December 6th

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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

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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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December 3rd

The Charade of Israeli-Palestinian Talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from In These Times
by Noam Chomsky - (Opinion) December 2, 2010 - 1:00am

Washington’s pathetic capitulation to Israel while pleading for a meaningless three-month freeze on settlement expansion—excluding Arab East Jerusalem—should go down as one of the most humiliating moments in U.S. diplomatic history. In September the last settlement freeze ended, leading the Palestinians to cease direct talks with Israel. Now the Obama administration, desperate to lure Israel into a new freeze and thus revive the talks, is grasping at invisible straws—and lavishing gifts on a far-right Israeli government.

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Israeli settlers and Palestinians struggle over houses in occupied East Jerusalem, and clashes interrupt between Palestinians and occupation forces. A new collection of the writings of Mahmoud Darwish is published in English. The US is quiet on efforts to restart negotiations, and analysts say the talks remain in limbo. Noam Chomsky calls the peace process "a charade." A Palestinian is shot in the leg by Israeli soldiers. Israel bars a PLO official from leaving the West Bank. Ha'aretz says Israel's discrimination against Palestinian citizens undermines its democracy. Childcare experts denounce Israel's treatment of stone-throwing Palestinian youths. David Axelrod says the US is committed to peace and Israel's security. Israeli and Palestinian officials trade accusations over stalled negotiations. Gazans begin to eat well again but animals face starvation. A fired AIPAC staffer vows to prove that the organization typically trades in secrets. George Hishmeh says all three governments need major changes to facilitate peace. The Arab News says Hamas' announcement that it would respect the results of a Palestinian referendum on peace with Israel is a challenge for Israel and the United States.

A bold stroke
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News
(Editorial) December 2, 2010 - 1:00am

The announcement by Hamas’ leader in Gaza Ismael Haniyah that the movement would accept a peace treaty with Israel and a Palestinian state based on the 1967 borders if Palestinians approve it in a referendum is a development of immense importance. It is a political icebreaker. Until now, Hamas has stuck rigidly to the one-state solution, insisting that there could never be any recognition of Israel and that the only acceptable settlement would be for the Palestinians to be given all that land that between 1923 and 1948 comprised British mandated-Palestine.

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Essential for Mideast peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times
by George S. Hishmeh - December 3, 2010 - 1:00am

Considering that the United States, Israel and the Palestinian Authority have shamefully ran out of original ideas and remain deadlocked on the issue of peace negotiations, it may be time for all three to do some house cleaning. Whether this will herald a new and successful approach remains to be seen, but it is certainly dependant on their commitment to fairness and peace making in the Middle East.

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