Israel Doesn’t Need the West Bank To Be Secure
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward
by Martin van Creveld - (Opinion) December 15, 2010 - 1:00am

When everything is said and done, how important is the West Bank to Israel’s defense?

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Israel releases non-violent protest leader
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
December 13, 2010 - 1:00am

RAMALLAH (Ma'an) -- Israeli authorities on Sunday released anti-wall activist Adeeb Abu Rahmah after detaining him for 18 months. Adeeb was convicted of "incitement" for his role in organizing non-violent weekly protests against the separation wall in Bil'in, which annexes 60 percent of the village's land. The International Court of Justice and the Israeli Supreme Court ruled the route of the wall illegal. An Israeli military court sentenced Adeeb to 12 months in prison, but a military judge extended his sentence to 18 months after an appeal by army prosecutors.

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Palestinian nonviolence: Is the Budrus model still viable?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Mahmoud Abbas - (Analysis) December 10, 2010 - 1:00am

With Middle East peace talks on the brink after the US this week gave up on an Israeli settlement freeze, Palestinians are reevaluating their options for securing statehood. Amid disappointment with both negotiations and violence, a documentary film now showing around the globe highlights the nonviolence protest movement as a hopeful alternative.

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Dissolving the Palestinian Authority is a terrible idea
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star
by Rami Khouri - (Opinion) December 9, 2010 - 1:00am

The latest pronouncements of the Palestinian Authority president, Mahmoud Abbas, that he would consider dissolving the Palestinian Authority (PA) if the current stalled peace negotiations with Israel do not move ahead, is more bizarre than brazen. It is understandable that he is frustrated and groping for alternatives to his current failed policy, but what he proposes is simply silly and regrettable.

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Still not too late to change course
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons
by Yossi Alpher - (Blog) December 6, 2010 - 1:00am

In these early days of December, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu took time off from his seemingly endless negotiations with both the Obama administration and his own coalition over the terms for a renewed settlement-construction freeze. Netanyahu was totally immersed in Israel's biggest-ever natural disaster, a mega-fire on Mt. Carmel. Friends, neighbors, even semi-enemies--countries as diverse as the Palestinian Authority, Turkey and the United States--all gallantly helped Israel fight the fire.

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Peeking into the abyss
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons
by Ghassan Khatib - (Blog) December 6, 2010 - 1:00am

There have been contradicting reports about the outcome of ongoing American efforts to resume the peace process, which was launched by the administration in Washington at the beginning of last September and then was undermined by the resumption of full-scale Israeli settlement activities. Since then, two parallel sets of political activities have been underway. First are American contacts with Israel to try to bring about another settlement freeze that might allow talks to continue between Israel and Palestinians.

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Blair: Israel must do more to ease Gaza blockade
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Statesman
by Karin Laub - November 28, 2010 - 1:00am

RAMALLAH, WEST BANK — Israel needs to do more to ease its blockade of Gaza and allow exports from the Hamas-ruled territory, international Mideast envoy Tony Blair said in an interview Sunday, after meeting with the Israeli prime minister. The former British prime minister told the Associated Press that he hopes to see progress soon, noting that exports are crucial for reviving Gaza's battered economy. "There has been significant change in Gaza, but not nearly as much as we need," he said.

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Palestinian girl fights life-threatening condition
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from CNN
by Paula Hancocks - November 28, 2010 - 1:00am

The second Aya abu Mouwais opens her eyes she starts crying. The 3-year-old is in pain every waking moment and has been for two years. She is suffering from oxalosis, a condition which occurs when the kidneys fail. Doctors in Israel say if the Palestinian girl doesn't have a liver and kidney transplant she could die within months. Aya's mother, Suhair, wakes her gently. The pain in Suhair's eyes is clear with each of her daughter's sobs. "It is so hard for me to see her like this," she said. Aya also has a broken arm, the dialysis she needs five days a week has made her bones brittle.

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GAZA STRIP: Italian minister calls for Israel to relax border restrictions
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
by Rushdi Abu Alouf - November 24, 2010 - 1:00am

Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini toured the Gaza Strip on Wednesday and called on Israel to facilitate more movement of goods and people between the seaside enclave and the West Bank. During a visit to a U.N. school in northern Gaza Strip, Frattini said Israel must do more to open the crossings. "It is true that there have been improvements on the situation, but this is not enough." The Italian minister arrived after meeting Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and a number of Palestinian officials, as well as leaders of Israel.

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Israeli official: Hamas rockets can reach Tel Aviv
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Statesman
by Dan Perry - November 14, 2010 - 1:00am

TEL AVIV, ISRAEL — A senior Israeli intelligence official warned Sunday that Hamas rulers in the Gaza Strip have rockets that can travel 80 kilometers (50 miles) — a longer range than previously reported, which would put the coastal metropolis of Tel Aviv within range of its launchers. The official blamed Egypt, saying it was not doing enough to stem smuggling through a network of tunnels along the relatively short border between its Sinai desert and the Palestinian territory. An Egyptian security official reached for comment maintained that Egypt was combating the smuggling successfully.

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