October 5th

Abbas faces uproar over deferred war crimes vote
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
by Karin Laub - October 5, 2009 - 12:00am

Engulfed by domestic outrage, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas rushed Sunday to limit the fallout from his decision to suspend efforts to have Israeli officials prosecuted for war crimes over last winter's military offensive in Gaza. The decision set off a wave of condemnation, not just from his Islamic militant Hamas rivals, but also Palestinian human rights groups, intellectuals and commentators. Leading members of the Palestine Liberation Organization and even Abbas' own Fatah movement quickly distanced themselves, saying they had been taken by surprise.

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Palestinians should trust Obama
In Print by Ziad Asali - Arab News (Opinion) - October 4, 2009 - 12:00am

THINGS have changed over the past decade between Palestinians and the United States, and much for the better. Yasser Arafat was enticed to attend the Camp David meeting in 2000 with the promise that he would not be blamed if it failed. It did, and he was. Last week Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas was invited to attend the New York meeting without any such promise. He was not blamed, and the meeting was not a failure. The meeting dealt with both an immediate crisis and a long-term strategic goal.

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Palestinians slam Abbas over UN Gaza report delay
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Mohammed Assadi - October 4, 2009 - 12:00am

Critics accused Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Sunday of letting down his people by bowing to U.S. pressure and postponing action on a U.N. report that criticised Israel's offensive in Gaza. The Palestinian Authority agreed in Geneva on Friday to defer a vote in the United Nations Human Rights Council on a resolution that would have condemned Israel's failure to cooperate with a U.N. war crimes investigation led by South African jurist Richard Goldstone. It would also have forwarded his report to the Security Council.

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Palestinians simmer, but no Intifada for now
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Mohammed Assadi - (Analysis) October 4, 2009 - 12:00am

Peace talks with Israel are in deadlock and tear gas and rocks are flying at Jerusalem's holy sites, but for all the mounting frustration in the West Bank talk of a Third Intifada seems premature to most Palestinians. A week after Israeli forces clashed with hundreds of Arabs who believed expansionist Jewish settlers were trying to enter the al-Aqsa mosque compound, there were scuffles again on Sunday and tension will remain high this week during holidays that draw Jewish worshippers to the Western Wall, close to the mosque.

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In Jerusalem, clashes over Temple Mount, Al Aqsa Mosque
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Ilene Prusher - October 4, 2009 - 12:00am

Israeli police shut down access to key Muslim holy sites in Jerusalem's Old City on Sunday, spurring Palestinian protesters to throw rocks and bottles in protest – marking the second consecutive Sunday of disturbances near the city's overlapping points of prayer for Jews and Muslims.

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UN Panel Defers Vote on Gaza Report
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Colum Lynch, Howard Schneider - October 5, 2009 - 12:00am

The U.N. Human Rights Council on Friday shelved a controversial report on Israel's recent war in the Gaza Strip, averting a crisis in the push to restart Israeli-Palestinian peace talks but potentially scuttling efforts to initiate broad war-crimes prosecutions over the conflict.

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Palestinian Mayor Brews Economic Growth
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Howard Schneider - October 5, 2009 - 12:00am

There's more than a bit of Sam Adams in David Khoury, the mayor of this tiny Christian village in the occupied West Bank. Along with being a politician and patriot, he is a brewer, and he sees the craft as a symbol of the Palestinian state he hopes will emerge here one day.

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October 2nd

Reports suggest that the Palestinians have dropped their bid to press action on the Goldstone report into the war in Gaza, but several Palestinian officials deny this, and the Judge Goldstone defends its findings at the National Press Club in Washington. The New York Times Sunday Magazine this weekend will feature a profile of a new Augustinian version of the Sesame Street children's television program. In an interview with the Ma'an news agency, a Hamas leader pledges to maintain the cease-fire with Israel providing it is reciprocated. The UN reports that 20% of Gaza residents now live in "abject poverty." Xinhua examines unsuccessful efforts to bring war crimes charges against Israeli Defense Minister Barak in Britain.

EXCLUSIVE: Obama agrees to keep Israel's nukes secret
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Times
by Eli Lake - October 2, 2009 - 12:00am

President Obama has reaffirmed a 4-decade-old secret understanding that has allowed Israel to keep a nuclear arsenal without opening it to international inspections, three officials familiar with the understanding said. The officials, who spoke on the condition that they not be named because they were discussing private conversations, said Mr. Obama pledged to maintain the agreement when he first hosted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House in May.

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Israel vs. Human Rights
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Nation
by Adam Horowitz, Philip Weiss - (Opinion) September 30, 2009 - 12:00am

In his speech to the United Nations General Assembly, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vigorously took up the country's latest strategy for responding to allegations of human rights abuses: kill the messenger. He denounced a recent report by the UN's Human Rights Council that had accused Israel of possible crimes against humanity during its assault on Gaza last winter, calling it a "travesty," a "farce" and a "perversion." The Hamas terrorists Israel was up against had committed acts akin in history only to the Nazi blitz of British civilians during World War II, Netanyahu asserted.

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