November 9th

Report: No consensus on Palestine bid ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency November 9, 2011 - 1:00am UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) -- A draft report by a key UN Security Council committee, obtained on Tuesday, declared that members could not reach consensus on whether Palestine should be accepted as a UN member state. "The committee was unable to make a unanimous recommendation to the Security Council," said the draft report of the council's committee on admitting new member states. It was circulated to all 15 Security Council members on Tuesday. » Read more

Mordechai Vanunu deserves freedom from Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian by Duncan Campbell - (Opinion) November 9, 2011 - 1:00am Mordechai Vanunu, the Israeli whistleblower who served 18 years in prison for revealing details of Israel's nuclear weapons programme, should find out whether or not he has been – as he hopes – stripped of his citizenship. As part of his bid to be allowed to leave Israel, he has applied to have his citizenship revoked as should, by law, happen to anyone convicted of treason, as he has been. He would then seek to be allowed finally to leave the country. » Read more

Threats escalate against Israeli anti-settlement activists ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times November 9, 2011 - 1:00am REPORTING FROM JERUSALEM -- Peace Now, a group known for its vocal stand against Jewish settlements in the Palestinian territories, says a senior member of its team has received a death threat. It was the latest in a string of incidents blamed on Jewish extremists protesting the dismantling of illegal settlements in the West Bank. The targets of these so-called price-tag operations -- which typically involve vandalism in response to government actions against the settlements -- have been individuals, groups, mosques, cemeteries and recently even Israeli army facilities. » Read more

Minister: 'Price tag' gangs a cancerous tumor ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Attila Somfalvi - November 9, 2011 - 1:00am Education Minister Gideon Sa'ar made harsh statements against violence targeting soldiers, Palestinians and leftist activists in what is referred to as the "price tag" phenomenon. Speaking at a youth rally marking 16 years since the murder of former Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, Sa'ar said: "The 'price tag' gangs which scheme against innocents, damage property, hurt IDF soldiers and members of the security forces, burn mosque and generally terrorize (the public) are a dangerous and cancerous tumor which must be removed." » Read more

Netanyahu leading the fight against Israel's peace activists ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz (Editorial) November 9, 2011 - 1:00am The "price tag" graffiti sprayed on the home of Hagit Ofran of Peace Now on Tuesday is part of a consistent delegitimization campaign against left-wing organizations. Virtually not a day goes by without peace activists suffering threats to their lives or damage to their property. On the eve of the 16th memorial day in honor of former Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, who fell victim to a campaign of incitement by the extreme right, it seems that the lesson has not been learned. » Read more

Israeli police say cars burned, house defaced in West Bank; Jewish extremists suspected ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post November 9, 2011 - 1:00am JERUSALEM — Three Palestinian cars were torched and a Palestinian house was defaced in the West Bank, Israeli police said Wednesday, and evidence at the scene suggested the involvement of Jewish extremists. The words “price tag” were spray-painted on the house in Beit Ummar, a town near the West Bank city of Hebron, police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said. The phrase refers to a Jewish settler tactic of attacking Palestinian targets to protest government activities against settlements. Police were investigating the overnight attack, Rosenfeld said. » Read more

Divided on Jerusalem ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times by Nicholas Goldberg - (Opinion) November 9, 2011 - 1:00am When our youngest son was born in Jerusalem in 1995, a number of questions faced us. First was whether we should accept Israeli citizenship for him, which would grant him a second passport and the ability to work (and take refuge, if necessary) in a foreign land — but which would come with a military service requirement in a country that wouldn't really be his home. We opted against it. » Read more

Fight over aid to Palestinian Authority heating up ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Foreign Policy by Josh Rogin - November 8, 2011 - 1:00am A group of House lawmakers is making the case for continuing U.S. support to the Palestinian Authority (PA), despite the Palestinian bid to seek full membership in the United Nations. "Maintaining U.S. assistance to the Palestinian Authority is in the essential strategic interest of Israel and the United States," wrote 44 lawmakers, all Democrats, in a letter today to House Appropriations State and Foreign Ops subcommittee heads Kay Granger (R-TX) and Nita Lowey (D-NY). The letter was spearheaded by Reps. David Price (D-NC) and Peter Welch (D-VT). » Read more

Gilad Shalit and the Rising Price of an Israeli Life ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Ronen Bergman - (Opinion) November 9, 2011 - 1:00am On the afternoon of June 27, 1976, Palestinian and German terrorists hijacked an Air France flight originating from Israel and directed it eventually to Entebbe Airport in Uganda, where most of the non-Israelis on board were immediately released. More than 100 hostages remained, 83 of whom were Israeli. They were held for the next six days, until an elite team of Israel Defense Force commandos freed them in the famous raid known as Operation Entebbe. » Read more

November 8th

Rivlin: ‘Price tag’ is terrorism – but don’t blame settlers ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Lahav Harkov - (Analysis) November 8, 2011 - 1:00am Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin planned to slam “price tag” vandalism, calling it “Jewish terrorism,” during a special Knesset session in memory of former prime minister Yitzhak Rabin on Wednesday. Rivlin released on Tuesday his speech for the upcoming memorial session, during which Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, President Shimon Peres, Supreme Court President Dorit Beinish and opposition leader Tzipi Livni (Kadima) were scheduled to speak. » Read more