Time to stick it again to the Arabs
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Gideon Levy - (Opinion) October 15, 2010 - 12:00am

Underneath everything is hatred - hatred and contempt for Arabs. The ideology of the right has been dead for some time, nothing of its former glory remains; primeval emotions are now its true driving force. This is what is behind the right wing's nationalist laws and its so-called "peace." Lurking beneath all the unpretty words are not just political considerations, but a lack of any systematic ideas - only dark and dangerous instincts.

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No to a third intifada
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Common Ground News Service
by Hussein Ibish - (Opinion) October 14, 2010 - 12:00am

Whether or not a solution to the crisis over settlements is achieved in the coming days, it's becoming increasingly clear that the direct Israeli-Palestinian negotiations are in serious trouble. The Israeli daily Ha’aretz quoted unnamed Western officials as saying the talks are “going nowhere.” And the most cautious, sober and measured of the senior PLO leadership, Yasser Abed Rabbo who is a member of the negotiating team, has been moved to declare that, “there will be no serious political process with Netanyahu's government.”

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Hamas shuts down journalists syndicate in Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
October 13, 2010 - 12:00am

Security forces in the Gaza Strip closed the headquarters of the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate without explanation Tuesday, a member of the press union's general secretariat said. Tahseen Al-Astal told Ma’an that forces arrived in civilian clothes and told them that the Ministry of the Interior had issued a decision to close the syndicate. He added that they were informed of the decision orally and received nothing in writing. The syndicate's Ramallah office condemned the move and is investigating.

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An End to Israel’s Invisibility
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Michael B. Oren - (Editorial) October 13, 2010 - 12:00am

NEARLY 63 years after the United Nations recognized the right of the Jewish people to independence in their homeland — and more than 62 years since Israel’s creation — the Palestinians are still denying the Jewish nature of the state. “Israel can name itself whatever it wants,” said the Palestinian Authority president, Mahmoud Abbas, while, according to the newspaper Haaretz, his chief negotiator, Saeb Erekat, said that the Palestinian Authority will never recognize Israel as the Jewish state. Back in 1948, opposition to the legitimacy of a Jewish state ignited a war.

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President's office rebuffs rumors of Abbas resignation
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
October 12, 2010 - 12:00am

RAMALLAH (Ma'an) -- President Mahmoud Abbas will continue on as leader of the Palestinian Authority, the secretary-general of the president's office said Monday. Abdul Rahim said reports of Abbas' resignation and the dismantling of the PA were "all rumors to lower the spirits of the Palestinians," as he received the Tunisian representative to the PA Shakib Ath-Thawadi at the presentational compound in Ramallah, central West Bank.

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Is Fayyadism working?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Raja Khalidi - October 12, 2010 - 12:00am

Donor nations and the Middle East Quartet met in New York last week to renew commitments to the beleaguered Palestinian economy and budget support to the insolvent Palestinian Authority. Paving the way, PA Prime Minister Salam Fayyad presented a midterm report on his government's program. He has coined the forthcoming second and final year of the program as the "Homestretch to Freedom." In tune with Fayyad, the Quartet reaffirmed support for the PA's plan and commended its significant progress toward the statehood goal.

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Netanyahu’s Moves Spark Debate on Intentions
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Ethan Bronner - (Analysis) October 11, 2010 - 12:00am

JERUSALEM — An offer on Monday by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel to freeze West Bank Jewish settlements in exchange for Palestinian recognition of Israel as a Jewish state — instantly rejected by the Palestinians — was the latest complex maneuver engendering debate about his intentions.

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Israeli blockage stifles Gaza prisons
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
by Hugh Naylor - October 11, 2010 - 12:00am

Naser Suleiman admits that the prison system he runs is chaotic. The man in charge of jails in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip made no effort to disguise the fact during an interview recently with reporters in his office at a prison in downtown Gaza City. While responding to questions, Mr Suleiman had several conversations on his mobile phone and, at one point, jokingly waved around his pistol.

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PA official: Hamas ignoring internal security crisis
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
October 10, 2010 - 12:00am

RAMALLAH (Ma'an) -- Palestinian Authority security department spokesman Adnan Ad-Dmeiri said Hamas was failing to deal with intelligence collaborators among its members. Ad-Dmeiri said security weaknesses within Hamas had enabled a series of assassinations of Hamas leaders. Israeli forces killed two leaders of Hamas' armed wing in Hebron on Friday, Nashat Al-Karmi and Maamoun Al-Natsha. Hamas leader Ali As-Suweiti was killed by Israeli soldiers in Hebron in April, and in March Mahmoud al-Mabhouh was assassinated in Dubai.

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Abbas seeking alternatives if Mideast talks fail
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Statesman
by Salah Nasrawi - October 9, 2010 - 12:00am

SIRTE, LIBYA — Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Saturday sought Arab backing for possible fallback options in case troubled peace talks with Israel collapse, including urging the United States to unilaterally recognize a Palestinian state. For now, the Obama administration is still trying to salvage the negotiations that began in Washington five weeks ago. The Arab League, meeting in Libya over the weekend, gave the Americans another month — just past midterm elections in the U.S. — to try to break the deadlock over Israeli settlement expansion.

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