Israel is unlikely to yield
Media Mention of ATFP In Gulf News - October 29, 2009 - 12:00am

Top aides of the Obama administration have this month been quietly stoking the peace process fire, raising expectations that the American president, whose popularity remains relatively high, may now be willing to go beyond gentle rapping Israeli knuckles. The ball started rolling when Barack Obama's National Security Advisor General James L. Jones addressed the Fourth Annual Gala of the American Task Force on Palestine on October 15.

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'Waqf quietly pleased at Salah's arrest'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Khaled Abu Toameh - October 29, 2009 - 12:00am

Heads of the Waqf Department have quietly expressed their satisfaction with the Israeli authorities' recent measures against Sheikh Raed Salah, leader of the northern branch of the Islamic Movement in Israel, and top Fatah operative Hatem Abdel Qader, a senior official with the Ministry for Internal Security said on Thursday. Salah and Abdel Qader have each been arrested by the Jerusalem Police for their role in instigating the latest wave of violent protests at the Temple Mount.

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UN envoy: Goldstone won't go away
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Israel News
by Aviad Glickman - October 28, 2009 - 12:00am

The Goldstone Report on Operation Cast Lead will not go away even if Israel launches an independent inquiry into the campaign, UN Ambassador Gabriela Shalev said Wednesday. "There are no legal questions here – and we shouldn't be deluding ourselves that the report will disappear if we launch a probe," Shalev said during a discussion held at the Israel Democracy Institute. "We are seeing a murky wave against the State of Israel the likes of which has not been seen in many years."

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Salafism: A New Threat to Hamas
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Dan Williams - October 27, 2009 - 12:00am

On the streets of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, clusters of men wear long tunics over baggy trousers, a costume common in Pakistan but virtually unknown among Palestinians — until recently. It is an emblem of Salafism, a branch of Islam that advocates restoring a Muslim empire across the Middle East and into Spain. Some Salafis preach violence, even killing Muslims deemed not pious enough. While historically a fringe group in the southeastern Mediterranean, Salafis have sought inroads in Lebanon and Jordan and are battling Hamas in Gaza.

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Israeli Police Clash With Palestinians at Sacred Compound in Jerusalem
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Isabel Kershner - October 26, 2009 - 12:00am

Israeli police officers clashed Sunday with stone-throwing Palestinians at a site sacred to Muslims and Jews, in the latest sign of tension in this volatile city. The police said that their forces had entered the Temple Mount compound twice after Palestinians hurled rocks at officers patrolling there, and that they dispersed rioters with stun grenades. Palestinian medics at the scene said at least 17 Muslims were wounded. Nine police officers were slightly hurt by rocks, a police spokesman said.

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Unrest after Israeli raid on Al-Aqsa
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
October 26, 2009 - 12:00am

At least 30 Palestinians were injured and 20 arrested when clashes between Israeli forces and youth erupted anew in the Old City of occupied East Jerusalem on Sunday, Palestinian and Israeli officials said. In violence that followed a reported police raid on the sensitive Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, Israeli forces fired stun grenades, tear-gas canisters and rubber-coated bullets at protesters. Palestinian youth hurled stones and set tires and piles of trash ablaze, according to Ma'an's correspondent, who was reporting from the scene.

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Only lack of unity will produce two states
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons
by Ron Pundak - (Opinion) October 26, 2009 - 12:00am

The Egyptian-mediated internal Palestinian dialogue between Hamas and Fateh involves a variety of issues, including security and elections, all of which affect the peace process between Israel and the Palestinians.

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Ex-U.S. envoy: Livni told Palestinians to reject Olmert peace offer
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
October 22, 2009 - 12:00am

uring her tenure as foreign minister, Tzipi Livni advised the Palestinian Authority to reject then-prime minister Ehud Olmert's proposals for a peace agreement, former U.S. ambassador to Israel Martin Indyk said on Thursday. "The prime minister was about to have an indictment filed against him and the foreign minister herself specifically told both the Americans and the Palestinians: Don't you dare sign the agreement," Indyk said, during a panel discussion at President Shimon Peres' Presidential Conference in Jerusalem.

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The fifth and last decade
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Ari Shavit - (Opinion) October 22, 2009 - 12:00am

The chronicles of stupidity are as follows: In the first decade after the Six-Day War, Israel decided not to decide. It did not heed the warnings of the likes of Yeshayahu Leibowitz, Amos Oz, Uri Avnery and former Labor Party leaders Aryeh Eliav and Yitzhak Ben-Aharon, all of whom immediately understood that the occupation was a trap. Israel believed that the territories were bargaining chips, and that it would be best to hold on to those chips so they could be exchanged for peace.

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Top IDF officer warns: Settlers' radical fringe growing
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Anshel Pfeffer - October 20, 2009 - 12:00am

The extremist fringe of West Bank settlers is growing, a senior officer on the Israel Defense Forces General Staff warned this week. Though most West Bank settlers are law abiding, the officer said, recent years have seen an upswing in violent attacks by extremist settlers against both IDF troops and neighboring Palestinians.

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