October 8th

The dragons of 'progressive' delusion ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star by Michael Young - (Opinion) October 8, 2009 - 12:00am By coincidence, I happened to pick up another book while reading Hussein Ibish’s excellent, precise dismantling of the agenda for a single Jewish-Arab state in the area of historical Palestine. » Read more

Lessons from the Goldstone issue ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times by Daoud Kuttab - (Opinion) October 8, 2009 - 12:00am The angry political and public reaction to the decision by the Palestinian leadership to postpone discussions of the Goldstone war crimes report requires a sober look at the reasons and lessons that need to be learned to avoid repetition. » Read more

The Palestinian Authority and the Battle of Position and legitimacy ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Dar Al-Hayat by Abdullah Iskandar - (Opinion) October 7, 2009 - 12:00am What would have happened if the Human Rights Council had voted in favor of referring Goldstone's report to the Security Council? Certainly, the United States would have practiced its veto power to prevent the completion of the report which accuses Israel and Hamas of committing "war crimes" during the aggression on the Gaza Strip. In other words, the result would have been the same if the Palestinian Authority had not requested to delay the voting until next March. » Read more

UN body to debate Gaza 'crimes' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News October 8, 2009 - 12:00am Arab states say the 14 October debate must tackle a report which criticised Israel, after the US argued against a emergency session dedicated to it. The UN Human Rights Council delayed its debate on the findings of the Goldstone report following a Palestinian request. Libya's envoy to the Security Council said its aim was to "keep momentum". Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has come under sharp criticism at home for requesting the UNHRC delay, which followed intense pressure from the US. » Read more

Palestinian U-turn on Gaza report ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News October 7, 2009 - 12:00am The UN Security Council is set to discuss whether to hold an emergency session on the Goldstone report, which accuses Israel and Hamas of war crimes. A senior PA politician has said last week's request to defer discussion of the report was a "mistake". The PA decision sparked an outcry among Palestinians. Libya, the only Arab state on the 15-member body, will request the UN session in a closed-door meeting. » Read more

Hamas considering delaying reconciliation ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Ali Waked - October 7, 2009 - 12:00am The Hamas movement is considering asking Egypt to delay a meeting of rival Palestinian factions and the signing of a reconciliation agreement scheduled for October 26, following the Palestinian Authority's decision to defer a United Nations Human Rights Council vote on the Goldstone Report, which accused Israel and Hamas of committing war crimes in Gaza. » Read more

Restraint in a delicate place ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz (Editorial) October 8, 2009 - 12:00am The growing tension surrounding the Temple Mount threatens to undermine the calm Israel has enjoyed for the past few months. Some of the incidents of the past few days have been routine, such as Jews and Muslims worshipping and the annual Jerusalem March; others not, such as the visit by French tourists to the mosque area and the rumor of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu having dinner in Silwan. Either way, they underlay the recriminations and mutual threats, the diplomatic intervention by Jordan and the United States, and the street protests by masked Palestinians in East Jerusalem. » Read more

Only gall and nothing more ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Gideon Levy - (Opinion) October 8, 2009 - 12:00am Is the discourse we are conducting - if indeed we are conducting any discourse among ourselves and with our interlocutor - legitimate at all? Ever since the territories were occupied a public debate has been going on here about their future and what is being done there. The questions have come and gone, all of them in the same cursed vein: To give? To concede? Under what conditions? In exchange for what? » Read more

Jordan's king to Haaretz: Without two states, there is no future ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Akiva Eldar - October 8, 2009 - 12:00am Jordan's King Abdullah II has asked Haaretz to relay a message to the Israeli public that it disavow the illusion that the status quo can be perpetuated, because as a result of the diplomatic impasse, "We are sliding back into the darkness. "Is Israel going to be fortress Israel or is it going to be part of the neighborhood? Because if there is no two-state solution, what future do we all have together?" he asked in an exclusive interview on Tuesday at his palace in Amman at the height of the disturbances in East Jerusalem. » Read more

Palestine on the brink: only a quick de-escalation can prevent an explosion ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ibishblog by Hussein Ibish - (Blog) October 7, 2009 - 12:00am We are facing a perfect storm of provocations, grievances, outrage and mutually reinforcing escalations that have pushed the situation in the occupied Palestinian territories, particularly Jerusalem, to the brink of an eruption. Indeed, it would be no exaggeration to call the present situation uncannily and very disturbingly reminiscent of the build up to the unleashing of the second intifada, which created disastrous consequences for the Palestinian people. » Read more