September 30th

A Jewish state or an Israeli democracy? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Shlomo Sand - September 26, 2010 - 12:00am A Jewish state or an Israeli democracy? In the talks that appear to be taking place between Israel and the Palestinians, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has asked his negotiating partner to recognize Israel as a Jewish state. One can understand the prime minister: A man so little observant of the Jewish religious tradition is unsure of his Jewish identity, hence his insecurity about the identity of his state - and the need to seek validation from our neighbors. » Read more

'Obama guarantees Bibi: Only 2 more months of freeze' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Yitzhak Benhorin - September 30, 2010 - 12:00am The Obama administration is pressing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to extend the settlement construction moratorium by two months, Jewish senators were told at a White House briefing. » Read more

Netanyahu to US: I'm leading Israel's policy ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Atilla Somfalvi - September 29, 2010 - 12:00am Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met Wednesday with US special envoy George Mitchell, who arrived in Israel in a bid to save the peace talks following the end of the settlement construction freeze. The two officials were forced to deal with another issue – Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman's UN General Assembly address on Tuesday, in which he mentioned his land exchange plan and said that it could "take decades" to reach a comprehensive peace agreement with the Palestinians. » Read more

PA official: Israel to be blamed if talks breakdown ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post September 30, 2010 - 12:00am Palestinian officials on Wednesday expressed skepticism about the resumption of peace talks and signaled they would accept nothing less than an extension of the West Bank settlement construction moratorium ahead of the scheduled arrival of US Mideast Envoy George Mitchell and European Union Foreign Policy Chief Catherine Ashton to the region on Thursday. Veteran Palestinian negotiator Nabil Sha'ath said Israel should be blamed for any breakdown of the negotiations if it insists on expanding settlements on lands claimed by the Palestinians for their state. » Read more

Israeli forces 'Tasered' activist on Gaza aid boat ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News September 29, 2010 - 12:00am Yonatan Shapira, an Israeli air force pilot turned peace activist, said he was shocked with a Taser gun while passively resisting arrest. And a British journalist said he was "ambushed" and "almost strip-searched" by commandos on board the vessel. Israel's military had said the vessel was seized peacefully on Tuesday. It declined to comment on the activists' accounts. Earlier this year, Israeli commandos killed nine people in clashes on board a Turkish ship trying to reach Gaza. » Read more

Lieberman's speech / Petty politics ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Yossi Verter - (Opinion) September 29, 2010 - 12:00am Last week, U.S. President Barack Obama told the UN General Assembly that "petty politics" must not be allowed to get in the way of Israeli-Palestinian peace. Five days later, Israel's foreign minister addressed the same forum and showed everyone whom Obama was talking about. Petty politics is Israel's specialty. » Read more

Obama sets out guarantees to Netanyahu for 60-day freeze extension ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) by Ron Kampeas - September 29, 2010 - 12:00am The Obama administration reportedly is promising Israel broad security and diplomatic guarantees in exchange for extending a settlement moratorium by 60 days. According to an article posted Wednesday evening by David Makovsky, a senior analyst at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, a letter from President Obama to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledges that the United States will: *Not ask for additional extensions on the partial ban on settlement building, which expired Sunday; » Read more

How did They Deceive Abu-Mazen? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat by Abdul Rahman Al-Rashed - (Opinion) September 29, 2010 - 12:00am Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas deserves the award for the world's Worst Negotiator. Currently, he can celebrate one of two possibilities: either negotiations will be terminated, or settlement construction will be suspended. Despite my appreciation of the noble man, he made a mistake by simplifying the demands of the Palestinian people into one request; namely that all settlement constructions are ceased. This has now become the highest of his ambitions. » Read more

Paris’s Role in the Peace Talk ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Dar Al-Hayat by Randa Takieddine - September 29, 2010 - 12:00am Benjamin Netanyahu did not, and will not heed the calls of his friends and allies to freeze settlement building and suspend the decision to re-allow the construction of settlements after September 26. But in truth, no one in the Arab world had any illusions that Netanyahu will respond to the calls of the U.S. administration or the European Union (EU), specifically the calls of his friend French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who urged him to extend the freeze on settlements. » Read more

Disappointment with Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times by Daoud Kuttab - September 30, 2010 - 12:00am A US State Department spokesman told reporters this week that Washington was disappointed with Israel because of its failure to extend the settlement moratorium for as long as the peace talks were moving. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon used the same words to describe how the United Nations feels towards Israel. French President Nicolas Sarkozy, meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Paris, expressed the same sentiment vis-a-vis Israel's decisions. » Read more