October 8th

U.S. Believes Arab States Won’t Scuttle Mideast Talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Ethan Bronner, Mark Landler - October 7, 2010 - 12:00am

The Obama administration believes it has persuaded Arab states not to scuttle the fledgling Middle East peace negotiations, officials said Thursday, despite the Israeli government’s refusal to freeze Jewish settlements and a vow by the Palestinians to walk away if Israel did not. With the Arab League’s meeting on Friday expected to deliver a pivotal decision on the future of the talks, the United States has appealed to Jordan and other Arab nations to stop short of pushing the Palestinians to break off the negotiations.

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October 7th

The New York Times says both Israeli and Palestinian leaders need to be more serious about negotiations. Some analysts say the US is offering too many inducements. Declassification of Israeli documents about the 1973 war sparks controversy. Palestinians are halfway through their first state building project, and the US reiterates its support. A settlement in the Jordan Valley is expanding. Pres. Abbas and PM Netanyahu will reportedly meet in Paris. Palestinian officials say they do not believe there will be serious negotiations with this Israeli government. Israel bombs Gaza. Xinhua asks what will happen if talks fail. Hamas and Fatah will hold another round of talks in Damascus. Israel is likely to adopt a new loyalty oath that Palestinian citizens call racist, and the Labor Party hopes to leverage it for a settlement freeze extension. Palestinians say settlers are stealing their olive harvest. Todd Hasak-Lowy says many Israelis are oblivious to the dangers they face. Michael Jansen says negotiations are going nowhere.

Negotiations that are 'going nowhere
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times
by Michael Jansen - October 7, 2010 - 12:00am

Since September 2, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have held three sessions of talks. But according to Western diplomats interviewed by the Israeli liberal daily Haaretz, the negotiations are “going nowhere”.

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Partying or Peacemaking?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Forward
by Todd Hasak-Lowy - October 6, 2010 - 12:00am

The tenth anniversary just passed of the start of the Second, or Al-Aqsa, Intifada, which began not long after a breakdown in negotiations between Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. It was the week of Ariel Sharon’s provocative visit to the Temple Mount, the week Palestinians renewed their rioting against Israeli forces. This time, the rioting was more violent — as was the Israeli response. These events killed the peace movement inside Israel, and sadly a lot of Israelis and Palestinians as well.

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Palestinians: Settlers picked our olives
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Ali Waked - October 6, 2010 - 12:00am

Palestinians and settlers continue to clash over olive picking in the West Bank: The residents of a Palestinian village adjacent to Ramallah claimed that settlers trespassed onto their lands and picked their olive trees. The Palestinians also claimed they took pictures of the perpetrators during the act, reported official Israeli sources that confirmed the allegations. Opinion What about Jewish farmers? / Orit Struck Op-ed: Police protect Arab olive harvesters, but do almost nothing for Jewish farmers Full story

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Loyalty oath proves Israel is racist, say Israeli Arab leaders
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Jack Khoury - October 7, 2010 - 12:00am

The Israeli Arab sector responded furiously Wednesday when it learned that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu intends to bring to cabinet vote an amendment to the Citizenship Law requiring anyone applying for citizenship to declare loyalty to Israel as a "Jewish and democratic" state. Israeli Arabs, who already have citizenship, would not be required to sign a loyalty, but it raised furor in their communities nonetheless. The amendment was proposed by Justice Minister Yaakov Ne'eman and has already been adopted by Netanyahu.

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Labor expects new settlement freeze as payoff for loyalty oath
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Jonathan Lis - October 7, 2010 - 12:00am

Labor party ministers angered by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's snap decision to back a controversial citizenship loyalty oath said late Wednesday that they expected a new freeze in settlement building as a payoff. Netanyahu neglected to inform his Labor coalition partners that he had approved a right-wing minister's draft of a new oath that would require any non-Jew taking Israeli citizenship to swear allegiance to Israel as a "Jewish and democratic state."

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Hamas, Fatah to hold 2nd round of reconciliation talks in Damascus
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
October 7, 2010 - 12:00am

DAMASCUS, Oct.6 (Xinhua) -- The Palestinian two major factions Hamas and Fatah will hold 2nd round of reconciliation talks in Damascus on October 20, the Damascus-based Hamas official Ezzat al- Rashaq told Xinhua Wednesday. "The two movements have agreed to meet again in Damascus to resume discussion over putting an end for the dispute and to tackle the unresolved issue which is the unifying of security bodies," al-Rashaq said.

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News Analysis: What if current round of Israeli-Palestinian talks fail?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
by Adam Gonn, Geng Xuepeng - October 7, 2010 - 12:00am

JERUSALEM, Oct. 6 (Xinhua) -- The direct Palestinian-Israeli peace talks will remain at a standstill until Friday's meeting of the Arab League (AL) in Libya. The organization is due to decide whether or not to back Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' position not to continue with the negotiations until Israel extends its moratorium on construction in Jewish settlements in the West Bank, a 10-month freeze that expired on Sept. 26.

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Israel bombs Hamas base in Gaza, no one hurt
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Nidal Al-Mughrabi - October 7, 2010 - 12:00am

GAZA, Oct 7 (Reuters) - Israeli war planes bombed a Hamas Islamist training camp in the Gaza Strip before dawn on Thursday following a rocket launching from the enclave a day earlier, Israeli military sources and Hamas officials said. There were no casualties in the two raids carried out near Gaza City shortly after midnight, Hamas said. The strike came hours after Israel said a rocket fired from the coastal territory struck in an open area in its south, also causing no casualties.

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