September 19th

PNA criticizes Egypt for receiving Hamas leader ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua September 18, 2012 - 12:00am RAMALLAH, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- The Palestinian National Authority (PNA) on Tuesday criticized the official reception of the deposed Premier of Hamas government in Gaza Ismail Haneya by Egyptian Premier Hesham Qandil. » Read more

Israel military holds largest snap drill in years ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press by Amy Teibel - September 19, 2012 - 12:00am JERUSALEM — The Israeli military on Wednesday conducted its largest snap drill in years as tensions with Iran over its nuclear program rise and civil war in neighboring Syria rages. » Read more

News Analysis: Various scenarios await Abbas amid a series of Palestinian crises ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua September 18, 2012 - 12:00am RAMALLAH, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is nowadays busy with preparing to go for a second risky trip to the United Nations in New York next week for the bid of recognizing a non-member Palestinian state in the UN General Assembly. » Read more

World Bank: Palestinian fiscal crisis is deepening ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press by Amy Teibel - September 19, 2012 - 12:00am JERUSALEM — The World Bank warned Wednesday of a deepening fiscal crisis in the Palestinian territories and appealed to donors to act urgently to prop up the Western-backed Palestinian Authority. » Read more

September 18th

IMF issues warning on Palestinian economy ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Financial Times by Tobias Buck - September 18, 2012 - 12:00am The Palestinian economy is heading for a further slowdown in growth and a spike in unemployment just as it faces a “high risk” of continuing social unrest, according to the International Monetary Fund. The conclusions of the most recent IMF fact-finding mission make alarming reading both for Palestinian leaders and western governments amid growing concern over the viability of the Palestinian Authority and with peace talks with Israel frozen. » Read more

A Hollow Call For "Justice" ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Beast by Hussein Ibish - (Opinion) September 17, 2012 - 12:00am Ben Cohen's response to my recent piece systematically proves every point I make about Israel's cynical new campaign to raise the issue of Jewish refugees. In particular he demonstrates that this is not about defending the rights of Jewish refugees, since no substantive demands on their behalf are made, but simply about using them to try to obliterate the claims of Palestinians. It's one of the oddest cries for "justice" I've ever encountered, since it seeks merely to deny the claims of others. » Read more

Oh, Mitt..... ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Foreign Policy by Daniel W. Drezner - (Opinion) September 18, 2012 - 12:00am So yesterday David Corn at Mother Jones made some waves when he released a video of Mitt Romney locking up the Ayn Rand Institute's vote explaining that he had no chance of winning the  "47 percent who are with him, who are dependent upon government." Well, this morning, the foreign policy shoe dropped from the Romney video.  Here's the excerpt of Romney musing about the two-state situation for Israel and Palestine:  » Read more

Red Lines over Iran ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Foreign Policy by Samuel R. Berger - (Opinion) September 17, 2012 - 12:00am Even with all the turmoil in the Middle East, foreign policy is unlikely to have a decisive impact on the outcome of the U.S. presidential election. But the outcome of the presidential election will have a profound impact on U.S. foreign policy. Nowhere is that more consequential than the debate over whether, when, and with whom we go to war against Iran. » Read more

What Would Israel Do Without Mahmoud Abbas? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward by Nathan Jeffay - (Opinion) September 15, 2012 - 12:00am Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has called Israel’s President Shimon Peres to offer him Rosh Hashanah greetings. “Happy holiday and a Happy New Year to you and the entire Israeli nation,” Abbas said.. Well, perhaps he meant all of Israel with one exception. At the same time as the phone call from Ramallah came in at Peres’ residence, Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman had his team working on his attempt at character assassination of Abbas. » Read more

Exaggerated US-Israel Tensions ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Media Line by Linda Gradstein - (Opinion) September 16, 2012 - 12:00am If you believe the Israeli and some of the US press, American-Israeli relations are at their lowest point ever. The New York Times accuses Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of “trying to browbeat President Obama into a pre-emptive strike (on Iran).” Israeli press this week ran banner headlines trumpeting the rift. » Read more