Gaza burns as Hamas declares war on drugs
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Independent
by Donald MacIntyre - October 8, 2010 - 12:00am

They made an incongruous sight, piled on to trestle tables in the car park outside a government office. Long bundles of dried marijuana branches – known as Bango here – the chocolate bar-shaped slabs of hashish, a few still half-covered with the blue Action cheese wrapping used to smuggle them in, and the smaller grubby blocks of off-white cocaine.

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Hamas, Fatah to hold 2nd round of reconciliation talks in Damascus
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
October 7, 2010 - 12:00am

DAMASCUS, Oct.6 (Xinhua) -- The Palestinian two major factions Hamas and Fatah will hold 2nd round of reconciliation talks in Damascus on October 20, the Damascus-based Hamas official Ezzat al- Rashaq told Xinhua Wednesday. "The two movements have agreed to meet again in Damascus to resume discussion over putting an end for the dispute and to tackle the unresolved issue which is the unifying of security bodies," al-Rashaq said.

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Will Abbas get, and accept, a two-month settlement freeze?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Ben Lynfield - October 7, 2010 - 12:00am

A senior aide to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has signaled that his side will not abandon peace talks if Israel extends a West Bank settlement construction slowdown for two months.

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Netanyahu, Abbas and the legitimacy deficit
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Shlomo Ben-Ami - (Opinion) October 6, 2010 - 12:00am

Since its inception in Oslo almost two decades ago, the Israeli-Palestinian peace process has been stymied by the dysfunctional political systems of both sides. Hostage of an impossible coalition and of a settlement movement of freelance fanatics, Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu's leadership is seriously compromised. His Palestinian counterparts are hardly in a better position.

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Hamas wing threatens PA leadership
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
October 6, 2010 - 12:00am

Hamas' military wing on Wednesday threatened to target Palestinian Authority officials "if PA security forces continue to detain and sue resistance activists in the West Bank." Al-Qassam Brigades spokesman Abu Ubayda read a statement on behalf of 12 military groups in the Gaza Strip saying "we are fed up with the PA security's behavior in the West Bank. Over the past period, we have preferred to give reconciliation efforts all the time needed, however, we hereby say we will not remain silent for long."

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PA: US working on 3-month freeze extension to save talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Khaled Abu Toameh, Ruth Eglash - October 5, 2010 - 12:00am

The Palestinian Authority said on Tuesday that it had won the backing of Egypt, Jordan and several other Arab countries for its refusal to return to the negotiating table unless Israel extended the moratorium on settlement construction. The announcement was made following a meeting in Cairo between PA President Mahmoud Abbas and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. A senior PA official in Ramallah told The Jerusalem Post that the US administration was now talking about the possibility of extending the moratorium by an additional three months to avoid the collapse of the peace talks.

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Poll: Most Palestinians back dropping talks if Israel builds settlements
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
October 4, 2010 - 12:00am

A majority of Palestinians would want to withdraw from Middle East peace negotiations if Israel continues to build settlements in the West Bank, according to a public opinion poll published Monday. The poll, conducted by the Ramallah-based Palestinian Centre for Policy and Survey Research, found that 66 per cent of participants supported that position.

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Israeli Soldiers Convicted of Using Boy as Shield
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Ethan Bronner - October 3, 2010 - 12:00am

JERUSALEM — An Israeli military court convicted two soldiers on Sunday of using a 9-year-old Palestinian boy as a human shield by forcing him to check bags for explosives in Israel’s 2008-9 Gaza war. The court said that the two soldiers, both infantry sergeants, had taken part in an operation to seize an apartment building in Tel al-Hawa, a southern suburb of Gaza City, while under attack from Hamas fighters.

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News Analysis: New Intifada may not erupt if talks between Israel, PNA fail
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
by Saud Abu Ramadan, Emad Drimly - September 30, 2010 - 12:00am

GAZA, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- The ten-month moratorium to freeze settlement construction in the West Bank and Jerusalem ended on Sunday. Currently the Israeli government has not offered any statement on whether or not to resume settlement construction. The unclear Israeli stance over the issue of settlement, has left the Palestinian side reluctant to make their mind as they decided to wait until the upcoming meeting of the Arab League (AL) Committee on peace talks with Israel to be held on Oct. 4 in Cairo.

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PA official: Israel to be blamed if talks breakdown
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
September 30, 2010 - 12:00am

Palestinian officials on Wednesday expressed skepticism about the resumption of peace talks and signaled they would accept nothing less than an extension of the West Bank settlement construction moratorium ahead of the scheduled arrival of US Mideast Envoy George Mitchell and European Union Foreign Policy Chief Catherine Ashton to the region on Thursday. Veteran Palestinian negotiator Nabil Sha'ath said Israel should be blamed for any breakdown of the negotiations if it insists on expanding settlements on lands claimed by the Palestinians for their state.

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