Netanyahu, Abbas hold rare phone chat over fires
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Allyn Fisher-Ilan - December 6, 2010 - 1:00am


JERUSALEM, Dec 4 (Reuters) - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas expressed condolences in a rare telephone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday over the deadly fires raging in northern Israel, Israeli officials said. The two leaders were not believed to have spoken since they last met in September when U.S.-backed peace talks stalled in a spat over Jewish settlement construction.


Abbas: US proposal for peace talks expected soon
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
December 5, 2010 - 1:00am


AMMAN (AFP) - A US proposal to bolster troubled Middle East peace talks was expected within days, President Mahmoud Abbas said following a meeting with Jordan's King Abdullah II on Sunday. "His majesty and I agreed to continue our cooperation and coordination in light of an expected US position in the coming few days, and we should examine it together," a palace statement quoted Abbas as saying. Abbas did not elaborate. Direct peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians have faltered following the end of a temporary ban on Jewish settlement building in the West Bank.


HRW urges PA to release West Bank blogger
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
December 5, 2010 - 1:00am


JERUSALEM (Ma'an) -- Human Rights Watch on Sunday urged the Palestinian Authority to release a blogger detained over his religious opinions. PA intelligence officers arrested Walid Hasayin on 31 October at an internet cafe in the West Bank city of Qalqiliya. Ahmad Mbayyad, the head of the PA's military judiciary, told HRW that Hasayin was suspected of posting online messages criticizing Islam and other religions.


Erdogan pledges support for '67 state
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
December 12, 2010 - 1:00am


ANKARA, Turkey (Ma’an) -- President Mahmoud Abbas visited Turkish Prime Minister Recep Erdogan in his Ankara home on Sunday, to discuss developments in the peace negotiations between Palestinian and Israeli negotiators. Following the meeting, Ambassador of Palestine to Turkey Nabil Ma’roof told the official PA news agency WAFA that Erdogan pledged to support a bid for the establishment of a Palestinian state on the 1967 borders. The official said he would speak with the leaders of all those nations with which Turkey had diplomatic relations.


For Israeli Arab teens, a way to serve the country – without joining the army
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Joshua Mitnick - December 4, 2010 - 1:00am


Shfaram, Israel Six years ago, Rabah Rizik quit his banking career to help reverse decades of public neglect toward Israel's 20 percent Arab minority. His new job? Helping to implement a pioneering civil service program akin to AmeriCorps in the United States. The initiative gave Arab high school graduates – who are exempt from the draft faced by Jewish 18-year-olds – the opportunity to contribute to their state, just as most of their Jewish counterparts do through military service.


Q&A: Why only 51 percent of Israelis support equal rights for Arab minority
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Joshua Mitnick - (Interview) December 4, 2010 - 1:00am


Tel Aviv The Israeli Democracy Institute (IDI) this week published their annual survey on democratic practices in Israel, which characterizes itself as both democratic and Jewish. But as Israel's Arab minority grows – already it accounts for 20 percent of the population – the compatibility of those dual ideals is being challenged. Skip to next paragraph Related Stories For Israeli Arab teens, a way to serve the country – without joining the army Israel loyalty oath bill stirs Arab-Israeli unease Gaza flotilla raid pushes unknown Knesset member into spotlight


Israel and the U.S.: A lopsided relationship
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
by Andrew J. Bacevich - (Opinion) December 6, 2010 - 1:00am


The widely reported deal negotiated by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — Israel committing itself to a nonrenewable 90-day freeze on settlement activity in return for 20 F-35 fighters and a U.S. promise to block anti-Israel resolutions in the United Nations — illuminates with startling clarity the actual terms of U.S.-Israeli relations.



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