January 6th, 2011

Arab states work to finalize anti-settlement draft
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
January 6, 2011 - 1:00am

A group of Arab states launched negotiations on a resolution against Israeli building in West Bank settlements and aimed to finish a final draft in the near future, chief Palestinian UN delegate, Riyad Mansour was quoted as saying by Reuters on Wednesday. "We are beginning the process of text negotiations, and we hope that we can finish this exercise as soon as possible ... to pave the way for action by the Security Council," Mansour said.

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Knesset approves investigation of Israeli human rights groups
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Harriet Sherwood - January 5, 2011 - 1:00am

The funding of Israeli human and civil rights groups is to be investigated amid claims they are acting against the country's interests, members of the Israeli parliament decided today – a move described by opponents as "McCarthyite". A bill brought by members of the rightwing Yisrael Beiteinu party, whose leader is the controversial foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman, proposed a parliamentary commission of inquiry into groups monitoring the activities of the Israeli military in the occupied West Bank.

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Protest Death Spurs Scrutiny of Israeli Tactics
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward
by Danielle Cheslow - January 5, 2011 - 1:00am

The Israeli army’s alleged killing of Jawaher Abu Rahmah, the unarmed woman who reportedly died from tear gas inhalation during a protest of Israel’s West Bank separation barrier, is putting the army’s tactics at such demonstrations under greater scrutiny, along with its moral credibility. At the same time, the army is attacking the protesters’ credibility. It is challenging accounts from Abu Rahmah’s family members and other protesters, from medical personnel at the scene and from contemporaneous press and Twitter accounts all reporting on Abu Rahmah’s fatal encounter.

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Wanted: Adult Supervision
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Foreign Policy
by Aaron David Miller - (Opinion) January 5, 2011 - 1:00am

Call me a foreign-policy geezer, a traditionalist from back in the day. But when it comes to conducting the affairs of the country abroad, particularly toward the seemingly endless, seemingly intractable Arab-Israeli peace process, one historically proven bureaucratic model trumps all others: the willful president empowering the strong secretary of state who, in turn, runs everything.

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Israel’s Top Military Brass Is Marching Away From the Prime Minister
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward
by J.J. Goldberg - January 5, 2011 - 1:00am

A year after Israel’s military brass was briefly jolted by scenes of banner-waving recruits protesting against settlement evacuation, there’s another round of political murmuring emerging from the ranks. This rebellion couldn’t be more different from the last one, though. These soldiers aren’t speaking out against compromise with Israel’s Arab neighbors — they’re endorsing it. And they aren’t new recruits, but some of Israel’s most renowned military leaders.

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Only a canny America can force a Middle East peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
by Michael Young - (Opinion) January 6, 2011 - 1:00am

The Obama administration's inability to bring about a settlement between Israelis and Palestinians has prompted a search for new ideas. The latest was voiced most confidently this week by The Economist, the British news magazine.

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Is Israel a democracy? Five actions in 2010 that fueled the debate.
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Ariel Zirulnick - January 6, 2011 - 1:00am

Rabbis' wives: Don't date Arab men A group of rabbis' wives penned a letter Dec. 29 urging Jewish women "not to date Arab men, not to work in places where Arabs are employed and not to volunteer for national service with them," the Jerusalem Post reported Wednesday.

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Chile warms to a Palestinian state
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
by Matthew Chung - January 6, 2011 - 1:00am

When the latest round of direct negotiations with Israel stalled, the Palestinian Authority turned its attention to securing help some 10,000km away from the Middle East. In the past month a wave of support has emerged across Latin America as its heavyweight Brazil, along with Argentina, Bolivia, Ecuador and Uruguay, have proclaimed they formally recognise an independent Palestinian state based on 1967 borders. They join about 100 countries that already recognise a Palestinian state.

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Israeli army investigating Jawaher Abu Rahma tear-gas incident in West Bank
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Joel Greenberg - January 5, 2011 - 1:00am

The Israeli army, which had questioned reports by Palestinian witnesses and doctors that tear gas led to the death of a woman after a protest against Israel's separation barrier in the West Bank on Friday, said Wednesday that it is still conducting its own inquiry into the death and will make an announcement after its completion.

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January 5th

Palestinians and Israelis dispute the circumstances of the death of a woman protester. PM Netanyahu formally asks for the release of convicted spy Jonathan Pollard. Israelis and Palestinians come together over boxing. Israeli police raid the home of leftist activists who join Palestinian protests. FM Lieberman says there will be no peace for "at least a decade." The fall of Mohammed Dahlan,accused of a coup plot, demonstrates the power of Pres. Abbas. The US Homeland Security chief is visiting Israel. Israel bombs Gaza. Ben Caspit says Palestinians are being forthcoming in negotiations but Israel isn't. The PA says Palestinian settlement laborers will be punished. Noam Ben Zeev says the creation of a National Orchestra is another step towards Palestinian statehood. Leaked cables show Israel decided to attack the Gaza economy. Quartet Envoy Tony Blair warns of dangers without progress on peace. Pres. Medvedev will visit the PA but not Israel. Israel's latest anti-missile system is running into several problems. Leonard Fein says Israel's dismal treatment of its Palestinian minority is yet another argument against a single state. The National says the US needs more cooperation from Israel for all its aid. The Jordan Times says Palestinians are right to take the settlement issue to the UN Security Council.

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