PM Fayyad says Palestinians are committed to green development as well as independence. Palestinian state building efforts extend into occupied East Jerusalem. The eviction of a Palestinian family by settlers in Jerusalem and new Israeli legislation requiring referendums on peace deals stir tensions. Palestinian courts differ on punishing land sales to Israelis. Occupation forces destroy a Palestinian home in Jerusalem. Pres. Abbas says PLO headquarters will eventually be in Jerusalem. Hamas officials say Fatah officials can only leave the Gaza Strip if Hamas operatives are released in the West Bank. Doubts persist about progress on peace. Israel's claims to Jerusalem leave it internationally isolated. Ha'aretz says Israel's leaders have handcuffed themselves to the extreme right. Amira Hass says Israeli generals and not just soldiers should face charges over the use of human shields. Palestinians clash with occupation forces over home demolitions. 100 leading Norwegians call for a cultural boycott of Israel because of the occupation. Alon Ben-Meir says Robert Wexler would make a good Mideast envoy. Palestinians might use the Kosovo model for a declaration of independence. The Forward profiles an Israeli Bedouin diplomat. PLO officials say they will insist on a complete settlement halt.

PLO Insist on Total Stop to Settlement Activities
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat
by Kifah Zaboun - November 24, 2010 - 1:00am

Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat has stated to Asharq Al-Awsat that the Palestinians have yet to be given any details related to the US-Israeli agreement pertaining to the resumption of the negotiations. Meanwhile, reliable sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that in return for the guarantees offered to Israel, the Americans might offer the Palestinians guarantees related to support, the establishment of the state and its borders, and the status of Jerusalem.

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Muslim, Bedouin, and Representing Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward
by Josh Nathan-Kazis - November 24, 2010 - 1:00am

Ishmael Khaldi does not deny the difficult conditions of the Bedouin communities living in Israel’s southern desert, the most impoverished group in Israel. A Bedouin from the north of the country, Khaldi said that he donated 250 shekels — about $70 — to the residents of Al-Arakib, the unrecognized Bedouin village in the Negev that the Israeli government has demolished half a dozen times in recent months. “For the kids without shelter, now that winter is coming,” he said.

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Declaring Palestinian Statehood
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Ideas Daily
by Aryeh Tepper - November 24, 2010 - 1:00am

Palestinian political figures, said to be frustrated with the pace and trajectory of peace talks with Israel, have increasingly made noises about taking matters into their own hands and unilaterally declaring a Palestinian state. In practical terms, this means implementing Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad's plan for Palestinian independence first unveiled in August 2009.

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Why Robert Wexler?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Alon Ben-meir - (Opinion) November 24, 2010 - 1:00am

The Obama administration is close to reaching a new agreement with Israel that would freeze settlement construction in the West Bank for a further, nonrenewable, three months. Once negotiations resume, regardless of the outcome, it will be necessary for the administration to replace Middle East envoy George Mitchell, who led the negotiations for the past two years to no avail.

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Ayalon: Boycott of Israel is boycott of peace process
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
November 24, 2010 - 1:00am

Deputy FM responds to Norwegian petition by 100 arts, cultural figures accusing Israeli educational institutions of apartheid, “playing a key role in the occupation"; country's former PM condemns move. Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon on Wednesday condemned a petition against Israel which was signed by one hundred famous Norwegians.

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Palestinians clash with IDF over West Bank demolitions
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Ali Waked - November 24, 2010 - 1:00am

Security forces on Wednesday razed Palestinian fences and water installations built unlawfully in the Nahal Kane Nature Reserve located in the West Bank. A tent encampment and three pigsties illegally built by Palestinians were demolished on Tuesday night. Civil Administration personnel also razed an illegally paved road in a nature reserve situated in Israeli-controlled territory. The paving of the road was funded by Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad.

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IDF generals, not just soldiers, must answer questions on human shields
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Amira Hass - November 24, 2010 - 1:00am

The Givati Brigade soldiers who were tried and convicted of risking the life of a non-combatant Palestinian child are entitled to feel like victims. But why shouldn't they feel patriotic pride? Their conviction essentially handed the post of chief of staff to Yoav Galant and bestowed legal immunity on political figures, in particular Ehud Olmert and Ehud Barak.

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Israel's leaders have handcuffed themselves to the extreme right
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
(Editorial) November 24, 2010 - 1:00am

For years, right-wing circles have tried to derail diplomatic steps taken by Israeli governments by, among other things, drafting laws that predicate territorial concession upon an absolute Knesset majority or a referendum. On Monday the government joined forces with the most right-wing parliament ever witnessed in the history of the state, for the purpose of handcuffing the political leadership's moves in the peace process.

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Israel stakes out lonely position on Jerusalem
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Statesman
by Matti Friedman - November 24, 2010 - 1:00am

If there is ever to be Middle East peace, here's a knot that must somehow be undone. Hundreds of thousands of Israelis who have moved to sprawling Jewish areas in east Jerusalem believe they are ordinary residents of their capital who will never be asked to vacate their homes. It's a sentiment shared by most of their countrymen and affirmed by lawmakers who voted this week to limit a government's ability to ever pull out.

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