October 5th

Obama faces humiliation over Middle East talks ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian by Simon Tisdall - (Opinion) October 4, 2010 - 12:00am Barack Obama has barely a week to save the Middle East peace process from collapse, only months after he relaunched it amid optimistic predictions that a solution would be reached within a year. The consequences of failure will be serious for the US president; for the region and the wider world, they are potentially disastrous. » Read more

Deadline extended in bid to keep Israel-Palestinian talks alive ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor by Joshua Mitnick - October 4, 2010 - 12:00am Tel Aviv, Israel — Sputtering Israeli-Palestinian peace talks received another reprieve over the weekend when a key Arab League meeting was postponed until Friday. It was the second delay for the meeting, which Palestinians said could mark their withdrawal from negotiations if Israeli settlement expansion continued. » Read more

Bibi pushing quiet diplomacy in bid to restart talks ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) October 4, 2010 - 12:00am Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he is "in the midst of sensitive diplomatic contacts with the U.S. administration" in the effort to continue peace talks with the Palestinians. In a statement Sunday at the start of the weekly Cabinet meeting, Netanyahu called the direct peace negotiations begun one month ago "a vital interest for the State of Israel." He urged his ministers to "be patient, act responsibly, calmly and -- above all -- quietly." » Read more

How Did Netanyahu Turn the Tables on Abbas? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat by Tariq Alhomayed - (Opinion) October 5, 2010 - 12:00am The story revealed by our newspaper yesterday on the new conditions proposed by the Israeli Prime Minister to the US administration for a freeze on settlement construction for a specific period of time – thus leading to a resumption of the peace talks – demonstrates why we had been calling on the Palestinian President to continue negotiations and not fall into Netanyahu's trap. » Read more

Did militant Israeli settlers burn mosque near Bethlehem? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor by Joshua Mitnick - October 4, 2010 - 12:00am Tel Aviv, Israel — Israel is worried that Jewish militants torched a West Bank mosque overnight Monday in a bid to undermine peace negotiations with the Palestinians. A mosque in the Palestinian village of Beit Fajar, just south of Bethlehem, became the fourth in the last two years to be the target of an arson attempt, according to human rights workers. The attack is believed to be part of a campaign by vigilante settlers to ignite violence by attacking Muslim holy sites. » Read more

Not So Hidden Influences ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Slate by Christopher Hitchens - (Opinion) October 4, 2010 - 12:00am I wasted a little time before writing this article, to see if I could produce a satire or a parody. This would have consisted of a fundraising letter from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee to a potential donor. "Dear Leo," it might begin. "We are asking you, even in these straitened times, to make the largest contribution you can afford. The security of the state of Israel is threatened as never before, and your help is urgently required. Alas, we can offer you nothing in return for your donation. » Read more

West Bank Oktoberfest raises a glass to Palestinian culture ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times by Edmund Sanders - October 5, 2010 - 12:00am Reporting from Taybeh, West Bank Maybe it's the afternoon beer-chugging contest in a land where 98% of the people are Muslim and prohibited from drinking alcohol. Or the fact that pork-filled German bratwurst and stein-carrying beer maidens have been replaced by roasted lamb gyros and AK-47-carrying policemen. Then there's the eclectic crowd, including Boy Scouts, nuns, foreign diplomats and even a few liberal-minded Jewish Israelis, who celebrated with thousands of other partygoers, technically violating the military ban against Israelis entering Palestinian towns. » Read more

Arsonists set fire to mosque in West Bank town ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post by Joel Greenberg - October 4, 2010 - 12:00am BEIT FAJAR, WEST BANK - Arsonists set fire to a mosque in this Palestinian town early Monday, charring Korans, burning holes into the carpet and scrawling "revenge" in Hebrew near the doorway. The attack, which residents blamed on Jewish settlers, threatened to stir passions amid a crisis in Israeli-Palestinian peace talks over settlement construction. It was strongly condemned by Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak. » Read more

Arsonists set fire to mosque in West Bank town ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post by Joel Greenberg - October 4, 2010 - 12:00am BEIT FAJAR, WEST BANK - Arsonists set fire to a mosque in this Palestinian town early Monday, charring Korans, burning holes into the carpet and scrawling "revenge" in Hebrew near the doorway. The attack, which residents blamed on Jewish settlers, threatened to stir passions amid a crisis in Israeli-Palestinian peace talks over settlement construction. It was strongly condemned by Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak. » Read more

Arsonists set fire to mosque in West Bank town ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post by Joel Greenberg - October 4, 2010 - 12:00am BEIT FAJAR, WEST BANK - Arsonists set fire to a mosque in this Palestinian town early Monday, charring Korans, burning holes into the carpet and scrawling "revenge" in Hebrew near the doorway. The attack, which residents blamed on Jewish settlers, threatened to stir passions amid a crisis in Israeli-Palestinian peace talks over settlement construction. It was strongly condemned by Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak. » Read more