Abbas: What Israel calls itself is none of our business
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Khaled Abu Toameh - October 15, 2010 - 12:00am

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said on Thursday that it was none of the Palestinians’ business if Israel wanted to call itself a Jewish state, or anything else. “If the Israelis want to call themselves any name, they should address the international community and the United Nations, because this is none of our business,” Abbas told reporters after meeting with Finnish President Tarja Halonen in Ramallah. Abbas said that the PLO had recognized Israel when the Oslo Accords were signed in 1993.

»

Israeli settlement building surges as US pushes for a new freeze
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Joshua Mitnick - October 15, 2010 - 12:00am

Beitar Illit, West Bank — In the two and a half weeks since Israel's settlement freeze expired, there's been a surge in construction on new West Bank homes, dimming prospect the Palestinians will agree to resume peace talks. "The resumption at this scale makes it more complicated to make arrangement that will allow a resumption of talks," says Palestinian government spokesman Ghassan Khatib. "They are putting more sticks in the wheels.''

»

Smothered by Settlements
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Mustafa Barghouthi - (Opinion) October 14, 2010 - 12:00am

Negotiations between two unequal parties cannot succeed. Success in Palestinian-Israeli negotiations requires a reasonable balance of power, clear terms of reference and abstention of both sides from imposing unilateral facts on the ground. None of that existed in the talks that were re-initiated in September.

»

Abbas urges the Quartet to realize Palestinian statehood
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
October 14, 2010 - 12:00am

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday urged the international Quartet for Middle East peace to find alternative solutions to end the Israeli occupation and give the Palestinians a homeland. Abbas made the comments at a joint press conference in Ramallah with visiting Finnish President Tarja Halonen. "We want a state on the lands occupied in 1967 and to live in peace with our neighbors, including Israel," Abbas said.

»

Postcard From Palestine
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Nation
by Christopher Hayes - (Opinion) October 14, 2010 - 12:00am

The first thing you notice when you drive into Hebron is the lack of cars. Since 1997 this second-largest Palestinian city in the West Bank, the only one with an Israeli settlement in its midst, has been formally divided. Within the Israeli section, which takes up much of the historic downtown, Palestinians are not allowed to drive, so they walk or use donkey carts. When people are ill or injured, they are carried to the hospital. It is not surprising, therefore, that many of the 30,000 Palestinians who once lived here have moved out.

»

Rattling the Cage: Any more doubts about Bibi?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Larry Derfner - (Opinion) October 13, 2010 - 12:00am

Until this week, the question posed by “neutral observers” about Binyamin Netanyahu was whether he was going to follow the examples of Menachem Begin and Ariel Sharon, or that of Yitzhak Shamir. Would he transform himself into a peacemaker like Begin and Sharon by uprooting settlements and relinquishing occupied territory, or would he be an immovable object like Shamir, aiming only to keep things “quiet” so he could build more settlements and close the door on Palestinian statehood?

»

Bibi's Tough Choices
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward
by Nathan Jeffay - October 13, 2010 - 12:00am

All eyes are on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as the world awaits his final response to calls for a further settlement freeze. But what happens if he agrees – will he be able to push it through his cabinet and keep his coalition together? Since the final days of Netanyahu’s first settlement freeze in late September, his right-wing coalition partners have been flexing their muscles. But a close examination of their stands suggests Netanyahu may have more flexibility than most perceive.

»

Buying “Time” Will Lead Negotiations Out of Predicaments?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Dar Al-Hayat
by George Semaan - (Opinion) October 13, 2010 - 12:00am

The ball is now in Washington’s court, knowing it never exited it in the first place, after Washington decided to be the sole sponsor of the new round of direct talks between Israel and the Palestinian authority.

»

Where is Israel going?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from ABC News
by Michael Brull - (Opinion) October 13, 2010 - 12:00am

Shortly after Israel conquered the West Bank and Gaza, one of Israel’s most brilliant intellectuals, Yeshayahu Leibowitz called for an immediate withdrawal from the occupied territories.

»

Jerusalem mayor pushes for rezoning of Arab areas
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Statesman
October 13, 2010 - 12:00am

JERUSALEM — The mayor of Jerusalem asked Israel's prime minister on Wednesday to adopt his plan to rezone some of the city's Arab neighborhoods and suspend demolitions of homes built there without permits. In a letter to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Mayor Nir Barkat wrote that his plan would improve the lives of the city's Arab residents. However, critics said the rezoning plan would heighten tensions because it also involves demolishing 22 Arab homes in one of the most volatile areas of Jerusalem, near the walled Old City.

»


American Task Force on Palestine - 1634 Eye St. NW, Suite 725, Washington DC 20006 - Telephone: 202-262-0017