October 14th

US backs Palestinian demand to see borders ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency October 14, 2010 - 12:00am WASHINGTON (Ma’an) -- The US on Wednesday supported the PLO's request to see a map of Israel's borders, but said such demands must be made face-to-face, not through the media. PLO Secretary-General Yasser Abed Rabbo on Wednesday called on Israel and the US to provide a map of Israel's borders before "asking anything else." "Israel is an unknown entity in terms of borders [so] how does it suggest to recognize it as a Jewish state? Israel and the US should first set out Israel's borders," he explained. » Read more

Palestinians counter Israeli offer on settlements ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post by Joel Greenberg - October 14, 2010 - 12:00am JERUSALEM - Responding to an offer by Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to extend a freeze on building in West Bank settlements if Palestinians recognize Israel as the Jewish state, a top Palestinian official said Wednesday that such recognition could be granted to Israel within its 1967 borders, without the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem. In media interviews, Yasser Abed Rabbo, a senior official of the Palestinian Liberation Organization, countered Netanyahu's offer in another volley of the verbal ping-pong that has taken the place of direct negotiations. » Read more

An End to Israel’s Invisibility ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Michael B. Oren - (Editorial) October 13, 2010 - 12:00am NEARLY 63 years after the United Nations recognized the right of the Jewish people to independence in their homeland — and more than 62 years since Israel’s creation — the Palestinians are still denying the Jewish nature of the state. “Israel can name itself whatever it wants,” said the Palestinian Authority president, Mahmoud Abbas, while, according to the newspaper Haaretz, his chief negotiator, Saeb Erekat, said that the Palestinian Authority will never recognize Israel as the Jewish state. Back in 1948, opposition to the legitimacy of a Jewish state ignited a war. » Read more

Israeli Minister Exposes Rift With Netanyahu ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Ethan Bronner - October 13, 2010 - 12:00am JERUSALEM — This week, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman of Israel gave a dinner for the foreign ministers of France and Spain, who were here urging a West Bank settlement freeze to improve the chance for peace with the Palestinians. When the meal was over, Mr. Lieberman spoke. » Read more

October 13th

Biding time ATFP World Press Roundup Article from NOW Lebanon by Hussein Ibish - (Opinion) October 12, 2010 - 12:00am The United States will most probably succeed in convincing Israel to extend its partial and temporary settlement moratorium for another two or three months. It has already offered a package of benefits that seems completely disproportionate to what is being asked for, and which even US newspaper The New York Times has described as “overly generous.” » Read more

Where is Israel going? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from ABC News by Michael Brull - (Opinion) October 13, 2010 - 12:00am Shortly after Israel conquered the West Bank and Gaza, one of Israel’s most brilliant intellectuals, Yeshayahu Leibowitz called for an immediate withdrawal from the occupied territories. » Read more

Buying “Time” Will Lead Negotiations Out of Predicaments? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Dar Al-Hayat by George Semaan - (Opinion) October 13, 2010 - 12:00am The ball is now in Washington’s court, knowing it never exited it in the first place, after Washington decided to be the sole sponsor of the new round of direct talks between Israel and the Palestinian authority. » Read more

Cheap gimmickry ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Economist (Analysis) October 12, 2010 - 12:00am ISRAEL was defined as the "Jewish state" in 1947 by the UN resolution that brought it into being. But now Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu wants the Palestinians to confirm it: both the Palestinian leaders who are supposed to be negotiating with him over a state of their own, and individual Palestinians (and other non-Jews) who apply for Israeli citizenship. » Read more

Loyalty oath law, causing stir in Israel, met by U.S. Jewish silence ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) by Ron Kampeas - October 12, 2010 - 12:00am A day after Israel’s Cabinet announced that it would consider making a loyalty oath mandatory for non-Jewish immigrants, the question put to The Israel Project’s president and founder was simple enough. “How did your organization react?” Natasha Mozgovoya, the Washington correspondent for Israel’s daily Haaretz, asked Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi at a news conference last week announcing an expansion of The Israel Project’s activities. “We didn’t put out a press release” was all Mizrahi would say at the time. » Read more

Anger at West Bank protester's sentence ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Independent by Donald MacIntyre - October 13, 2010 - 12:00am The British Foreign Office last night expressed concern over a one-year prison sentence handed down by a military court to Abdallah Abu Rahma, a leader of unarmed anti-occupation protests in the West Bank. Mr Abu Rahma, 39, was given the jail sentence along with a further six months suspended for three years and a 5000 shekel (£760) fine after being convicted for incitement and organising demonstrations against the separation barrier in the village of Bil'in. The demonstrations often end in clashes between stone-throwing protesters and youths using tear gas and gunfire. » Read more