America, stop sucking up to Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Gideon Levy - (Opinion) November 3, 2009 - 1:00am Barack Obama has been busy - offering the Jewish People blessings for Rosh Hashanah, and recording a flattering video for the President's Conference in Jerusalem and another for Yitzhak Rabin's memorial rally. Only Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah surpasses him in terms of sheer output of recorded remarks. In all the videos, Obama heaps sticky-sweet praise on Israel, even though he has spent nearly a year fruitlessly lobbying for Israel to be so kind as to do something, anything - even just a temporary freeze on settlement building - to advance the peace process. » Read more

A misguided resolution - US Rep. Brian Baird ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency by Brian Baird - (Opinion) November 4, 2009 - 1:00am Before US House members vote on H.Res. 867, regarding the UN Goldstone report on the Gaza conflict, there are a few questions worth asking. First, why are we bringing this resolution to the floor without ever giving former South African Constitutional Court Justice Richard Goldstone a hearing to explain his findings? » Read more

U.S. House backs resolution to condemn Goldstone Gaza report ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Natasha Mozgovaya, Barak Ravid - November 4, 2009 - 1:00am The U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday condemned a UN report that accuses Israeli forces and Palestinian militants of committing war crimes in Gaza early this year as irredeemably biased and unworthy of further consideration or legitimacy. With a 344-36 vote, the House passed a nonbinding resolution that urged President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton to oppose unequivocally any endorsement of the report. Twenty-two representatives voted present. » Read more

ANALYSIS / Israel preparing public for a new war in Gaza ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Avi Issacharoff - (Analysis) November 4, 2009 - 1:00am Maj. Gen. Amos Yadlin, director of Military Intelligence, announced Tuesday that Hamas launched a rocket some 60 kilometers into the sea, apparently as an experiment. Such a rocket, if fired from the northernmost point of the Gaza Strip, could strike the southern cities of the Gush Dan area - including Rishon Letzion, Holon and Bat Yam - and possibly reach as far as Tel Aviv itself. » Read more

Controversy over draft UN resolution on Gaza ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency November 4, 2009 - 1:00am The UN General Assembly is likely to vote in support of a UN report alleging war crimes in Gaza on Wednesday, but experts say that, if not properly worded, the resolution could close off options for further action on the matter. » Read more

Palestinians who see nonviolence as their weapon ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times by Richard Boudreaux - November 4, 2009 - 1:00am Every Friday, Mohammed Khatib's forces assemble for battle with the Israeli army and gather their weapons: a bullhorn, banners -- and a fierce belief that peaceful protest can bring about a Palestinian state. A few hundred strong, they march to the Israeli barrier that separates the tiny farming community of Bilin from much of its land. They chant and shout. A few teenagers throw stones. Khatib helped launch the weekly ritual five years ago in an attempt to "re-brand" a Palestinian struggle often associated with rocket attacks and suicide bombers. » Read more

U.S. hope dims for high-level Israeli-Palestinian talks over state ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post by Karen Deyoung, Howard Schneider - November 4, 2009 - 1:00am The Obama administration has concluded that an early resumption of high-level negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians over a Palestinian state is unlikely in the near future -- an acknowledgment that it has fallen short, for now, on one of its major initial foreign policy goals. While still pressing for face-to-face talks between Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli President Binyamin Netanyahu, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton has begun to urge Arab states to encourage Palestinian participation in lower-level talks with Israel to avoid a vacuum. » Read more

Short-Term Fixes Sought in Mideast ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Mark Landler - November 3, 2009 - 1:00am For the last seven months, the Obama administration has labored in vain to bring the Israelis and the Palestinians together, pushing for a loose quid pro quo under which Israel would freeze construction of Jewish settlements while its Arab neighbors undertook diplomatic steps to bolster Israel’s confidence in its security. » Read more