November 24th

IDF generals, not just soldiers, must answer questions on human shields ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Amira Hass - November 24, 2010 - 1:00am The Givati Brigade soldiers who were tried and convicted of risking the life of a non-combatant Palestinian child are entitled to feel like victims. But why shouldn't they feel patriotic pride? Their conviction essentially handed the post of chief of staff to Yoav Galant and bestowed legal immunity on political figures, in particular Ehud Olmert and Ehud Barak. » Read more

Israel's leaders have handcuffed themselves to the extreme right ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz (Editorial) November 24, 2010 - 1:00am For years, right-wing circles have tried to derail diplomatic steps taken by Israeli governments by, among other things, drafting laws that predicate territorial concession upon an absolute Knesset majority or a referendum. On Monday the government joined forces with the most right-wing parliament ever witnessed in the history of the state, for the purpose of handcuffing the political leadership's moves in the peace process. » Read more

Israel stakes out lonely position on Jerusalem ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Statesman by Matti Friedman - November 24, 2010 - 1:00am If there is ever to be Middle East peace, here's a knot that must somehow be undone. Hundreds of thousands of Israelis who have moved to sprawling Jewish areas in east Jerusalem believe they are ordinary residents of their capital who will never be asked to vacate their homes. It's a sentiment shared by most of their countrymen and affirmed by lawmakers who voted this week to limit a government's ability to ever pull out. » Read more

New layer of doubt cast over Middle East peace drive ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Crispian Balmer - (Analysis) November 24, 2010 - 1:00am The path to Middle East peace, already strewn with an array of daunting obstacles, has now got one more hurdle to overcome. Israel's right-leaning coalition government this week passed a law that will probably force a referendum on any peace deal that involves withdrawing from land annexed by Israel, including East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights, captured from Syria. Palestinians and Syrians have howled in protest, saying that Israel was obliged by international law to return land seized in a 1967 war and had no right to put the matter to a public vote. » Read more

Hamas: Free our man and Fatah officials can leave ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency November 24, 2010 - 1:00am The Gaza government said Wednesday it is willing to reverse a decision to bar seven Fatah officials from leaving the Gaza Strip if Fatah-allied security forces release a Hamas member arrested in the West Bank city of Nablus. The seven members of Fatah's Revolutionary Council prevented by Hamas security forces from leaving through the Erez crossing point on Tuesday. » Read more

Abbas: PLO will reopen Jerusalem office ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency November 24, 2010 - 1:00am President Mahmoud Abbas opened the new headquarters of the Palestine Liberation Organization in Ramallah on Tuesday, but said it was temporary and would be moved to Jerusalem. The president recalled visiting the PLO headquarters in Jerusalem in 1964, and said the body would return to the city "one day." The PLO often faced difficulties as the sole legal representative of Palestinians to the international community, Abbas said. » Read more

Israel razes Palestinian home in East Jerusalem ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency November 24, 2010 - 1:00am Israeli police on Wednesday razed a Palestinian house in occupied East Jerusalem, shortly before the owner arrived home with a court order halting the demolition. Scores of police and a single bulldozer were involved in the operation, which leveled the small house in the Al-Tur neighbourhood near the Mount of Olives. House owner Abed Zablah, a father of five, showed Agence France-Presse a letter issued early Wednesday by the Jerusalem District Court ordering a halt to the demolition. But by the time he got home with the letter, the house was already flattened, he said. » Read more

Palestinian courts scuffle over land sale to Israelis ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times by Maher Abukhater - November 24, 2010 - 1:00am In a struggle for Palestinian statehood in which every acre of land is a precious commodity, should selling West Bank property to an Israeli -- something viewed by many Palestinians as treason -- be punishable by death? That’s the question now facing the Palestinian Authority and the budding Palestinian courts system as they attempt to rebuff the rising trend of Israeli buyers, often right-wing settler groups, offering exorbitant prices for West Bank land in an effort to strengthen Israel’s claim on the occupied territory. » Read more

Law that would require public vote to surrender land stirs ire in Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times by Edmund Sanders - November 24, 2010 - 1:00am A new measure potentially requiring Israel to receive public approval before surrendering land in any Middle East peace deal came under fire Tuesday for setting a legal precedent that could undermine the government and further complicate negotiations. » Read more

Eviction of Palestinian Family, After a Legal Battle, Underlines Tensions Over Jerusalem ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Isabel Kershner - November 24, 2010 - 1:00am Israeli police officers evicted a Palestinian family from their home in a predominantly Arab neighborhood of East Jerusalem on Tuesday morning, and a group of Jewish settlers moved into the property at night. The episode struck one of the more sensitive nerves in the Israeli-Palestinian relationship at a time of increasing tension and as the Obama administration is working to restart stalled peace negotiations. Such evictions have drawn international condemnation in the past. » Read more