September 12th

Misunderstanding America ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Moshe Arens - (Opinion) September 11, 2012 - 12:00am The self-appointed experts on American-Israeli relations are wrong again. According to them these relations have sunk to a new low, and the Netanyahu government is doing inestimable damage to a relationship which, as all recognize, is an integral part of Israel's security. » Read more

Being a tomato beats being an Arab ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Oudeh Basharat - (Opinion) September 12, 2012 - 12:00am Correspondents who deal with tomatoes show more empathy for their subjects than do correspondents who cover Arab affairs. Channel 2's Roni Daniel, for example, so staunchly defends the subjects of his coverage, that it sometimes seems as though the IDF spokesperson is on the screen, not the network's military affairs correspondent. The Arab affairs correspondent for Ch. 10, Zvi Yehezkeli, depicts his subjects in as corrosively a negative light as he can possibly muster. » Read more

The PA serves everyone but its public ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Amira Hass - (Opinion) September 12, 2012 - 12:00am The West Bank is burning, and where is Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas? In India, on an official visit. The distance between New Delhi and Ramallah is an apt metaphor for the alienated relationship between the chairman of the PLO - the organization that sees itself as "the sole legal representative of the Palestinian people" - and those it claims to represent.

News Analysis: Free Trade Zone with Egypt may serve Hamas interests ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua by Saud Abu Ramadan - (Analysis) September 12, 2012 - 12:00am GAZA, Sept. 12 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian observers and analysts believe that both the smuggling tunnels that were dug underneath the borderline between Egypt and the Gaza Strip ruled by Islamic Hamas movement, or a future free trade area at the borders with Egypt, are serving the movement's interests. » Read more

Seven Lean Years of Peacemaking ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Daniel Levy - (Opinion) September 11, 2012 - 12:00am SEVEN years ago today, the Israeli flag was lowered over the Gaza Strip after approximately 7,500 Israeli settlers left or were forcibly removed. » Read more

US seeks to head off Palestinian UN ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP) September 12, 2012 - 12:00am WASHINGTON (AFP) - The United States is trying to dissuade Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas from seeking non-member status at the United Nations at top UN meetings later this month, an official said.“We continue to make clear that we believe that the only realistic path for the Palestinians to achieve statehood is through direct negotiations,” State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said.Abbas said on Saturday he will make a bid on September 27 to upgrade the Palestinians to non-member status before the annual UN General Assembly. » Read more

Palestinians who fled Syria protest conditions at south Lebanon camp ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star by Mohammed Zaatari - September 12, 2012 - 12:00am SIDON, Lebanon: Palestinian refugees who fled the violence in Syria protested at Ain al-Hilweh refugee camp in south Lebanon Wednesday, accusing UNRWA of ignoring them. » Read more

Gaza court sentences man to death for collaboration ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency September 12, 2012 - 12:00am GAZA CITY (Ma’an) -- A 45-year-old man in Gaza was sentenced to death on Wednesday on charges of collaborating with Israel, Ma'an's reporter said. A Gaza court also sentenced the man's 40-year-old wife to 10 years in prison for her part in the alleged collaboration charges. » Read more

OECD: Israel is second-most educated country ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Tomer Velmer - September 12, 2012 - 12:00am Israel is the second-most educated country after Canada, a recent report published by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) said. According to the “Education at a Glance 2012” report, Israel came in second place, in terms of the percentage of 25 to 64 year-olds that have reached higher education.   » Read more

Jerusalem teens charged with attacking Palestinian ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Oz Rosenberg - September 12, 2012 - 12:00am Six Jewish teenagers from Jerusalem have been charged in Jerusalem District Juvenile Court with attacking an East Jerusalem Palestinian and causing him serious injury, including a broken ankle.  Four of the suspects have admitted to assaulting Ibrahim Abu Ta'a, 28, saying they thought he was “taking advantage” of an intoxicated Jewish woman he was accompanying. Abu Ta'a, from East Jerusalem's Ras al-Amud neighborhood, and his co-workers at Jerusalem's Mamilla Hotel were at a club in the Talpiot neighborhood on the night of September 5-6. » Read more