November 25th

Mahmoud Abbas, the Mideast's big loser ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times (Editorial) November 25, 2009 - 1:00am There are reports of a deal to exchange hundreds of Palestinian prisoners for captured Israeli Sgt. Gilad Shalit. This is welcome news because the Islamic militant group Hamas has held the 23-year-old soldier as a human pawn, virtually incommunicado, since his capture on the Gaza Strip border in June 2006. » Read more

Book Calls Jewish People an ‘Invention’ ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Patricia Cohen - November 25, 2009 - 1:00am Despite the fragmented and incomplete historical record, experts pretty much agree that some popular beliefs about Jewish history simply don’t hold up: there was no sudden expulsion of all Jews from Jerusalem in A.D. 70, for instance. What’s more, modern Jews owe their ancestry as much to converts from the first millennium and early Middle Ages as to the Jews of antiquity. Other theories, like the notion that many of today’s Palestinians can legitimately claim to be descended from the ancient Jews, are familiar and serious subjects of study, even if no definitive answer yet exists. » Read more

November 24th

Israel’s Gamble in a Prisoner Swap ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times (Blog) November 24, 2009 - 1:00am Israel and Hamas, the Islamist group in control of Gaza, appeared to be nearing a deal on Monday to exchange an Israeli soldier, Sgt. Gilad Shalit, seized three years ago for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, with potentially significant implications for the stalled peace talks. The deal could include Marwan Barghouti, a popular Palestinian leader, officials said. » Read more

Life in Jerusalem's city of three faiths ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News by Heather Sharp - (Analysis) November 21, 2009 - 1:00am Jerusalem's Old City is a district containing a number of holy sites venerated by Muslims, Christians and Jews. The BBC's Heather Sharp, who moved into a home within its walls last year, reports on daily life in a dense tangle of narrow, winding alleyways. Our first night was a disaster. We had finally got the keys to our new home. A wiry teenager had wheeled our bed on a handcart through the narrow, carless streets. But as we turned out the light, Arabic pop music, cheers and whistles blasted in through the window of our new flat as neighbours celebrated a wedding. » Read more

Palestinian 'community center' contests shutting down order ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Aviad Glickman - November 24, 2009 - 1:00am Employees of the Nadiel Center in Jerusalem's Old City filed a petition with the High Court of Justice Monday against the police, who closed down the center in July on the grounds that it was serving as meeting point for terrorists belonging to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). The petition says the establishment serves as a community center which gives health tips to civilians and support to teens, and that it is funded by European donations. » Read more

Encountering Peace: Getting serious about 'economic peace' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Gershon Baskin - (Opinion) November 23, 2009 - 1:00am More than 10 months have passed since President Barack Obama entered the White House and seven months since Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu took over the reins in Jerusalem and there is still no peace process worth mentioning. Netanyahu campaigned on the slogan of "economic peace" and boasted that he would help the Palestinians build their state from the bottom up by strengthening their economy and thereby "giving them something to lose," so that they will not revert back to violence. » Read more

University mentor program rejects Arab student ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Yaheli Moran Zelikovich - November 24, 2009 - 1:00am An Arab student who wanted to enroll in a university mentoring program told Ynet Monday that he had been rejected by the program's sponsors because of his race. Perach leaders told the student, M., that he would not be able to mentor Jewish children eligible for assistance because this would constitute a "violation of protocol". M., a student at Beersheba's Ben Gurion University, decided to enroll in the program early in the academic year, but upon attempting to do so he was informed that all positions in the Arab sector had been filled. » Read more

Report: Next 2 days crucial for deal ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Ali Waked - November 24, 2009 - 1:00am After Ynet reported on Monday that aides close to Tanzim official Marwan Barghouti and Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine leader Ahmed Saadat received in formation that they will be released as part of a prisoner exchange deal for the released of Gilad Shalit, Deputy Prime Minister Silvan Shalom was quick to deny the reports. But on Tuesday, London-based Arabic-language newspaper al-Hayat published a similar report, and quoted Palestinian sources as saying that unprecedented progress has been made in talks, and that Israel has agreed to release both Saadat and Barghouti. » Read more

Dancing with Netanyahu ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Dar Al-Hayat by Ghassan Charbel - (Opinion) November 23, 2009 - 1:00am Benjamin Netanyahu is waging a draining war against Barack Obama. He is attempting to take him on before agreeing with him on a vision for peace. It is a very dangerous game that provokes the feelings of one billion Muslims. It is what President Hosni Moubarak said to Shimon Perez. This implies undermining the opportunity for peace and drowning Israel in isolation due to its excessive embarrassment in front of its friends. The warning came from former President Bill Clinton. Netanyahu is acting like a blind warrior who refuses to read the regional and international situations. » Read more

Abbas: Palestinians won't launch new intifada, despite frustration ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters November 24, 2009 - 1:00am Palestinians will not launch a new uprising against Israel despite their frustration at the deadlock in U.S.-sponsored peace efforts, President Mahmoud Abbas said on Monday. Israel has rejected U.S. calls to freeze settlements in the West Bank where Palestinians seek statehood, and Abbas - eyeing the internal challenge from his Islamist Hamas rivals - has refused to yield on this core demand and revive negotiations. » Read more