December 10th

EU warns Israel not to divide bloc over Jerusalem
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Roni Sofer - December 10, 2009 - 1:00am


The European Union says Israel must not play "divide and rule" with the 27-member bloc over a recent resolution calling for Jerusalem to become the shared capital of Israel and a future Palestinian state following negotiations. Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt, whose country holds the EU's rotating presidency, said Thursday the bloc was united and would not "remain shy" on so crucial an issue.


Poll: More Israelis like Obama, but don't feel he supports them
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
December 10, 2009 - 1:00am


U.S. President Barack Obama has a higher approval rating among Israelis than is widely believed, undercutting arguments he has lost Israeli public support for new peace efforts, a poll said on Thursday. The poll by the Washington-based New America Foundation found that 41 percent of Israelis had a favorable rating of Obama against 37 percent who rated him unfavorably.


Defense officials: Palestinians trying to coerce Israel into accepting statehood
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Barak Ravid - December 10, 2009 - 1:00am


Defense establishment officials said Wednesday that the Palestinian Authority is orchestrating a diplomatic campaign with the international community to coerce Israel into accepting a political arrangement which would pave the way for the establishment of a Palestinian state. Military Intelligence Chief Amos Yadlin, Shin Bet Director Yuval Diskin and other top defense officials told ministers during a briefing at the political-security cabinet that the Palestinian Authority is trying to push Israel into a settlement "from above" by drawing in the international community.


Swedish consul: EU statement not changed from draft
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
December 10, 2009 - 1:00am


Sweden’s Consul General in Jerusalem dismissed reports on Wednesday that the language of an EU statement on the Middle East had changed significantly from its original text which his country authored. “There are very little substantive differences between the two,” Consul General Nils Eliasson said during an interview at Ma’an’s Bethlehem television studio. “I feel that it has been used as an excuse to avoid some of the main items of the conclusion yesterday to argue that it was weak compared to the original draft,” he added.


Israeli forces disrupt UNRWA chief's farewell
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
December 10, 2009 - 1:00am


Israeli police ordered outgoing UNRWA Commissioner-General Karen AbuZayd to leave an East Jerusalem home on Thursday during her last official visit as the head of the relief agency. Ma’an’s reporter on the scene said AbuZayd left after police gave her five minutes to evacuate the premises of the house of the Al-Kurd family, as a Palestinian woman yelled "We want our homes and our lands. We have no alternative."


Israel seizes Bil'in anti-wall protest leader
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
December 10, 2009 - 1:00am


Israeli forces seized Abdullah Abu Rahmah, a member of the Popular Committee against the Wall ofthe village of Bil’in early on Thursday, according to Palestinian Authority police. PA police said Abu Rahmah was seized from a house in the At-Tira neighborhood in Ramallah. Iyad Burnat, the head of Bil'in's Popular Committee confirmed that the arrest took place at around 2:30am. He said Abu Rahmah was likely taken to the military prison in the settlement of Ofer, on the outskirts of Ramallah. Abu Rahmah is a high school teacher in the Latin Patriarchate school in Birzeit near Ramallah.


December 9th

The New York Times says Israelis are united around the release of captured soldier Galid Shalit. Hamas sources say the swap is now up to Israel, and still may include jailed Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti. The EU has adopted a motion saying Jerusalem should be shared rather than divided, and the US says it is an issue for negotiations. Israel's Ambassador to the US Michael Oren defends his government's settlement moratorium policy in the Wall Street Journal, but Peace Now says building in the occupied territories is continuing briskly. Meanwhile, Palestinians are being prevented from building in "Area C." Extremist Israeli settlers threaten violence against Palestinians in response to the moratorium and a commentary in Ha'aretz complains that Israeli policy has made all Israelis into settlers. PM Netanyahu claims Palestinians have made a strategic decision to delay talks. A PA police officer has been sentenced to death for collaboration with Israel. The Guardian highlights health risks to Gaza children from contaminated water and a Huffington Post commentary describes nonviolent resistance to the occupation and the separation barrier in the West Bank town of Qalqilya.

The refugees, still essential to peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star
by Rami Khouri - December 9, 2009 - 1:00am


I have attended hundreds of meetings, conferences and symposia on Arab-Israeli peacemaking all my adult life during the past 40 years, and I am able to report that there is good news and bad news. The good news is that Israelis and Arabs wish to achieve a negotiated, peaceful end to their conflict. The bad news is that this inclination to negotiate peace and coexistence is not being translated into a lasting agreement because of Israel’s refusal to come to grips with the core issue that matters for the Palestinians, which is their status as refugees.


Obama's hands are tied
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News
by Dina Khanat - (Opinion) December 9, 2009 - 1:00am


Even before US President Barack Obama gave his inauguration speech, a ray of hope swept the region. Discussions took place regarding Obama's new Middle East policy and hopes that an Israeli-Palestinian deal would be struck under his leadership intensified. Muslims refused to refer to him as anything but Barack Hussain Obama, and the president's "let us embrace one another and forget the past" speech only fuelled even high expectations.


A Portrait of Nonviolent Resistance in One Palestinian Village
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Huffington Post
by Ellen Cantarow - (Opinion) December 8, 2009 - 1:00am


At no time since its 1967 West Bank occupation have Israel’s seizures of Palestinian land and water resources seemed as shocking as the ones attending its construction of “the wall,” begun in 2002. Vast, complex, and shifting in form, the wall appears most dramatically as 25-foot-high concrete slabs punctuated by militarized watch towers, supplemented by electronically monitored electrified fences stretching over vast distances.



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