November 20th

Army faces friction over evacuations
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
by Vita Bekker - November 19, 2009 - 1:00am

A growing threat of mutiny by pro-settler soldiers has alarmed Israel’s senior political and military leaders and spurred fears that a rightwards shift in the country’s army may hinder any future land-for-peace deal with the Palestinians. On Monday, six soldiers hung a banner on a rooftop inside their military base proclaiming their refusal to dismantle Jewish outposts in the occupied West Bank. That rebellion followed a demonstration last month by conscripts, who waved banners calling for continued Jewish settlement in the West Bank, during their swearing-in ceremony in Jerusalem.

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Palestinians accuse Israel settlements of diverting water
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Joshua Mitnick - (Analysis) November 19, 2009 - 1:00am

The Hmoud family once prospered in this arid Palestinian farm village by cultivating banana and eggplant crops, earning enough to send a son abroad for medical school and to build a house with a showy staircase and a two-story window. But drought has decimated the spring that is Auja's only agricultural water source, and fields once filled with palm trees are now empty. Village residents have been forced to find work in the greenhouses near Jewish settlements that are hooked up to Israeli water mains.

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A state for all its citizens, not a state of all the Jews
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
by Alan Philps - (Opinion) November 20, 2009 - 1:00am

It is not often that an Israeli history book is translated into Arabic with a view to finding a mass readership. And it is even rarer when that book is to be translated into two other major languages of the Islamic world, Turkish and Indonesian, not to mention Japanese, Russian, German, Italian and Portuguese.

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Obama and “Israel’s Security”
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Dar Al-Hayat
by Elias Harfoush - (Opinion) November 19, 2009 - 1:00am

The public statement concerning the results of talks that took place during the meeting at the White House last Monday, described as “secret,” between Barack Obama and Benjamin Netanyahu, came in the form of an Israeli announcement of the building of 900 new housing units for Jewish settlers in Gilo, a suburb of Jerusalem. This stance represents the biggest challenge for the Obama administration up to this point.

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Arabs may have to look beyond Obama
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News
by George S. Hishmeh - (Opinion) November 20, 2009 - 1:00am

There is growing frustration, inside and outside the United States, with the Obama administration primarily because of its failure to bring about any measurable change in US policy, especially in the Middle East. Hopes are continuously raised, but have yet to be fulfilled. The spirited American leader has moved crowds with his ideas, both at home and abroad, most recently during his current East Asia tour, but none of his ideas have materialised. This has led some to look for alternative courses, skirting American involvement, as hard as this may seem to be.

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November 19th

The New York Times points out that Pres. Abbas' consideration of resignation constitutes a crisis for potential peace talks. Some Jewish Americans are making a coordinated effort to buy property in the occupied Palestinian territories. David Ignatius says the PA State building plan is the best hope for a better future, and the Christian Science Monitor argues that unilateralism on either side in the Middle East is implausible. Israeli warplanes reportedly attack Gaza. Former PA Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei adds his voice to those expressing doubt about the future of a two state negotiated peace agreement. Ha'aretz says the prospect of a Palestinian declaration of statehood should rejuvenate the Israeli peace camp, and wonders if PM Netanyahu's intransigence is pushing Washington to embrace Palestinian positions, a concern also voiced in a Ynet editorial. The Jerusalem Post has competing editorials condemning and praising the emerging strategy of Pres. Abbas. Pres. Obama says Israel's ongoing settlement expansion could be "dangerous."

Rattling the Cage: Go for it, Abbas!
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Larry Derfner - (Opinion) November 19, 2009 - 1:00am

What we're seeing now in the West Bank is something the democratic world has been awaiting for a very, very long time: a non-violent Palestinian independence movement.

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Comment / Why has the left in Israel vanished?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Yitzhak Laor - (Opinion) November 19, 2009 - 1:00am

The threats uttered against a possible Palestinian declaration of independence by our leaders Benjamin Netanyahu, Avigdor Lieberman and Ehud Barak let the Israeli sanctimony (usually tedious and belabored) drop to the floor for a moment, like a woman's slip. It exposed the ugly skeleton of force that gives only us freedom of speech - we're permitted, you're forbidden. We are allowed to reiterate Israel's Declaration of Independence over and over. You are not allowed to do so with yours.

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Expanding 'settlements' in eastern Jerusalem? Part 1
Media Mention of Ghaith al-Omari In The Examiner - November 19, 2009 - 1:00am

The government of Israel is in process of approving 900 new houses in the Gilo neighborhood of Jerusalem, on land acquired in 1967. The U.S. calls this “expanding a settlement.“ The White House press secretary “was ‘dismayed” and asking both parties to avoid unilateral actions that could ‘pre-empt or appear to pre-empt negotiations.’” “Disagreements over settlement building are in large part the reason that the negotiations, which have been stalled for months, have not resumed.”

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Palestinian state-building is the only game left in town
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star
by David Ignatius - (Opinion) November 19, 2009 - 1:00am

Looking at the city of Ramallah, you can imagine what a Palestinian state could someday be like if folks got serious: The streets are clean, there’s new construction in every direction, and Palestinian soldiers line the roads. A visitor sees new apartment buildings, banks, brokerage firms, luxury car dealerships, and even health clubs.

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