October 4th

Five myths about Middle East peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Aaron David Miller - October 3, 2010 - 12:00am

Yet again, Israelis and Palestinians are negotiating (or trying to), and yet again, a U.S. administration is in the middle of the muddle. We've seen this movie many times before, and I've watched it up close as a negotiator and adviser for both Democratic and Republican secretaries of state. Is there any reason to believe that this time around, there will be a happy ending? Mutual suspicions, domestic political constraints and substantive differences between the parties are hampering the talks.

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David Grossman, a Man Who Owns Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward
by Leonard Fein - (Opinion) September 29, 2010 - 12:00am

In his remarkable recent New Yorker profile of the Israeli writer David Grossman, George Packer observes that the heroine of Grossman’s new novel “embraces the breadth of Israel’s tragedy, a country that can take nothing for granted, not even its own existence.” (The novel, “To the End of the Land,” is newly available in English.) Yet Packer’s lengthy article, though tinged with tragedy to be sure, is colored as well by resolve, even triumph. For the Grossman he portrays is a steadfast Israeli patriot, a man who owns Israel.

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Take a good look at Olmert’s fingertips
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News
by Uri Avnery - (Opinion) October 4, 2010 - 12:00am

He was talking about the negotiation he had conducted personally with Mahmoud Abbas, just before he himself was forced to vacate the prime minister’s office. That was the climax of the speech he made last week at a meeting of the “Geneva Initiative”. Before analyzing it, a few words about the host and about the speaker.

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Defining 'Jewish state': For many, term has different meanings
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Glenn Kessler - October 2, 2010 - 12:00am

Nine years ago, then-Secretary of State Colin L. Powell delivered a speech on the Middle East in which he briefly called on Palestinians to recognize Israel as a "Jewish state." Powell doesn't recall how the phrase ended up in his speech, but David Ivry, then the Israeli ambassador to the United States, says he persuaded an aide to Powell to slip it in.

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Palestinians: Peace talks hinge on Israeli settlement construction
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Joel Greenberg - October 3, 2010 - 12:00am

JERUSALEM - The Palestinian leadership said on Saturday that there would be no resumption of peace talks without a halt to Israeli settlement building in the West Bank, backing Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in a dispute that has imperiled recently renewed negotiations.

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Israeli Soldiers Convicted of Using Boy as Shield
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Ethan Bronner - October 3, 2010 - 12:00am

JERUSALEM — An Israeli military court convicted two soldiers on Sunday of using a 9-year-old Palestinian boy as a human shield by forcing him to check bags for explosives in Israel’s 2008-9 Gaza war. The court said that the two soldiers, both infantry sergeants, had taken part in an operation to seize an apartment building in Tel al-Hawa, a southern suburb of Gaza City, while under attack from Hamas fighters.

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Palestinians invest $2 billion in Jericho to celebrate its 10,000th birthday
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Irit Rosenblum - (Analysis) October 3, 2010 - 12:00am

The Palestinian Authority is launching a new branding campaign for the city of Jericho, one of the oldest cities in the world. Celebrations planned for October 10 will be held in honor of the establishment of the city 10,000 years ago. The city is also expecting to see $2 billion invested in a residential complex and hotels, and the option of an airport is also being discussed.

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October 1st

The US uses pressure and inducements to try to shift Israel on settlements. A key settler leader is not himself a settler. An Israeli school principal is disciplined for including Palestinian perspectives. Courtney Martin remembers the killing of Rachel Corrie. Arnaud de Borchgrave derides “instant diplomacy.” Four unauthorized outposts are reportedly being built in Hebron. The World Bank is providing $40 million to the PA. Ha'aretz says FM Lieberman must be fired. The Arab League may take the settlement issue to the UN. Dutch officials complain about Israeli ads depicting the occupied territories as part of Israel. Palestinian citizens of Israel commemorate the killing of 13 by Israeli forces in 2000. Seth Freedman looks at lessons from the second intifada. The Independent profiles a leader of Palestinian nonviolent protests. George Hishmeh says Pres. Obama must confront Israel over settlements.

Report: Four illegal outposts to be built in Hebron
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
October 1, 2010 - 12:00am

The infrastructure for four illegal outposts is being constructed around the West Bank city of Hebron, a settlement affairs expert said Thursday. In an interview with Ma'an Radio, Abed Al-Hadi Hantash said the outposts would be integrated to form a new settlement, which would be linked with Kiryat Arba, the largest settlement in the district.

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Peace ball firmly in Obama's court
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News
by George S. Hishmeh - (Opinion) October 1, 2010 - 12:00am

Although some may blame Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and even Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas for dropping the ball soon after their peace negotiations began three weeks ago, the more likely person who will be blamed should the talks collapse totally will be no other than US President Barack Obama on whom many had banked.

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