Palestinians and Israeli settlers struggle over West Bank olive groves. The CSM asks what's behind PM Netanyahu's latest proposal. The Economist calls it a gimmick. The US urges Palestinians to make a counteroffer and says it does not want a two-month delay in a peace talks impasse. Hamas shuts down the journalists syndicate in Gaza. Israel says flotilla detainees were treated well. Bradley Burston lists 10 mistakes Israel is making. Human rights groups ask Netanyahu to pledge not to transfer populations. There is widespread anger at Israel's sentencing of a Palestinian nonviolent protest leader to one year in prison. Jewish American groups are largely silent about Israel's new loyalty oath for non-Jews. George Semaan says buying time won't fix problems with negotiations. Michael Brull says Israel needs to end the occupation. Hussein Ibish says the US needs a game-changing plan to get talks back on track.

Palestinians and Israeli settlers struggle over West Bank olive groves. The CSM asks what's behind PM Netanyahu's latest proposal. The Economist calls it a gimmick. The US urges Palestinians to make a counteroffer and says it does not want a two-month delay in a peace talks impasse. Hamas shuts down the journalists syndicate in Gaza. Israel says flotilla detainees were treated well. Bradley Burston lists 10 mistakes Israel is making. Human rights groups ask Netanyahu to pledge not to transfer populations. There is widespread anger at Israel's sentencing of a Palestinian nonviolent protest leader to one year in prison. Jewish American groups are largely silent about Israel's new loyalty oath for non-Jews. George Semaan says buying time won't fix problems with negotiations. Michael Brull says Israel needs to end the occupation. Hussein Ibish says the US needs a game-changing plan to get talks back on track.

Biding time
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from NOW Lebanon
by Hussein Ibish - (Opinion) October 12, 2010 - 12:00am

The United States will most probably succeed in convincing Israel to extend its partial and temporary settlement moratorium for another two or three months. It has already offered a package of benefits that seems completely disproportionate to what is being asked for, and which even US newspaper The New York Times has described as “overly generous.”

»

Where is Israel going?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from ABC News
by Michael Brull - (Opinion) October 13, 2010 - 12:00am

Shortly after Israel conquered the West Bank and Gaza, one of Israel’s most brilliant intellectuals, Yeshayahu Leibowitz called for an immediate withdrawal from the occupied territories.

»

Buying “Time” Will Lead Negotiations Out of Predicaments?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Dar Al-Hayat
by George Semaan - (Opinion) October 13, 2010 - 12:00am

The ball is now in Washington’s court, knowing it never exited it in the first place, after Washington decided to be the sole sponsor of the new round of direct talks between Israel and the Palestinian authority.

»

Cheap gimmickry
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Economist
(Analysis) October 12, 2010 - 12:00am

ISRAEL was defined as the "Jewish state" in 1947 by the UN resolution that brought it into being. But now Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu wants the Palestinians to confirm it: both the Palestinian leaders who are supposed to be negotiating with him over a state of their own, and individual Palestinians (and other non-Jews) who apply for Israeli citizenship.

»

Loyalty oath law, causing stir in Israel, met by U.S. Jewish silence
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA)
by Ron Kampeas - October 12, 2010 - 12:00am

A day after Israel’s Cabinet announced that it would consider making a loyalty oath mandatory for non-Jewish immigrants, the question put to The Israel Project’s president and founder was simple enough. “How did your organization react?” Natasha Mozgovoya, the Washington correspondent for Israel’s daily Haaretz, asked Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi at a news conference last week announcing an expansion of The Israel Project’s activities. “We didn’t put out a press release” was all Mizrahi would say at the time.

»

Anger at West Bank protester's sentence
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Independent
by Donald MacIntyre - October 13, 2010 - 12:00am

The British Foreign Office last night expressed concern over a one-year prison sentence handed down by a military court to Abdallah Abu Rahma, a leader of unarmed anti-occupation protests in the West Bank. Mr Abu Rahma, 39, was given the jail sentence along with a further six months suspended for three years and a 5000 shekel (£760) fine after being convicted for incitement and organising demonstrations against the separation barrier in the village of Bil'in. The demonstrations often end in clashes between stone-throwing protesters and youths using tear gas and gunfire.

»

Rights group asks Netanyahu to make 'no population transfer' pledge
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Liel Kyzer - October 13, 2010 - 12:00am

The Association for Civil Rights in Israel has written to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asking he make clear his government has not discussed the transfer of Israeli Arab citizens to the Palestinian Authority as part of a peace agreement, and that the government will not bring the subject up in the future.

»

Top 10 worst errors Israel is about to make
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Bradley Burston - (Blog) October 12, 2010 - 12:00am

1. The Loyalty Oath. What it is: A proposed amendment to Israel's Law of Citizenship, which, if approved by the Knesset, would require non-Jews seeking citizenship to pledge allegiance to Israel as a "Jewish and democratic state." The bill does not require Jews to make the same declaration. Why it matters: A watershed measure which has been widely condemned as formally racist, passage of the bill, a key demand of Avigdor Lieberman's Israel Beiteinu party, could also fuel Lieberman's drive to head the Israeli right, and eventually, run for the premiership.

»


American Task Force on Palestine - 1634 Eye St. NW, Suite 725, Washington DC 20006 - Telephone: 202-262-0017