How Unesco countries voted on Palestinian membership ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian November 2, 2011 - 12:00am Breakdown of how Unesco countries voted on Palestinian membership 194 member states 173 votes cast 81 required majority 52 abstentions 14 "no" votes 107 "yes" votes No: Australia, Canada, Czech Republic, Germany, Israel, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Palau, Panama, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Sweden, US, Vanuatu. Abstentions: » Read more

Israel's ideal partners are in Gaza ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Zvi Barel - (Opinion) November 2, 2011 - 12:00am It's a pleasure to do business with Islamic Jihad. It fires Grad rockets, Israel responds with bombs, Egypt mediates indirect talks, there's a cease-fire and everyone is satisfied. Israel once again displays its "deterrent power" (which did not deter Islamic Jihad from launching rockets in the first place ). » Read more

Palestinians must say no to negotiations with Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Amira Hass - (Opinion) November 2, 2011 - 12:00am Now that Palestine has been recognized by the United Nations' cultural organization, UNESCO, it will be no more of a non-state and no less occupied than it was before. Its citizens will be no less unfree than they are today, no less under the yoke of Israeli foreign rule. But their civil disobedience versus Israel, the United States and the Quartet raises the hope that the Palestinians will not return to the negotiating table - because negotiations have become an obstacle to the decolonization process, the essential condition for peace. » Read more

U.S. Law Enforcement Chiefs to Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Media Line by Arieh O'Sullivan - October 31, 2011 - 12:00am After 9/11, American law enforcement had to move quickly to get their expertise up to deal with terrorism. Countering terrorism was nothing new to the Israelis, who have accumulated decades of experience trying to provide security for its citizens, who have suffered suicide bombings and armed attacks by the militant Palestinians and others. During the so-called Second Intifada, over 1,000 Israelis were killed by suicide bombings, but in the last half dozen years the violence has dropped dramatically, largely due to actions by Israel’s security forces. » Read more

Israeli PM defends east Jerusalem construction ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Statesman November 2, 2011 - 12:00am JERUSALEM — Israel's prime minister is defending his decision to expand construction in east Jerusalem. Benjamin Netanyahu says it is Israel's "right" and "duty" to build in all parts of its capital. Israel captured east Jerusalem along with the West Bank in the 1967 war. Palestinians claim that section of the city as their future capital. » Read more

Using the United Nations ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times (Editorial) November 2, 2011 - 12:00am In past decades, Palestinian nationalists thought they had to hijack planes or blow up Israeli civilians in order to attract international attention. Some still do, but moderate leaders are lately discovering that the path to recognition might lie instead through the United Nations. On Monday, they won a key victory when Palestine — a state that doesn't technically exist — was granted membership in the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. That's giving the Obama administration fits and angering pro-Israel members of Congress from both U.S. » Read more

PA: Hackers attack Internet in Palestine ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency November 2, 2011 - 12:00am RAMALLAH (Ma’an) – The Palestinian Authority minister of telecommunications said Tuesday that hackers from more than 20 countries attacked the telecommunications network, interrupting all cable-based services. Mashhour Abu Daqqa said the Palestinian telecommunications company PalTel recorded some 1 million attacks per second on the Palestinian grid, a coordinated effort disrupting services across the occupied territories. Specialists are dealing with the problem and trying to prevent the full collapse of Internet services in Palestine, Abu Daqqa said. » Read more

Israel successfully tests advanced missile said capable of reaching Iran with nuclear warhead ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post November 2, 2011 - 12:00am JERUSALEM — Israel on Wednesday successfully test-fired a missile said capable of carrying a nuclear warhead and striking Iran, fanning the public debate over reports the country’s top leaders are agitating for a military attack on Tehran’s atomic facilities. While Israeli leaders have long warned that a military strike was an option, an intense round of public discourse on the subject erupted over the weekend by a report in the Yediot Ahronot newspaper that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak favor an attack. » Read more

Erekat: PLO rejects Israeli 'blackmail' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency November 2, 2011 - 12:00am RAMALLAH (Ma'an) -- Israel's approval of 2,000 new settlement housing units on occupied Palestinian land and its withholding of Palestinian tax revenue are illegal and amount to blackmail, PLO official Saeb Erekat said Tuesday. "Our condemnation is unequivocal. These steps are illegal and amount to blackmail that we categorically reject," Erekat said in a statement. Israel decided on Tuesday to accelerate Jewish-only settlement building and withhold Palestinian Authority funds, a day after UNESCO awarded Palestine full membership of the UN cultural agency. » Read more

Israel Plans to Speed Up Settlement Growth ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Isabel Kershner - November 1, 2011 - 12:00am JERUSALEM — Israel said on Tuesday that it would accelerate the construction of 2,000 housing units in contested areas of East Jerusalem and in two West Bank settlements. The announcement came a day after the Palestinians won full membership in Unesco in the face of staunch Israeli and American opposition. » Read more