November 8th

Israel artists boycott new theater in settlement ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Statesman by Karin Laub - November 8, 2010 - 1:00am JERUSALEM — An artists' boycott of a $11 million performing arts center opening Monday in the Jewish settlement of Ariel is giving a new twist to a pressing question — where should Israel's permanent borders run? Leading Israeli playwrights, actors and artists say they will not cross the "Green Line" — Israel's frontier before it captured the West Bank in 1967 — to perform in the new theater in Ariel, an Israeli enclave of 19,000 people. The artists wrote in a letter explaining the boycott that Ariel was built in the heart of a war-won land to prevent creation of a Palestinian state. » Read more

PA: Israel raided thousands of homes in October ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency November 6, 2010 - 12:00am The Palestinian Authority Ministry of Detainees' Affairs said Israeli forces detained 403 Palestinians and raided 2148 homes across the West Bank during October. In a report released Saturday, the ministry said Israeli soldiers intimidated and assaulted residents, destroying the contents of homes during the raids. Of those detained, 95 percent had been assaulted in front of their families and were beaten en route to detention centers in Israeli military jeeps. » Read more

Stressed out Gazans need therapists, pop pills ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Nidal al-Mughrabi - November 8, 2010 - 1:00am JABALYA, Gaza Strip, Nov 8 (Reuters) - If ever there was a little corner of the world where trauma therapists hanging out their shingle should do a boom business, it has to be Gaza. Take, for example, Samira, a 43-year-old schoolteacher and mother of five who lived too close to a Hamas security complex bombed repeatedly during Israel's December 2008-January 2009 cross-border offensive. » Read more

After the Midterm Elections: A Different Man in the White House! ATFP World Press Roundup Article from by Raghida Dergham - (Opinion) November 5, 2010 - 12:00am New York-Domestic affairs, and especially the economy, will remain the prime concern of US President Barack Obama, who suffered a historic defeat at the midterm elections this week. And US public opinion will remain angry, seeking change and demanding that their government take every measure that would place “America first”. » Read more

PA: Israel raided thousands of homes in October ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency November 6, 2010 - 12:00am The Palestinian Authority Ministry of Detainees' Affairs said Israeli forces detained 403 Palestinians and raided 2148 homes across the West Bank during October. In a report released Saturday, the ministry said Israeli soldiers intimidated and assaulted residents, destroying the contents of homes during the raids. Of those detained, 95 percent had been assaulted in front of their families and were beaten en route to detention centers in Israeli military jeeps. » Read more

Israeli police, Bedouin clash at mosque demolition ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency November 8, 2010 - 1:00am Israeli police on Sunday arrested five people protesting the demolition of a mosque in the Bedouin city of Rahat in southern Israel. Police spokesman Mickey Rosenfeld said the protestors had thrown rocks at the police, who were providing security for civil authority workers who were taking down the structure. The mosque had been built without the necessary permission, and was earmarked for demolition under a court order. According to Rosenfeld, Rahat inhabitants had rejected compromise proposals to build the mosque in another location. » Read more

Abbas: We will have final word ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency November 8, 2010 - 1:00am Palestinians will have the final word if negotiations with Israel fail, President Mahmoud Abbas said Sunday. Speaking at the first Sir Bani Yas Forum on Peace and Global Security in Abu Dhabi, Abbas said Palestinians had complied with a number of international resolutions, while Israel had not complied with any. "We met our obligations, but you [Israel] did not, and so we will be discharged from obligations." » Read more

Israel confronts flagging interest in military service ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post by Janine Zacharia - November 7, 2010 - 12:00am TEL HASHOMER, ISRAEL - Since Israel's founding, the military here has served not just as a defender against outside threats, but as the glue that brings together a patchwork nation of immigrants. Now, the Israel Defense Forces' position as the country's most venerated institution appears to be slipping. While service is compulsory for most young men and women, a growing minority is avoiding conscription, leaving planners to worry the military won't have the troops it says it needs. » Read more

UK and Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News November 8, 2010 - 1:00am During his recent visit to Israel, British Foreign Secretary William Hague believed the stalled Palestinian-Israeli negotiations would top the agenda. But Tel Aviv was more concerned with what Britain planned to do about the prospect of Israeli officials being arrested in Britain to face war crimes charges brought by pro-Palestinian campaigners. » Read more

Israel is right to be concerned ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star by Rami Khouri - (Opinion) November 6, 2010 - 12:00am We can learn much from the Israeli government’s decision this week to suspend a special strategic dialog with the United Kingdom because of concerns that Israeli officials could be arrested and indicted with crimes against humanity in the UK, according to a British law that provides for “universal jurisdiction” in such cases, i.e., a suspect of any country can be charged, detained and tried in a British court even if the alleged crimes occurred in a third country and did not include British citizens among the victims. » Read more