November 12th

Secular, but not so liberal ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian by Daphna Baram - November 11, 2008 - 1:00am After five years under an ultra-orthodox mayor, secular Jerusalemites finally got their act together, turned out in number at the polling stations, and elected the secular candidate, young businessmen Nir Barkat. » Read more

Deadly fighting on Gazan border ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC World News November 11, 2008 - 8:00pm Israeli troops have killed four Palestinian militants in a gunbattle on the Gaza border, Palestinians say. Witnesses in Hamas-controlled Gaza said the fighting broke out after Israeli armoured vehicles crossed into the territory near Khan Younis. The Israeli army said its soldiers were trying to stop militants attempting to plant a bomb near the security fence. Israel and the Islamist movement Hamas agreed a truce in Gaza five months ago but fierce fighting resumed last week. » Read more

PA Prime Minister Fayyad Interviewed on Economy, Debt Payments, Future Projects ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Ayyam by Ja'far Sadaqah - November 11, 2008 - 8:00pm [Sadaqah] In a few hours, the Palestinian Authority [PA] will have finished paying all its debts to the employees and others. What does it mean to get rid of a legacy that has been bothering it for 16 months, and what does this mean to you? » Read more

November 11th

Livni distances herself from Olmert comments on '67 borders ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz November 10, 2008 - 8:00pm Kadima Chairwoman and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni distanced herself Tuesday from outgoing Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's recent assertion that Israel needs to return to its pre-1967 borders. "I as Kadima Chairwoman am not committed to the outgoing prime minister's comments - but to Kadima's platform, and this is what determines exactly how we will hold negotiations," said Livni, speaking in an interview with Army Radio. Olmert called on Monday for withdrawing from the territories and "returning to the area that was Israel until 1967." » Read more

No leader before Olmert has explicitly called for return to '67 borders ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Aluf Benn - November 10, 2008 - 8:00pm Prime Minister Ehud Olmert chose to strike on the most sensitive day of Israel's calendar, Yitzhak Rabin Memorial day. He did so both in the Knesset and on Mount Herzl, in order to lay out his vision - Israel must pull out of all the territories quickly, before it loses international support for a two-state solution. » Read more

Foreign troops could deploy in West Bank after peace deal ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Akiva Eldar - November 10, 2008 - 8:00pm After an Israeli withdrawal from the Palestinian territories within the framework of an overall peace agreement, foreign forces could be stationed there for a specific period, the secretary-general of the Arab League, Amr Moussa, told Haaretz in an interview over the weekend in Brussels. » Read more

At Arafat memorial rally, Abbas blames Hamas for continued rift ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press November 10, 2008 - 8:00pm Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday blamed political rival Hamas for another failed reconciliation attempt. Abbas spoke during a rally marking the fourth anniversary of the death of his predecessor Yasser Arafat. Over the weekend, Hamas pulled out of planned reconciliation talks at the last minute. It demanded that Abbas first release Hamas prisoners in the West Bank. » Read more

Israeli police evict Palestinian couple from home of 52 years ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian by Rory McCarthy - November 10, 2008 - 8:00pm Israeli police have evicted a disabled Palestinian man and his wife from the home where they had lived for 52 years, in a Palestinian district of east Jerusalem which is now surrounded by hardline Jewish settlers. The eviction came after years of litigation which culminated in an Israeli supreme court ruling in July ordering them out of the house. Several foreign governments, including the US and Britain, had tried to intervene on behalf of Muhammad and Fawzieh al-Kurd, but without success. » Read more

Israeli troops shoot worker on border ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP) November 10, 2008 - 8:00pm A foreign farm worker was wounded on Saturday when Israeli troops opened fire near the border with Lebanon, a military spokesman said. Soldiers on patrol in the area near the kibbutz of Manara spotted men acting "suspiciously" and opened fire, reportedly thinking they may be people trying to infiltrate Israel from Lebanon. The troops subsequently discovered that they were farm workers employed in northern Israel, the spokesman said, adding that an inquiry had been opened into the incident. Israel's Army Radio reported that the wounded worker was from Thailand. » Read more

Gaza: Power Station Shuts Down ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters November 10, 2008 - 8:00pm A fuel shortage forced the Gaza Strip’s main power station to shut down on Monday, leaving about half the residents of the Hamas-controlled Palestinian territory without electricity, a power plant official said. Israel, which had blocked deliveries of fuel to the enclave for a week in response to a surge in cross-border rocket attacks, said it would allow resumption of fuel shipments on Tuesday.