S. African Jews, minister at loggerheads amid West Bank labeling row
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Jeremy Gordin - October 4, 2012 - 12:00am

JOHANNESBURG – The leader of South Africa's central Jewish organization recently slammed Trade and Industries Minister Rob Davies for ignoring the Jewish community when proposing legislation labeling goods imported from the West Bank as originating from “the Occupied Palestinian Territories.”

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Bypassing Israel, French capital endorses unprecedented agreement with ‘East Jerusalem’
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Times of Israel
by Elhanan Miller - October 4, 2012 - 12:00am

France’s most populous administrative zone, encompassing the capital Paris, has signed a cooperation agreement with the Palestinian district of Jerusalem, a move organizers say is designed to send a “political message” of solidarity with the Palestinians and their aspirations for a future capital in the city. The French region described the agreement as the “first of its kind.”

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Time is running out for peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News
by George S. Hishmeh - (Opinion) October 4, 2012 - 12:00am

The Palestinian Question has been temporarily shelved — hopefully only till November — much to the disappointment of many a Palestinian who was expecting the ball to start rolling this month.

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PA seeks help from Europe over resolution draft
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Herb Keinon - October 3, 2012 - 12:00am

The Palestinian Authority wants EU countries to help draft a resolution that would admit “Palestine” as a non-member state in the UN General Assembly in an effort to gain EU support for the move, The Jerusalem Post has learned. PLO negotiator Saeb Erekat met with the heads of EU missions in Jerusalem last month and asked them – either as individual countries or collectively as the EU – to help draft the resolution that will be taken to the world body. So far no country has expressed a willingness to do so.

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EU foreign ministers pushing to label all settlement products
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Barak Ravid - October 3, 2012 - 12:00am

The foreign minister of Denmark, Villy Sovndal, is urging the European Union to set down regulations that would force European marketing chains and stores to clearly label products originating in Israeli settlements. The initiative, which is raising fears in Jerusalem, is getting backing from France, Britain and several other EU countries.

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Who "Froze" The Peace Process?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Beast
by Peter Beinart - (Opinion) October 3, 2012 - 12:00am

Jeff Goldberg has a new Bloomberg column arguing that President Obama has not done enough to support the rebels in Syria, which had me mostly nodding in agreement until I reached this offhand comment about Israel: "Obama was wrong to draw a line in the sand over settlements, which are a derivative issue (if the Israelis and Palestinians settle their borders, the settlement issue will also be solved). But because he made it an issue without a thought to follow-up, he managed to freeze the process."

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Western double standards and free speech
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from NOW Lebanon
by Hussein Ibish - (Opinion) October 2, 2012 - 12:00am

In my recent columns I've been critical of calls for a global "blasphemy" ban from the Organization of Islamic Conference and other Muslim leaders. But free-speech protections, if they are to be meaningful, must be universal. The greatest threat to them is double standards that are the bedrock of advocacy for the slippery slope of restrictions.

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Netanyahu's hypocritical sermon
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Yitzhak Laor - (Opinion) October 2, 2012 - 12:00am

What will future historians say about Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's speech at the United Nations General Assembly last week? Not clear. This is the risk he took on - to turn himself into a laughing stock but to be remembered as part of a tragedy.

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Western double standards and free speech
In Print by Hussein Ibish - NOW Lebanon (Opinion) - October 2, 2012 - 12:00am

In my recent columns I've been critical of calls for a global "blasphemy" ban from the Organization of Islamic Conference and other Muslim leaders. But free-speech protections, if they are to be meaningful, must be universal. The greatest threat to them is double standards that are the bedrock of advocacy for the slippery slope of restrictions.

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Palestinians: 2 teams to probe Arafat's death
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
by Mohammed Daraghmeh - October 1, 2012 - 12:00am

RAMALLAH, West Bank —Investigators from France and Switzerland will conduct parallel probes into the death of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, Palestinian officials said Monday. His remains will be exhumed, at a date kept secret, to give each team a chance to draw samples to test for poisoning. The two teams are acting separately on behalf of Arafat's widow Suha Arafat and the Palestinian Authority, who each had misgivings about the other's investigation.

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