December 1st

Released Palestinians build houses, marry, study
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
by Daniella Cheslow - December 1, 2011 - 1:00am

Palestinian prisoners released in a swap for an Israeli soldier last month are racing to make up for lost time: Many of the 477 former inmates are already getting married, building homes or enrolling in college, even as Israel keeps a close eye on them in fear they could return to violence. Most had spent long years behind bars, and even expected to die in prison for their roles in bloody attacks that killed hundreds of Israelis.

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Lieberman denounces 'mistaken decision' to hand over Palestinian tax money
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Barak Ravid - December 1, 2011 - 1:00am

Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman denounced on Wednesday the decision to handover $100 million in tax money to the Palestinian Authority. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's top cabinet ministers approved the handover of the funds despite the vocal opposition of Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman. Lieberman, who voted against the transfer in a forum of eight meeting on Wednesday, said “Israel should have explained the decision clearly to the international community, instead of allowing pressure to lead to a mistaken decision.”

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Resumption of Israeli transfers averts PA crisis
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
by Karin Laub - November 30, 2011 - 1:00am

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' government narrowly dodged a full-blown cash crisis after Israel agreed Wednesday — under intense international pressure — to resume the transfer of $100 million a month in frozen tax funds.

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Netanyahu balks at Abbas proposal for Palestinian state borders
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Barak Ravid - December 1, 2011 - 1:00am

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas recently provided representatives of the Middle East Quartet with a new proposal on borders for a Palestinian state and security arrangements that Israel would be provided in a peace agreement. The Quartet, which is comprised of the United States, the United Nations, the European Union and Russia, has demanded that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu provide a counterproposal, however Israel has refused to do so, saying that any counterproposal should be presented in direct negotiations with the Palestinians.

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Palestinians to wean themselves off foreign aid
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
December 1, 2011 - 1:00am

The Palestinian prime minister says he wants to drastically reduce his government's reliance on foreign aid next year, and hopes to be able to pay for day-to-day operations with local revenues by 2013. Salam Fayyad told The Associated Press in an interview Thursday that his decision was spurred by what he described as the Palestinian Authority's worst financial crisis since its inception in the mid-1990s. The crisis was triggered by reduced foreign aid and Israel's suspension last month of the transfer of taxes it collects for the Palestinians.

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November 30th

NEWS: Israel releases withheld Palestinian tax revenues. PA Economy Minister Abu Libdeh resigns amid corruption indictments. Hamas leaders accuse Pres. Abbas of not being serious about national unity. Iceland becomes the first Western European state to recognize Palestine. The Forward profiles the pro-Israel group StandWithUs. The ACLU files suit against a Michigan bus company that refused an advertisement critical of Israel. A bill pending in the US Congress would remove the presidential waiver on moving the US Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem. Asharq Al-Awsat reports on an allegedly major split in the Hamas leadership. The Independent looks at the plight of Palestinians in occupied East Jerusalem's old city. COMMENTARY: Thomas Friedman says if Israel is concerned about instability in the Arab world, it should move quickly to bolster the position of PM Fayyad. Zvi Bar'el says Israel's hostile reaction to Arab uprisings might undo its peace treaty with Egypt. Bradley Burston says in uniting to attack moderates, the Jewish pro-occupation extreme right and anti-Zionist ultra-left find common cause. Kenneth Bandler says Jewish Americans need to know more about challenges facing Palestinian citizens of Israel. The Jerusalem Post says Palestinians should focus on the unfinished job of state building. Yossi Alpher says both sides are to blame for Israel's shift to the nationalistic right. Bitterlemons Interviews Palestinian MK Haneen Zoubi. The Jordan Times says King Abdullah was right to remind Pres. Peres about the urgency of peace.

Israel's take on Arab Spring may undo peace with Egypt
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Zvi Barel - (Opinion) November 30, 2011 - 1:00am

Who's the leader of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt? What is the exact name of the head of Tunisia's Al-Nahda party? And who heads the Islamic Movement in Morocco? One could expect these names to be common knowledge in a country anxious about the "Islamist take-over" of the Middle East and concerned that the peace treaty between Israel and Egypt will collapse.

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The Arab Awakening and Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Thomas L. Friedman - (Opinion) November 29, 2011 - 1:00am

Israel is facing the biggest erosion of its strategic environment since its founding. It is alienated from its longtime ally Turkey. Its archenemy Iran is suspected of developing a nuclear bomb. The two strongest states on its border — Syria and Egypt — are being convulsed by revolutions. The two weakest states on its border — Gaza and Lebanon — are controlled by Hamas and Hezbollah.

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Stories from the Old City: 'We are not living like human beings'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Independent
by Catrina Stewart - November 30, 2011 - 1:00am

At the top of a steep and ramshackle street in the Palestinian neighbourhood of Silwan, a rusty, battered gate opens into an unremarkable house. Less than a quarter mile away, though, stand the Al Aqsa mosque and the Wailing Wall, two of Jerusalem's most venerated holy sites, making it a very attractive piece of real estate indeed.

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Hamas's Al-Zahar in hot water
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat
by Ali El-saleh - November 29, 2011 - 1:00am

London, Asharq Al-Awsat- Informed Palestinian sources have revealed to Asharq Al-Awsat that the Hamas Movement has been imposing severe disciplinary measures on Mahmud al-Zahar, member of the movement's Political Bureau, over remarks he made criticizing Khalid Mishal, head of Hamas Political Bureau. Al-Zahar has been critical of Mishal over his acceptance of a Palestinian State within the 1967 borders, and giving another time-limit period for the negotiations with Israel in his address to the ceremony of signing the reconciliation agreement in Cairo on 4 May 2011.

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