Israel must get ready for its own Hurricane Irene ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Amira Hass - (Opinion) August 31, 2011 - 12:00am

Gaza, West Bank to live in different time zones ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency August 28, 2011 - 12:00am GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- For the first time in history, Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip will live in different time zones. Clocks were pushed back an hour at the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan on August 1 in the West Bank and Gaza. The Palestinian Authority cabinet decided Tuesday to revert to summer time (+3 hours GMT) at the end of Ramadan. The cabinet announced that the Eid Al-Fitr holiday which marks the end of Ramadan would begin Tuesday. » Read more

Steinitz: Palestinian UN bid 'greater threat' than Hamas ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency August 31, 2011 - 12:00am JERUSALEM (AFP) -- The Palestinian campaign to secure full UN membership presents a greater threat to Israel than that posed by Hamas, the Israeli finance minister said on Wednesday. "This Palestinian initiative represents a more serious threat than that posed by Hamas," Yuval Steinitz told Israel's public radio. If the Palestinians made good on their plans to seek United Nations membership, Israel would "respond," he promised. » Read more

The Israel-Egypt junta alliance ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Zvi Barel - (Opinion) August 31, 2011 - 12:00am We were shocked. Suddenly we were told that Egypt is being run by a "military junta." We were also surprised to discover that after 33 years of peace, the peace agreement was signed with a dictator, and that we continued on with the dictator who followed him after he was assassinated. And now this peace is about to collapse, because the dictator is gone and the junta has arrived. » Read more

New Egypt troop presence in Sinai a gamble for Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times by Edmund Sanders - August 30, 2011 - 12:00am Reporting from Tel Aviv— The aftermath of the "Arab Spring" is forcing Israel to gamble with what had long been one of the foundations of its security: a demilitarized Sinai peninsula. » Read more

New Egypt troop presence in Sinai a gamble for Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times by Edmund Sanders - August 30, 2011 - 12:00am Reporting from Tel Aviv— The aftermath of the "Arab Spring" is forcing Israel to gamble with what had long been one of the foundations of its security: a demilitarized Sinai peninsula. » Read more

August 30th

To protect Israel at U.N., money talks ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Miami Herald by Ileane Ros-Lehtinen - (Opinion) August 27, 2011 - 12:00am The recent onslaught of violent attacks against Israel reminds us of the growing threats facing the Jewish state. But even as extremists from Gaza fire rockets and mortars at civilians in southern Israel and cause death and destruction, we must not forget about another danger facing Israel: a unilateral campaign by Palestinian leaders to secure recognition from individual foreign governments and from the United Nations for a self-declared Palestinian “state.” This anti-Israel, anti-peace scheme must be stopped. » Read more

The Anatomy of Israel's Survival ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Chronicle by Geoffrey Paul - (Book Review) August 30, 2011 - 12:00am There comes a moment when, if attempting an analysis of Israel's political and military dilemmas, you just have to get on with it hoping that, between pen and publication, nothing will happen - an intifada, a war, an assassination - that will make your assessment little more than footnotes to a volume of history. Hirsh Goodman, journalist, author and now senior fellow at Tel Aviv University's Institute for National Security Studies, is too experienced a hand to fall into the traps awaiting the unwary. » Read more

Statement on Palestinian Refugees in Syria ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Arabiya August 30, 2011 - 12:00am An amateur video uploaded on a social platform shows members of the Movement of the Free Palestinian Refugees in Syria. The person on camera statement is the following: First statement of the Movement of the Free Palestinian Refugees in Syria: The Palestinian people were born free, lived free and will remain free and no one will be allowed to harm their dignity. They refuse to live under subjugation and injustice and no one will be allowed to trade in the Palestinian cause at the expense of Palestinian blood and dignity. » Read more

Someone wants a war in the Middle East ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Miami Herald by Frida Ghitis - (Analysis) August 30, 2011 - 12:00am Something extremely important and exceedingly dangerous is unfolding in a most explosive part of the globe, but it is receiving only minimal attention by the media and by world leaders. An outbreak of violence in Southern Israel, Gaza, and along the Egyptian border, triggered by a recent attack against Israelis civilians, could easily escalate into much more serious fighting. » Read more