November 14th

Quartet talks unlikely to jump-start negotiations ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Khaled Abu Toameh, Tovah Lazaroff - (Analysis) November 14, 2011 - 1:00am Quartet members arrive in Israel Monday with little hope of bridging the gulf that divides the Israeli and the Palestinian leadership and has prevented the resumption of negotiations. In Ramallah on Sunday, PA President Mahmoud Abbas told US envoy David Hale that the Palestinians would not hold direct talks with Israel unless it froze West Bank settlement activity and stopped construction in east Jerusalem Jewish neighborhoods. In addition, Abbas said, Israel must accept the pre-1967 lines as the basis for a two-state solution. » Read more

Intel Source: Israel Behind Deadly Explosion at Iran Missile Base ATFP World Press Roundup Article from by Karl Vick - (Analysis) November 13, 2011 - 1:00am Israeli newspapers on Sunday were thick with innuendo, the front pages of the three largest dailies dominated by variations on the headline "Mysterious Explosion in Iranian Missile Base." Turn the page, and the mystery is answered with a wink. "Who Is Responsible for Attacks on the Iranian Army?" asks Maariv, and the paper lists without further comment a half-dozen other violent setbacks to Iran's nuclear and military nexus. For Israeli readers, the coy implication is that their own government was behind Saturday's massive blast just outside Tehran. » Read more

Palestinian PM urges agreement for new leader of future government ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua by Yang Lina - (Analysis) November 14, 2011 - 1:00am Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad called on Palestinian groups to agree on a new premier to replace him in a future unity government. In an interview with the Jerusalem-based Al-Quds newspaper, Fayyad rejected to be considered an obstacle on the way of reconciliation between President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party and the Islamic Hamas movement. » Read more

Israeli air strike kills Hamas policeman in Gaza ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters (Analysis) November 14, 2011 - 1:00am An Israeli air strike on a Hamas compound in the Gaza Strip killed one policeman and wounded four others on Monday after Palestinian militants from the coastal territory fired a rocket into southern Israel. The Israeli military said the air strike "hit a terror activity centre in the northern Gaza Strip" after a rocket was fired into Israel hours earlier, causing no injuries. Palestinian medical officials said the strike targeted a naval base used by Hamas, the Islamist group that controls the Gaza Strip. Israel has said it holds Hamas responsible for any cross-border rockets fired.

Palestinians ponder next step in their statehood bid ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times by Edmund Sanders - (Analysis) November 14, 2011 - 1:00am After gaining momentum with their successful bid to join UNESCO, Palestinians now seem uncertain about their next move to win full membership in the United Nations and frustrated with their progress. The Palestinians' U.N. application was discussed Friday at the world body's Security Council, but no vote was taken. Divisions among council members — including a veto threat from the U.S. — make the application almost certain to fail. » Read more

As ultra-Orthodox flex muscle, Israel feminists see a backsliding ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times by Edmund Sanders - (Analysis) November 12, 2011 - 1:00am When public buses rumble to a stop in some of Jerusalem's religious neighborhoods, women often dutifully enter by the rear door and sit in the back, leaving the front for men. There's no law requiring the women to do so, but those who don't risk verbal taunts and intimidation. It's a curious sight given Israel's history as an international trailblazer for women's rights. » Read more

American activist takes Israel to court for injuries sustained in pro-Palestinian protest ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press (Analysis) November 14, 2011 - 1:00am An American badly injured by the Israeli military during a pro-Palestinian demonstration will have his first day in an Israeli court. Tristan Anderson, of Oakland, Calif., was hit in the head with a tear gas canister fired during a demonstration against Israel’s West Bank separation barrier in March 2009. He lost an eye and suffered brain damage that paralyzed part of his body. Anderson’s Israeli lawyer Ghada Hlehi says the hearing will be held on Nov. 24 in Jerusalem. She says he is suing the Israeli government for unspecified damages. » Read more

American activist takes Israel to court for injuries sustained in pro-Palestinian protest ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press (Analysis) November 14, 2011 - 1:00am An American badly injured by the Israeli military during a pro-Palestinian demonstration will have his first day in an Israeli court. Tristan Anderson, of Oakland, Calif., was hit in the head with a tear gas canister fired during a demonstration against Israel’s West Bank separation barrier in March 2009. He lost an eye and suffered brain damage that paralyzed part of his body. Anderson’s Israeli lawyer Ghada Hlehi says the hearing will be held on Nov. 24 in Jerusalem. She says he is suing the Israeli government for unspecified damages. » Read more

Israeli Government Backs Limits on Financing for Nonprofit Groups ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Ethan Bronner - (Analysis) November 13, 2011 - 1:00am A committee of Israeli cabinet ministers voted Sunday to back two bills aimed at curtailing the support of left-wing nonprofit groups from foreign governments. The 11-to-5 vote threw the support of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government behind the bills, which human rights groups have denounced as violations of free expression and an effort by the government to silence its critics. Officials and legal experts said that the bills would probably be altered before reaching Parliament and could ultimately be struck down by the Supreme Court. » Read more

Israel maintains block on tax transfers to PA ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters (Analysis) November 14, 2011 - 1:00am Israel's cabinet decided on Monday to continue to withhold the transfer of tax revenues owed to the Palestinian Authority, a measure it imposed two weeks ago after the Palestinians won full membership of the UN cultural agency. A government official said cabinet ministers voted narrowly in favor of continuing the freeze on the handover of revenues it collects on behalf of the Palestinian Authority. The money, which includes duties on goods being imported to the Palestinian territories, amounts to about $100 million each month. » Read more