Middle East News: World Press Roundup

President Obama hopes to broker Israeli-Palestinian peace talks at the upcoming UN General Assembly meeting, and reportedly has a two-year framework for achieving a peace agreement. A Palestinian teenager has been killed by Israeli soldiers in the West Bank. Palestinian Prime Minister Fayyad continues to explain his de facto statehood program, which is supported by both Arab and Israeli commentators. Hamas leaders deny the Holocaust took place, and pledge never to recognize Israel. Ha'aretz reports that Israeli raids in the West Bank have been decreased due to American diplomatic pressure. The National reports that Israeli settlers plan 150 new homes in occupied East Jerusalem.

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President Obama hopes to be Mideast peacemaker at UN session ATFP World Press Roundup Article from New York Daily News by Kenneth R. Bazinet - September 1, 2009 - 12:00am President Obama hopes to bring the leaders of Israel and the Palestinian Authority back to the negotiating table at this month's opening session of the UN, a top Israeli official said Monday. "I think they will meet by the end of September," said Israeli President Shimon Peres. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Obama are all scheduled to be in New York for the start of the UN General Assembly during the week of Sept. 20. » Read more

Once-legendary Fatah figure makes a comeback ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times by Richard Boudreaux - September 1, 2009 - 12:00am He ran the Gaza Strip like the Godfather, dispensing brutal punishment and benevolent largess. But that was before his summer of disgrace, two years ago, when Hamas militants drove out his armed followers and allowed looters to pick apart his seaside villa. Mohammed Dahlan, the once-legendary chief of Fatah's forces in the enclave, watched his own defeat helplessly from exile. Then he felt the sting of blame for "losing Gaza," a debacle that split the Palestinians into hostile camps and crippled their drive for statehood. » Read more

Israeli soldiers kill Palestinian in West Bank ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Ali Sawafta - March 11, 2009 - 12:00am Israeli soldiers shot and killed a Palestinian youth and wounded another on Wednesday after firebombs were thrown at their vehicle in the occupied West Bank, an Israeli military spokeswoman said. A Palestinian paramedic said Fayez Atta, 17, from a village near the West Bank town of Ramallah, had died of gunshot wounds and another youth had been taken to an Israeli hospital in a serious condition. The Israeli spokeswoman said troops opened fire when the Palestinians, whom they suspected had attacked their vehicle with firebombs, ignored their orders to surrender. » Read more

Hamas leader denies Nazi genocide of Jews ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press by Diaa Hadid - September 1, 2009 - 12:00am A Hamas spiritual leader on Monday called teaching Palestinian children about the Nazi murder of 6 million Jews a "war crime," rejecting a suggestion that the U.N. might include the Holocaust in Gaza's school curriculum. A senior Israeli official said such statements should make the West think twice about ending its boycott of Hamas, in place since the group seized Gaza by force in 2007. Israeli officials called the comments as "obscene" and said they place Hamas in a pariah club of Holocaust deniers that includes Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. » Read more

Haniyeh: Hamas will not recognize Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency September 1, 2009 - 12:00am De facto Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh on Monday evening reiterated Hamas’ refusal to recognize Israel repeating his famous line, “Castles will not fall, neither will they determine our attitudes by force, and we will not recognize Israel.” Haniyeh’s comments came during an iftar, the sundown meal breaking the Ramadan fast along with dignitaries from the eastern Gaza Strip. “The pledge between us and the Palestinian people is that we do not remiss martyrs’ blood, nor Jerusalem, nor our holy land. Our prisoners will be freed for sure.”

