December 2nd

Gaza Interior Ministry fires 120 employees ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency December 2, 2011 - 1:00am GAZA CITY (Ma’an) -- The Interior Ministry in Gaza has fired 120 employees suspected of abusing their positions, a ministry spokesman said. Islam Shahwan told the Hamas-affiliated news site al-Risala that the employees were fired after several warnings for multiple offenses. The dismissed staff had been given many chances to correct their behavior and so all decisions were final, he added. Shahwan said the ministry had formed a committee of security officers to investigate allegations before finalizing the dismissals. No senior staff were among those sacked, he said. » Read more

Peril and paranoia in the New Middle East ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Arabiya by Nader Mousavizadeh - (Opinion) December 2, 2011 - 1:00am The year of the Arab Awakening is drawing to a close with an ominous air of peril and paranoia hanging over the Middle East. A movement of genuine promise for more legitimate and accountable government for the peoples of the Arab world is in danger of being overwhelmed by the forces of tyranny, corruption, fundamentalism and conflict. From Syria to Egypt to Libya, Palestine, Israel and Iran, resistance to peaceful change is manifesting itself in ways new and old – and all in the context of a global re-alignment of power that few in the region yet recognize. » Read more

Official: Govt salaries on track after Israel unblocks funds ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency December 2, 2011 - 1:00am BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- Government salaries for November will be paid on time after Israel released frozen tax revenues to the Palestinian Authority, a PA spokesman said Friday. Government media center head Ghassan Khatib confirmed that the government has received the balance of October and Novembers funds, which include customs duties collected by Israel and delivered to the PA. Israel froze the transfers on Nov. 1, a day after the UN cultural agency UNESCO voted to admit Palestine, a move criticized by Israel and the US. » Read more

Is Palestinian reconciliation on track? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star by Ghassan Rubeiz - (Opinion) December 2, 2011 - 1:00am Palestinian leaders Mahmoud Abbas and Khaled Meshaal met recently in Cairo to try to resolve their differences. The outcome is not entirely clear yet. Mr. Abbas is president of the Palestinian Authority and chief of Fatah, the mainstream political party. He administers a designated area in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Meshaal is chief of the Islamic resistance party, Hamas. After winning the first Palestinian elections in 2006, Hamas forced its way in 2007 to run Gaza. For security reasons, Meshaal is based in Syria, and not in Gaza. » Read more

On Israel’s uneasy border with Egypt, a fence rises ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post by Joel Greenberg - December 2, 2011 - 1:00am EILAT, Israel — A short drive north from this Red Sea resort town, a new reality is taking shape along Israel’s desert border with Egypt. A lonely frontier road flanked by a low rusting fence is buzzing with earth-moving equipment and workmen erecting an imposing steel barrier encased in razor wire that is gradually snaking across the desolate landscape. » Read more

The 29th of November ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Uri Savir - (Opinion) December 1, 2011 - 1:00am November 29, 1947, was a watershed date in modern Jewish history. The family of nations, through the United Nations, decided in Resolution 181 to split Palestine, which was to be vacated by the British Mandate between an independent Jewish state and an independent Arab one. The Jewish state was thus to become the national homeland of the Jewish people. The Jewish side, through the Jewish Agency, accepted the UN resolution with joy and realism. The Arab side, through the Arab League, refused with grim shortsightedness. » Read more

Diplomacy: Treading water in a raging river ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Herb Keinon - December 1, 2011 - 1:00am The end of January is now the new September. Remember September, that month of our collective fears; that month when the Palestinian Authority was taking its statehood bid to the United Nations? September was the month Defense Minister Ehud Barak predicted would unleash a diplomatic tsunami and the month during which Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said the Palestinians were planning “the worst violence and spilling of blood that we have ever seen.” Yet September came and went and the tsunami didn’t materialize; the third intifada didn’t break out. » Read more

Netanyahu should end the anti-democratic witch hunt ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz (Editorial) December 2, 2011 - 1:00am Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to a conference of jurists earlier this week raised hopes that perhaps the prime minister had decided to repel the recent wave of bills proposed by his right-wing coalition colleagues. Netanyahu used the occasion to make clear what should have been self-evident: “Democracy is not just majority votes and majority rule. There is no way to run a democracy without checks and balances among the different branches of government.” » Read more

Israel needs a peace process to connect with a new Egypt ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Yoel Marcus - (Opinion) December 2, 2011 - 1:00am When I watched the long lines of Egyptian voters on television this week, the names of two historical figures came to mind: Mao Zedong and Shraga Netzer. One was the legendary leader of China, and the other was the leader of the “bloc” in Mapai (the predecessor of the Labor Party), who was involved in everything related to preserving the veteran leadership. » Read more

Fayyad to Haaretz: I will not lead a Palestinian unity government ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Avi Issacharoff - December 2, 2011 - 1:00am Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad said on Thursday that he would not serve as the prime minister of a Fatah-Hamas unity government, nor would he run for president. "I don't intend to run for the presidency or anything else for that matter," Fayyad said in an interview to Haaretz. "I cannot accept being an obstacle, never was and never will be ... I made a very explicit call on the factions ... to go ahead and agree on a new prime minister. That's my position and nothing has happened since then to change my mind ... So the short answer is no." » Read more