October 11th

Israel keeps door open to new settlement freeze ATFP World Press Roundup Article from by Jeffrey Heller - (Analysis) October 10, 2010 - 12:00am JERUSALEM, Oct 10 (Reuters) - Israel is not closing the door on a further freeze of new construction in West Bank settlements after the Palestinians, backed by Arab powers, gave Washington a one-month window to save peace talks from collapse. Much could depend on whether the United States opts to sweeten incentives to Israel to agree to a proposed 60-day partial building moratorium, Israeli political sources said on Sunday. » Read more

PA official: Hamas ignoring internal security crisis ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency October 10, 2010 - 12:00am RAMALLAH (Ma'an) -- Palestinian Authority security department spokesman Adnan Ad-Dmeiri said Hamas was failing to deal with intelligence collaborators among its members. Ad-Dmeiri said security weaknesses within Hamas had enabled a series of assassinations of Hamas leaders. Israeli forces killed two leaders of Hamas' armed wing in Hebron on Friday, Nashat Al-Karmi and Maamoun Al-Natsha. Hamas leader Ali As-Suweiti was killed by Israeli soldiers in Hebron in April, and in March Mahmoud al-Mabhouh was assassinated in Dubai. » Read more

Rachel Corrie trial continues in Israel, reviving controversial case ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor by Ben Lynfield - October 8, 2010 - 12:00am Haifa, Israel — Seven years after an Israeli military D-9 bulldozer buried American pro-Palestinian activist Rachel Corrie under sandy soil near Gaza's border with Egypt, her family has effectively put the Israeli army on trial for her death. The Corrie family is demanding a symbolic $1 in punitive damages from the state for wrongful killing and negligence. » Read more

Transcripts on ’73 War, Now Public, Grip Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Ethan Bronner - October 10, 2010 - 12:00am JERUSALEM — For many Israelis, the 1973 Arab-Israeli war was their single most terrifying moment, when a woefully unprepared nation, deluded into believing that its neighbors regarded it as impregnable, suffered a devastating attack and struggled back to victory at enormous cost with last-minute American help. Last week, the confidential discussions of Israel’s top leaders in the first days of that war, known here as the Yom Kippur War because the attack began on that Jewish holy day, were declassified and gripped the public. » Read more

Israeli Cabinet Approves Citizenship Amendment ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Isabel Kershner - October 10, 2010 - 12:00am JERUSALEM — The Israeli cabinet on Sunday approved a contentious draft amendment to the country’s citizenship law that calls for non-Jews seeking to become citizens to pledge loyalty to Israel as a Jewish and a democratic state. Decried by opponents as unnecessary, provocative and racist, the amendment, which is subject to approval by Parliament, encountered a storm of criticism and drove open divisions within the ruling coalition. » Read more

October 8th

How Will Jews React to ‘Budrus’? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Forward by Josh Nathan-Kazis - October 8, 2010 - 12:00am Protesters in the Palestinian town of Budrus were growing frustrated. After months of nonviolently demonstrating against the Israeli separation barrier being built through their olive groves, the demonstrators faced increased force from Israeli border police who were firing tear gas and swinging batons. Young Palestinians began tossing rocks at the soldiers despite pleas from protest organizers, and Israeli forces occupied the town, sending live ammunition down the narrow streets. » Read more

Bizarre blend of politics and diplomacy ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times by Rami Khouri - (Opinion) October 8, 2010 - 12:00am The revelation here in the United States last Wednesday that Washington was offering Israel new security-related guarantees in return for a two-month extension of the partial moratorium on new Jewish colonies in the occupied Palestinian territories is neither surprising nor encouraging. » Read more

Bizarre blend of politics and diplomacy ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times by Rami Khouri - (Opinion) October 8, 2010 - 12:00am The revelation here in the United States last Wednesday that Washington was offering Israel new security-related guarantees in return for a two-month extension of the partial moratorium on new Jewish colonies in the occupied Palestinian territories is neither surprising nor encouraging. » Read more

Israel's democracy rings hollow ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News by Faisal J. Abbas - (Opinion) October 8, 2010 - 12:00am Within hours, the YouTube video showing an Israeli soldier belly-dancing around Ehsan Al Dababsi, a Palestinian detainee who was bound and blindfolded, became headline news all around the Middle East. » Read more

Abbas has to make tough decisions ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News by Osama Al-Sharif - (Opinion) October 8, 2010 - 12:00am Several days ago the leader of the Israeli opposition Tzipi Livni said that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "must choose the real long-term interests of Israel rather than his own personal political interests." She was commenting on Netanyahu's refusal to extend the colony freeze moratorium which prompted the Palestinians to carry out their threat to walk away from direct talks barely a month after they were ceremoniously resumed in Washington. » Read more