November 9th

Abbas move seen as gamble with US ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National by Omar Karmi - November 9, 2009 - 1:00am If nothing else, Mahmoud Abbas spurred a flurry of reaction and speculation about the future of the struggle for Palestinian statehood after he stated his desire in a speech on Thursday not to run again for the presidency of the Palestinian Authority. Fatah supporters rallied across the West Bank on Friday to urge him to reconsider, while Palestinian leaders from both within and outside his own party closed ranks around him. Further afield, Arab, European and Turkish officials have expressed their hope that Mr Abbas might yet be persuaded otherwise. » Read more

Arab echoes of grassroots protest ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National by Craig Nelson - November 9, 2009 - 1:00am If Gamal Abdel Nasser, the late president of Egypt and legendary champion of Arab nationalism, had risen from his grave during the heady days of November 1989, he would have rubbed his eyes in disbelief. The stirring on the streets of Prague, Berlin and Bucharest not only spelled the end to the “enemy-of-my-enemy-is-my-friend” politics that Nasser had mastered in playing off the rival superpowers against each other, it was a sharp break with the sweeping pan-Arab nationalism that Nasser espoused and the top-down political style he practised. » Read more

'US attitude to Israel may be changing' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Hilary Leila Krieger - November 9, 2009 - 1:00am A leading Republican congressman warned that the climate toward Israel on Capitol Hill could be changing, ahead of his address to a major Jewish conference Sunday. "The possibility is there," US House of Representatives Minority Whip Eric Cantor told The Jerusalem Post, speaking about the prospect that Congress's support for Israel could be ebbing. » Read more

Abbas claims Israel doesn't want peace ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Khaled Abu Toameh, Tovah Lazaroff - November 9, 2009 - 1:00am Israel does not want peace, does not want to stop settlement construction and does not want the two-state solution, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said on Sunday. Addressing supporters during a rare visit to Bethlehem and Hebron, Abbas said that the Palestinians would not make any additional concessions and would continue to demand their rights. "I don't know what the Israelis want," he said. "They must start thinking about what needs to be done if they really want peace." » Read more

Abbas: I don't know what Israel wants ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters November 9, 2009 - 1:00am Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Sunday that Israel had done nothing to promote peace. "It appears they do not want peace, and they don't want to stop settlement, and they don't want the vision of two-states, so I don't know what they want," he said, addressing a small crowd outside the presidential palace in Bethlehem. "We must remain believers in peace," he added, speaking in a car park which still bears the track marks of Israel tanks stationed there during the Intifada, or uprising, which swept the Palestinian territories in 2000. » Read more

West Bank rabbi: Jews can kill Gentiles who threaten Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz November 9, 2009 - 1:00am Just weeks after the arrest of alleged Jewish terrorist, Yaakov Teitel, a West Bank rabbi on Monday released a book giving Jews permission to kill Gentiles who threaten Israel. Rabbi Yitzhak Shapiro, who heads the Od Yosef Chai Yeshiva in the Yitzhar settlement, wrote in his book "The King's Torah" that even babies and children can be killed if they pose a threat to the nation. Shapiro based the majority of his teachings on passages quoted from the Bible, to which he adds his opinions and beliefs. » Read more

Abbas wants Obama guarantee for East Jerusalem freeze ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Akiva Eldar - November 9, 2009 - 1:00am If Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas makes good on his declaration that he won't run in the upcoming Palestinian presidential election, Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad and his entire cabinet would resign, top Palestinian officials predicted yesterday. » Read more

Palestinian sources: Abbas plans to quit before elections ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Avi Issacharoff - November 9, 2009 - 1:00am Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said in private meetings in recent days that he intends to resign from his post in the near future, Palestinian sources told Haaretz. The remarks come after Thursday's announcement that he would not seek reelection as Palestinian president. » Read more

Twenty years after Berlin, Palestinians crack Israel's wall ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency November 9, 2009 - 1:00am Marking the 20th anniversary since the fall of the Berlin Wall, Palestinians tore down a section of Israel's wall in the West Bank village of Ni'lin on Friday. During a weekly protest against the barrier, which cuts through the Ramallah-area village's center and isolates residents from 60 percent of their farmland, some 300 demonstrators methodically dismantled a concrete section before Israeli forces opened fire. » Read more

Elections commission: No plans to delay vote ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency November 9, 2009 - 1:00am The Central Elections Commission denied news reports on Sunday regarding its intentions to delay the election date for Palestinian Legislative Council and the presidential elections set for January 2010. The commission confirmed in a statement that it remains committed to the date appointed by President Mahmoud Abbas for 24 January 2010, adding that it lacks the authority to change the presidential decree that was issued by the President, proclaiming the forthcoming elections. » Read more