PLO Insist on Total Stop to Settlement Activities ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat by Kifah Zaboun - November 24, 2010 - 1:00am Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat has stated to Asharq Al-Awsat that the Palestinians have yet to be given any details related to the US-Israeli agreement pertaining to the resumption of the negotiations. Meanwhile, reliable sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that in return for the guarantees offered to Israel, the Americans might offer the Palestinians guarantees related to support, the establishment of the state and its borders, and the status of Jerusalem. » Read more

Muslim, Bedouin, and Representing Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward by Josh Nathan-Kazis - November 24, 2010 - 1:00am Ishmael Khaldi does not deny the difficult conditions of the Bedouin communities living in Israel’s southern desert, the most impoverished group in Israel. A Bedouin from the north of the country, Khaldi said that he donated 250 shekels — about $70 — to the residents of Al-Arakib, the unrecognized Bedouin village in the Negev that the Israeli government has demolished half a dozen times in recent months. “For the kids without shelter, now that winter is coming,” he said. » Read more

Declaring Palestinian Statehood ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Ideas Daily by Aryeh Tepper - November 24, 2010 - 1:00am Palestinian political figures, said to be frustrated with the pace and trajectory of peace talks with Israel, have increasingly made noises about taking matters into their own hands and unilaterally declaring a Palestinian state. In practical terms, this means implementing Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad's plan for Palestinian independence first unveiled in August 2009. » Read more

Why Robert Wexler? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Alon Ben-meir - (Opinion) November 24, 2010 - 1:00am The Obama administration is close to reaching a new agreement with Israel that would freeze settlement construction in the West Bank for a further, nonrenewable, three months. Once negotiations resume, regardless of the outcome, it will be necessary for the administration to replace Middle East envoy George Mitchell, who led the negotiations for the past two years to no avail. » Read more

Ayalon: Boycott of Israel is boycott of peace process ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post November 24, 2010 - 1:00am Deputy FM responds to Norwegian petition by 100 arts, cultural figures accusing Israeli educational institutions of apartheid, “playing a key role in the occupation"; country's former PM condemns move. Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon on Wednesday condemned a petition against Israel which was signed by one hundred famous Norwegians. » Read more

Palestinians clash with IDF over West Bank demolitions ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Ali Waked - November 24, 2010 - 1:00am Security forces on Wednesday razed Palestinian fences and water installations built unlawfully in the Nahal Kane Nature Reserve located in the West Bank. A tent encampment and three pigsties illegally built by Palestinians were demolished on Tuesday night. Civil Administration personnel also razed an illegally paved road in a nature reserve situated in Israeli-controlled territory. The paving of the road was funded by Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad. » Read more

IDF generals, not just soldiers, must answer questions on human shields ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Amira Hass - November 24, 2010 - 1:00am The Givati Brigade soldiers who were tried and convicted of risking the life of a non-combatant Palestinian child are entitled to feel like victims. But why shouldn't they feel patriotic pride? Their conviction essentially handed the post of chief of staff to Yoav Galant and bestowed legal immunity on political figures, in particular Ehud Olmert and Ehud Barak. » Read more

Israel's leaders have handcuffed themselves to the extreme right ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz (Editorial) November 24, 2010 - 1:00am For years, right-wing circles have tried to derail diplomatic steps taken by Israeli governments by, among other things, drafting laws that predicate territorial concession upon an absolute Knesset majority or a referendum. On Monday the government joined forces with the most right-wing parliament ever witnessed in the history of the state, for the purpose of handcuffing the political leadership's moves in the peace process. » Read more

Israel stakes out lonely position on Jerusalem ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Statesman by Matti Friedman - November 24, 2010 - 1:00am If there is ever to be Middle East peace, here's a knot that must somehow be undone. Hundreds of thousands of Israelis who have moved to sprawling Jewish areas in east Jerusalem believe they are ordinary residents of their capital who will never be asked to vacate their homes. It's a sentiment shared by most of their countrymen and affirmed by lawmakers who voted this week to limit a government's ability to ever pull out. » Read more

New layer of doubt cast over Middle East peace drive ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Crispian Balmer - (Analysis) November 24, 2010 - 1:00am The path to Middle East peace, already strewn with an array of daunting obstacles, has now got one more hurdle to overcome. Israel's right-leaning coalition government this week passed a law that will probably force a referendum on any peace deal that involves withdrawing from land annexed by Israel, including East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights, captured from Syria. Palestinians and Syrians have howled in protest, saying that Israel was obliged by international law to return land seized in a 1967 war and had no right to put the matter to a public vote. » Read more