WEST BANK: Fall of Jerusalem hotel brings down hopes for revival of peace process
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
by Maher Abukhater - (Blog) January 9, 2011 - 1:00am

As the Israeli bulldozers began to demolish Shepherd Hotel in the Palestinian Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of East Jerusalem on Sunday in order to build a new Jewish settlement in its place, Palestinians warned that not only the hotel has fallen, but also the entire peace process and U.S. efforts to revive it. Nabil Abu Rudeineh, spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, strongly reacted to the hotel demolition. Its fall, he said, “has brought down with it all U.S. efforts (to revive the peace process) and ended any possibility to return to negotiations.”

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Israel’s mistakes created a State of Palestine
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
(Blog) December 8, 2010 - 1:00am

Irrespective of whether we agree with it or like it, this is what is going to happen. A Palestinian state is going to emerge on the West Bank, Gaza, and in East Jerusalem, and most of the countries of the world are going to recognize it. It will be accepted into the United Nations, and Israel is not going to be able to do a thing to prevent it.

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Editorial: A nail in the coffin
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News
(Editorial) November 29, 2010 - 1:00am

By requiring a two-thirds Knesset majority to cede land in East Jerusalem to the Palestinians and the Golan Heights to Syria, a new Israeli law raises the bar for passage. Putting any such withdrawals to a national referendum will subject international law to the whims of Israeli public opinion. The bill which Israel’s Parliament has passed will complicate peace efforts with the Palestinians and Syria by making it very difficult for any Israeli government to make territorial withdrawals.

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'Jews now a minority between the River and the Sea'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Gil Shefler - November 26, 2010 - 1:00am

Jews no longer constitute a majority in the land between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea, according to an expert on Jewish demographics. Prof. Sergio DellaPergola of the Hebrew University told The Jerusalem Post on Thursday that Jews – as defined by the government – now number less than half of the total population in Israel, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

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Palestinians slam Israeli referendum law
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
November 23, 2010 - 1:00am

JERUSALEM (Ma’an) -- Palestinian leaders in Israel and the West Bank slammed Monday, the passing of a Knesset bill mandating a national referendum ahead of any pullout from zones occupied by Israel, including the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights. Palestinian citizen of Israel and member of the Knesset Jamal Zahalqa called the law “an Israeli invention which is unprecedented in world history,” while chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said with the passing of the bill “the Israeli leadership, yet again, is making a mockery of international law.”

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The Palestinian President's Gifts
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat
by Abdul Rahman Al-Rashed - (Opinion) November 22, 2010 - 1:00am

In return for a 90-day settlement freeze, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has gifted Israel with 20 fighter jets and 20 billion dollars, in addition to increasing the appetite of Jewish contributors around the world in supporting the construction of more houses and flats in the West Bank and occupied Jerusalem.

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Israel Enacts Bill to Force Referendum on a Treaty
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Isabel Kershner - November 22, 2010 - 1:00am

JERUSALEM — Israel’s right-leaning Parliament approved legislation late Monday that could hamper the leadership’s ability to seal future peace deals with the Palestinians or Syria. The measure requires that any peace deal involving the ceding of territory annexed by Israel — namely East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights — must be put to a national referendum. The West Bank, which Israel never annexed, does not fall within the scope of the legislation, but it would include other pieces of sovereign Israeli territory that might be ceded in the context of land swaps in a peace agreement.

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Israeli referendum bill could hinder peace moves
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Statesman
by Josef Federman - November 22, 2010 - 1:00am

JERUSALEM — Israel's parliament passed a bill Monday that could complicate peace efforts with the Palestinians and Syria by making it very difficult for any government to make territorial withdrawals. The bill requires a two-thirds Knesset majority to cede land in east Jerusalem to the Palestinians or in the Golan Heights to Syria. Failing that, either withdrawal would become subject to a referendum, and polls show winning public approval would be an uphill battle.

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Encountering Peace: Five minutes to midnight
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Gershon Baskin - (Opinion) November 22, 2010 - 1:00am

Israel is facing the most severe crisis in its history. Surprisingly, most of its citizens choose to ignore this reality. The growing movement to delegitimize our right to exist cannot simply be dismissed by calling it anti- Semitism. The reasons are more complex than that.

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Israeli bill seen sinking future peace deals
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Statesman
by Ben Hubbard - November 21, 2010 - 1:00am

JERUSALEM — Israel's hawkish parliament is voting on legislation that could sink future peace deals with the Palestinians and Syria. Lawmakers are expected to approve Monday a bill that would make it harder for the government to cede east Jerusalem and the Golan Heights in any future accords. The legislation would require a two-thirds majority in Israel's 120-seat parliament for territorial concessions to win approval. Without that super majority, the government would need to win approval in a national referendum.

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