Andrew Bacevich says US-Israel relationship is imbalanced. Only 51% of Israelis support equal rights for Palestinian citizens. A civil service program allows Palestinian citizens of Israel public, but not military, service. Turkey pledges support for a Palestinian state. Human Rights Watch urges the PA to release a blogger. Pres. Abbas says he expects new US proposals shortly. Palestinian firefighters aid Israel's battle against a massive fire, prompting a rare phone call between Abbas and PM Netanyahu. Abbas says as a last resort Palestinians might dissolve the PA, but an official says it's not under active consideration and welcomes Brazil's recognition. Bradley Burston says Israel depends on a Jewish majority, which is incompatible with the occupation. Akiva Eldar says trouble battling the fire has undermined Israel's military deterrence. A leading British politician says settlement goods must be labeled. Sec. Clinton is due to issue a major statement on negotiations. Palestinians plan to rebuild a West Bank road destroyed by Israel. John Whitbeck says linguistic clarity is needed for peace.

Palestinian official says not yet to dissolve PNA, welcomes Brazil's recognition of state
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from
by Saud Abu Ramadan - December 6, 2010 - 1:00am

A senior Palestinian official announced on Sunday that dissolving the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) is an option, but will not be taken for the time being, while the Islamic Jihad (Holy War) movement slammed Hamas for accepting a referendum in case of a peace deal with Israel. Nabil Shaath, member of the Palestinian negotiation team said in a press statement emailed to reporters that dissolving the PNA might be carried out only when the Middle East peace process with Israel collapses, "but it is not planned for now."

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Auschwitz borders are here
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Bradley Burston - (Opinion) December 6, 2010 - 1:00am

Auschwitz borders. That ominous phrase, so elegant in its horror. A go-to mantra of the right for more than four decades, it has proven so durable in linking a West Bank withdrawal to the annihilation of the State of Israel that it has outlasted countless anti-peace process ad campaigns ?(“Yesha zeh kan” the ubiquitous signs once read: Judea, Samaria and Gaza are right here?).

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Unraveling another myth about the State of the Jews
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Akiva Eldar - December 6, 2010 - 1:00am

In everything that pertains to locating the source of fires, water shortages, flight safety, earthquakes, etc. - subjects that require long-term planning - our decision makers prefer to use a method of pinpoint handling. It is known as "putting out fires." Yet the disaster in the Carmel has shown that we are also far from being able to be called world champions in putting out fires.

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Palestinian firefighters come to Israel's aid
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
December 6, 2010 - 1:00am

Firefighters and firefighting personnel from all over the world came to Israel's aid over the weekend, responding to the most devastating fire the country has ever seen. While most of the aid that arrived had to be flown in, early Sunday morning, four fire engines manned by 21 firefighters began a five-hour drive to the Carmel mountains.

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Yvette Cooper calls for Israeli settler labelling on food imports
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Kai Bird - December 5, 2010 - 1:00am

Britain should step up pressure on Israel to stop building illegal settlements in the West Bank by pressing for greater Europe-wide transparency on food exported from the occupied territories, Yvette Cooper says today. In an interview with the Guardian, she calls on the government to persuade the EU to introduce labelling that would identify goods produced by Israeli settlers. Cooper, who spoke after her first visit to the Middle East as shadow foreign secretary, wants the EU to follow the example of supermarkets which identify goods produced in the occupied West Bank.

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Abbas: Last resort _ I'll ask Israel to take over
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Statesman
by Mohammed Daraghmeh - December 4, 2010 - 1:00am

RAMALLAH, WEST BANK — Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has warned he may dissolve his self-rule government and ask Israel to resume full control of the West Bank if troubled peace talks fail. Dismantling the Palestinian Authority would be a last resort, Abbas told Palestine TV in an interview broadcast late Friday. However, his comments marked the most explicit warning yet that he's considering a step that could crush lingering hopes for a Mideast peace deal.

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Clinton to issue statement on Israeli-Palestinian talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA)
December 6, 2010 - 1:00am

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said the United States will issue a declaration this week on Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations. "I will be making a very formal set of remarks about that next week," Clinton said in a interview over the weekend with Al Hurra, the U.S.-run Arab language broadcaster. "We have been talking with both parties very substantively, and I think that the United States can play a role to help each make decisions about very difficult matters that then can be presented to the other side."

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Palestinians battle bid to bulldoze road to statehood
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
by Hugh Naylor - December 6, 2010 - 1:00am

As Husam Assi describes it, it was an important battle on the road to Palestinian statehood. It began in late November when Israeli soldiers took positions protecting bulldozers sent to this otherwise sleepy West Bank village to destroy a recently laid strip of asphalt. Then, Mr Assi said, Palestinian youth swarmed the Israelis from the surrounding hills. "From the village mosque we called on the community to defend the road against the Israelis," the 49-year-old manager at Qarawat Bani Hassan's municipality said as he surveyed the area a few days later.

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‘New language for Middle East peace’
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News
by John V. Whitbeck - December 5, 2010 - 1:00am

The recent passage by Israel's Knesset of a law requiring either a two-thirds Knesset majority or approval by an unprecedented national referendum before Israel can "cede" any land in expanded East Jerusalem to a Palestinian state or any land in the Golan Heights to Syria has been widely recognized as making any "two-state solution", as well as any Israeli-Syrian peace, even more inconceivable than was previously the case. It also highlights the need for a concerted effort by politicians, negotiators and commentators to adopt a new "language of peace".

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