November 1st

Enough Game-Playing ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times (Editorial) October 29, 2010 - 12:00am Israeli-Palestinian peace talks have been suspended for four weeks, about as long as they were on. The more protracted the impasse, the harder it will be for the parties to get back to the negotiating table. More delay only plays into the hands of extremists. Both sides are at fault. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel has refused President Obama’s request to extend a moratorium on construction in the Jewish settlements for a modest 60 days. The Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, has refused to negotiate until building in the settlements stops. » Read more

Obama can let Palestinians seek state recognition at the UN ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor (Editorial) October 29, 2010 - 12:00am President Obama may soon have an unusual chance to serve the cause of Middle East peace by remaining silent. He could quietly acquiesce to a move being considered by Palestinian leaders to ask the United Nations to recognize a state of Palestine. Such a request would only be necessary in one case: if Israel effectively ends any hope of renewed peace negotiations by continuing to build Jewish settlements on Palestinian territory in the West Bank. » Read more

As stonethrowing escalates, Israeli police round up Arab children in E. Jerusalem ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor by Ben Lynfield - October 29, 2010 - 12:00am Jerusalem — Amid rising Israeli-Arab tensions, Israeli police are waging a crackdown on Palestinian youths – many not yet teenagers – in East Jerusalem’s most volatile neighborhood, Silwan. In a recent incident, M., a slightly chubby 10-year-old with dark eyes, was harmed by a group of plainclothes forces who sprang out of an unmarked car and grabbed him off the street, according to his father's account, which was backed up by other residents. (M.'s full name could not be used because of an Israeli law protecting juveniles.) » Read more

ISRAEL: Officials find Morocco a tough room these days ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times by Batsheva Sobelman - October 31, 2010 - 12:00am Officially, diplomatic relations between Morocco and Israel are "suspended," according to Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. This is the way things have been since 2000, when Morocco (along with Tunisia and Oman) closed "interest offices" opened only six years earlier, in better days. Still, relations continue, quiet and generally fair. Besides the several thousand tourists every year and warm sentiments Israel's Moroccan Jews maintain still today, Israeli academics, journalists and sometimes politicians travel frequently enough to Morocco. » Read more