August 6th, 2012

Abbas to move on UN membership bid in September ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press by Mohammed Daraghmeh - August 4, 2012 - 12:00am Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will take a first procedural step toward seeking U.N. recognition of a state of Palestine when he addresses the General Assembly in late September, but has not decided when to ask for a vote on his request, the Palestinian foreign minister said Saturday. Timing is seen as crucial in the Palestinian bid to be recognized as a non-member observer state by the U.N. General Assembly, an upgrade they hope will firmly establish the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem, captured by Israel in 1967, as Palestinian territories in the eyes of the world. » Read more

Israel upgrades Arrow missile defense system ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press by Amy Teibel - August 5, 2012 - 12:00am Israel has upgraded its top-tier Arrow II missile defense, a Defense Ministry official confirmed Sunday, as the country girds for possible attacks from Iran and Syria. Sensors, command and control equipment and radar have been enhanced to improve reach and accuracy, the official confirmed without elaborating. He would not say how many Arrow II batteries are deployed around the country and spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the military's preparations. » Read more

Israel's ambassador to U.S. accuses Iran behind Sinai attack ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua August 6, 2012 - 12:00am Israel's envoy to the United States on Monday blamed Iran for Sunday night's attack by Sinai militants against both Israel and Egypt, which left at least 15 Egyptian security personnel dead, the Israeli army on high alert, and thousands of Israelis in nearby communities in a night-long lockdown. "Iranian-backed terrorists again struck at our southern border today killing 15 Egyptian guards and attempting to massacre Israeli civilians," Ambassador Michael Oren wrote in a Twitter post, according to The Jerusalem Post. » Read more

Palestinian leadership condemns Sinai attack ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua August 6, 2012 - 12:00am The Palestinian National Authority (PNA) extended on Monday its support to the Egyptian leadership and people after Sunday's deadly attack against a security checkpoint in North Sinai. Nabil Abu Rdineh, a spokesman for the PNA, said that the attack, which had left at least 16 Egyptian soldiers killed and seven others injured, is "a heinous crime and an act of terrorism." The gunmen remained unidentified although Egyptian sources suspect that they came from the neighboring Gaza Strip. They later seized an armored vehicle and headed for the Israeli border. » Read more

Israel says eight gunmen killed in Sinai attack ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters August 6, 2012 - 12:00am Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak said on Monday eight gunmen from a global jihadist group were killed in their attempt to breach the Israeli border with Egypt's Sinai on Sunday. Barak told a parliamentary committee that the gunmen had also killed 13 to 15 Egyptian troops. He added that Israel had been in touch with the Egyptian authorities "to see if we could provide any help".

Gunmen Kill 15 and Steal Vehicle in Attack on Egypt Base ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Mayy El Sheikh, Kareem Fahim - August 5, 2012 - 12:00am Masked gunmen opened fire on an Egyptian Army checkpoint in the northern Sinai Peninsula on Sunday, killing 15 soldiers who were preparing to break their Ramadan fast. The gunmen then seized at least one armored vehicle and headed toward Israel, apparently in an attempt to storm the border, witnesses and officials said. » Read more

Israel Bars Foreign Envoys From West Bank Meeting ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Jodi Rudoren - August 5, 2012 - 12:00am Israel on Sunday barred the delegations of five countries from attending a diplomatic conference in Ramallah, in the West Bank, upending plans by the Palestinian president to announce his intention to renew the Palestinians’ bid this September for enhanced status in the United Nations. » Read more

August 3rd

Dani Dayan's War: Can Israeli Settlers Control Both the West Bank and Themselves? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Atlantic by Zvika Krieger - (Opinion) August 3, 2012 - 12:00am Dani Dayan has decided to come "out of the closet," he tells me as we sit in a coffee shop looking out onto the Judean hills earlier this summer. The head of the Yesha Council, which represents the approximately 300,000 Israelis who live in the West Bank, was not referring to his strident opposition to the creation of a Palestinian state; he's been an out-and-proud critic of the two-state solution for years, prominently showcased in an inflammatory op-ed last week. When we met in Jerusalem, he was actually in the process of coming out as a moderate. » Read more

Exploiting Jews from Arab Countries ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Beast by Lara Friedman - (Opinion) August 2, 2012 - 12:00am Last month saw an assault in Congress on Palestinian refugees—an effort to use legislation to re-define the Palestinian refugee issue out of existence.  This week the other shoe dropped, when a bipartisan group of members of Congress introduced a new bill embracing the cause of “Jewish refugees from Arab countries” in a way that Congress has never replicated on the Palestinian side (for more info, see this list of all bills/resolutions dealing with Palestinian and/or Jewish refugees since 1989).  » Read more

Hip-hopping to tolerance in the Promised Land ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star by Danna Harman - (Opinion) August 3, 2012 - 12:00am It’s a sweltering day in Jerusalem. Hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons, founder of a major record label and clothing company, sits fanning himself with a magazine. Next to him is Orthodox rabbi Marc Schneier, vice president of the World Jewish Congress. » Read more