November 10th

Palestinian 'freedom riders' to board Israeli buses
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
November 10, 2011 - 1:00am

Palestinian activists will attempt to board Israeli buses in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday in an action inspired by the American civil rights movement. "Palestinian activists will reenact the US Civil Rights Movement's Freedom Rides to the American South by boarding segregated Israeli public transportation in the West Bank to travel to occupied East Jerusalem," organizers said in a statement.

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Blasts hit Egypt-Israel gas pipeline
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
November 10, 2011 - 1:00am

Saboteurs blew up the gas pipeline between Egypt, Israel and Jordan on Thursday in Northern Sinai using remote controlled bombs, forcing it to shut down, Egyptian security sources said. The first blast, the sixth since the uprising that toppled President Hosni Mubarak and the seventh this year, was near Mazar area, 30 kilometers west of the town of Al-Arish, security sources and witnesses said.

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White House tries to limit Netanyahu 'liar' damage
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
November 10, 2011 - 1:00am

The White House sought on Wednesday to limit damage to US-Israel relations following revelations that French President Nicolas Sarkozy called Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel "a liar" in a private conversation with President Barack Obama. "Our record speaks very clearly about the president's commitment to Israel and he has maintained a very close working relationship with Prime Minister Netanyahu," White House deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes told reporters, referring to Obama.

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'Liar': Will Sarkozy's Netanyahu jab mar cooperation on Iran?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Joshua Mitnick - November 9, 2011 - 1:00am

On a day when the United Nations offered evidence of an Iranian nuclear weapons program, the news that French President Nicolas Sarkozy was caught calling Israel's prime minister a "liar" to President Obama highlighted tensions between Israel and its Western allies – and whether they can effectively team up to face a common enemy.

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PA unlikely to ask for full UN membership
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Khaled Abu Toameh - November 10, 2011 - 1:00am

The Palestinian Authority failed in its bid for full UN membership, its officials admitted on Wednesday. They said they were now unlikely to call for a vote on the matter in the Security Council. The PA is expected instead to turn to the General Assembly, where it has an automatic majority, and ask that its status be upgraded to that of an observer nation. This would give the Palestinians de facto international recognition as a state, even if it does not bestow upon them full-state rights in the international arena.

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November 9th

NEWS: A battle is raging the House of Representatives over US aid to the PA. There are reports of more “price tag” right-wing violence by Jewish extremists, and Israel's Education Minister calls it “a cancerous tumor.” Threats against Israeli peace activists are escalating. A draft UN report says there is no consensus in the Security Council on Palestinian UN membership, with the final report to be issued on Friday. FM Malki admits Palestine cannot get a nine-vote majority. The Quartet will meet Israeli and Palestinian leaders on Nov. 14. Several reporters confirm the accuracy of an overheard discussion about PM Netanyahu between Pres. Sarkozy and Pres. Obama. Netanyahu's poor international reputation is offset by strong domestic popularity. Palestinian businesses in Jerusalem's old city are suffering. COMMENTARY: Ronen Bergman looks at the history of Israeli prisoner swap negotiations. Nicholas Goldberg reflects on what the Jerusalem passport case means to him. Ha'aretz says Netanyahu is leading the fight against peace activists. Duncan Campbell says Israeli nuclear whistleblower Mordechai Vanunu deserves freedom. Walid Choucair says Israel and Iran play off each other to mutual benefit. Gershom Gorenberg proposes three steps to end Israel's international isolation. Helga Tawil-Souri looks at the cyber attack on Palestinian cable-based services. Judith Miller says it it doesn't matter if Sarkozy and Obama dislike Netanyahu, and Jackson Diehl says it doesn't make any sense if they do.

Why do Sarkozy and Obama hate Netanyahu?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Jackson Diehl - (Opinion) November 8, 2011 - 1:00am

Binyamin Netanyahu seems to have been the target of some ugly — if off the record — barbs from President Obama and French President Nicolas Sarkozy. Speaking privately (they thought) following a news conference in Cannes last week, Sarkozy said “I cannot bear” Netanyahu, adding that he was “a liar.”

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Sarkozy, Obama Anti-Netanyahu? Not So Simple
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Fox News
by Judith Miller - (Opinion) November 8, 2011 - 1:00am

Open mic. Open mouth. Insert foot. It seems that politicians never learn: wearing a microphone is like carrying a loaded weapon. You can never be sure when it will go off, or in this case, go live. The French government is deeply “chagrined” – now we know why it’s a French word – about the latest diplomatic “faux pas” that is turning into a major “scandale”: the all-too-candid conversation between French President Nicholas Sarkozy and President Obama about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the G-20 Summit in Cannes.

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Empty shops point to dire times for Palestinians
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
by Hugh Naylor - November 9, 2011 - 1:00am

JERUSALEM // One of the world's most celebrated - and surely its most contentious - cities attracts about three million tourists each year. But you would not know it from the cash register in Ahmad Rizeq's grocery. Each day, Mr Rizeq is lucky if a single tourist in Jerusalem's bustling Old City crosses the threshold of his shop, even though it is only metres from the Haram Al Sharif, Islam's third-holiest site. "We're in a sorry state of affairs here," lamented Mr Rizeq, 62, whose shop on a street known as the Khalidiya Ascent has been in the family for 36 years.

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Hacking Palestine: A digital occupation
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Jazeera English
by Helga Tawil-Souri - (Opinion) November 9, 2011 - 1:00am

In the aftermath of the near-total shutdown of the internet and telephone network in the West Bank and Gaza Strip last week, the Palestinian Authority (PA) is attempting to figure out how, why and by whom Palestine was hacked. Whether the PA ever comes to a conclusive finding is arguable, even if it manages to mobilise the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) to conduct an investigation. The Palestinian Minister of Communications has been hinting that a state may be behind the concerted attack - by which he means Israel.

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