October 18th

Do the Arabs want peace? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Mudar Zahran - (Opinion) October 17, 2010 - 12:00am Arab League states have announced their support of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s call for a complete halt of all settlement activity in order to resume negotiations. This decision is not all support for Abbas, as freezing the settlement activities has recently been an Arab states’ demand rather than a Palestinian one. Recently, King Abdullah II of Jordan addressed the United Nations and said the settlements posed a major threat to the peace talks, and could actually lead to a major war. This sentiment has been promoted heavily by the government-controlled Arab media. » Read more

Palestinians say 1 dead in Israeli strike in Gaza ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Statesman by Dalia Nammari - October 16, 2010 - 12:00am GAZA CITY, GAZA STRIP — An Israeli airstrike killed one person and wounded two in northern Gaza early Sunday, Palestinian officials said. Hamas officials said Israeli forces opened fire at a militant training ground north of Gaza City. Palestinian hospital official Adham Abu Salmia confirmed one dead and two wounded, one of them critically. The Israeli military confirmed it targeted a squad of militants preparing to fire rockets toward Israel. » Read more

With statehood, Palestine ready to end all claims ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Statesman by Karin Laub - October 17, 2010 - 12:00am RAMALLAH, WEST BANK — The Palestinians are ready to end all historic claims against Israel once they establish their state in the lands Israel occupied in the 1967 Mideast War, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Sunday, addressing a long-standing Israeli demand. In an interview with Israel TV, Abbas also said negotiations with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu remain his preferred choice, but that he will consider other options if talks break down over Israel's continued settlement expansion. » Read more

Does the PA fulfill the criteria for an independent state? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Dan Izenberg - October 18, 2010 - 12:00am According to the 1933 Montevideo Convention on the Rights and Duties of States, which is now part of customary law and therefore binding on all countries, a state must possess a permanent population, a defined territory, a government and a capacity to enter into relationships with other states. Furthermore, the convention states that “the political existence of the state is independent of recognition by other states.” Thus, there is nothing in international law to prevent the Palestinian Authority from unilaterally declaring itself an independent state. » Read more

Iran and Israel are in Need of Mutual Enmity ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Dar Al-Hayat by Raghida Dergham - (Opinion) October 15, 2010 - 12:00am Perhaps Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad truly believes that the Islamic Republic of Iran is capable of bringing down the United States of America and of wiping Israel out of existence. Perhaps this is why he wages escalation campaigns amid the international media attention gathered around him and the popular rallies organized for him, like the one prepared by Hezbollah to welcome him in Lebanon. » Read more

Israeli official: Moroccan king won't meet Peres ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Statesman by Amy Teibel - October 18, 2010 - 12:00am JERUSALEM — The king of Morocco has rejected a request to meet with Israel's president because of the impasse in Mideast peacemaking, an aide to the Israeli statesman said Monday in a new diplomatic fallout from the deadlocked peace talks. President Shimon Peres had asked to meet with King Mohammed VI on the sidelines of an upcoming international conference in Marrakech. But the monarch — citing the stalled talks — said the timing wasn't right, the aide said. » Read more

A devious plan ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News (Editorial) October 17, 2010 - 12:00am With the Palestinians already threatening to walk away from the Middle East peace talks unless Israel renews its partial ban on West Bank settlements, the unveiling of 238 new homes for Jewish settlers in East Jerusalem could well kill off the negotiations. » Read more

Israeli soldier jailed for stealing from raid ship ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters October 18, 2010 - 12:00am JERUSALEM, Oct 18 (Reuters) - An Israeli military court sentenced a soldier to five months in jail on Monday for stealing from a ship where nine pro-Palestinian Turkish activists were killed in an Israeli commando raid. The soldier, who did not take part in the May 31 assault, admitted he stole a laptop and camera lenses from the Mavi Marmara after the Turkish-flagged ship, which had been trying to run an Israeli blockade of Gaza, was seized and brought to an Israeli port. » Read more

Abbas: Netanyahu fears govt collapse ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency October 18, 2010 - 12:00am BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- President Mahmoud Abbas said Sunday that Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu told him he could not extend the settlement moratorium "because he fears his government might collapse." In an interview with Israel's Channel 1, Abbas further said "the government isn't more valuable than peace, neither is it more valuable than the future of both peoples." » Read more

Israeli settlement building surges as US pushes for a new freeze ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor by Joshua Mitnick - October 15, 2010 - 12:00am Beitar Illit, West Bank — In the two and a half weeks since Israel's settlement freeze expired, there's been a surge in construction on new West Bank homes, dimming prospect the Palestinians will agree to resume peace talks. "The resumption at this scale makes it more complicated to make arrangement that will allow a resumption of talks," says Palestinian government spokesman Ghassan Khatib. "They are putting more sticks in the wheels.'' » Read more