Fayyad defends plan: Establishing state our responsibility ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency September 1, 2009 - 12:00am Palestinian caretaker Prime Minister Salam Fayyad defended his plan for a de facto independent Palestinian state against Israeli criticism on Sunday night. "Establishing the state and its institutions is a Palestinian responsibility," Fayyad said in a joint press conference with European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana. "We are interested in this project and we are working towards implementing it," he added. Earlier Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman criticized the Fayyad plan. » Read more

Obama envisions two years until Mideast peace deal ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Akiva Eldar, Barak Ravid - September 1, 2009 - 12:00am Washington will announce the renewal of talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority through a trilateral summit of U.S. President Barack Obama, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. The meeting would take place on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly late this month; two years would be allotted to completing talks on a peace agreement. On Monday President Shimon Peres confirmed that such a summit was being considered, under facilitation by Obama. » Read more

IDF cuts down West Bank raids for fear U.S. diplomats will see ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Anshel Pfeffer - September 1, 2009 - 12:00am The Israel Defense Forces has canceled a number of planned arrest operations in the West Bank fearing soldiers will be seen by American diplomats touring the territories. IDF officers serving with their units in the West Bank said they were instructed by brigade commanders in recent weeks to call off the planned arrests of wanted men inside Palestinian towns, because of these diplomats' presence. » Read more

Encountering Peace: President Obama: Pro-Israeli, pro-Palestinian, pro-peace ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Gershon Baskin - (Analysis) September 1, 2009 - 12:00am President Obama's popularity in Israel is at an all time low for a US president. Only 4% of Israelis believe that the president is pro-Israeli, according to a survey published last week by the Jerusalem Post. President Obama does not face elections in Israel so perhaps he does not need to be overly concerned with this statistic but in order for Obama's Middle East peace plans to succeed, the Israeli public must have a "buy-in". » Read more

Supporting Salaam Fayad's vision for statehood ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Alon Ben-meir - September 1, 2009 - 12:00am Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salaam Fayad's unveiling of his government program to build the apparatus of a Palestinian state within two years is a bold and welcome initiative. » Read more

PA blames Israel for prisoners' sickness ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post September 1, 2009 - 12:00am A Palestinian Authority minister said Israel was not doing enough to maintain the health of Palestinian prisoners. Prisoner Affairs' Minister Issa Karaki was quoted by the Palestinian Ma'an news agency on Monday as saying that the recent discovery of cancer in 25 Palestinian prisoners "was a troubling phenomenon which indicates the decline in Palestinian prisoners' health conditions and the lack of minimal medical care." » Read more

Jewish settlers plan massive construction ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National by Vita Bekker - September 1, 2009 - 12:00am The accelerating pace of Jewish settlement expansion in East Jerusalem this year may spur violence between Israelis and Palestinians in the city and cripple new efforts by the Obama administration to kick-start peace talks, an Israeli anti-settlement group warned yesterday. The “massive” construction being planned by Jewish settlers within Palestinian neighbourhoods in East Jerusalem is likely to prompt clashes, said Yudith Oppenheimer, the executive director of Ir Amim, a Jerusalem-based advocacy group. » Read more

Not one penny has reached Gaza ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National by Omar Karmi - September 1, 2009 - 12:00am It has been six months since the international community pledged nearly US$5 billion (Dh18bn) in aid to the Palestinian people, chiefly for the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip after Israel’s devastating offensive there this year. None of this aid has reached Gaza and no reconstruction has started. » Read more

A phone call from Prime Minister Fayyad ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Daoud Kuttab by Daoud Kuttab - (Blog) September 1, 2009 - 12:00am Except for a short encounter on a plane years ago, I had never met in person Salam Fayyad. I certainly didn’t have any communications with him before I wrote the piece praising his two year planhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/daoud-kuttab/fayyads-brilliant-two-yea_b_270253.html for Palestinian statehood. No one from his office had sent me a copy of the plan or suggested that I write about it. » Read more

Gaza and Bilin ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Dar Al-Hayat by Husam Itani - (Blog) September 1, 2009 - 12:00am In Bilin a weekly march takes place in protest of the racist Israeli separation wall, in which activists from all over the world participate and which witness clashes with occupation forces and settlers, usually resulting in a number of wounded and victims of Israeli gases. The protest marches are organized by a broad coalition of political forces, Palestinian civil society institutions and international organizations that combat racial discrimination, in addition to local inhabitants from the village and neighboring area. » Read more

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