November 6th

U.S. State Department: Israel is not a tolerant society ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Akiva Eldar - November 6, 2009 - 1:00am Israel dismally fails the requirements of a tolerant pluralistic society, according to a new report from the U.S. State Department. Despite boasting religious freedom and protection of all holy sites, Israel falls short in tolerance toward minorities, equal treatment of ethnic groups, openness toward various streams within society, and respect for holy and other sites. » Read more

Abbas decision to withdraw from race draws Israeli, U.S. concern ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Amos Harel, Avi Issacharoff, Barak Ravid - November 6, 2009 - 1:00am Israeli and American officials expressed concern over Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's announcement on Thursday that he would not be running for reelection in January. President Shimon Peres telephoned Abbas on Wednesday night in an effort to persuade the Palestinian leader to change his mind. Peres told Abbas that he was worried that the decision would trigger political crisis in the Palestinian Authority, leading to a Hamas takeover in the West Bank. » Read more

Fatah, PLO urge Abbas to reconsider candidacy ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency November 6, 2009 - 1:00am President Mahmoud Abbas' announcement on Thursday evening that he would not be seeking a second term has left the PLO and Fatah without their top nominee, several officials said beforehand. According to Yasser Abed Rabbo, the secretary-general of the PLO's Executive Committee, Abbas remains the preferred candidate for next January's elections. He told reporters at a news conference in Ramallah that the PLO would reject Abbas' retirement from politics. » Read more

Abbas: I will not seek second term ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency November 6, 2009 - 1:00am President Mahmoud Abbas announced in Ramallah on Thursday he would not seek a second term in office. Confirming day-long rumors of his impending retirement, Abbas said the decision came amid Israel's intransigence on settlements and the international community's indifference to it. "I have informed the PLO Executive Committee and Fatah's Central Committee that I do not intend to seek a second term in the upcoming [24 January 2010] election," he said in a televised address. "This decision is not up for debate or negotiation." » Read more

Goldstone report: UN votes for probe into Gaza war crimes ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor by Howard Lafranchi - November 6, 2009 - 1:00am The United Nations General Assembly approved Thursday afternoon a resolution that calls on both Israel and the Palestinians to investigate the accusations of war crimes in last winter's Gaza incursion as described in a UN-commissioned report. The resolution – approved 118-14, with much of the developing world and Arab countries in favor, and the US and Israel notably opposed – underscores the broad support for the Goldstone report, the investigation commissioned by the UN Human Rights Council to look into alleged war crimes committed during the three-week-long Gaza war. » Read more

Abbas pushes back ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Politico by Laura Rozen - (Blog) November 6, 2009 - 1:00am A day after Hillary Clinton returned from a swing through the Middle East where she pushed the Palestinians to go into peace talks with Israel short of a full Israeli settlement freeze, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is threatening to not run in Palestinian elections he has called to be held in January, reports say. » Read more

Abbas Makes His Move ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times (Editorial) November 5, 2009 - 1:00am Abbas Momani/Agence-France Press/Getty Images Mahmoud Abbas announcing in a televised speech on Thursday that he will step down as president of the Palestinian Authority. Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority, announced on Thursday that he would not seek re-election in a presidential vote he has called for in January. While he said that this was not a “maneuver,” some of his aides have said that his decision is part of a strategy to persuade President Obama to support a full peace plan for an independent Palestinian state. What’s behind this unexpected announcement? » Read more

Highlights from Abbas speech ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters November 6, 2009 - 1:00am Following are highlights from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's speech on Thursday, in which he said he did not seek re-election and deplored deadlocked talks with Hamas and with Israel. ACCUSING ISRAEL... We pledged, us and the Israelis, with the participation and sponsorship of the international community, to reach a two-state solution. But month after month, year after year, there was procrastination and the increase of Jewish settlement and Israeli settlement on our land, which compromises the credibility of negotiations. » Read more

Top Palestinian Rules Out Race for Re-election ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Ethan Bronner, Mark Landler - November 5, 2009 - 1:00am The Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, warned on Thursday that he would not seek re-election, the latest sign that the Obama administration’s drive to broker a Middle East peace accord, one of President Obama’s key foreign policy goals, has fallen into disarray. » Read more

November 5th

Where things stand in the Middle East after Sec. Clinton's not-so-excellent adventure ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ibishblog by Hussein Ibish - (Blog) November 3, 2009 - 1:00am Secretary of State Hillary Clinton went to the Middle East and inadvertently created yet another crisis for the Obama peace initiative. It's not so much that she badly mishandled everything -- although that argument could certainly be made -- it's more that I think her difficulties demonstrate how complicated and in some practical senses almost impossible the American diplomatic task at hand really is. » Read more