December 3rd

Rosen Remains Determined to Prove Trafficking in Secrets is Normal at AIPAC ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward by Nathan Guttman - December 2, 2010 - 1:00am A key court filing in the legal battle between Steve Rosen and his former employers at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee has been postponed, but tensions still run high. » Read more

Gazans Start to Eat Well Again, But Animals Face Starvation ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Media Line by David Miller - December 3, 2010 - 1:00am Shops in the Gaza Strip are overflowing with food these days after Israel eased its blockade, but chickens, sheep and goats of the coastal enclave aren’t sharing in the new bounty. According to an Agriculture Ministry official in Gaza, a severe shortage of animal feed is threatening mass starvation of livestock. Zakariyah Kafarneh, head of veterinary services in the Palestinian Health Ministry, blamed Israel for the shortage, saying the Gaza Strip was in need of 16,000 tons of feed every month. Israel has been letting in only half of that quantity, he said. » Read more

Israeli, Palestinian Ministers Trade Blame for Stalled Peace Process ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Media Line by David Rosenberg - December 3, 2010 - 1:00am Israel Industry, Trade and Labor Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer and his Palestinian counterpart, Economic Minister Dr. Hassan Abu-Libdeh, sought to tackle a host of economic issues in a private meeting in Jerusalem on Wednesday, but the two agreed that economic cooperation couldn’t substitute for a peace agreement. » Read more

'US committed to peace talks, Israel’s security' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Hilary Leila Krieger - December 3, 2010 - 1:00am The Obama administration is “fervently” seeking progress in the peace process as it continues talking to Israel to find a formula for moving forward with talks, senior White House adviser David Axelrod told The Jerusalem Post on Wednesday evening. “This is a critical juncture and we so fervently want to move forward, to get that two-state solution so that Israel can live in peace and security, and we’re going to keep pressing for that,” he told the Post, speaking ahead of an Israeli Embassy candlelighting ceremony in honor of Hanukka. » Read more

Childcare experts condemn police treatment of Palestinian stone-throwers ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Avi Issacharoff - December 3, 2010 - 1:00am Sixty Israeli childcare experts and literary figures have sent an open letter to the prime minister and attorney general calling on the authorities to monitor more closely police interactions with minors suspected of stone throwing in East Jerusalem. The letter, sent last week, came amid recent complaints that the police have been making illegal arrests and using questionable interrogation methods in their campaign against stone throwing. » Read more

Israel can't be a democracy with two classes of citizens ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz (Editorial) December 3, 2010 - 1:00am Cracks are emerging in Israel's democracy. A comprehensive survey compiled by the Israel Democracy Institute and reported in yesterday's Haaretz paints a gloomy, worrisome picture whose gist is a lack of understanding of the basic principles of Israel's political system. » Read more

Yearender: Mideast peace talks back in limbo despite Obama's push ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua by Ran Hacohen - December 2, 2010 - 1:00am Since his inauguration in Jan. 2009, U.S. President Barack Obama has been making strenuous efforts to bring the Palestinians and Israelis back to the negotiating table. A glimpse of hope emerged when the two sides resumed direct talks in Washington in September. But the brief optimism was worn off quickly as negotiations relapsed in limbo over Jewish settlements, without any sign of breakthrough on the horizon. DISPUTE OVER SETTLEMENT » Read more

PLO official barred from leaving West Bank ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency December 3, 2010 - 1:00am Israeli authorities barred PLO official Ziyad Salous from leaving the West Bank Thursday, Palestinian sources said. Salous, the director of Public Relations for the organization, was detained at the Allenby Bridge border crossing for three hours before being denied entry to Jordan. Salous was en route to a conference on Palestinian prisoners in Algeria

Palestinian shot in An-Nabi Saleh ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency December 3, 2010 - 1:00am Israeli soldiers shot a Palestinian in the leg during an incursion Thursday in the West Bank town of An-Nabi Saleh, near Ramallah, local sources said. Palestinians in the village said Omer Saleh At-Tamimi was shot with live ammunition while demonstrators confronted the Israeli soldiers, throwing stones. Israeli military forces were said to have shut down all entrances to the village, stopping Palestinians from entering or leaving. Residents also said Israeli soldiers detained several people, including Helmi At-Tamimi. » Read more

Evening clashes in East Jerusalem ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency December 3, 2010 - 1:00am Clashes erupted in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Al-Isawiya on Thursday evening, between residents and Israeli forces conducting patrols on the area northeast of the Old City. Eight residents were treated for tear-gas inhalation, head of the Union of Arab Medics Mohammad Al-Gharabli told Ma’n. An Israeli police spokeswoman, Luba As-Semmari said clashes erupted when two Molotov cocktails were thrown on a police checkpoint at the entrance of the neighborhood, and said no injuries were reported. » Read more