December 2nd

A ‘tragic and dangerous development’ ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times by Michael Jansen - (Opinion) December 2, 2010 - 1:00am Reliable sources report that George Mitchell, a hero of the Good Friday agreement which ended Catholic-Protestant warfare in Northern Ireland, is set to step down from his post as US peace broker. Having tried and failed to relaunch negotiations between Palestinians and Israelis since being appointed by President Barack Obama early in 2009, Mitchell is apparently “to bow out” or “throw in the towel” in despair - as they say. If this report is correct, Mitchell’s departure would be a tragic and dangerous development. » Read more

WEST BANK: Abbas still waiting for U.S. answers on Israeli settlements ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times by Maher Abukhater - December 2, 2010 - 1:00am Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday took the opportunity of laying the cornerstone for the new presidential headquarters just north of the West Bank city of Ramallah to tell the world that he was still waiting for U.S. answers regarding an Israeli settlement freeze that would pave the way for resuming direct negotiations. However, he said, the answer may come as early as Thursday. “We did not yet receive the official U.S. answers on stopping settlements,” Abbas said. “Maybe we will hear something official tomorrow." » Read more

Syria's Assad seems to suggest backing for Hamas negotiable, leaked cables say ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times December 2, 2010 - 1:00am Syrian President Bashar Assad described Hamas as an "uninvited guest" in his country in confidential conversations with American lawmakers, and appeared to suggest he would be willing to give up the alliance in exchange for incentives, according to several documents contained in the trove of leaked diplomatic cables posted online by the website WikiLeaks. » Read more

Editorial: US responsibility ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News (Editorial) December 1, 2010 - 1:00am We hear Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas this week warning that the unresolved Jewish settlements issue is a time bomb waiting to blow apart any chance of a peace deal between Palestinians and Israelis. We hear, too, from international aid and human rights organizations that Israel’s claims to have eased the blockade on Gaza is a lie; it has had almost no effect and done nothing to improve the lives of ordinary Palestinians there. We hear, as well, that a poll of Israeli Jews finds that they are intolerant and suspicious of Israeli Arab citizens. » Read more

Hamas Leader in Gaza Softens on Vote ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Fares Akram - December 2, 2010 - 1:00am The leader of the Hamas government in Gaza, Ismail Haniya, said Wednesday for the first time that any resolution of the Palestinian dispute with Israel should be put to a referendum of all Palestinians around the world, and that if one were held, Hamas would accept the results no matter what they were. In the past, when President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority discussed holding such a referendum, Hamas had been critical, saying that principles like the return of refugees and the borders of the state could not be subject to a vote. » Read more

December 1st

Palestinian PM defiant over Israeli control ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National by Hugh Naylor - December 1, 2010 - 1:00am Salam Fayyad, the Palestinian Authority prime minister, defiantly toured Israeli-controlled land in the West Bank yesterday, vowing to rebuild a road that Israel recently destroyed in the area. Near the northern village of Bani Hassan, the two-kilometre, PA-built road falls on a swath of land that the represents roughly 60 per cent of the West Bank. Although under Israel's exclusive authority, the Palestinian leader's pledge to rebuild the motorway is part of his effort to defy Israel's control over the area that he has called necessary for building an independent Palestinian state. » Read more

Palestinian Author Defends His Widely Challenged Report on Western Wall ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward by Nathan Jeffay - December 1, 2010 - 1:00am The author of a controversial new Palestinian Authority report says his claim that the Western Wall is not a Jewish historic site does not constitute Palestinian propaganda but is rather an attempt to educate world Jewry. “I want to speak to all Jews and say — this wall is not for you; it’s for the Muslims,” Al-Mutawakel Taha, the PA’s Deputy Minister of Information, told the Forward. “I want to tell this to all Jews in all of the world.” » Read more

A ‘self-hating’ Palestinian? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Murad Bustami - (Opinion) December 1, 2010 - 1:00am Several months ago, I took part in a symposium organized by the Palestinian Academic Society for International Affairs, entitled “Hamas’s Political Agenda 2010.” It took place at a venue a few meters from the burial site of Yasser Arafat and the office of current PA President Mahmoud Abbas. Independent figures from different academic backgrounds spoke on the podium in an attempt to analyze the political discourse of the Hamas movement, as well as to highlight the growing rift between the Palestinian liberation movement and the peace process. » Read more

Fayyad says Palestinians ready for statehood by August ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post December 1, 2010 - 1:00am Palestinians will be ready for statehood by August, as promised in a two-year action plan, Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad said in an interview Tuesday, dismissing a host of steep obstacles to independence. The former World Bank economist visited a rural West Bank road destroyed by Israel to demonstrate his belief that independence is inevitable as long as Palestinians don't lose faith. » Read more

Survey: Half of Israeli Jews oppose having Arab neighbors ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Aviad Glickman - December 1, 2010 - 1:00am Almost half of Israeli Jews – 46% – wouldn't want to have Arabs as neighbors, a survey conducted by the Israel Democracy Institute indicated Tuesday. Meanwhile, 39% of the participants said they would not want to live near migrant workers and mental patients in rehabilitation, while 23% said that the ultra-Orthodox would make the most difficult neighbors. A quarter of the participants consider gay neighbors the least desirable. The survey also suggests that 86% of Israeli Jews believe that critical decisions regarding the future of Israel must be decided by a Jewish majority. » Read more