November 1st

Gaza's donkeys under threat from tuk-tuks ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News by Jon Donnison - October 30, 2010 - 12:00am With the sun rising through the dust and detritus, farmers go toe to hoof jostling for space with sheep and goats. Traders tout and tussle to get the best prices. To add to the chaotic atmosphere, a huge bull bucks violently through the crowd having slipped its leash. And it is also here that you find, in considerable number, Gaza's most iconic beast - the donkey. Through decades of conflict, poverty and instability in Gaza, the donkey has proved to be an ever-dependable means of getting about. » Read more

Daily shootings in Gaza's border zone ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency by Jared Malsin - November 1, 2010 - 12:00am UMM AN-NASSER, Gaza (Ma'an) -- A string of shootings of Palestinian workers, many of them only teenagers, in the northern Gaza Strip has brought renewed attention to a live-fire exclusion zone imposed by Israel on the Gaza side of the Green Line. Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon removed settlers and most soldiers from Gaza in 2005, but Israeli forces still patrol the buffer zone, a swath of Palestinian territory along Gaza’s northern and eastern borders. » Read more

Mövenpick's West Bank hotel is testament to political stability ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian by Harriet Sherwood - November 1, 2010 - 12:00am An international five-star hotel opens for business today in Ramallah in testament to political stability and economic growth in the West Bank city once synonymous with Yasser Arafat's besieged headquarters and Palestinian militancy. The Mövenpick Ramallah – part of the Swiss chain – boasts five restaurants and bars, 171 rooms including two presidential suites, a range of luxury banqueting and conference facilities, a heated outdoor pool, a gym and – eventually – a spa. » Read more

Let Palestinian police control Area C ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian by Kieron Monks - November 1, 2010 - 12:00am When Israeli officials say security is their highest priority, they do not mean in Area C. The 60% of the West Bank placed under their military control since the 1993 Oslo Accords has descended into lawlessness on their watch. Israel could stabilise areas plagued by violence and crime, and further its own interests, by conceding security responsibilities in these areas to the Palestinian Authority. » Read more

A rabbi struggles to protect his Palestinian flock ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Independent by Donald MacIntyre - November 1, 2010 - 12:00am Arik Ascherman is sitting inside a fortified and heavily guarded Israeli police compound in the West Bank. With him are two Palestinian farmers he has persuaded to report a theft, and a uniformed officer whom he is educating in the story of Alexander the Great and the Gordian Knot. » Read more

PA economy minister: Settlement removal is priority ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency November 1, 2010 - 12:00am RAMALLAH (Ma’an) -- Eliminating settlements from occupied Palestinian territory is the national objective and the basis for the government-led settlement boycott, Palestinian Authority National Economy Minister Hassan Abu Libdeh said Saturday. Since taking office a year ago, Libdeh has led a campaign to end the sale of settlement produce in the West Bank. Prime Minister Salam Fayyad announced the boycott in January 2010, and it was implemented across the West Bank in May. » Read more

Bibi, Biden To Meet at Sidelines of Federation GA ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) October 31, 2010 - 12:00am Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will meet with Vice President Joe Biden on the sidelines of the General Assembly of The Jewish Federations of North America. Netanyahu told the Israeli Cabinet Sunday that at the New Orleans conference he will discuss with Biden and other senior U.S. administration figures”a series of issues, including of course the resumption of the diplomatic process in order to reach a peace agreement with security for the future of the State of Israel.” Netanyahu and Biden are featured speakers at the annual General Assembly, which is being held Nov. 5-9. » Read more

Secret Negotiations: Palestinian State in Return for Israeli Land Lease? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat by Ali El-saleh, Nazar Majli - October 29, 2010 - 12:00am Asharq Al-Awsat has learnt from informed sources that secret talks have been talking place between the US and Israel on the formation of a Palestinian state. Washington and Tel Aviv have discussed a Palestinian state being established in return for Israel leasing land from the Palestinian Authority; this includes land in occupied eastern Jerusalem and the Jordan Valley. The sources informed Asharq Al-Awsat that this land-lease deal would last for a period of time between 40 and 99 years. » Read more

Erekat: Arabs to bring Palestinian issue to UN ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency November 1, 2010 - 12:00am BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) -- Egypt has proposed a joint Arab initiative to bring Palestinian demands for statehood to the United Nations, Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) chief negotiator Saeb Erekat has told Ma'an. He told Ma'an Radio that one aim of this plan, which he said is close to being finalized, would be to force Israel to stop expanding West Bank settlements before resuming negotiations. Erekat said the idea of approaching the UN stemmed from the US government's failure to stop Israel from expanding settlements. » Read more

Editorial: Hijacking the history ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News (Editorial) October 31, 2010 - 12:00am Athough it won’t say so, the recent decision by UNESCO to define two mosques in the occupied territories as Palestinian is a reply to Israel that earlier this year registered the mosques — the Bilal Ibn Rabah Mosque near Bethlehem, and the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron — as its national heritage sites. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the sites would be renovated “in order to reconnect Israelis to their history” even though the two mosques are located in the heart of Palestinian population centers where no significant Jewish population exists. » Read more