August 5th, 2011

Could Arab staying power ultimately defeat Zionism? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian by David Hearst - (Opinion) August 5, 2011 - 12:00am There is an Arabic word you come across a lot when Palestinians talk about their future. Sumud means steadfastness, and it has turned into a strategy: when the imbalance of power is so pronounced, the most important thing to do is to stay put. » Read more

Examining the Palestinians’ Unilateral Bid for Statehood ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward by Maen Areikat, Danny Ayalon, Alan Elsner, Lara Friedman, Shlomo Gazit, David Harris, Hussein Ibish, Gabriela Shalev - (Opinion) August 5, 2011 - 12:00am Experts Weigh In on Implications of September Move Give Them A Reason Not To Do It By Hussein Ibish The wisdom of the various plans for Palestinians to approach the United Nations in September with a statehood-oriented diplomatic initiative may be debated, but not the Palestinians’ right to make the approach. Israel was, in effect, created by the U.N. Partition Plan of 1947 and gained U.N. membership in 1949 without the agreement of Palestinians or any of its neighbors. » Read more

New U.S. envoy in Israel to clear obstacles for Obama’s second term ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Akiva Eldar - (Opinion) August 5, 2011 - 12:00am Dan Shapiro, the new American ambassador to Israel, submitted his credentials to President Shimon Peres on Wednesday. That same day, he submitted a declaration of support for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: In an interview with Channel 2 television, he downplayed the lack of trust between Netanyahu and U.S. President Barack Obama and the latter's rage and sense of insult over Netanyahu's appearance before Congress in May, treating their serial disputes as routine disagreements between friends. Shapiro noted that he was present at all the many meetings between Obama and Netanyahu. » Read more

Palestine's U.N. bid: Between history and hot air ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Tom Perry - (Analysis) August 4, 2011 - 12:00am RAMALLAH, West Bank, Aug 4 (Reuters) - President Mahmoud Abbas' attempt to upgrade the Palestinians' status at the United Nations, despite U.S. and Israeli opposition, signals a bolder approach by a leader keen to forge a legacy after years of failed peace talks. But Palestinians are divided on the merits of the diplomatic offensive. In the West Bank, Abbas' Fatah movement bills it as a turning point in the Palestinian struggle, while in Gaza, a politician from rival Islamist Hamas dismissed it as hot air. » Read more

Tzipi Livni Praises Obama for Pressuring Netanyahu, Suggests U.S. Should Keep Up the Heat ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Atlantic by Jeffrey Goldberg - (Interview) August 5, 2011 - 12:00am Tzipi Livni, the leader of Israel's Kadima Party, the largest opposition party in the Knesset -- and the largest party in the entire Knesset, in fact -- sat down last month with James Bennet, the editor of The Atlantic (and a former Jerusalem bureau chief of The New York Times) and with Goldblog for an extended conversation about the tense relations between the Obama Administration and the Netanyahu government, and about Israel's sinking image. » Read more

Jeremy Ben-Ami’s “A New Voice for Israel: Fighting for the Survival of the Jewish Nation” ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post by Sari Nusseibeh - (Opinion) August 4, 2011 - 12:00am J Street is the organization that Jeremy Ben-Ami and other American Jewish activists set up several years ago to counteract the influence of the lobbying group AIPACon American foreign policy. In his book “A New Voice For Israel,” Ben-Ami tells the story of J Street’s uphill battle to win the support of America’s Jewish community, and he explains the need for Israel to have a new Jewish voice in Washington that can free American policy sufficiently to bring about a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine stalemate. » Read more

PA leaders invited to Washington in bid to avoid UN plan ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Khaled Abu Toameh - August 4, 2011 - 12:00am In the context of its efforts to persuade the Palestinian Authority to drop its plan to ask the UN in September to recognize a Palestinian state, the US Administration has invited PA officials to Washington for talks on ways of avoiding the statehood bid. PA sources said that Chief PLO negotiator Saeb Erekat and Nabil Abu Rudaineh, a spokesman for PA President Mahmoud Abbas, will travel to Washington shortly for talks with US government officials on the statehood plan. » Read more

Security forces allege Palestinian Army of Islam involvement in Arish attack ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Masry Al-Youm by Osama Khaled - August 4, 2011 - 12:00am Egyptian security services in North Sinai say they have identified those responsible for attacking a police station in Arish last Friday, and allege the involvement of the Army of Islam, a Palestinian group, in instigating the attack. The information was leaked to the press by an unidentified Egyptian security source. » Read more

Hamas-Fatah talks: Is Palestinian unity an illusion? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News by Jon Donnison - August 5, 2011 - 12:00am Palestinian political leaders seemed to be listening. Within weeks, somewhat out of the blue, a reconciliation deal was announced. Orchestrated by the new leadership in Egypt, it was meant to end four years of bitter and sometimes violent division between the two main Palestinian factions. Three months on, Abu Yassin is angry: "Nothing has changed. "We're really disappointed. This deal was just signatures on paper. We wanted real change on the ground." » Read more

'IDF troops shot at journalists covering W. Bank protest' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Ben Hartman - August 5, 2011 - 12:00am An American-Israeli photojournalist on Thursday lodged a complaint with the IDF Spokesman’s Office, the Government Press Office and the Foreign Press Association, alleging that IDF soldiers intentionally fired anti-riot projectiles at him and a fellow journalist while they were covering a protest in the West Bank village of Nabi Salih last Friday. » Read more