November 2nd

Bleak future for the Mideast
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times
by Hassan Barari - November 2, 2010 - 12:00am

Few could forget the fourth of November 1995 when Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin delivered his last speech. Some 400,000 - of the once vibrant peace camp - had gathered to express their support for his policies of peace with the Palestinians. Few moments after, a zealot student from Bar Ilan University shot him dead.

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Likud Wing Plays Tea Party Over Israeli Talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Isabel Kershner - November 1, 2010 - 12:00am

TEL AVIV — There were plenty of tea bags around: Wissotzky, the Israeli brand. But the inaugural event of the Israeli version of the Tea Party, organized by the right flank of Benjamin Netanyahu’s conservative Likud Party in this Mediterranean city on Sunday night, felt less like the start of a popular rebellion and more like a tepid political stunt.

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Likud Wing Plays Tea Party Over Israeli Talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Isabel Kershner - November 1, 2010 - 12:00am

TEL AVIV — There were plenty of tea bags around: Wissotzky, the Israeli brand. But the inaugural event of the Israeli version of the Tea Party, organized by the right flank of Benjamin Netanyahu’s conservative Likud Party in this Mediterranean city on Sunday night, felt less like the start of a popular rebellion and more like a tepid political stunt.

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November 1st

The New York Times says all parties must stop playing games and endorses Sec. Clinton's comments at the ATFP Gala. Israeli relations with Morocco are strained. Israeli police round up Palestinian children in occupied East Jerusalem. The CSM says Pres. Obama should allow Palestinians to seek UN recognition. Arab states may lead the way. The PA says settlement removal is a national priority. Shootings have become a daily routine at Gaza's borders. Israeli security officials worry about new technology. PM Netanyahu will visit the United States and meet with VP Biden. Israel condemns UNESCO's decision to recognize West Bank sites as holy to both Jews and Muslims, and the Arab news says Israel is trying to steal Palestinian heritage. France says it's indignant over Israeli withdrawal from a meeting including Pres. Abbas. The PA says it's unaware of any Israeli plans to attack Gaza. The US may be proposing Israel lease parts of the occupied territories from a Palestinian state. Gaza's donkey market collapses. A new hotel in Ramallah symbolizes revival. Kieron Monks says the PA should control parts of Area C. The Independent profiles a rabbi who helps Palestinians with the olive harvest.

Israeli PM to visit US next week
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Statesman
by Josef Federman - October 31, 2010 - 12:00am

JERUSALEM — Israel's prime minister said Sunday he will head to the U.S. next week to discuss Mideast peace talks with Vice President Joe Biden, in a possible sign of movement for the troubled diplomatic process. Negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians broke down in late September over renewed Israeli settlement construction in the West Bank, and U.S. and Israeli officials have been working feverishly since then in hopes of finding a formula to revive the negotiations.

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French indignant with Netanyahu over freeze: report
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
November 1, 2010 - 12:00am

French President Nicolas Sarkozy is outraged at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for withdrawing his participation in a Paris summit with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Ha'aretz daily reported Sunday. The two leaders held a telephone conversation 10 days ago, during which Sarkouzy had asked Netanyahu to extend the construction moratorium in West Bank settlements in a bid to resume peace talks with the Palestinians, the report said.

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Israel: UNESCO West Bank decision 'absurd'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Statesman
by Ian Deitch - November 1, 2010 - 12:00am

JERUSALEM — A decision by the U.N. body in charge of preserving historical sites to define West Bank shrines sacred to both Jews and Muslims as Palestinian is "absurd," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Friday. One of the sites, in the city of Hebron, has been a flashpoint for decades. Jews call it the Cave of the Patriarchs, where the Bible says the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were buried along with three of their wives. Muslims call it the al-Ibrahimi mosque, reflecting the fact that Abraham is considered the father of both Judaism and Islam.

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PNA unaware of possible Israeli assault on Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
October 31, 2010 - 12:00am

The Palestinian National Authority (PNA) is unaware of Israel's plans to launch a military operation in the Gaza Strip, a senior official said Sunday. Recent reports about possible fighting in Gaza "aim to turn the attention of the West away from the main issues," said Yasser Abed Rabbo, a Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) official. The main issues were the Israeli occupation and its measures "to make Jerusalem more Jewish," he said.

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'PM agreed to lease Jordan Valley from Palestinians'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
November 1, 2010 - 12:00am

Israeli sources on Monday confirmed that the US proposed that Israel lease parts of the Jordan Valley from the Palestinians for an additional seven years, Army Radio reported. According to the Monday report, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu agreed to the idea, but demanded that the arrangement be for a longer period of time than the original offer. "Seven years is not enough - an arrangement like this needs to last for dozens of years," Netanyahu said in closed talks, according to Army Radio.

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Google Earth, IPhone trouble Israeli security chief
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
November 1, 2010 - 12:00am

TEL AVIV, Nov 1 (Reuters) - Civilian Internet applications now offer militant groups access to intelligence that rivals what government spies can get, Israel's domestic security chief said on Monday. Shin Bet director Yuval Diskin, in a rare public address, identified cyber technologies as an ascendant international security threat.

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