September 17th

U.S. will go to war with Iran in 2013, says ex-U.S. ambassador to Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz (Interview) September 17, 2012 - 12:00am Former U.S. ambassador to Israel Martin Indyk said on Sunday that he thinks the U.S. will go to war with Iran over its nuclear program in 2013. Speaking during a panel on the CBS program Face the Nation, Indyk said, "I'm afraid that 2013 is going to be a year in which we're going to have a military confrontation with Iran." » Read more

Zahhar: Gaza more secure than West Bank ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency (Interview) September 15, 2012 - 12:00am BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) – Seven years after Israel disengaged from the Gaza Strip, several things have changed both at the political and the economic level, Hamas official Mahmoud Zahhar said Friday. Speaking to Ma’an, Zahhar asserted that “Gaza is free of occupation, and contiguity with the outside world is easier as visitors from all over the world visited the coastal enclave.” » Read more

Under Obama or Romney, U.S. Mideast policy won’t change much ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post by Aaron David Miller - (Opinion) September 14, 2012 - 12:00am A presidential campaign focused largely on domestic economic issues veered into foreign policy after the killing of America’s ambassador to Libya on Tuesday and the eruption of anti-U.S. protests from Egypt to Yemen. Both presidential candidates responded — and their differences have produced debates over which would be stronger on the world stage. Was President Obama forceful enough? » Read more

The forgotten massacre ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Independent by Robert Fisk - (Opinion) September 15, 2012 - 12:00am The memories remain, of course. The man who lost his family in an earlier massacre, only to watch the young men of Chatila lined up after the new killings and marched off to death. But – like the muck piled on the garbage tip amid the concrete hovels – the stench of injustice still pervades the camps where 1,700 Palestinians were butchered 30 years ago next week. » Read more

Israeli Leader Makes Case Against Iran on U.S. TV ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Steven Lee Myers - (Editorial) September 16, 2012 - 12:00am WASHINGTON — Having been rebuffed privately by President Obama last week, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel took to the airwaves in the United States on Sunday to warn that Iran was only six or seven months from having “90 percent” of what it needed to make an atomic bomb. » Read more

Israel hits back over refugee campaign ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National by Vita Bekker - September 17, 2012 - 12:00am TEL AVIV // Levana Zamir, a 74-year-old Jew born in Egypt, bitterly recalls her experiences on the day in May 1948 when David Ben-Gurion, Israel's first prime minister, declared the country's independence. » Read more

‘Price tag’ tactics of West Bank Jewish settlers ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News by Jane Corbin - September 16, 2012 - 12:00am With their hoodies, covered faces and cans of spray paint, they may in some ways look like average teenage vandals out for a night of trouble. » Read more

Fayyad posts protest song on his Facebook page ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Roi Kais - September 17, 2012 - 12:00am In wake of the Palestinian social protest, Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad decided to take matters into his own hands: Fayyad on Sunday posted a popular anti-government protest song, which calls on the prime minister to resign, on his own Facebook page. » Read more

Ari Shavit's countdown: Former Israeli intelligence chief breaks his silence on Iran ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Ari Shavit - September 13, 2012 - 12:00am Over the past 30 years, Amos Yadlin has fought against three nuclear programs that threatened our future. In 1981 he was one of the eight F-16 pilots who attacked and destroyed the Iraqi-French nuclear reactor in Osirak. In 2007, he was the Israel Defense Forces head of Military Intelligence who, according to foreign sources, was among the leaders of the campaign that led to the destruction of the Syrian-Korean nuclear reactor in Deir ez-Zor. » Read more

EU pledges extra 100 million euros for PA ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency September 14, 2012 - 12:00am BRUSSELS (Reuters) -- The European Union will double its aid for Palestinian development and the Palestinian Authority to 200 million euros in 2012, the EU executive said on Friday. The development aid will be focused on water, sanitation and support for refugees. A further 100 million euros aid credits unspent last year will be also spent in 2012, the European Commission said in a statement. » Read more