November 4th

A message Palestinians see in Israel-Hamas prisoner exchange: Hamas - 1, Abbas - 0 ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor by Dawoud Abu Lebdeh - (Opinion) November 3, 2011 - 12:00am The Israel-Hamas prisoner exchange a couple weeks ago was a very emotional moment for thousands of Palestinians who were reunited with family members they had not seen for years. But it came at a diplomatic price. Some of the Palestinian public perceive the prisoner exchange deal (in which Israel released more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for Hamas releasing Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit) as an achievement for Hamas’s militant approach. They see it as a success story that Palestinian diplomatic efforts and negotiations with Israel have not yet been able to deliver. » Read more

Islamist Jihad ready for all-out war with Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters (Interview) November 3, 2011 - 12:00am The Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad, which traded deadly fire with Israel at the weekend in Gaza, does not expect a subsequent truce to last long and has at least 8,000 fighters ready for war, a spokesman said. Islamic Jihad is the second largest armed group in Gaza, after Hamas, which rules the tiny Mediterranean enclave. The two share a commitment to the destruction of Israel and both are classified as terrorist groups by most Western governments. » Read more

Israel freezes UNESCO funding over Palestinian membership ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times November 4, 2011 - 12:00am Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday ordered his government to freeze the country's $2-million-a-year funding of UNESCO in protest of the organization's vote to grant the Palestinians full membership. The order came two days after the Israeli Cabinet announced that it would step up construction in West Bank settlement blocs and suspend the transfer of taxes it collects for the Palestinian Authority. » Read more

Palestinians Inch Closer to Rejection at U.N. Body ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Neil MacFarquhar - November 3, 2011 - 12:00am The Palestinian bid for membership at the United Nations, which was doomed from the start by the threat of an American veto, moved another notch closer to rejection on Thursday at the Security Council, diplomats said. The Council’s membership committee met in private, with member states laying out their individual positions on the Palestinians’ request, said diplomats, who spoke on the condition of anonymity under diplomatic protocol. The membership committee is trying to produce a report by Tuesday, and indications are that the group will be unable to reach a consensus. » Read more

Ban Ki-moon: Palestinian membership of UN agencies is 'not beneficial' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian November 4, 2011 - 12:00am The UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, has said Palestinian efforts to join other United Nations agencies beyond its cultural arm are "not beneficial for Palestine and not beneficial for anybody". Millions of people could be affected if UN agencies see their funding cut as a result of the Palestinian bids, he said in an interview on Thursday at the sidelines of the G20 summit in Cannes. The US and Canada have cut off funding for Unesco since the Paris-based UN cultural agency approved a Palestinian membership bid – stripping it of about one-quarter of its total funding. » Read more

Al-Malki: Palestine will not apply to other UN bodies ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency November 3, 2011 - 12:00am The PLO will not apply to join any more international organizations but will focus on full membership of the United Nations, the Palestinian Authority minister of foreign affairs said Thursday. Some 107 countries voted Monday to admit Palestine as a member of UNESCO, and Riyad al-Malki told reporters in Ramallah that membership of the UN cultural agency was a step toward countering some historic injustices. » Read more

November 3rd

Bitter betrayal ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News (Editorial) November 3, 2011 - 12:00am The Israelis have frozen the transfer of funds to the Palestinian Authority, worth about $100 million a month, and say they will speed up settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. The US is to stop funding to the UN cultural and scientific organization. Meanwhile, hackers cut the Palestinian Internet and phone systems. » Read more

U.S. pettiness ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star (Editorial) November 3, 2011 - 12:00am The decision by the United States to withhold $60 million of funding to UNESCO in response to the organization granting Palestine full membership is at once knee jerk and deliberately timed. In the sense that it will harm many unrelated UNESCO projects, it is a childish and shortsighted riposte to an action that only the U.S. and 13 other states – one of them Israel – even saw as a misdemeanor. In the sense that it now nixes any hope of a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian crisis for the foreseeable future, it is typical of U.S. dalliance on the issue. » Read more

US support for Israel is futile ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News by George S. Hishmeh - (Opinion) November 3, 2011 - 12:00am The Unesco General Assembly's endorsement of Palestine's admission to full membership was greeted with great jubilation by Arab-Americans in Washington, especially Palestinians and Arab diplomats, as witnessed on the internet and the social media. It was also a step that Arabs everywhere felt was long overdue, but came at the right time since expectations were high that the United Nations may soon open its gates wide for the Palestinian people who lost their homeland more than 63 years ago which remains occupied by Israel. » Read more

Palestine in UNESCO ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Dar Al-Hayat by Randa Takieddine - (Opinion) November 3, 2011 - 12:00am During the vote on full state membership for Palestine in UNESCO, it was interesting that the French envoy voted yes, and heard huge applause for the French decision, after it had abstained in the Executive Council vote. The French decision, taken by Foreign Minister Alain Juppe, was in line with France's stance of support for a Palestinian state. The Palestinian victory in UNESCO was truly a victory for justice. It also confirmed, once again, that the White House, as usual, and as it has for decades, stands against justice, even if it acknowledges the cause. » Read more