US bars Palestinian statehood moves in UN agencies
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
November 19, 2010 - 1:00am

Away from the headlines, Palestinians have been trying to advance their statehood agenda in small but symbolic ways in United Nations agencies that fall off the radar for most people. But even on the outer reaches of the sprawling U.N. system, their efforts have been blocked by a United States resolved not to display the slightest tilt toward Palestinians as it tries to act as honest broker in their halting peace talks with Israel.

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Arafat: The Man We Now Miss
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat
by Abdul Rahman Al-Rashed - (Opinion) November 19, 2010 - 1:00am

If late Palestinian President Yasser Arafat was among us today, would the Palestinian situation be as it is? Gaza is in a state of secession, negotiations are at a stalemate, the Palestinian cause has dropped down the list of priorities, coming behind the issues of Iraq, Iran, the Shebaa farms, Darfur and al-Qaeda in Yemen.

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Hague's Guantanamo plea overshadows Middle East talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Independent
by David Usborne - November 18, 2010 - 1:00am

A day after announcing it was to pay millions in tax-payers' money to compensate a group of 16 men who were detained and allegedly tortured by American interrogators at Guantanamo Bay, the Government last night implored the US to free the last Briton remaining there. William Hague, the Foreign Secretary, made the appeal during talks with the US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, in Washington. The issue has attracted a broad mix of reactions in the US, not all of them exactly in tune with the "special relationship" that the two countries insist they enjoy.

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Israeli, Dubai police officials meet in UAE
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Daniel Doron - November 16, 2010 - 1:00am

The diplomatic row between Israel and Dubai has not undermined relations between the two states' law enforcement apparatuses. Last week, Qatar hosted the annual Interpol General Assembly, which was attended by top law enforcement echelons from around the world. Israel, which also took part in the event, was represented by Head of the police investigations unit Major-General Yoav Segalovich and head of the police special assignment department Commander Guy Nir.

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The Palestinians are in the driving seat, their time is now
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Zvi Barel - (Opinion) November 15, 2010 - 1:00am

"Turkey? Yes," "Russia? Yes," "United Kingdom? Yes," "United States? Abstain," "Israel? No." This is how a vote at the United Nations on the recognition of an independent Palestine may sound. And really, why should the Palestinians not demand international recognition of their state? In such a move it could shake the peace process and extricate it from the strangle hold in which Palestine and Israel are caught.

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In Coma, Ariel Sharon Is Moved Home
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Ethan Bronner - November 12, 2010 - 1:00am

Ariel Sharon, who had a major stroke while prime minister of Israel nearly five years ago and has since been in a coma in a hospital room, was moved on Friday to his ranch in the Negev Desert, hospital officials told Israel Radio. A former close aide, Raanan Gissen, said in an interview that Mr. Sharon’s sons had been in discussion with Sheba Medical Center outside Tel Aviv about the move. An elevator and other equipment had been installed at the family ranch to accommodate his arrival and long-term care.

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Lieberman: Israel shouldn't pursue peace talks with Syria
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Barak Ravid - November 11, 2010 - 1:00am

Israel should not enter peace negotiations with Syria, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said during a visit to the Golan Heights on Thursday, adding anyone who considered such an option a "political hypochondriac." Israel and Syria held four indirect rounds of peace talks with Turkish mediation in 2008, but they were suspended following the resignation of then Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in September that year. Syria said at the time of the Israeli offensive in Gaza at the end of 2008 that it ruled out a resumption of the indirect talks any time soon.

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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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Genesis, development and present status
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons
by Nabeel Kassis - (Opinion) November 10, 2010 - 1:00am

It was in early 2002 that the idea of an Arab peace initiative was born. After the failure of the Camp David negotiations, the end of the Clinton presidency and the election of Ariel Sharon, the intifada was raging, turning into a violent confrontation. Israeli settlement policy, Hamas' suicide bombings and Israeli bloody attacks, incursions and siege threatened to destroy the Palestinian-Israeli peace process. Early efforts to save the day, including the Sharm al-Sheikh summits and the Mitchell report, did not bring any relief.

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Netanyahu defiantly answers Obama's warning over construction in East Jerusalem
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
by Christi Parsons - November 10, 2010 - 1:00am

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu clashed publicly with President Obama on Tuesday over Israeli construction in disputed East Jerusalem, throwing a teetering Mideast peace effort deeper in doubt. Responding to criticism from Obama, Netanyahu struck a defiant tone in commenting on plans to build 1,300 more Jewish housing units in East Jerusalem, saying his government had never agreed to limit construction in the city.

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