Middle East News: World Press Roundup

Former President Jimmy Carter responds to Elliott Abrams’ criticism of his recent op-ed in the Washington Post. The Israeli human rights group B'Tselem says that Israel underestimated Palestinian civilian deaths in Gaza war and that most Palestinians killed were civilians. Israel picks contractors for 486 new settlement homes in occupied East Jerusalem. PLO officials Yasser Abed Rabbo and Saeb Erekat say settlement expansion may terminate the peace process before it begins.Fatah appoints Muhammad Dahlan to an information post. Palestinian citizens of Israel plan to strike on October 1. The Israeli Right pressures the government to reject US demands for a settlement freeze.

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Taking Exception: A Genuine Effort for Peace ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post by Jimmy Carter - September 8, 2009 - 12:00am I notice that Elliott Abrams has contradicted some points in my Sept. 6 op-ed "The Elders' View of the Middle East" (though my suggested title, "What Next for the Holy Land," would have been a better headline). » Read more

Israel pushes ahead with East Jerusalem building ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor by Jonathan Adams - September 9, 2009 - 12:00am Israel announced building plans in contested East Jerusalem today in a move likely to complicate US-Israel talks over a freeze on Israeli settlements in disputed territories. The reports came days after Israel announced other plans to build new settlements in the West Bank (see a map of the settlements here). The Obama administration has pressed Israel for a freeze on all settlement activity as a condition for a return to peace talks with the Palestinians. Israel has shrugged off that demand. » Read more

Israel 'understated' Gaza deaths ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News September 9, 2009 - 12:00am B'Tselem said detailed research with careful cross-checking showed 1,387 Palestinians died, over half of them civilians and 252 of them children. This contradicts an Israeli army report stating fewer than 300 civilians died in fighting in December and January. Israel launched the assault to halt rocket attacks from Hamas-run Gaza. The overall B'Tselem total broadly tallies with the official Palestinian death toll and the findings of other non-governmental organisations, although the proportion of civilians it identifies is lower. » Read more

Israel picks contractors for new settlement homes ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP) September 9, 2009 - 12:00am Israel has picked contractors for 486 new homes in a settlement in annexed Arab east Jerusalem, officials said on Wednesday, days after approving hundreds of new homes in the West Bank. "We published the winner of the bids," a spokesman for the Israel Lands Authority said. He was clarifying an earlier statement that said the tendering process had been reopened. Tenders were first invited in October 2008 but authorities rejected all the bids because of pricing disagreements. Authorities last month reversed the decision following an appeal by companies that had tendered. » Read more

Israel’s settlement announcement irks negotiators, but unlikely to derail process ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) by Ron Kampeas - September 9, 2009 - 12:00am The United States and its partners pushing peace in the Middle East are treating Israel's announcement that it will build 455 new housing units in the West Bank before imposing a freeze as a buyer reviewing the unannounced "delivery fee" for a new car: Swallow hard, pay the extra bucks and move on. "It's difficult to understand what the Israelis want when they announce that kind of thing," one European diplomat said. "But it shouldn’t derail the process." » Read more

Abed Rabbo: Israel killing peace process before it begins ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency September 9, 2009 - 12:00am Israel’s expansion of illegal settlements on Palestinian land in the West Bank is intended to terminate the peace process before it even starts, Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) official Yasser Abed Rabbo said on Wednesday. Abed Rabbo told the Russia Today TV network, “They know quite well that such steps will provoke the Palestinians and the Arabs, and even the international community who agreed that settlements must stop as a major part in the Road Map plan. Thus, the Israeli government’s aim is to thwart the political efforts that will eventually lead to the two-state solution.” » Read more

Erekat to US, UN, Greece: Settlements and peace two separate tracks ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency September 9, 2009 - 12:00am The Israeli government chose the path of settlements instead of peace, Head of the Negotiations Affairs Department in the Palestine Liberation Organization Saeb Erekat said Wednesday. Erekat called the Israeli government’s insistence on creating “facts on the ground” only intensifies the deception when its leaders claim they want peace, he told UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Robery Serry and US Consul General Daniel Rubenstein in a meeting alongside Greek Consul General Soterios Athanasius. » Read more

Former Gaza strongman Dahlan appointed to Fatah information post ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency September 9, 2009 - 12:00am Fatah’s newly-elected Central Committee appointed controversial former Gaza strongman Muhammad Dahlan to be charge of information on Tuesday night. The committee, which was reconstituted at the party’s convention in Bethlehem in August, held a meeting on Tuesday in the security compound (Al-Muqata’a) in Ramallah and Central committee member Jamal Muheisin told Ma’an that Ahmad (Abu Mahir) Ghneim was appointed Deputy Chair and Secretary of Fatah movement. » Read more

