November 24th

Fayyad: Israeli stubbornness impeding peace process
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
November 24, 2009 - 1:00am

Caretaker Prime Minister Salam Fayyad said the Israeli refusal to bring settlement construction and activity to a complete standstill as the central reason for the stall in peace talks, during a news conference on Tuesday alongside German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle. During their meeting in Ramallah, Fayyad and Westerwelle discussed the peace process and what is needed to overcome the obstacles in front of it. Fayyad highlighted his own efforts to prepare for the establishment of a Palestinian state capable of serving the Palestinian people.

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Palestinian Children Face Daily Settler Attacks Getting to School
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Inter Press Service (IPS)
by Mel Frykberg - November 23, 2009 - 1:00am

Being able to travel to school in relative safety is something children all over the world take for granted. But, for Palestinian children living in the shadow of the ubiquitous and illegal Israeli settlements dotting the West Bank, simply walking to school can be a terrifying experience. "It is really scary walking to school. We never know when the settlers will attack us and beat us," says Rima Ali, 10, from the village of Tuba in the southern West Bank, about two hours drive south of Jerusalem.

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Exclusive Sit-Down with Palestinian P.M.
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Fox News
by Michael Tobin - (Blog) November 23, 2009 - 1:00am

The proposals of Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salem Fayyad seem simple and obvious from a Western Perspective; build the institutions of a working Palestinian government first, make the move for statehood second. However, coming from a population that has focused for decades on the conflict with Israel, his proposals are radical.

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Gilad Shalit release: Hamas, Israel prisoner swap said to be imminent
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Ilene Prusher - November 24, 2009 - 1:00am

Jerusalem Israel and Hamas appear to be moving closer to a prisoner swap in which Israel would release up to 1,000 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.

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Netanyahu Says Swap of Prisoners Is Uncertain
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Ethan Bronner, Isabel Kershner - November 24, 2009 - 1:00am

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sought Tuesday to temper expectations about a deal to exchange a captured Israeli soldier for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, saying “There is still no deal, and I do not know if there will be one.” Addressing the fears of some Israelis that a swap would boost the standing of Hamas, Mr. Netanyahu said the authorities would “not be sparing with a public discussion. We will not do it as a fait accompli,” news reports said.

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November 23rd

The Washington Post profiles the first planned Palestinian city in the West Bank. The PLO Central Committee is scheduled to meet next month and is expected to approve the continuation of Pres. Abbas and PM Fayyad in office. Exchanges of fire between Hamas and Israel threaten the continuation of the de facto truce. An Israeli expert predicts that at least 130 countries would recognize a unilaterally declared Palestinian state, and Fayyad reiterates he will not accept a "fragmented" state. Right wing Israeli MKs plan to commemorate the death of extremist Rabbi Meir Kahane. Pres. Peres says Netanyahu can and must make an agreement with the Palestinians. Sever Plocker says that Israelis seem completely unaware of the crisis of international legitimacy they are suffering. The Jerusalem Post says the PA State building plan would be unstoppable. There is widespread speculation about a prisoner exchange between Israel and Hamas, but Tariq Alhomayed says Hamas has absolutely no ideas about how to govern. Hussein Agha and Robert Malley critique all existing proposals for dealing with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in the New York Review of Books.

Israel & Palestine: Can They Start Over?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Review Of Books
by Hussein Agha, Robert Malley - (Analysis) November 23, 2009 - 1:00am

1. The idea of Israeli–Palestinian partition, of a two-state solution, has a singular pedigree. It has been proposed for at least eight decades. Jews first accepted it as Palestinians recoiled; by the time Palestinians warmed to the notion in the late 1980s, Israelis had turned their backs. Still, its proponents manage to portray it as fresh, new, and capable of leading to peace. International consensus on a two-state agreement is, today, stronger than ever. Meanwhile, interest among the two parties most directly concerned wanes and prospects for achieving it diminish.

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Apathy, as Mahmoud Abbas abandons an irrelevant presidency
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star
by Daoud Kuttab - (Opinion) November 23, 2009 - 1:00am

A political leader’s decision not to seek re-election usually triggers fervent discussion about potential heirs. Yet, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ withdrawal from the presidential election scheduled for January 24, 2010, has produced nothing of the kind in Palestine – not because of a dearth of leadership or a reluctance to mention possible successors, but because the presidency of the Palestinian Authority (PA) has become irrelevant.

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Hamas at a Loss
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat
by Tariq Alhomayed - (Opinion) November 23, 2009 - 1:00am

Palestinian President [Mahmoud Abbas] announced that Hamas secretly negotiated with Israel on the establishment of a provisional Palestinian State, until Mahmoud al-Zahar, a [senior] member of the Hamas Political Bureau denied this with a vehemence that we have become all too familiar with.

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For the Palestinians, all roads now lead to the UN
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
by Tony Karon - (Opinion) November 23, 2009 - 1:00am

It is hard to take seriously the threat by the Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas to declare a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza and demand recognition by the UN Security Council. The cool response from the US and the European Union made clear that no such recognition would be forthcoming; and, as Hamas asked, what is the point of unilaterally declaring a state while those territories remain ultimately under Israeli control? Yasser Arafat already did that, in 1988.

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