Barghouti's fate now firmly in Israel's hands
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Alertnet
(Opinion) October 13, 2011 - 12:00am

Left out of a prisoner swap between Hamas and Israel, the Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouti must now wait for a different type of deal to get him out of the Israeli jail where he is serving multiple life sentences. It may never happen. Hamas's indirect negotiations with Israel to exchange the soldier Gilad Shalit for 1,000 Palestinians in Israeli jails were seen over the last few years as Barghouti's best hope of release.

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Palestinians should vote in Jerusalem elections
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Avraham Burg - (Opinion) October 13, 2011 - 12:00am

It was depressing to see American President Barack Obama's weak appearance at the United Nations. It was depressing to see this talented man, who brought such great hope to the world, presenting the pitiable position of a feeble empire. It was embarrassing to see him defending positions and people whom only a few months earlier he had attacked with fury. His obsequiousness is shameful, and this weakness is a real danger to the world. Therefore anyone who wants peace cannot make do merely with accusing Obama. One cannot allow his desperation to have veto power over our hope.

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Palestinian prisoner swap: Rare outbreak of common sense
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
(Editorial) October 13, 2011 - 12:00am

It is hard to read the prisoner swap agreement to free Gilad Shalit, the Israeli soldier held in Gaza for five years, as anything less than a victory for his captors, Hamas. But it is a qualified one. Of the 1,027 prisoners Israel has agreed to release, 479 of the names have been nominated by Hamas (the rest will be chosen by Israel). Of the 479, 315 were serving life sentences for involvement in some of the bloodiest attacks on Israel, and most served over 20 years.

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Hamas trades Shalit for a new lease on its political standing
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
by Taufiq Rahim - (Opinion) October 13, 2011 - 12:00am

When Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas spoke to the General Assembly of the United Nations in New York last month, he demanded the release of about 6,000 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails. At the time he was riding a wave of momentum due to the bid for recognition of a Palestinian state at the world body.

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Reconciliation after prisoner exchange
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
(Editorial) October 13, 2011 - 12:00am

The prisoner exchange between Hamas and Israel - announced but not yet concluded - could not have come at a more urgent moment. The fate of the Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit has caused friction between Hamas and Fatah since he was kidnapped on Israeli soil in 2006. Removing such a stumbling block to unity can only be a good thing.

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No simple solutions for Jerusalem, PBS correspondent Ray Suarez tells Philadelphia forum
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Episcopal News Service
by Mary Frances Schjonberg - (Opinion) October 11, 2011 - 12:00am

Just inside the door of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem is the Stone of Anointing on which tradition says Jesus was prepared for burial. Watching pilgrims from all over the world fall to their knees to kiss the stone "makes you reconsider what it all means to them to you, to the people who live there, to the people who live far away," according to Public Broadcasting Service Senior Correspondent Ray Suarez.

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Israel and those ‘real democratic rights’
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News
by Lawrence Davidson - (Opinion) October 10, 2011 - 12:00am

In his speech to US Congress on May 24, 2011 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu boasted that “Of the 300 million Arabs in the Middle East and North Africa, only Israel's Arab citizens enjoy real democratic rights.” This is, of course, a variation on the oft-cited claim that Israel is “the only democracy in the Middle East.” Leaving aside places like Lebanon and now potentially Tunisia and Egypt, one can ask just how “real” are these democratic rights Netanyahu claims for Israel's Arabs? Here is some recent evidence that speaks to this question.

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Isolation? What isolation?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Danny Ayalon - (Opinion) October 9, 2011 - 12:00am

During the past few months, Israel’s purported growing isolation has been the subject of much discussion. It is far from the truth, and it is ironic that this debate has taken place during an effective Israeli challenge to the long-standing paradigm of the Palestinians using the United Nations as a “rubber stamp” for its capricious policies.

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It's only a matter of time until Netanyahu falls
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Yoel Marcus - (Opinion) October 7, 2011 - 12:00am

Something bad happens to us during the holiday period. Not only is work not work, not only is it unclear what's open and what's closed and whether the clock is showing summer time or winter time - official intelligence also goes on vacation. You have to be emptyheaded in order to get to a situation in which German Chancellor Angela Merkel - the only leader in Europe, if not in the entire world, who treats us with understanding and empathy - loses trust and is disappointed in our prime minister.

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The settler leader who led Israelis to disaster
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Nehemia Shtrasler - (Opinion) October 7, 2011 - 12:00am

There were so many accolades and so much praise that I found myself getting confused. Was this the same Hanan Porat that I also knew? True, he was an idealist, and charismatic, and modest, and he always said what he felt in his heart. True, also, that he was the great leader of Gush Emunim. But we must not forget, and this is the tragic part of the story, that his biggest success - covering the West Bank with a carpet of Israeli settlements - was also the greatest disaster that befell the people of Israel.

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