Arabs in Israel plan to strike on October 1 ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National by Jonathan Cook - September 9, 2009 - 12:00am The increasingly harsh political climate in Israel under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing government has prompted the leadership of the country’s 1.3 million Arab citizens to call the first general strike in several years. The one-day stoppage is due to take place on October 1, a date heavy with symbolism because it marks the anniversary of another general strike, in 2000 at the start of the second intifada when 13 Arab demonstrators were shot dead by Israeli police. » Read more

Israeli Right tries to stop freeze on settlements ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National by Vita Bekker - September 9, 2009 - 12:00am Israeli right-wing politicians and settler leaders have launched a last-minute campaign this week to pressure the government to reject the US call for a freeze on construction of Jewish homes in occupied Palestinian territory. The efforts by the Right come just days before Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, is expected to reach a compromise with the United States on a temporary halt to settlement activity. Israeli media reported yesterday that he is likely to agree to a lull of six to nine months in the occupied West Bank. » Read more

Israel is not at all interested in peace ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News (Editorial) September 9, 2009 - 12:00am It is becoming increasingly clear to the United States and Europe that Israel is simply not interested in returning to peace negotiations or ever will be under its current leadership. The latest show of defiance from Netanyahu's government came through a few days ago when Israel officially approved the construction of 455 new colonies in the West Bank, totally dismissing US and others' demand to freeze all colony activity. » Read more

Jerusalem can only gain through cooperative neighborhood initiatives ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star by Fuad Abu Hamed, Hagai Agmon-Snir - (Opinion) September 9, 2009 - 12:00am All over the Western world, community empowerment programs encourage resident participation by involving community leaders and organizers in decisions about the city in which they live. What could be better than the authorities and residents taking joint responsibility for muni­cipal challenges? In East Jerusalem, this is not so straightforward. » Read more

Israel's settlement charade makes mockery of peace, curbs Palestinians' options ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star (Editorial) September 9, 2009 - 12:00am The Israeli government’s approval this week of plans to construct hundreds of new settler homes on occupied Palestinian Territory may well be remembered as the hammer that drove the final nail into the coffin of President Barack Obama’s peace efforts. All Israeli settlement construction on occupied Palestinian land is viewed as a “breach of international law,” according to a 2004 ruling by the International Court of Justice. » Read more

The Salam Fayad Document: A Palestinian Initiative to Bear Responsibility ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Dar Al-Hayat by Raghida Dergham - (Analysis) September 9, 2009 - 12:00am Quite frankly, the program put forth by the government of the Palestinian Authority, detailed by Prime Minister Salam Fayyad in a document entitled “Palestine: Ending the Occupation, Establishing the State”, for the next two years is the only program that preserves the two states, undermines the occupation and ruptures its backbone by building the institutions of the de facto state. » Read more

B'Tselem: 773 of Palestinians killed in Cast Lead were civilians ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews September 9, 2009 - 12:00am How many Palestinians were killed in the Gaza Strip during Operation Cast Lead? Eight months after the operation, it seems as though the differences between the two sides' figures are only getting bigger. » Read more

Hamas, Fatah set to reconcile by 2010 ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Khaled Abu Toameh - September 9, 2009 - 12:00am Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal's recent visit to Egypt has brought the Islamist movement and Fatah closer to ending their differences, sources close to Hamas in the Gaza Strip revealed on Tuesday. In another sign of rapprochement between the two parties, Hamas has welcomed plans by senior Fatah officials to visit the Gaza Strip for talks aimed at resolving the crisis. The Fatah officials who are expected to visit the Strip include Nabil Sha'ath, Jibril Rajoub, Mahmoud al-Aloul and Fakhri Bsaiso. » Read more

Talks go on despite W. Bank construction ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Herb Keinon, Hilary Leila Krieger - September 9, 2009 - 12:00am Despite angry statements from the Palestinians and the Arab world, and condemnations from the US and the EU, Israel's announcement Monday of new housing starts in the settlements did not derail the diplomatic process; US envoy George Mitchell is expected here Saturday night, and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is scheduled to fly to Egypt for talks on Sunday. "The settlements aren't the be-all, end-all" of American policy efforts, one State Department official told The Jerusalem Post on Tuesday. "Our ultimate goal [is] to create the conditions for negotiations." » Read more

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