October 22nd

Analysts: Despite Hamas absence, elections still Fatah failure ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency October 22, 2012 - 12:00am BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- The first elections held in the West Bank for six years reflect how frustrated Palestinians are with their political system and ruling party Fatah, political observers said Sunday. The poll was held on Saturday in 92 of the 353 municipalities in the West Bank. Other seats were uncontested, creating automatic winners, or failed to register any candidates in this round, and will hold polls next month. » Read more

Civic Duty and Economic Worries Drive Palestinian Voters in Parts of West Bank ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Jodi Rudoren - October 21, 2012 - 12:00am AL BIREH, West Bank — More than half the Palestinians who participated in municipal elections on Saturday said they did so because they saw voting as a civic duty, twice the portion giving the next most popular reason. » Read more

Mixed Results for Fatah Amid Low Turnout in Municipal Elections in West Bank ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Jodi Rudoren - October 20, 2012 - 12:00am RAMALLAH, West Bank — The dominant Fatah faction of the Palestinian Authority posted mixed results in municipal elections across the West Bank on Saturday, winning in some key cities and losing in others, but with the whole exercise appearing compromised by a relatively low turnout. » Read more

October 19th

Don't Neglect an Israeli-Palestinian Peace ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National Interest by Paul Pillar - (Opinion) October 18, 2012 - 12:00am Leon Hadar in these spaces has commended as a “sensible stance” toward the Israeli-Palestinian a policy, enunciated by a prominent American politician, that “we sort of live with it, and we kick the ball down the field and hope that ultimately, somehow, something will happen and resolve it.” Hadar criticizes “some self-proclaimed foreign-policy realists,” implying that their belief that “Washington can and ought to help make peace between Israelis and Palestinians” somehow contradicts realist criticisms of neocon ambitions to remake the Middle » Read more

The Jewish refugee, hypothetically speaking ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Dmitry Shumsky - (Opinion) October 18, 2012 - 12:00am Let's consider the following hypothetical scenario: At the end of World War I the Allied Powers decide to offer national self-determination to the Arab entity of the Ottoman Empire, and give their blessing to the founding of a single, broad Arab state in the region. Immediately upon establishment, this new state halts Jewish immigration to the Land of Israel and begins a relentless persecution of the local Zionism movement, claiming that it threatens to rip the historic land from the Islamic nation.   » Read more

The Nakba, Then and Now ATFP World Press Roundup Article from International Herald Tribune by Raja Shehadeh - (Editorial) October 16, 2012 - 12:00am LYDDA, Israel — Last Friday, some 40 Israeli Jews and Arabs gathered in Lydda, a small mixed Arab-Israeli city less than 10 miles southeast of Tel Aviv, for “a study tour” featuring “Zionist testimonies from 1948.” It was part of the project Towards a Common Archive, sponsored by Zochrot (Hebrew for remembering), an Israeli organization that hopes to bring “awareness and recognition of the Nakba” to Jewish Israelis so that they can take “responsibility for this tragedy.” » Read more

Abbas’ right decision ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times by Ahmad Majdoubeh - (Opinion) October 18, 2012 - 12:00am Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ decision to talk peace with Israel only after the Palestinian bid for UN non-member state status is accepted is correct. » Read more

Can the Palestinian Authority lead with civil disobedience? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star by Dawoud Abu Lebdeh - (Opinion) October 19, 2012 - 12:00am Last month, large protests swept through major cities in the West Bank. In some places the demonstrations escalated into destruction of public property and a display of anarchy, while in others they were calm and collected. Peaceful or otherwise, the various demonstrations shared a common grievance: the economic policies of Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, recently highlighted after price hikes on main consumer items such as fuel and flour.These protests have called into question whether the Palestinian Authority is still able to lead the Palestinian people. » Read more

Gaza siege: A bomb waiting to explode ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News by Patrick Seale - (Opinion) October 19, 2012 - 12:00am One of the most urgent tasks for the international community in 2013 must surely be to lift Israel’s cruel siege of Gaza, now entering its sixth year, and end the misguided boycott of its Hamas government. » Read more

Israeli statesmen are the almost-peacemakers ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Gideon Levy - (Opinion) October 18, 2012 - 12:00am Once every few years, usually before the elections, a story of this kind comes out. An Israeli statesman was a hairbreadth away from achieving peace. Had he only had two months more, even two weeks more, the great peace would have been signed, forever. Shimon Peres almost achieved peace with the London Agreement; Ehud Barak almost did so at Camp David; Ehud Olmert almost had it with Mahmoud Abbas, and with Bashar Assad too. Even Tzipi Livni came close with Ahmed Qureia, and the Oslo agreement was of course almost peace. » Read more