December 11th

To the Arab world, Obama's Nobel leaves something to be desired ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times by Scott MacLeod - (Opinion) December 9, 2009 - 1:00am The Nobel Peace Prize that President Obama receives in Oslo on Thursday seems to many in the Middle East like a cruel hoax. In June, Egyptians cheered him for pledging an intense personal effort to resolve the region's problems through negotiations rather than force, and his outreach to the Muslim world was surely on the mind of the Nobel committee when it made the award. In the last three months, however, the Obama administration has steadily undone the president's initial positive moves by seriously mishandling one of the Middle East's central issues: the Israeli-Palestinian dispute. » Read more

Graphic Glimpses of West Bank Struggle on YouTube ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Robert Mackey - (Blog) December 9, 2009 - 1:00am Israel announced plans last week to use the Web to improve its image abroad in two ways: by setting up a new unit of the Israel Defense Forces devoted to fighting criticism on YouTube, Facebook and Twitter, and through what the Israeli newspaper Haaretz described as “an initiative by the Information and Diaspora Ministry to train people to represent Israel independently on the Internet.” » Read more

December 10th

Gideon Levy / Let's face the facts, Israel is a semi-theocracy ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Gideon Levy - (Opinion) December 10, 2009 - 1:00am The storm over remarks made by Justice Minister Yaakov Neeman is in many respects a tempest in a teapot, which has for a long time taken on holier aspects than it seems. Neeman wants Torah law, or in other words, he wants Israel to be a country governed by Jewish religious law, halakha. In any event, Israel is already a semi-theocracy. The Israelis who were frightened by the minister's remarks and who love viewing their country as liberal, Western and secular are forgetting that our life here is more religious, traditional and halakhic than we are prepared to admit. » Read more

Neither revolutionary nor trivial ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons by Daniel Seidemann - (Opinion) December 10, 2009 - 1:00am The current episode in the never-ending saga of Jerusalem-related controversies relates to a leaked draft resolution implying that the Council of the European Union expects East Jerusalem to become the capital of a future Palestinian state. Banner headlines highlighted Israel's shock and dismay over this diplomatic "outrage". At this writing, PM Binyamin Netanyahu is pulling out all the diplomatic stops to convince the Europeans to retract the offending words; it is still not known if he will succeed. » Read more

A timely wake-up call ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons (Interview) December 10, 2009 - 1:00am an interview with Mahdi Abdul Hadi bitterlemons: What do you make of the reported Swedish draft resolution on Jerusalem? Abdul Hadi: There are several elements to this issue. First of all, in presenting this resolution to European countries, Sweden is merely stating what Europe's position has always been, whether in public or private, which is within the framework of United Nations resolutions. bitterlemons: So there is nothing new in the resolution? » Read more

Israeli pressure must be resisted ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons by Ghassan Khatib - (Opinion) December 10, 2009 - 1:00am The council of European foreign ministers is currently debating a draft resolution drawn up by Sweden, holder of the rotating EU presidency, which is supposed to specify EU positions on different aspects of the Middle East conflict. The draft posits positions, including on the issue of Jerusalem, that have caused fierce debate in European policy-making circles. Such debate indicates that there is a growing feeling among Europeans in general as well as their governments that Israeli actions in Jerusalem are exceeding all acceptable limits and are in clear violation of international law. » Read more

Israeli minister says settlers' resistance 'natural' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National by Omar Karmi - December 10, 2009 - 1:00am As Jewish settlers step up their resistance to a temporary and partial settlement construction freeze ordered last month by the Israeli government, Avigdor Lieberman, Israel’s foreign minister, yesterday said the opposition was “legitimate” and “natural”. » Read more

Next step regarding Jerusalem ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times by Daoud Kuttab - (Opinion) December 10, 2009 - 1:00am Forty-two years is a long time. Israel somehow thinks that with passing of time, and by passing unilateral laws, it can dictate history. This week, the Israeli arrogance in going against international will, which has been going on for so many years, seems to be facing a reality check. The next logical step is then for European Union countries to refuse to recognise any products produced in industrial zones created in East Jerusalem as coming from Israel. » Read more

Building on achievements ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times by Charlotta Sparre - (Opinion) December 10, 2009 - 1:00am Today is the international day of human rights, marking the anniversary of the United Nations adopting the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948. Over the years, a whole system of human rights instruments and mechanisms has been developed to ensure the supremacy of human rights and to tackle human rights violations, wherever they may take place. » Read more

'A major EU interest' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times by Michael Jansen - (Opinion) December 10, 2009 - 1:00am Deliberations on a statement on Palestine at this week’s European Union gathering of foreign ministers followed a familiar pattern. The bloc’s current Swedish presidency presented a text approved by the Palestinians and Arabs, and Israel did its best to weaken the document. » Read more