Zone: Social Media in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Middle East Report by Adi Kuntsman, Rebecca L. Stein - September 9, 2010 - 12:00am In late May 2010, the convoy known as the Freedom Flotilla met off of Cyprus and headed south, carrying humanitarian aid and hundreds of international activists who aimed to break Israel’s blockade of the Gaza Strip. The organizers used social media extensively: tweeting updates from the boats; webcasting live with cameras uplinked to the Internet and a satellite, enabling simultaneous rebroadcasting; employing Facebook, Flickr, YouTube and other social networking websites to allow interested parties to see and hear them in real time; and using Google Maps to chart their location at sea. » Read more

Europe’s Absence from the Palestinian-Israeli Negotiations ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Dar Al-Hayat by Randa Takieddine - September 8, 2010 - 12:00am French President Nicolas Sarkozy expressed a high degree of resentment of the fact that the European Union was not invited to the Palestinian-Israeli negotiations, during his meeting with President Hosni Mubarak at the Elysee Palace on his way to Washington. Meanwhile, the French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner was the only European minister who sent a letter to Catherine Ashton, the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy of the European Union, to say that the absence of the European Union (EU) from the these talks is unacceptable. » Read more

Sanctions shortened for Muslim student group ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) September 8, 2010 - 12:00am A Muslim student group at the University of California, Irvine, had a yearlong suspension shortened to four months. The Muslim Student Union (MSU) on the Irvine campus will be barred from operating this fall semester, the Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles reported. The university had recommended a yearlong suspension in May in response to the group’s orchestrated heckling of Israeli U.S. Ambassador Michael Oren during his address to the university last February. Oren walked off the stage twice, unable to continue because of the disruption. » Read more