November 2nd

Likud Wing Plays Tea Party Over Israeli Talks ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Isabel Kershner - November 1, 2010 - 12:00am TEL AVIV — There were plenty of tea bags around: Wissotzky, the Israeli brand. But the inaugural event of the Israeli version of the Tea Party, organized by the right flank of Benjamin Netanyahu’s conservative Likud Party in this Mediterranean city on Sunday night, felt less like the start of a popular rebellion and more like a tepid political stunt. » Read more

November 1st

Israeli PM to visit US next week ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Statesman by Josef Federman - October 31, 2010 - 12:00am JERUSALEM — Israel's prime minister said Sunday he will head to the U.S. next week to discuss Mideast peace talks with Vice President Joe Biden, in a possible sign of movement for the troubled diplomatic process. Negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians broke down in late September over renewed Israeli settlement construction in the West Bank, and U.S. and Israeli officials have been working feverishly since then in hopes of finding a formula to revive the negotiations. » Read more

French indignant with Netanyahu over freeze: report ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua November 1, 2010 - 12:00am French President Nicolas Sarkozy is outraged at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for withdrawing his participation in a Paris summit with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Ha'aretz daily reported Sunday. The two leaders held a telephone conversation 10 days ago, during which Sarkouzy had asked Netanyahu to extend the construction moratorium in West Bank settlements in a bid to resume peace talks with the Palestinians, the report said. » Read more

Israel: UNESCO West Bank decision 'absurd' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Statesman by Ian Deitch - November 1, 2010 - 12:00am JERUSALEM — A decision by the U.N. body in charge of preserving historical sites to define West Bank shrines sacred to both Jews and Muslims as Palestinian is "absurd," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Friday. One of the sites, in the city of Hebron, has been a flashpoint for decades. Jews call it the Cave of the Patriarchs, where the Bible says the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were buried along with three of their wives. Muslims call it the al-Ibrahimi mosque, reflecting the fact that Abraham is considered the father of both Judaism and Islam. » Read more

PNA unaware of possible Israeli assault on Gaza ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua October 31, 2010 - 12:00am The Palestinian National Authority (PNA) is unaware of Israel's plans to launch a military operation in the Gaza Strip, a senior official said Sunday. Recent reports about possible fighting in Gaza "aim to turn the attention of the West away from the main issues," said Yasser Abed Rabbo, a Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) official. The main issues were the Israeli occupation and its measures "to make Jerusalem more Jewish," he said. » Read more

'PM agreed to lease Jordan Valley from Palestinians' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post November 1, 2010 - 12:00am Israeli sources on Monday confirmed that the US proposed that Israel lease parts of the Jordan Valley from the Palestinians for an additional seven years, Army Radio reported. According to the Monday report, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu agreed to the idea, but demanded that the arrangement be for a longer period of time than the original offer. "Seven years is not enough - an arrangement like this needs to last for dozens of years," Netanyahu said in closed talks, according to Army Radio. » Read more

Google Earth, IPhone trouble Israeli security chief ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters November 1, 2010 - 12:00am TEL AVIV, Nov 1 (Reuters) - Civilian Internet applications now offer militant groups access to intelligence that rivals what government spies can get, Israel's domestic security chief said on Monday. Shin Bet director Yuval Diskin, in a rare public address, identified cyber technologies as an ascendant international security threat. » Read more

Gaza's donkeys under threat from tuk-tuks ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News by Jon Donnison - October 30, 2010 - 12:00am With the sun rising through the dust and detritus, farmers go toe to hoof jostling for space with sheep and goats. Traders tout and tussle to get the best prices. To add to the chaotic atmosphere, a huge bull bucks violently through the crowd having slipped its leash. And it is also here that you find, in considerable number, Gaza's most iconic beast - the donkey. Through decades of conflict, poverty and instability in Gaza, the donkey has proved to be an ever-dependable means of getting about. » Read more

Daily shootings in Gaza's border zone ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency by Jared Malsin - November 1, 2010 - 12:00am UMM AN-NASSER, Gaza (Ma'an) -- A string of shootings of Palestinian workers, many of them only teenagers, in the northern Gaza Strip has brought renewed attention to a live-fire exclusion zone imposed by Israel on the Gaza side of the Green Line. Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon removed settlers and most soldiers from Gaza in 2005, but Israeli forces still patrol the buffer zone, a swath of Palestinian territory along Gaza’s northern and eastern borders. » Read more

Mövenpick's West Bank hotel is testament to political stability ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian by Harriet Sherwood - November 1, 2010 - 12:00am An international five-star hotel opens for business today in Ramallah in testament to political stability and economic growth in the West Bank city once synonymous with Yasser Arafat's besieged headquarters and Palestinian militancy. The Mövenpick Ramallah – part of the Swiss chain – boasts five restaurants and bars, 171 rooms including two presidential suites, a range of luxury banqueting and conference facilities, a heated outdoor pool, a gym and – eventually – a spa. » Read more