December 17th

Report: Israel refusing to release senior Hamas prisoners ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Roee Nahmias - December 17, 2009 - 1:00am Israel is refusing to release senior leaders of the Hamas movement currently imprisoned in Israel for security reasons as part of a Shalit prisoner swap deal, according to a report published Thursday by the London-based al-Sharq al-Awsat newspaper. Palestinian sources known to be reliable and close to the negotiations for brokering a prisoner swap deal for the release of Shalit told the newspaper, "The Hamas movement is inclined to agree to a deal in which Palestinian prisoners will be released in exchange for captive Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit." » Read more

Report: Hamas leans toward accepting Israel offer on Shalit deal ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Avi Issacharoff - December 17, 2009 - 1:00am Hamas is leaning toward accepting Israel's latest offer on a deal for the release of abducted Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, the pan-Arab newspaper A-Sharq Al-Awset reported Thursday. According to the paper, the proposal does not include the release of hardened Palestinian terrorists from Israeli custody. There are still divisions within Hamas over the matter, A-Sharq Al-Awset reported, between those who back accepting the current offer, and those who want the Islamist militant group to insist on the terrorists' release. » Read more

Hamas still wants to liberate 'all of Palestine' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Ari Shavit - (Opinion) December 17, 2009 - 1:00am The cat is out of the bag: Palestine, all of Palestine. Standing before 100,000 people in the center of Gaza, Ismail Haniyeh this week declared the objective of the Hamas movement. The moderate prime minister of the moderate faction of the Palestinian religious movement publicly announced the peace solution for which his government is aiming. The ultimate solution is not the total liberation of the Gaza Strip or a Palestinian state. It is the liberation of all of Palestine. » Read more

Haaretz exclusive: Olmert's plan for peace with the Palestinians ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Aluf Benn - December 17, 2009 - 1:00am Former prime minister Ehud Olmert proposed giving the Palestinians land from communities bordering the Gaza Strip and from the Judean Desert nature reserve in exchange for settlement blocs in the West Bank. According to the map proposed by Olmert, which is being made public here for the first time, the future border between Israel and the Gaza Strip would be adjacent to kibbutzim and moshavim such as Be'eri, Kissufim and Nir Oz, whose fields would be given to the Palestinians. » Read more

Abbas now ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz (Editorial) December 17, 2009 - 1:00am As could have been expected, the limited construction freeze in the settlements has not brought the Palestinian leaders back to the negotiating table. It is obvious that the decision to give incentives to residents of isolated settlements will not contribute to building trust between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Netanyahu is continuing to walk a tightrope between his commitment to a two-state solution and his desire to placate the settlers and their representatives in Likud and the governing coalition. » Read more

Go back unto death: Life in postwar Gaza ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency December 17, 2009 - 1:00am In one corner of Salah Samouni’s modest living room hangs a “martyr poster” – a customary honor printed for those killed in all Israeli attacks, in the West Bank and Gaza over the years. On the Samouni poster, the 29 faces stare back from eternity, from Muhammad Helmi Samouni, age six months, to Rizqa Muhammad Samouni, age 55. It was this oversize poster that Salah Samouni brought with him to the public hearing held by the UN Fact Finding Mission led by Richard Goldstone in Gaza City in June. » Read more

Palestinian village caught amid Israel settlements ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press by Ben Hubbard - December 17, 2009 - 1:00am The head of this Palestinian village can't scan the horizon without being reminded of everything his people have lost. From the roof of the village council building, Abdelnasser Bedawi can see six of the nine Israeli settlements and outposts that have sprung up on the surrounding hills in the last three decades, fencing in the village and keeping it from two-thirds of its land. » Read more

When Will It Be Our Time? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Mustafa Barghouthi - (Opinion) December 17, 2009 - 1:00am I have lived my entire adult life under occupation, with Israelis holding ultimate control over my movement and daily life. When young Israeli police officers force me to sit on the cold ground and soldiers beat me during a peaceful protest, I smolder. No human being should be compelled to sit on the ground while exercising rights taken for granted throughout the West. » Read more

Why the PLO extended Abbas's term ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor by Ilene Prusher - December 17, 2009 - 1:00am Mahmoud Abbas, the President of the Palestinian Authority (PA), was given a green light Wednesday to stay in office beyond next January, when his term was due to expire for the second time. The Central Council of the PLO (Palestine Liberation Organization) voted Tuesday to extend indefinitely the tenure of Mahmoud Abbas. The decision was seen as a stop-gap measure aimed at avoiding a potential collapse of the PA. » Read more

Babylon & Beyond ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times December 17, 2009 - 1:00am Religion is the opiate of the masses, Karl Marx said. That might be true in some places, but in Israel, this drug induces dangerous hyperactivity. Always a scratch-of-the-surface away, religion is an emotional factor in conflict -- between Israel and the Palestinians, between Israelis and themselves. Recent days have provided one reminder after another. » Read more