October 28th

Envoy complains to UN over Lieberman 'incitement' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency (Analysis) October 28, 2011 - 12:00am The Palestinian envoy to the United Nations has complained to the Security Council that the Israeli foreign minister's call for President Mahmoud Abbas's removal constitutes "incitement" and undermines the peace process. Avigdor Lieberman called the president "the greatest obstacle to peace" and his resignation a "blessing", in remarks to reporters on Monday. After outcry from Palestinian ministers and a UN spokesman warning the comments were "deeply troubling" and an attempt to delegitimize the president, Lieberman repeated his comments to Israel's army radio on Wednesday. » Read more

Bosnia presidents 'cannot agree' on UN bid ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency (Analysis) October 28, 2011 - 12:00am Bosnia's trio of presidents said on Thursday they could not agree on whether to support a Palestinian bid for full UN membership, with Sarajevo potentially holding a key vote in the UN Security Council. Bosnia's presidency has been shared by leaders of its Muslim, Croat and Serb communities since its 1992-95 war. In a statement after meeting Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman in Sarajevo, the triumvirate said it had so far been unable to reach a joint position on the Palestinian application, reflecting the country's own ethnic divisions. » Read more

Israeli-Egyptian swap highlights brittle ties ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Statesman by Tia Goldenberg - (Analysis) October 27, 2011 - 12:00am Israel said Thursday that it agreed to trade Egyptian prisoners for a U.S.-Israeli citizen imprisoned in Cairo on unsubstantiated suspicions of spying to defuse a potential crisis between the two neighboring countries. Israel's agreement to such a swap highlights how brittle relations have become between the two since the fall of Egypt's longtime leader Hosni Mubarak, and that many on both sides want to preserve them. » Read more

American-Israeli Held in Egypt Is Released ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Isabel Kershner - (Analysis) October 27, 2011 - 12:00am Ilan Grapel, an American-Israeli citizen who had been held in Egypt since June, charged with spying for Israel, was released on Thursday in exchange for 25 Egyptians held in Israeli jails. Mr. Grapel, 27, a law student from Queens, was flown from Cairo to Ben-Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv in the early evening, accompanied by Israeli officials. The released prisoners were transferred to Egypt through the Taba border crossing around the same time. » Read more

October 27th

Prisoner swap pours cold water on peace process ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News by Khalaf Ahmad al Habtoor - (Opinion) October 27, 2011 - 12:00am I’ve lived long enough to know that not everything is as it seems at first glance. I’m sure that most Arabs view the prisoner exchange between Israel and Hamas as a good deal. After all, who can complain about exchanging one skinny youth weighing around 45 kilogrammes for 1,020 Palestinian prisoners, including many who were serving life sentences? Sounds great until one analyses the motivations and ramifications. » Read more

A joint proposal on the foundations of a two-state solution ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National by Alan Dershowitz, Chibli Mallat - (Opinion) October 27, 2011 - 12:00am Two professors at Harvard Law School, Chibli Mallat, Custodian of the Two Holy Places Visiting Professor of Islamic Legal Studies, and Alan Dershowitz, Felix Frankfurter Professor of Law, have adopted what they consider a compromise basis for negotiations on a two-state solution. What follows is their joint statement of principles on what could become a UN Security Council Resolution: » Read more

Simple refusal to hate ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Times by Jonathan Jansen - (Opinion) October 27, 2011 - 12:00am For a Palestinian man whose daughters were maimed and killed, one decapitated, by a shell from an Israeli tank, Izzeldin Abuelaish is astonishingly without any bitterness. In response to this unspeakable family tragedy, the Gaza doctor established a foundation called Daughters for Life, which provides scholarships for studies to girls from the Middle East, including Jewish girls from inside Israel. I could see quiet tears in the mesmerised campus audience in the face of such uncommon grace. » Read more

Fadwa Barghouti: 'For peace to come, Israel must release my husband' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Independent by Donald MacIntyre - (Opinion) October 27, 2011 - 12:00am As a long-term Fatah activist, staunch nationalist and qualified lawyer married to the most famous and popular Palestinian prisoner in an Israeli jail, Fadwa Barghouti's reaction to the release of the Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit by Hamas last week was perhaps surprising. "I was very happy that the mother of Shalit saw her son after five years," she says, before adding that she is speaking as a mother, not as a politician. "You cannot define motherhood in one place and redefine it in another – it's indivisible. » Read more

Egypt's new face in swap for Israeli 'spy' Ilan Grapel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News by Kevin Connolly - (Opinion) October 26, 2011 - 12:00am At first glance, Israel's decision to trade 25 prisoners with Egyptian passports for the release of Ilan Grapel from a Cairo prison has echoes of the exchange which saw captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit traded for a thousand Palestinian prisoners. But only at first glance. The plight of Sgt Shalit - a young conscript who was abducted by Palestinian militants five years ago - engaged the sympathy of the nation. His family staged a long vigil in a tent outside the residence of the Israeli prime minister and made his plight a central issue in Israeli life. » Read more

UNESCO Becomes a New Battleground ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Inter Press Service (IPS) by A.D. McKenzie - (Analysis) October 27, 2011 - 12:00am Palestine’s bid to become a member of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) has created a tense atmosphere here, as the United States threatens to cut financing if the application is approved. Delegates to the agency’s 36th General Conference, which began this week, faced heightened security and a barrage of international media attention, as UNESCO’s 193 member states prepare to vote on the Palestinian request. » Read more