November 14th

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

November 11th

Middle East Envoy Dennis Ross: Symbol of a Failed Policy ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Atlantic by Michael Hirsch - (Opinion) November 11, 2011 - 1:00am Dennis Ross, during his tenure as a highly respected Mideast envoy back in the then-hopeful 1990s, was a visible if soft-spoken presence in Washington and around the world. He looked in control and held fairly regular news conferences, as public officials are wont to do when they have some progress to report. He talked regularly to reporters. This time around, serving first in Hillary Rodham Clinton's State Department and then as President Obama's adviser in the White House, Ross was the invisible man. » Read more

The Departure of Dennis Ross ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Council On Foreign Relations by Elliott Abrams - (Analysis) November 11, 2011 - 1:00am The announcement that Dennis Ross is leaving his post creates a serious problem for the Obama administration. » Read more

Israel-Palestinian Negotiations: Peace Process Faltered Over Domestic Politics ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Huffington Post by Joshua Hersh - (Blog) November 10, 2011 - 1:00am WASHINGTON -- Last August, Dennis Ross, President Obama's top Middle East peace negotiator, paid a visit to a pro-Israel think tank in Washington. Speaking privately before a small gathering of experts and analysts at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, he offered a dire prognosis for the state of peace talks between Palestinians and Israelis, according to multiple people in the room. » Read more

Palestinians may push for UN vote they expect to lose ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian by Harriet Sherwood - (Opinion) November 10, 2011 - 1:00am The Palestinians are resigned to losing their battle for majority backing within the United Nations security council for their application for full UN membership but may still press for a vote next week in an attempt to discomfort countries who abstain or vote against. The security council is to meet in New York on Friday to consider a report on the Palestinian bid. However, the Palestinians have failed to muster the required two-thirds majority among its 15 members, thus sparing the US the need to use its veto to prevent the application being approved. » Read more