Clinton warns against unilateral steps in Middle East peace process
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
November 11, 2010 - 1:00am

U.S. State Secretary Hillary Clinton on Wednesday warned against unilateral steps by Israel or the Palestinians as the direct peace talks between the two sides have been stuck in a limbo. "Negotiations between the parties is the only means by which all of the outstanding claims arising out of the conflict can be resolved," Clinton told reporters at a joint press conference with visiting Egyptian Foreign Minister Aboul Gheit. "So we do not support unilateral steps by either party that could prejudge the outcome of such negotiations," Clinton said.

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PNA de facto controls Jerusalem's Arab neighborhoods: report
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
November 10, 2010 - 1:00am

JERUSALEM, Nov. 9 (Xinhua) -- The Palestinian National Authority (PNA) is the de facto sovereign in Jerusalem's Arab neighborhoods as Israeli institutions gradually sever ties with their residents, local daily Ma'ariv reported on Tuesday. While senior officials in Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing government often pledge that Jerusalem will forever be united under the Israeli sovereignty, the PNA exercises its control in the Arab neighborhoods in its eastern sector, the report said.

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The Palestinians of Israel are poised to take centre stage
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Seumas Milne - (Opinion) November 10, 2010 - 1:00am

In a quiet street in the Sheikh Jarrah district of occupied East Jerusalem 88-year-old Rifka al-Kurd is explaining how she came to live in the house she and her husband built as Palestinian refugees in the 1950s. As she speaks, three young ultra-orthodox Jewish settlers swagger in to stake their claim to the front part of the building, shouting abuse in Hebrew and broken Arabic: "Arab animals", "shut up, whore".

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Despite ban, Palestinians build the settlements
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Statesman
by Ben Hubbard - November 10, 2010 - 1:00am

It's a startling fact: The workers building Israel's West Bank settlements have generally been Palestinians — even though Palestinians widely consider these communities a toxic threat to their dream of an independent state. Now comes a twist: earlier this year, the Palestinian government passed a law forbidding work in the settlements — and its determination to stamp out the phenomenon is being sorely tested in recent weeks, as a settlement building boomlet has emerged in the West Bank.

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Palestinians Crack Down on Boycott Breaker
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from
by Arieh O'Sullivan - November 5, 2010 - 12:00am

The Palestinian Authority has filed its first indictment against a Palestinian for dealing in products manufactured in Jewish communities located on land Israel acquired in the 1967 war. The test of the new law, which was passed in May, is scheduled to take place at a Bethlehem court where the charges were filed against a man suspected of smuggling in goods made in one of the Jewish communities. The unidentified man was reportedly caught entering Bethlehem with banned wood products. He was detained until his trial, according to the Ma’an News Agency.

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How will the election affect U.S. efforts for Mideast peace?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
November 5, 2010 - 12:00am

GAZA, Nov. 4 (Xinhua) -- Islamic Hamas movement accused Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday of trying to hinder national reconciliation. The accusation followed Abbas' remarks that security control in the Palestinian territories can not be shared with Hamas. Abbas statements "meant to ruin Damascus meeting" next week, in which Hamas and Abbas' Fatah party will discuss inter- reconciliation, especially the security issue, Hamas Spokesman Ayman Taha told Xinhua.

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PA court to hear first settlements case
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
November 4, 2010 - 12:00am

The first case of smuggling goods from settlements into West Bank shops was filed in a Bethlehem court Wednesday, in a move that will test a new Palestinian Authority law prohibiting the sale of such products. Although customs officers have patrolled West Bank shops and detained several people since the law went into effect over the summer, the case of the Bethlehem merchant will be the first to see the inside of a courtroom.

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Poll: 56% oppose resuming talks with Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
November 4, 2010 - 12:00am

More than half of Palestinians in the occupied territories oppose a return to direct negotiations with Israel in the face of ongoing West Bank settlement expansion, an opinion poll released Wednesday suggests. The survey, from the Palestinian Center for Public Opinion, prepared by Beit Sahour-based pollster Nabil Kukali, also showed that 56.2 percent wanted rival Palestinian factions to sign Egypt's proposal for political reconciliation.

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Hamas accuses Abbas of trying to fail reconciliation
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
November 4, 2010 - 12:00am

Islamic Hamas movement accused Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday of trying to hinder national reconciliation. The accusation followed Abbas' remarks that security control in the Palestinian territories can not be shared with Hamas. Abbas statements "meant to ruin Damascus meeting" next week, in which Hamas and Abbas' Fatah party will discuss inter- reconciliation, especially the security issue, Hamas Spokesman Ayman Taha told Xinhua.

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Interview: Palestinians prepare to discus with AL on peace standstill
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
by Omer al-Othmani, Osama Radi - November 3, 2010 - 12:00am

A senior Palestinian official said Tuesday that the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) planed to discuss with the Arab League the stalled peace process. Nabil Shaath, a Palestinian negotiator and a member of the Fatah party's central committee told Xinhua in an interview that the worst option of this plan is to resolve the PNA and the resignation of PNA President Mahmoud Abbas.

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