Ministerial C'tee passes J’lem-Golan land referendum bill ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Gil Hoffman, Rebecca Anna Stoil - October 11, 2010 - 12:00am A bill requiring a national referendum before relinquishing land in Jerusalem and the Golan Heights passed during a special meeting of the Ministerial Committee on Legislation on Monday, laying the groundwork for it to become law within weeks. » Read more

France 'can't rule out' UN creation of Palestinian state ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews October 10, 2010 - 12:00am French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said Sunday that the option of the UN Security Council creating a Palestinian state cannot be ruled out. Kouchner told the Palestinian newspaper Al-Ayyam that France preferred a two-state solution to be negotiated with Israel, but said appealing to the Security Council to resolve the conflict remained a possibility. "We want to be able to soon welcome the state of Palestine to the UN. This is the hope and the desire of the international community, and the sooner that can happen the better," he said. » Read more

Shas party split on settlement freeze extension ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Yair Ettinger, Jonathan Lis - October 11, 2010 - 12:00am The office of Shas chairman and Interior Minister Eli Yishai issued a statement on Sunday night that said Yishai had been instructed by Shas spiritual leader Rabbi Ovadia Yosef to "strongly oppose any form of a settlement freeze extension." » Read more

PA adopts textbook, banned in Israel, offering both sides' narratives ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Or Kashti - October 11, 2010 - 12:00am The Palestinian Authority's Education Ministry approved the use of a history textbook that offers the central narratives of both Palestinians and the Zionist movement, marking the first time that the accepted Israeli position is being presented to schoolchildren in the West Bank. The textbook, which has been banned from use by the Israeli Education Ministry, is the result of a joint Israeli-Palestinian-Swedish collaboration to promote coexistence through education. It will be taught in two high schools near Jericho, the Palestinian Education Ministry said. » Read more

PNA, Hamas slam Israel's "loyalty oath" law ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua October 11, 2010 - 12:00am RAMALLAH, Oct. 10 (Xinhua) -- The Palestinian National Authority (PNA) slammed on Sunday the Israeli government's approval of the "loyalty oath" law, while the Gaza-ruling Hamas movement described it as "racist." Under the new law, non-Jews who seek Israel's citizenship have to take an oath of loyalty to Israel as a Jewish and democratic state. "It's a dangerous ruling," spokesman for the Palestinian government in the West Bank Ghassan al-Khatib told Xinhua. "This will undoubtedly harm the Arab minority in Israel as well as the Jerusalemites." » Read more

French, Spanish FMs: Lieberman violated every rule of diplomacy ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Barak Ravid - October 11, 2010 - 12:00am The foreign ministers of Spain and France were furious with their Israeli counterpart Avigdor Lieberman, telling him Monday morning during a phone conversation that he had "violated every rule of diplomatic etiquette," an Israeli source reported on Monday. During a dinner meeting on Sunday, Lieberman told France's Bernard Kouchner and Spain's Miguel Angel Moratinos to "solve your own problems in Europe before you come to us with complaints. Maybe then I will be open to accepting your suggestions." » Read more

Abbas seeking alternatives if Mideast talks fail ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Statesman by Salah Nasrawi - October 9, 2010 - 12:00am SIRTE, LIBYA — Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Saturday sought Arab backing for possible fallback options in case troubled peace talks with Israel collapse, including urging the United States to unilaterally recognize a Palestinian state. For now, the Obama administration is still trying to salvage the negotiations that began in Washington five weeks ago. The Arab League, meeting in Libya over the weekend, gave the Americans another month — just past midterm elections in the U.S. — to try to break the deadlock over Israeli settlement expansion. » Read more

Israel's loyalty oath: Discriminatory by design ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian (Editorial) October 11, 2010 - 12:00am There are two narratives at work in Israel that have a bearing on the capacity of its leaders to negotiate the creation of an independent Palestinian state next to it. The first is official and intended for external consumption. It is the one that claims Israel is ready to sit down with the Palestinians in direct talks without preconditions and Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, should not have wasted so much of the 10 month partial freeze on settlement building before he did so. » Read more

How good news became bad for Gaza ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Independent by Donald MacIntyre - October 10, 2010 - 12:00am Hasan Abu Dan still has at hand a single pair of trendy River Woman grey denim shorts, ending just above the knee and complete with Hebrew price label, to remind him of just what a traumatic year 2007 was for his family's garment business. For when Hamas seized control of Gaza after the collapse of its short-lived coalition with Fatah, and Israel imposed a total embargo on the territory in response, the Abu Dan factory was holding 100,000 pairs of the shorts, hitherto a hot-selling item in Israeli fashion stores. » Read more

New arrest revealed in Mabhouh assassination ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National by Wafa Issa - (Analysis) October 11, 2010 - 12:00am The Dubai Police chief says a major suspect in the killing of Mahmoud al Mabhouh was arrested in a western country about two months ago – but authorities in that country asked that nothing be made public. “The suspect who was arrested played a key role in the killing, but we were informed by the ambassador during a meeting that they did not wish to release the information,” Lt Gen Dahi Khalfan Tamim, who declined to give any further details on the identity of the suspect, said yesterday. » Read more