Netanyahu: No settlement freeze vote without U.S. offer in writing
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Barak Ravid - November 21, 2010 - 1:00am


Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told lawmakers on Sunday that he had not yet received a written draft from the United States over a proposed package of incentives in exchange for a freeze on West Bank construction. "We still have not received from the Americans a written summary of the principle understandings," Netanyahu told eight MKs from his Likud party, adding that he would not bring the offer for cabinet vote until he saw the proposal in its entirety.


PNA slams Israel for "soft" verdict on soldiers
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
November 21, 2010 - 1:00am


The Palestinian National Authority (PNA) on Sunday slammed Israel for handing down "soft" sentences against two soldiers accused of using a child as a human shield during the Gaza war. "Israel deliberately go easy with its soldiers who commit international law's violations against the Palestinian civilians," said Ghassan Al-Khatib, spokesman for the PNA. The two soldiers forced a nine-year-old boy to open a bag believed to have contained bombs. The incident happened during Israel's ground operation in January 2009 which followed a week of intensive airstrikes on Gaza.


Israel approves millions of dollars for Western Wall facelift
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
November 22, 2010 - 1:00am


JERUSALEM, Nov. 21 (Xinhua) -- Israel on Sunday approved a plan to develop Jerusalem's Western Wall plaza which will cost 85 million shekels (about 23 million U.S. dollars), citing preservation of archaeological sites and the need to upgrade aging infrastructure as its main goals. The plan, slated to stretch from 2011 to 2015, is a "direct continuation of a plan that was approved in 2004," the Israeli Prime Minister's Office said in a statement following the cabinet' s weekly meeting on Sunday.


Interview: Possibility of inter-Palestinian reconciliation within coming months slim: official
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
by Saud Abu Ramadan, Emad Drimly - (Interview) November 22, 2010 - 1:00am


RAMALLAH, Nov. 21 (Xinhua) -- Wassel Abu Yousef, secretary general of the Palestinian Liberation Front (PLF) and member of Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) executive committee, told Xinhua in an exclusive interview that he rules out the possibility of a reconciliation to be reached within the coming months amid the current situation.


Interview: Possibility of inter-Palestinian reconciliation within coming months slim: official
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
by Saud Abu Ramadan, Emad Drimly - (Interview) November 22, 2010 - 1:00am


RAMALLAH, Nov. 21 (Xinhua) -- Wassel Abu Yousef, secretary general of the Palestinian Liberation Front (PLF) and member of Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) executive committee, told Xinhua in an exclusive interview that he rules out the possibility of a reconciliation to be reached within the coming months amid the current situation.


Israeli bill seen sinking future peace deals
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Statesman
by Ben Hubbard - November 21, 2010 - 1:00am


JERUSALEM — Israel's hawkish parliament is voting on legislation that could sink future peace deals with the Palestinians and Syria. Lawmakers are expected to approve Monday a bill that would make it harder for the government to cede east Jerusalem and the Golan Heights in any future accords. The legislation would require a two-thirds majority in Israel's 120-seat parliament for territorial concessions to win approval. Without that super majority, the government would need to win approval in a national referendum.


Palestinian price index continues to rise
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
November 15, 2010 - 1:00am


RAMALLAH (Ma'an) -- The Consumer Price Index for October rose by 0.52 percent over the month, a report issued by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics said. Occupied East Jerusalem saw the strongest growth, experiencing a 0.83 percent rise in CPI, while in the West Bank the CPI rose by 0.36 percent. In the Gaza Strip however the CPI fell by 0.14 percent. The CPI across the occupied Palestinian territories stood at 131.36 in October, which was at 100 at its base year in 2004.


Settlers begin expanding settlement near Nablus
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
November 21, 2010 - 1:00am


NABLUS (Ma’an) -- Israeli settlers on Sunday started expanding the Rechalim settlement, illegally built on lands confiscated from farmers of the northern villages of Yatma and As-Sawiya south of Nablus, officials said. Ghassan Daghlas, a Palestinian Authority official who monitors settlement activity in the northern West Bank, told Ma’an that bulldozers began digging this morning. He explained that settlers from Rechalim occupied hundreds of acres.


Israel army showed 'intent to kill' in Gaza shelling
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
by Jared Malsin - November 21, 2010 - 1:00am


BEIT HANOUN, Gaza Strip (Ma’an) -- On 13 September, a day after Israeli tank shells decapitated his 16-year-old son, Walid Abu Oda went back to his family's northern Gaza farm in a vain search for the head. Asked how he was coping with the loss, he said, "How do you think it feels to lose a son, to see your son without his head?"


As Netanyahu pushes for settlement freeze deal, suburban Ariel could be sticking point
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Joshua Mitnick - (Analysis) November 21, 2010 - 1:00am


Ariel, West Bank With some 20,000 residents, a new performing arts center, and a university-in-the-making, this sprawling suburb has fashioned itself as an everyday Israeli city rather than a settlement of religious fundamentalists. But because Ariel, the fourth-largest Jewish settlement, is located 11 miles deep into the West Bank, it could prove to be one of the thorniest points of contention in border negotiations that the US hopes will give momentum to stalled peace efforts.



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