October 29th

Settler numbers rise at almost 3 times nat’l average ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Tovah Lazaroff - October 29, 2010 - 12:00am The growth of the settler population slowed slightly in the first five months of 2010, but the numbers still rose at almost three times the national average, according to Central Bureau of Statistics data released this week. This despite the government’s efforts to dramatically curb construction in settlements. » Read more

Segregation of Jews and Arabs in 2010 Israel is almost absolute ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Arabiya by Amnon Be'eri-Sulitzeanu - October 29, 2010 - 12:00am Under the guise of the deceptively mundane name "Amendment to the Cooperative Associations Bill," the Knesset's Constitution, Law and Justice Committee this week finalized a bill intended to bypass previous rulings of the High Court of Justice. If indeed this legislation is approved by the Knesset plenum, it will not be possible to describe it as anything other than an apartheid law. » Read more

IDF bars Palestinian children from Tel Aviv film festival ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Ruta Kupfer - October 29, 2010 - 12:00am The army yesterday prevented children from the West Bank village of Umm al-Hir from entering Israel in time to watch a movie they appear in at a children's film festival in the Tel Aviv Cinematheque. The children, first- and second-graders, were supposed to enter via the Meitar checkpoint to watch the film they had appeared in as part of the Children Make Movies project, run jointly by the Education Ministry, the Children's Channel and the Lahav and Mifalot associations. » Read more

Report: U.S. proposes Israel lease lands from Palestinians under future deal ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz October 29, 2010 - 12:00am Israel is conducting secret negotiations with the U.S. on establishing the future borders of a Palestinian state, the London-based Arabic language daily Asharq al-Awsat reported on Friday. According to the report, Palestinian sources confirmed that the two sides discussed an option wherein Israel may lease lands in East Jerusalem from the Palestinians in exchange for the establishment of an independent Palestinian state. Israel would lease the territories from the Palestinian state for a period of 40 to 99 years. » Read more

Abbas: Resuming negotiations remains first option ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua October 28, 2010 - 12:00am Resuming direct peace negotiations will remain the first option of the Palestinian leadership, Palestinian National Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said Thursday. "We are ready to go back to the negotiations as soon as Israel stops settlement activities," Abbas told a news conference in Ramallah after meeting with Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit. Abbas said he has "seven options" to respond to Israel's expansion of Jewish settlement in the West Bank which caused the U. S.-brokered negotiations to halt after nearly three weeks since it restarted. » Read more

Abbas: We may seek UN recognition ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency October 29, 2010 - 12:00am President Mahmoud Abbas said Thursday that he would consider asking the UN to recognize a Palestinian state. Speaking in Ramallah after a news conference with Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit, Abbas said the move, one of "seven options," could come within months. “Among these options is to demand that the United States take a stance on recognizing a Palestinian state on the 1967 borders and the possibility of going the UN Security Council,” Abbas told reporters. » Read more

PA opposes Hamas involvement in peace talks ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency October 29, 2010 - 12:00am The Palestinian Authority opposes efforts to normalize ties between Hamas and the international community, a PA security official said Wednesday. Adnan Dmeiri, PA security services spokesman, said the US and EU were making efforts to engage Hamas in the peace process. "This is not the first attempt by some Europeans and Americans to present Hamas as the party that can 'provide the commodity,'" Dmeiri told Ma'an. » Read more

Fayyad says not planning to run for president ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency October 29, 2010 - 12:00am Appointed Prime Minister in the Palestinian Authority Salam Fayyad said an end to the Palestinian factional split could only be rectified by a turn at the ballot boxes, the Jerusalem daily newspaper Al-Hayyat reported Friday. An interview published by the newspaper quoted Fayyad as saying he believed the ballot box should be the Fatah-Hamas mediator, with Palestinians and the international community agreeing to accept the results. » Read more

The Israeli-Palestinian settlement impasse ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post by Saeb Erakat - (Opinion) October 28, 2010 - 12:00am It comes as little surprise that Palestinian-Israeli negotiations are at an impasse. The lesson after nearly two decades of bilateral negotiations is that direct talks alone are not enough to guarantee peace. A principled, unshakable commitment to international law is also required. International law sets the benchmark for a just peace and helps ensure that Palestinians and Israelis are treated equally. It also maps a path toward lasting reconciliation rooted in a culture of rights and mutual respect. » Read more

Remembering Rabin, Some See His Legacy Fading ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Ethan Bronner - October 28, 2010 - 12:00am In the 15 years since Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated by a Jewish militant after a peace rally here, blood seeping onto a song sheet in his breast pocket as he lost consciousness, his legacy in Israel has seemed clear — warrior turned peacemaker, symbol of a tough nation with an outstretched hand. » Read more