December 3rd

Progress Requires Patience, Compromise and Courageous Leadership
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Middle East Progress
(Interview) December 1, 2009 - 1:00am

What is the significance of the Israeli government’s announcement on a settlement construction freeze in the West Bank? What are your next steps now that the Israeli government has made this announcement?

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There’s no turning back
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Shimon Shiffer - (Opinion) December 2, 2009 - 1:00am

It was hard to believe the prime minister Tuesday evening when he declared that the settlement freeze is a temporary one-time move, to be followed by resumed construction; a statement he made in a bid to mitigate the anger of the settlers. However, it appears that nothing is more permanent than the temporary: This assumption may turn out to be accurate in respect to the cabinet’s decision to freeze settlement construction for 10 months.

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Barak: Settlements are part of Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Tal Rabinovsky - December 3, 2009 - 1:00am

Defense Minister Ehud Barak met with four West Bank council heads in his office on Wednesday, and stressed to them that "the settlement blocs are an inseparable part of Israel in all future negotiations with the Palestinians. The Jordan Valley and the Dead Sea are regions that are dear to my heart." Present at the meeting were Alfei Menashe Council head Hasdai Eliezer, Megilot Council head Mutzi Dahman, head of the Jordan Valley Regional Council David David Elhayani, and Oranit Council head Shumi Langer.

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Israel forces detain Jewish settlement mayor
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
by Richard Boudreaux - December 3, 2009 - 1:00am

Israeli security forces arrested the mayor of a Jewish settlement Wednesday as he and other residents tried to prevent government inspectors from entering the community to enforce new restrictions on building in the West Bank. The skirmish in Beit Aryeh was the most serious in five days of confrontations across the territory between a government that appears intent on limiting settlement growth over the next 10 months and a settler movement determined to defy the effort.

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Israel Arrests Settlers Fighting Freeze
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Isabel Kershner - December 2, 2009 - 1:00am

EFRAT, West Bank — The Israeli police made their first arrests on Wednesday as part of the state’s effort to enforce a temporary construction freeze in Jewish settlements in the West Bank, briefly detaining the mayor of a settler council and at least two Jewish protesters. Both sides are trying hard to show how determined they are — the state in enforcing the moratorium, and the settlers in thwarting the state’s plans.

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December 2nd

Clashes occur in occupied East Jerusalem as Jewish settlers continue to evict Palestinian families, and a new report finds that Israel canceled Jerusalem residency for thousands of Palestinians in 2008. The EU has proposed recognizing East Jerusalem as the Palestinian capital and strengthening Palestinian institutions in the occupied city. Bethlehem shopkeepers are hoping for a more prosperous Christmas. Israel's consul general to the Pacific Northwest says his country wants peace. Israeli settlers continue to vow to defy the building moratorium and scuffle with building inspectors and Palestinians. Public building in the West Bank has dropped 60% since Netanyahu took office. Speculation continues about the potential inclusion of jailed Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti in a possible Israel-Hamas prisoner exchange, with the possibility that he also may be exiled. Hamas says one of its fighters has been killed. Foreign Policy magazine has included PM Salam Fayyad in its list of 100 leading global thinkers. David Makovsky argues that both Netanyahu and Abbas need to be strengthened in order for peace to proceed. The JTA profiles the "Islamic Movement" organization among Palestinian citizens of Israel.

Israel stripped thousands of Jerusalem Arabs of residency in 2008
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Nir Hasson - December 2, 2009 - 1:00am

Last year set an all-time record for the number of Arab residents of East Jerusalem who were stripped of residency rights by the Interior Ministry. Altogether, the ministry revoked the residency of 4,577 East Jerusalemites in 2008 - 21 times the average of the previous 40 years.

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Peres accuses Hamas of holding up Shalit deal
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Avi Issacharoff - December 2, 2009 - 1:00am

President Shimon Peres accused Hamas on Wednesday of holding up a deal for the release of Gilad Shalit, amid reports that talks have hit a snag over 50 prisoners whom Israel refuses to free in return for the abducted Israeli soldier. "The delay is not caused by the Israeli government but rather by the other side - there are internal disagreements within Hamas," Army Radio quoted Peres as saying in speech to students at Kibbutz Yotveta.

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David Makovsky / Obama and Netanyahu: Lessons of 2009
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by David Makovsky - (Opinion) December 1, 2009 - 1:00am

WASHINGTON - The announcement of a moratorium on building in the settlements ends the first chapter of U.S.-Israel relations during the Obama era. There are lessons for all. The move by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is clearly a bid to improve U.S.-Israel relations as much as it is an effort to restart negotiations with the Palestinians. It may also be a counterbalance toward Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, against a potential prisoner swap with Hamas for Gilad Shalit.

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Magazine names Fayyad one of 100 top global thinkers
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
December 2, 2009 - 1:00am

Prime Minister Salam Fayyad was ranked 61 on the American magazine Foreign Policy's Top 100 Global Thinkers list published this week. Fayyad earned his spot, the report said, "for showing how to govern effectively in the middle of a conflict." Summing up his contribution to global leadership, the magazine wrote:

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