September 23rd

Norway: Deputy FM Ayalon ‘distorted the facts’ about meeting with Palestinian PM ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Shlomo Shamir - September 22, 2010 - 12:00am Norway's Foreign Ministry on Wednesday accused Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon of “distorting the facts” in regards to his Tuesday meeting with Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad in New York. Ayalon told Haaretz on Tuesday that a meeting of the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee (AHLC), which coordinates financial aid for Palestinians, ended abruptly due to a disagreement between Fayyad and Ayalon on the terms of a two-state solution. » Read more

Hopes and fears as settlement freeze due to expire ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News by Yolande Knell - September 22, 2010 - 12:00am His landlord has long wanted him to leave the property nearby where he currently lives with his six children. He has been waiting to begin work since November. "Most of all I have hope. This Sunday we start to build the house," he declares. "It will take only four months." Mr Erdan lives in Shilo, a Jewish settlement in the occupied West Bank, half-way between Ramallah and Nablus. He got his construction permit from the Israeli defence ministry a day before the Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, imposed a 10-month partial moratorium on new residential buildings. » Read more

Abbas: Talks may go on without freeze ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Politico by Laura Rozen - September 22, 2010 - 12:00am NEW YORK — Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas told American Jewish leaders Tuesday that direct talks with Israel could continue even if a partial moratorium on West Bank settlement construction is not extended. » Read more

Hope for peace talks remain despite tensions in east Jerusalem ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Independent by Catrina Stewart - September 23, 2010 - 12:00am The Palestinian leader, Mahmoud Abbas, has said he may remain in peace talks even if the Israelis resume construction in Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank after a 10-month building moratorium expires. His comments signal a dramatic about-turn days before the end of the moratorium, and could head off an early challenge to the newly revived peace negotiations. » Read more

Clashes in Jerusalem as Talks Snag ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Ethan Bronner, Isabel Kershner - September 22, 2010 - 12:00am JERUSALEM — With Israel’s construction freeze on Jewish settlements in the West Bank scheduled to end this weekend, Israeli and Palestinian negotiators were seeking an elusive formula on Wednesday to keep their peace talks going while both sides warned that if the talks ended, violence could erupt. » Read more

Clashes in Jerusalem as Talks Snag ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Ethan Bronner, Isabel Kershner - September 22, 2010 - 12:00am JERUSALEM — With Israel’s construction freeze on Jewish settlements in the West Bank scheduled to end this weekend, Israeli and Palestinian negotiators were seeking an elusive formula on Wednesday to keep their peace talks going while both sides warned that if the talks ended, violence could erupt. » Read more

Meeting again with Jewish leaders, Abbas broaches substance ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) by Ron Kampeas - September 22, 2010 - 12:00am For Mahmoud Abbas and U.S. Jewish leaders, their second date featured a little more substance and a little less flirtation. And this time the Palestinian Authority president brought a wing man. Abbas and his prime minister, Salam Fayyad, met separately Tuesday evening with Jewish leaders in New York -- a sign of understanding on the Palestinian side of the importance of Jewish sensibilities, in Israel and the Diaspora, to advancing the peace process. » Read more

Abbas Extends a Hand ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Forward (Editorial) September 22, 2010 - 12:00am President Mahmoud Abbas and his Palestinian Authority have opened a new front in the Middle East conflict: a charm offensive. One can wonder why it has taken so long, yet welcome the move just the same. » Read more

Clashes in Jerusalem as Talks Snag ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Ethan Bronner, Isabel Kershner - September 22, 2010 - 12:00am JERUSALEM — With Israel’s construction freeze on Jewish settlements in the West Bank scheduled to end this weekend, Israeli and Palestinian negotiators were seeking an elusive formula on Wednesday to keep their peace talks going while both sides warned that if the talks ended, violence could erupt. » Read more

Israel jails Arab activists for vague ‘contact with a foreign agent’ ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National by Jonathan Cook - September 22, 2010 - 12:00am A vague security offence of “contact with a foreign agent” is being used by Israel’s secret police, the Shin Bet, to lock up Arab political activists in Israel without evidence that a crime has been committed, human rights lawyers alleged this week. The lawyers said the Shin Bet was exploiting the law to characterise innocent or accidental meetings between members of Israel’s large Arab minority and Arab foreign nationals as criminal activity. » Read more