November 10th

Hard times drive Gazans into perilous 'buffer zone' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC World News by Jon Donnison - November 9, 2010 - 1:00am Basam and Mustapha Adwan make for a sorry sight. In their small, cramped house in northern Gaza, which they share with 12 other family members, 24-year-old Basam sits in a wheelchair. His younger brother Mustapha sits on the floor, his crutches by his side. Both men have heavily bandaged right feet. They say they were shot by Israeli soldiers while working close to the border. "Normally they give a warning shot," says Basam, who says he was shot a month ago. "But this time there was no warning. The bullet went right through my foot." He winces as he remembers the pain. Trade flourishing » Read more

Jaffa imam arrested on terror claims ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Eli Senyor - November 10, 2010 - 1:00am Police have arrested an additional imam for terror-related offenses, after Nazareth cleric was arrested this week on charges for inciting to terrorism. Jaffa's Muhammad Ayash, of the al-Bahr mosque, was arrested on suspicion of involvement in security offences. The Petah Tikva Magistrate's Court extended his remand by eight days and placed a gag order on most of the details of the case. Ayash was arrested Tuesday by investigators working in tandem with the Shin Bet. Police searched his home and then took him to an interrogation facility in Petah Tikva. » Read more

Livni: Two-state solution only way to keep Israel Jewish and democratic ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Natasha Mozgovaya - November 10, 2010 - 1:00am A two-state solution is the only way to keep Israel as a Jewish democratic state, opposition leader and Kadima chairwoman Tzipi Livni said on Tuesday in an address to the annual General Assembly of the Jewish Federations of North America. "A Jewish state is a homeland for the Jewish people," she said. "It's not a religious state or halachic state. A Jewish state is a sovereign state that can take the decisions about the future of Israel but takes into consideration the concerns of the world Jewry." » Read more

Israel's latest building plan is a pointless provocation ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz (Editorial) November 10, 2010 - 1:00am "That's my character," the scorpion says to the frog, in a familiar joke, as it stings the frog to death after being transported by its victim across the river. It appears that the Interior Ministry, the Jerusalem District Planning and Building Committee and planning authorities in Ariel suffer from similar symptoms. » Read more

PNA de facto controls Jerusalem's Arab neighborhoods: report ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua November 10, 2010 - 1:00am JERUSALEM, Nov. 9 (Xinhua) -- The Palestinian National Authority (PNA) is the de facto sovereign in Jerusalem's Arab neighborhoods as Israeli institutions gradually sever ties with their residents, local daily Ma'ariv reported on Tuesday. While senior officials in Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing government often pledge that Jerusalem will forever be united under the Israeli sovereignty, the PNA exercises its control in the Arab neighborhoods in its eastern sector, the report said. » Read more

Israeli parliament sets to deny pension from former Arab legislator ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua November 10, 2010 - 1:00am JERUSALEM, Nov. 9 (Xinhua) -- The Israeli Knesset parliament on Tuesday approved in its first reading of a bill that would revoke stipends and other benefits from legislators who fail to appear at criminal proceedings held against them, reported The Jerusalem Post. One former lawmaker who stands to lose his monthly pension is Azmi Bishara, an Israeli Arab who headed the Balad party and fled the country in April 2007 after being suspected of allegedly spying for Hezbollah during the Second Lebanon War in 2006. » Read more

Israel arrests Hamas official in West Bank ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua November 10, 2010 - 1:00am RAMALLAH, Nov. 10 (Xinhua) -- The Israeli army arrested a Hamas official in the West Bank on Wednesday, Palestinian sources said. The soldiers detained Mahmoud al-Rumhi, a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC), in his house near Ramallah city, sources from his family told Xinhua. In March 2009, Israel released al-Rumhi after 32 months of detention. » Read more

Headdress, radio, holy book help tell Arafat story ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Statesman by Mohammed Daraghmeh - November 9, 2010 - 1:00am RAMALLAH, WEST BANK — Yasser Arafat had a knack for turning ordinary objects into symbols, including the black-and-white checkered headdress that came to represent the Palestinian quest for a homeland. Six years after his death, the keepers of Arafat's memory are gathering thousands of objects — photographs, pistols, the trademark sunglasses and military-style suits he favored — for display in a museum under construction at his former West Bank headquarters, where Arafat spent the last three years of his life encircled by Israeli forces. » Read more

Palestinians say it's time to recognise their state ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Douglas Hamilton - November 10, 2010 - 1:00am ERUSALEM, Nov 9 (Reuters) - Israel's plan to build new homes on occupied land should be countered by international recognition of a Palestinian state, the chief Palestinian negotiator said on Tuesday. Raising the stakes in deadlocked U.S.-sponsored peace talks, Saeb Erekat said it was clear from the latest announcement of building plans that Israel wants settlements, not peace. "Israeli unilateralism is a call for immediate international recognition of the Palestinian state," he said in a statement. » Read more

Israeli raid targets Jerusalem neighborhood ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency November 10, 2010 - 1:00am Confrontations erupted in an East Jerusalem town under siege for three days and facing a campaign of repeated Israeli police raids. A 50-strong Israeli force raided the northern entrance of Al-Isawiya on Wednesday morning and another entered through the south, onlookers said. Luba As-Samry, a spokeswoman for the Israeli police, said an Israeli police officer was lightly injured during confrontations on the northern entrance of the village. She added that four young men were detained for throwing stones at the police. » Read more