November 16th

Israeli ministers threaten to annex West Bank
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
November 16, 2009 - 1:00am

Israeli ministers continued threatening to take unilateral measures if the Palestinian Authority (PA) declares statehood without a negotiated peace agreement. According to Israeli sources, Benjamin Netanyahu's administration may even consider withdrawing from the Oslo Accords. Israeli Minister of Environment Gilad Erian on Monday threatened to stop delivering taxes collected on behalf of the PA. He also threatened to erect more military checkpoints in the West Bank. "We will not allow the Palestinians to declare a state unilaterally."

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Abbas mandate as president could be extended: PLO official
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP)
November 16, 2009 - 1:00am

Mahmud Abbas's mandate as Palestinian president, disputed by Hamas, could be extended to avoid a constitutional vacuum, a Palestinian official said on Sunday. "The PLO central committee will discuss the options to avoid a constitutional vacuum" at its meeting due to take place on December 15, Mohammed Dahlan told reporters in the West Bank town of Ramallah. "One of them (the options) is the extension of the mandate of president Abbas," said Dahlan, a member of both the committee and of the Palestinian leader's mainstream Fatah party.

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Israel rejects Palestinian statehood bid via the UN
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Ilene Prusher - November 16, 2009 - 1:00am

Palestinian Authority leaders say that they are launching a new diplomatic campaign to gain international backing for a Palestinian state, after which they will unilaterally declare statehood in the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and East Jerusalem – without waiting for a peace treaty with Israel. Israel pushed back Sunday, issuing a warning that such a declaration of statehood would destroy previous peace agreements and goodwill.

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Unusual Partners Study Divisive Jerusalem Site
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Isabel Kershner - November 15, 2009 - 1:00am

At the heart of this contested city, the holy site known to Jews as the Temple Mount and to Muslims as Haram al-Sharif, or Noble Sanctuary, has become, for many, the epicenter of the conflict between Israel, the Palestinians and the wider Muslim world. The mere mention of the place stirs passions and memories of centuries of bloodshed. Its alternative names evoke the depth of religious devotion and the competing claims.

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November 13th

The Palestinian election commission recommends postponing scheduled January voting. Pres. Abbas must approve the proposal, which has already led to squabbling between Hamas and Fatah. Israel's expulsion of a Palestinian student from the West Bank to Gaza continues to draw criticism, including from the US government. AP says radicals will fill the void if peace talks collapse. UPI outlines the benefits and risks of the PA state building plan. In a new poll, more than half of Israelis back talks with Hamas. At least one Palestinian is killed in the central Gaza Strip as Israeli leaders say they are prepared to attack the area again if necessary. Ha'aretz reports FM Lieberman has dropped peace initiatives from Foreign Ministry priorities. Palestinians warns Israeli diplomacy may now focus on Syria. The Gulf News profiles Palestinian construction magnate Hassib Sabagh. In the New Yorker, Lawrence Wright investigates the Gaza war.

Captives
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New Yorker
by Lawrence Wright - (Opinion) November 9, 2009 - 1:00am

In southwest Israel, at the border of Egypt and the Gaza Strip, there is a small crossing station not far from a kibbutz named Kerem Shalom. A guard tower looms over the flat, scrubby buffer zone. Gaza never extends more than seven miles wide, and the guards in the tower can see the Mediterranean Sea, to the north.

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From Palestinian refugee to citizen of the world
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News
by Joseph A. Kechichian - November 13, 2009 - 1:00am

At 90 years of age and in frail health after suffering a stroke in 2002, Hasib J. Sabbagh is that rare billionaire who not only made his fortune in the construction business but also defined Arab work ethics and quiet-behind-the-scene efficiency. Sabbagh's contribution to peace efforts in the Middle East are well-known, although his attempts to find "a solution to the dilemma of the Palestinian people" through the establishment of an independent state have not borne fruit.

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US relations with Israel unchanged
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News
by Marwan Al Kabalan - (Opinion) November 13, 2009 - 1:00am

The fact that US President Barack Obama sent White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel to meet with the leaders of the pro-Israel lobbies in the US this week did nothing but feed speculation about how much power and influence these groups wield on US Middle East policy. The purpose of the meeting was to ask these groups to help convince Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to freeze colony expansion in the Occupied Territories and facilitate the resumption of Middle East peace talks.

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The US and peace: more than a dance
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
(Editorial) November 13, 2009 - 1:00am

There’s an increasing sentiment in the US, particularly among the liberal Left, that America has done all it can in the Middle East. If the Israelis and Palestinians don’t want peace, then why should America make them? Even more pernicious is the notion that withdrawing from the debate will allow the two sides to grow up and solve problems like adults. This is false. If the US had entered the process by choice, then it had no business being involved in the first place; but that is not the case.

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US ‘very concerned’ about Palestinian student deportation
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
by Vita Bekker - November 13, 2009 - 1:00am

Two weeks ago, Berlanty Azzam was blindfolded, handcuffed and driven from the West Bank to the Gaza Strip by Israeli soldiers who claimed the Palestinian university student was illegally residing in the occupied territory. Ms Azzam’s expulsion and rough treatment by the Israeli military have drawn wide international media attention and have threatened to deepen a rift between the country and its US ally, the Jersusalem consul general for which was quoted in Israeli newspapers as saying he was “very concerned” by the incident.

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