July 17th

MI chief: Over 10 recent Sinai attacks thwarted ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Lahav Harkov - July 17, 2012 - 12:00am IDF Military Intelligence head Aviv Kochavi said that more than 10 recent planned terror attacks emanating from the Egyptian side of the Sinai border have been thwarted during remarks before the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee. Kochavi said that upheaval in Egypt is expected to continue for a long time, and that the victory of the Muslim Brotherhood's Mohamed Mursi in the presidential election has ushered in an age of political Islam. » Read more

Israel and the West Bank’s Oil ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Hayat by Walid Khadduri - (Opinion) July 15, 2012 - 12:00am On July 10, 2012, the English-language website of the BBC published an article by journalist Alex Rowell, who recently visited the West Bank. The article mentioned that Givot Olam Oil Ltd, an Israeli company, is producing oil from the Meged field located in Israeli territories “on the edge of the West Bank”, “raising concern that it might also draw from untapped Palestinian reserves”. » Read more

Premier Palestinian medical school graduates struggle to work in Jerusalem ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post by Joel Greenberg - July 16, 2012 - 12:00am Basel Nassar, a young Palestinian doctor from this city, is not allowed to practice medicine here. So he flew to Houston last week to take the last phase of a licensing exam that will qualify him to work in the United States. “I am forced to do this,” Nassar, 33, said on the eve of his departure. “Israel is so close, but it is making trouble for us for some trivial reason. I can’t work 15 minutes from my house, where they accepted me in a specialty I was dreaming to get. I simply can’t understand it.” » Read more

'You're dead' daubed near Peace Now activist's flat ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Noam Dvir - July 16, 2012 - 12:00am The words "Hagit, you're dead" and "Kahane was right" were daubed near the apartment of Hagit Ofran, the director of Peace Now's Settlement Watch project. Police have launched an investigation into the incident, which marks the third time hate slogans were spray-painted near Ofran's apartment in Jerusalem. » Read more

Fayyad meets with Clinton in Jerusalem ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency July 17, 2012 - 12:00am Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad met with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Jerusalem on Monday, and discussed prospects for a return to negotiations with Israel, officials said. The meeting was set to follow-up Clinton's meeting with President Mahmoud Abbas in Paris ten days ago, when Abbas asked the US official to communicate to Israel his demands before going ahead with talks, presidential advisor Nimir Hamad told Ma'an. » Read more

Op-Ed: Look between the headlines to understand the Presbyterians’ vote ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) by Ethan Felson - (Opinion) July 16, 2012 - 12:00am NEW YORK (JTA) -- The Presbyterian Church (USA)’s 220th General Assembly had just cast its first vote on an anti-Israel divestment resolution when the spin began. Major news outlets and activists on each side could hardly wait for the debate to finish the next day before declaring winners and losers.  This was my fourth GA and one thing I’ve learned is that reality lies somewhere between the headlines. Here are some reality checks on the GA. * The defeat of divestment was narrow -- and it wasn’t.  » Read more

Ariel academic center in West Bank expected to be named university in disputed vote ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Talia Nesher - July 17, 2012 - 12:00am The Judea and Samaria Council for Higher Education is to meet this afternoon at Bar-Ilan University to vote on whether to recognize the Ariel University Center as a full-fledged university. The planning and budget committee of the state's Council for Higher Education had recommended against it at this time. » Read more

Palestinian PM asks U.S. help to overcome fiscal crisis ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua July 17, 2012 - 12:00am Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad on Monday asked U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for help to overcome the fiscal crisis the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) is going through. Omer al-Ghoul, an aid to Fayyad, told Xinhua that Fayyad urged Clinton to intervention in the donor countries to fulfill their financial commitments pledged to the PNA, adding that "Clinton gave positive promises in this respect." » Read more

Borderline Views: To occupy or not to occupy ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by David Newman - (Opinion) July 16, 2012 - 12:00am So what have we achieved by the publication of a political report, under the guise of a legal opinion, which arrived at a conclusion that the occupied territories are not occupied, that the illegal settlements are not illegal, and that everything Israel has done in the West Bank (Judea and Samaria) during the past 45 years is really okay? » Read more

Israel to Clinton: Tell us what Egypt is thinking ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor by Joshua Mitnick - July 16, 2012 - 12:00am US secretaries of state usually devote their visits to the region shuttling between the Israelis and Palestinians, but as Hillary Clinton began her one-day stopover today, the focus is on two countries needing US mediation: Israel and Egypt. » Read more