October 29th

Hillary Clinton to embark upon uphill Mideast mission ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua by David Harris - October 29, 2009 - 12:00am U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is expected to visit Israel and the West Bank this weekend. This will be her second visit to the region since Barack Obama entered office as U.S. president some 10 months ago. Coming at a time when relations between Israel and the Palestinians show no outward sign of improvement, analysts see Hillary's visit to be a tough mission and do not expect it to achieve much. A NEGATIVE BACKDROP » Read more

Israel is unlikely to yield ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News by George S. Hishmeh - (Opinion) October 29, 2009 - 12:00am Top aides of the Obama administration have this month been quietly stoking the peace process fire, raising expectations that the American president, whose popularity remains relatively high, may now be willing to go beyond gentle rapping Israeli knuckles. The ball started rolling when Barack Obama's National Security Advisor General James L. Jones addressed the Fourth Annual Gala of the American Task Force on Palestine on October 15. » Read more

The J Street Challenge ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward (Editorial) October 29, 2009 - 12:00am J Street’s coming out party was an exuberant, over-subscribed success. Now come the challenges. And they come from all directions. The scope and depth of attendees at J Street’s first-ever conference — from participants who lined the walls of packed rooms to well-placed speakers from the American and Israeli governments — proved that the new, scrappy liberal lobby is a force to be reckoned with. » Read more

UN envoy: Goldstone won't go away ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Israel News by Aviad Glickman - October 28, 2009 - 12:00am The Goldstone Report on Operation Cast Lead will not go away even if Israel launches an independent inquiry into the campaign, UN Ambassador Gabriela Shalev said Wednesday. "There are no legal questions here – and we shouldn't be deluding ourselves that the report will disappear if we launch a probe," Shalev said during a discussion held at the Israel Democracy Institute. "We are seeing a murky wave against the State of Israel the likes of which has not been seen in many years." » Read more

J Street, Now a Player, Inches Toward the Center ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward by Nathan Guttman - October 29, 2009 - 12:00am Three days in October catapulted J Street from the sidelines of the Jewish community to the centerfield of major organizations. After winning, in its first national conference, the stamp of approval from the Obama administration and from many in Congress, J Street is ready to cash in on its initial success. But for J Street, the transformation from being the new kid on the block to becoming a serious player in the pro-Israel advocacy field also entails some growing pains. » Read more

UN chief calls on Israel to back Gaza reconstruction ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Israel News October 29, 2009 - 12:00am UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called on Israel Wednesday to back the reconstruction of Gaza, deploring conditions there nearly a year after a devastating Israeli military offensive. “Ten months after hostilities ended in Gaza, we see no progress on reconstruction or the re-opening of borders,” he said at a news conference. Ban said 4.5 billion dollars in reconstruction aid had been pledged at a donors conference in Egypt in March but “little if any of that money has been delivered.” » Read more

Driving up J Street ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian by Michelle Goldberg - (Opinion) October 29, 2009 - 12:00am Security guards blocked the doors to several of the panels at J Street's first annual conference this week – because the rooms were so packed it would have been illegal to let any more people in. A discussion entitled "The need for a regional comprehensive approach to the Arab-Israeli conflict" was so popular that the organisers decided to repeat it. (One of the speakers, Jordanian ambassador Prince Zeid Ra'ad Zeid al-Hussein, remarked that it was the first time in decades of panel participation that he'd been asked for an encore.) » Read more

Ya'alon: I'll forgo Europe trips to allow IDF freedom ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz October 29, 2009 - 12:00am Vice Prime Minister Moshe Ya'alon on Wednesday said he is "willing to forgo visits to European capitals and to allow the Israel Defense Forces the freedom to act." The former IDF chief of staff is one of several current and former senior Israeli officials whom pro-Palestinian groups have sought to put on trial over the assassination of senior Hamas terrorist Salah Shehadeh in July 2002. The attack also killed 14 civilians. » Read more

Fayyad talks Dayton, resistance and statehood in new magazine ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency October 29, 2009 - 12:00am Ramallah - Ma'an - US General Keith Dayton is involved in “training and only training,” and does not interfere in the security mission of the Palestinian Security Services, Prime Minister of the caretaker government Salam Fayyad commented. An interview with Fayyad ran as a feature in the Ramallah-based Palestine Studies magazine, whose latest issue was released Wednesday. » Read more

Israeli military gives settlers free rein ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian by Seth Freedman - (Opinion) October 29, 2009 - 12:00am During a swearing-in ceremony at the Western Wall in Jerusalem last Thursday, two soldiers held up a banner that sparked a wave of condemnation by soldiers and civilians alike. The slogan on the banner – "Shimshon [Brigade] does not evacuate Homesh" – referred to the prospect of the soldiers being ordered to evict settlers from an illegal outpost on the site of the former Homesh settlement. » Read more