November 16th

Plans for new Palestinian city in West Bank raise hopes ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) by Dina Kraft - November 16, 2009 - 1:00am Dusk has fallen on a terraced hillside and workers clearing the red earth hurry to finish planting trees in the twilight, their labor the initial step in the construction of the first-ever planned Palestinian city. The city, with a construction price tag of some $350 million, already has its city limits registered, a name -- Rawabi, Arabic for hills -- and funding from the government of Qatar. It’s located about five miles north of Ramallah. » Read more

Palestinian push for an independent state causes Israeli alarm ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Independent by Donald MacIntyre - (Interview) November 16, 2009 - 1:00am Palestinian leaders from President Mahmoud Abbas down have alarmed Israeli ministers by swinging their weight behind a planned effort to secure UN backing for a unilaterally declared independent state in the West Bank and Gaza. In an innovative strategy which would not depend on the success of currently stalled negotiations with Israel, the leaders are preparing a push to secure formal UN Security Council support for a Palestinian state based on 1967 borders as a crucial first step towards the formation of a state. » Read more

Israel 'personally attacking human rights group' after Gaza war criticism ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian by Chris McGreal - November 16, 2009 - 1:00am America's leading human rights organisation has accused Israel and its supporters of an "organised campaign" of false allegations and misinformation, including "extremely personal attacks" on its staff, in an attempt to discredit the group over its reports of war crimes in Gaza. » Read more

Press split on Palestinian statehood move ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News November 16, 2009 - 1:00am Arab and Israeli press commentators are divided over a possible move by Palestinian leaders to ask the UN to recognise an independent Palestinian state. They have also been considering the warning issued by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israeli countermeasures. Some in the Arab world feel that the Palestinians have been left with little alternative, since Middle East peace talks have "gone astray" and "reached gridlock". » Read more

PA confirms PLO to take over parliament ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Ali Waked - November 16, 2009 - 1:00am Political maneuver against Hamas: Salim Zanoun, chairman of the Palestinian National Council (PNC), confirmed Sunday evening that the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) was planning to take over the Hamas-controlled Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC). The plan was first revealed by Ynet on Saturday. Zanoun, who spoke to Palestinian trade unions in the West Bank city of Nablus, confirmed that the PNC would decide in its meeting next month to transfer the authorities of the PLC to the PLO's Central Council. » Read more

Erekat: Determined to declare state ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Ali Waked - November 16, 2009 - 1:00am The Palestinians are making it clear that they will not hesitate to take their fate into their own hands: Top Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat on Sunday said the Palestinians are determined to obtain the international support necessary to approach the UN Security Council with the demand to declare a Palestinian state in the borders of June 1967. » Read more

IDF Chief Rabbi: Troops who show mercy to enemy will be 'damned' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Anshel Pfeffer - November 16, 2009 - 1:00am The Israel Defense Forces' chief rabbi told students in a pre-army yeshiva program last week that soldiers who "show mercy" toward the enemy in wartime will be "damned." Brig. Gen. Avichai Rontzki also told the yeshiva students that religious individuals made better combat troops. » Read more

Netanyahu: If Palestinians act unilaterally, so will Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz November 16, 2009 - 1:00am Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned on Sunday that Israel would respond to any unilateral Palestinian steps - particularly declarations of statehood - with one-sided steps of its own. This was the prime minister's first response to a Palestinian initiative to ask the United Nations Security Council to endorse a Palestinian state, seen as an appeal for international backing. » Read more

Report: US diplomats held up at checkpoint ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency November 16, 2009 - 1:00am Israeli soldiers manning new USAID-funded military checkpoint held up a convoy of US Consulate vehicles for several hours on Sunday, the Hebrew-language daily newspaper Maariv reported. The incident was apparently sparked when the diplomats refused to submit to a search, which Israeli soldiers were demanding at the new Jalamah crossing, which opened this week. » Read more

Netanyahu: We too can act unilaterally ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency November 16, 2009 - 1:00am Palestinians are determined to build state institutions in preparation for statehood, caretaker Prime Minister Salam Fayyad said in Ramallah on Sunday. Speaking alongside US officials, he dismissed Israeli concerns as irrelevant. "They're talking about unilateralism, to which we reply - yes, building state institutions is our responsibility and we embrace it," Fayyad said. » Read more