November 15th

GAZA: Book explores vibrant, diverse graffiti-art scene in war-torn strip ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times (Book Review) November 13, 2010 - 1:00am Joy, sadness, dreams and politics are among the emotions and messages expressed in graffiti paintings and murals on the concrete walls of Gaza, captured in a recently published book on graffiti art in the strip. » Read more

The US cannot continue to enable Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National (Editorial) November 15, 2010 - 1:00am An enabler is not the same thing as a friend. In its relationship with Israel, the United States has rarely understood the difference. » Read more

Israel at the Bottom of the Table ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat by Hussein Shobokshi - (Opinion) November 14, 2010 - 1:00am In a world that is full of examples of detestable racism and discrimination on the grounds of ethnicity, accent, or sect; Israel has distinguished itself with its new more creative methods of discrimination. It prohibits Muslims, Christians, and Baha'is from mandatory service in the Israel armed forces, with only Jews and Druze having to serve mandatorily. This is all part of the "Judaization" of Israel which was recently announced by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. » Read more

The dangers of a unilateral Palestine ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star by Ghanem Nuseibeh - (Opinion) November 15, 2010 - 1:00am Many people view the prospect of creating an Arab state in the land of Palestine as nothing short of a political earthquake. » Read more

I Believe I Can Fly ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Thomas L. Friedman - November 13, 2010 - 1:00am Reading the headlines these days, I can’t help but repeat this truism: If you jump off the top of an 80-story building, for 79 floors you can think you’re flying. It’s the sudden stop at the end that tells you you’re not. It’s striking to me how many leaders and nations are behaving today as though they think they can fly — and ignoring that sudden stop at the end that’s sure to come. » Read more

Politics Over Peace ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times (Editorial) November 12, 2010 - 1:00am Early in his most recent tenure, Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, spent a lot of time trying to persuade President Obama and others that he was serious about making peace with the Palestinians. Only a hard-liner, like him, could pull it off. If only. With the peace process crumbling, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton met with Mr. Netanyahu for seven hours on Thursday. She went in insisting that she still believes that Mr. Netanyahu and the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, are “very committed to a two-state solution.” There was no sign of a breakthrough. » Read more

Politics Over Peace ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times (Editorial) November 12, 2010 - 1:00am Early in his most recent tenure, Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, spent a lot of time trying to persuade President Obama and others that he was serious about making peace with the Palestinians. Only a hard-liner, like him, could pull it off. If only. With the peace process crumbling, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton met with Mr. Netanyahu for seven hours on Thursday. She went in insisting that she still believes that Mr. Netanyahu and the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, are “very committed to a two-state solution.” There was no sign of a breakthrough. » Read more

A 90-Day Bet on Mideast Talks ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Ethan Bronner, Mark Landler - November 14, 2010 - 1:00am JERUSALEM — The pledge by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel to push for a new, one-time-only freeze of 90 days on settlement construction in the West Bank represents a bet by the Israelis and the Americans that enough can be accomplished so that the Palestinians will not abandon peace talks even after the freeze ends. » Read more

November 12th

Six Years After His Death, Divided Palestinians Laud Arafat as Unifying Figure Media Mention of Ghaith al-Omari In The Media Line - November 12, 2010 - 1:00am Six years after he died in a Paris hospital, leaving behind a failed peace process and a Palestinian government plagued by inefficiency and corruption, Yasser Arafat remains the object of veneration by Palestinians, even as they are divided between nationalist and Islamic factions. Construction on a museum dedicated to his life and containing many of his personal effects – including the black-and-white keffiyeh he turned into a symbol of Palestinian nationhood – has begun in the Muqata compound in Ramallah, where Arafat spent his last years besieged by Israeli troops. » Read more

Genesis, development and present status ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons by Nabeel Kassis - (Opinion) November 10, 2010 - 1:00am It was in early 2002 that the idea of an Arab peace initiative was born. After the failure of the Camp David negotiations, the end of the Clinton presidency and the election of Ariel Sharon, the intifada was raging, turning into a violent confrontation. Israeli settlement policy, Hamas' suicide bombings and Israeli bloody attacks, incursions and siege threatened to destroy the Palestinian-Israeli peace process. Early efforts to save the day, including the Sharm al-Sheikh summits and the Mitchell report, did not bring any relief. » Read more