Netanyahu to Clinton: No apology to Turkey
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Attila Somfalvi - August 17, 2011 - 12:00am

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Wednesday that Israel will not apologize to Turkey over the 2010 flotilla incident, despite an earlier demand by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to do so. Clinton spoke with Netanyahu, asking Israel to apologize to Turkey for killing nine of its citizens aboard the Gaza-bound Mavi Marmara ship in May 2010. However, Netanyahu made it clear that given the current situation in the Middle East, Israel will not issue an apology.

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A non-violent path should precede UN recognition
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
(Opinion) August 17, 2011 - 12:00am

Nonviolence is a way of life that will guarantee peaceful coexistence in the future and the eventual goal of a demilitarized region. Talkbacks (30) I, along with nearly two dozen of my US congressional colleagues, have just concluded a 10-day fact-finding trip to Israel and the Palestinian territories. We had formal meetings with many leaders, including President Shimon Peres and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, and President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Salam Fayyad of the Palestinian Authority, as well as informal talks with average Israelis and Palestinians.

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Syria orders thousands into stadium in Latakia crackdown
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
by Borzou Daragahi, Roula Hajjar - August 16, 2011 - 12:00am

Syrian security forces seize IDs and cellphones from those gathered at the soccer arena, activists say. Five people are killed, and the U.N. is worried about Palestinian refugees in the area. Syrian security forces cracking down on opposition strongholds in Latakia herded thousands of people into a stadium and took away their identification cards and cellphones, activists said Monday.

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Outrage after Palestinian camp attacked in Syria
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
August 16, 2011 - 12:00am

Syrian forces killed three people on Monday a day after gunboats pounded Latakia, forcing thousands of Palestinians to flee a refugee camp in the port city, activists and a UN agency said. The Palestinians condemned Syria over the violence as the UN Relief and Works Agency reported that more than 5,000 refugees had fled Ramel camp in southern Latakia under fire and demanded immediate access to the site.

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U.S. Senator seeks to cut aid to elite IDF units operating in West Bank and Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Barak Ravid - August 16, 2011 - 12:00am

Senator Patrick Leahy claims Shayetet 13 unit, undercover Duvdevan unit, and the Israel Air Force Shaldag unit are involved in human rights violations in occupied territories. U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy is promoting a bill to suspend U.S. assistance to three elite Israel Defense Forces units, alleging they are involved in human rights violations in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Leahy, a Democrat and senior member of the U.S. Senate, wants assistance withheld from the Israel Navy's Shayetet 13 unit, the undercover Duvdevan unit and the Israel Air Force's Shaldag unit.

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Mideast Quartet alarmed by Israel settlement plans
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Alertnet
by Louis Charbonneau - August 16, 2011 - 12:00am

The so-called Middle East Quartet which has been attempting to revive peace talks between the Palesinians and Israel said on Tuesday they were alarmed by Israel's latest announcements about new settlement plans. Israel announced on Monday approval for building 277 homes in a West Bank settlement, despite U.S. and international pressure to curb expansion on occupied land and as Palestinians prepare for a statehood bid at the United Nations.

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Israel approves 227 new homes in West Bank settlement of Ariel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Chaim Levinson - August 15, 2011 - 12:00am

Defense Minister Ehud Barak okays largest housing project in single settlement since establishment of the Netanyahu government. Defense Minister Ehud Barak has approved the building of 277 apartments the West Bank settlement of Ariel, defying U.S. criticism of continued settlement construction. Barak authorized the construction in Ariel, the core of the settlement bloc deepest inside the West Bank. One hundred of the apartments will house Israelis evacuated in 2005 from a Gaza Strip settlement.

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ATFP Condemns Reported Attacks on Syrian and Palestinian Civilians in Latakia
Press Release - Contact Information: Ghaith al-Omari - August 15, 2011 - 12:00am




A Palestinian view: progeny of a colonial state
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons
(Opinion) August 15, 2011 - 12:00am

The so-called "price tag" campaign is regarded as a product of the illegal Israeli settlement of Yitzhar, yet the price tag of Israeli occupation and fanatical land grabbing is much more generally aligned with the policies and practices of Israel, the state. The price tag campaign, after all, is the settler pursuit to claim as much indigenous land as possible by terrorizing Palestinians with arson, gunfire, vandalism and other forms of harassment and even death.

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Heavy gunfire as Syrian tanks enter Homs
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP)
August 14, 2011 - 12:00am

DAMASCUS — Syrian troops backed by tanks clamped down Monday on the flashpoint province of Homs, a day after gunboats joined an assault that killed more than 20 people in Latakia city, activists said. As the country's anti-regime uprising turned five months old, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said snipers shot dead an old man in the provincial town of Hula and reported another killing in Latakia. "The community of Hula is under siege ... The army is carrying out raids and arrests under the cover of heavy gunfire" in Homs province, said the Britain-based rights group.

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