Not Israel’s best times
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News
by Osama Al-Sharif - (Opinion) September 6, 2011 - 12:00am

These are not Israel’s best times. A tussle with Turkey over a commando raid on a flotilla of aid-carrying ships heading to Gaza Strip last year in which nine Turkish citizens were killed, has just turned into a full-fledged diplomatic war. Ankara expelled the Israeli ambassador this week and vowed to challenge Israel’s blockade of Gaza at the International Court of Justice. Turkey’s main demand, that Israel issues an official apology for the naval attack, has been rejected — again — by Tel Aviv.

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In Sinai, Egypt should be tough but fair
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Masry Al-Youm
by Issandr El Amrani - (Opinion) September 6, 2011 - 12:00am

On 29 July, a group of around hundred armed men rode into the town of Arish in northern Sinai on motorbikes. They proceeded to attack the central police station, as well as a hospital morgue where they were reported to have taken a body of one of their own, before disappearing back into the desert.

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Fischer warns of damage to Israeli-Turkish trade
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Lilach Weissman - (Analysis) September 5, 2011 - 12:00am

Bank of Israel Governor Prof. Stanley Fischer warned Monday that the deterioration in Israeli-Turkish relations could be harmful to Israel in the future. "Turkey is an important trading partner for Israel, and the consequences of damage to trade with it will be severe for us," Fischer told the regional cooperation conference, chaired by Regional Development Minister Silvan Shalom, in Tel Aviv today.

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Israel Isolates Itself
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Roger Cohen - (Opinion) September 5, 2011 - 12:00am

LONDON — Here’s what the United Nations report on Israel’s raid last year on the Turkish-flagged Mavi Marmara had to say about the killing of a 19-year-old U.S. citizen on board: “At least one of those killed, Furkan Dogan, was shot at extremely close range. Mr. Dogan sustained wounds to the face, back of the skull, back and left leg. That suggests he may already have been lying wounded when the fatal shot was delivered, as suggested by witness accounts to that effect.”

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Israel's best response is still to renew negotiations
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons
by Itamar Rabinovich - (Editorial) September 5, 2011 - 12:00am

The terrorist attack launched from Sinai on August 18 against Israeli vehicles travelling to Eilat, and its sequels, have underscored and exacerbated four interlocking challenges facing Israel.

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Hope in the Sinai
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Daniel Nisman - (Opinion) September 5, 2011 - 12:00am

Despite the post-revolution lawlessness currently gripping the Middle East’s most populous nation, the Egyptian government’s actions in Sinai prove that it is still very much in control of the country, even if a transition to real democracy eventually proves to be wishful thinking on the part of the international community.

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An American September
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Uri Savir - (Opinion) September 2, 2011 - 12:00am

The Middle East is at a critical crossroads. We are witnessing two dichotomies: • Most Arab countries are undergoing a rebellion of the young generation for freedom in which three dictators have already been toppled. In all these societies there is a tension between young (mostly secular) students, leading a revolution for democratic rule, and the more organized religious, sometimes fundamentalist, forces, anti-Western in orientation and striving for their religiouspolitical share of power.

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Israelis seek EU passports amid existential angst
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Statesman
by Dan Perry - (Analysis) September 2, 2011 - 12:00am

TEL AVIV, Israel — Despite their country's turbulent history, Israelis enjoy a fairly secure existence: they have military might, a world-class high tech industry powering a strong economy, and America as a solid ally. Yet in recent years, tens of thousands have requested and received the citizenship of European countries like Poland and Germany, which were killing fields for Jews just decades ago. On the surface, the attraction is practical: An EU passport enables free travel and work in the entire union of 27 nations, giving access to high quality and subsidized higher education.

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Peres can't save Netanyahu from UN debacle
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
(Editorial) September 1, 2011 - 12:00am

Around 130 countries have pledged to vote in the UN General Assembly in about three weeks to recognize an independent Palestinian state in the occupied territories. Barak Ravid reported in Haaretz this week that Israel's UN ambassador, Ron Prosor, sent a classified cable to Jerusalem saying Israel had no chance of putting together a significant bloc of countries to oppose the resolution. Prosor said that only a few countries would vote against the Palestinian move and that at most a number of countries would abstain or be absent.

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Can Netanyahu still engage with Palestinians' UN bid?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Carlo Strenger - (Opinion) September 1, 2011 - 12:00am

A few days ago Israel’s Ambassador to the UN Ron Prosor informed the Foreign Ministry that Israel has no chance to stop UN recognition of Palestine. This didn’t really surprise anybody. Defense Minister Ehud Barak already months ago warned of the “diplomatic tsunami” Israel would face in September.

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