State official: Some of Abbas' statements positive
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Roni Sofer - (Analysis) January 5, 2010 - 1:00am


An official at the Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem said Monday night that some of the remarks made by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas earlier in the day included "positive statements in regards to restarting the negotiations." The official added, however, that until Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit and Intelligence Minister Omar Suleiman return from Washington, it is unclear when the peace talks would be launched, although there is a possibility that the negotiations could begin by the end of January.


Why I back Israel sanctions
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Udi Aloni - (Opinion) January 5, 2010 - 1:00am


I find it appropriate that the Israeli public be notified of the emerging movement for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions against Israel (BDS), which has been growing at a breathtaking pace. Following bewildered reports published by Yedioth Ahronoth journalist Sever Plocker, who noticed that BDS has moved from the circles of the radical western Left to the circles of the bourgeois centre, I can add that this is now true for Israel-loving Jews as well.


Yeshiva in Mount of Olives to get 24 more housing units
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Ronen Medzini - (Analysis) January 5, 2010 - 1:00am


Israel continues with east Jerusalem construction despite international censures. Jerusalem's Planning and Construction Committee decided Monday to authorize the establishment of a new Jewish neighborhood in the a-Tur area as an extension of the Beit Orot yeshiva which includes several caravans. According to the plan, four residential buildings are to be built on the site and accommodate 24 Jewish families.


Gov't opposes 'borders first' approach
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Khaled Abu Toameh, Herb Keinon - January 5, 2010 - 1:00am


Israel's top decision-makers are against discussing the border issue first in future negotiations with the Palestinians, The Jerusalem Post has learned. PM prepared to start immediate talks with PA without preconditions Separating final borders from other core issues would allow negotiators to avoid the thorny settlement construction dispute.


Free Barghouti Now
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Bradley Burston - (Opinion) January 4, 2010 - 1:00am


It's a spellbinding opal of a Saturday afternoon in winter. A number of close friends are tackling the Haaretz weekend quiz, the Hebrew edition of 20 maddeningly arcane and demanding questions. They manage to get 16 right. No small feat. The talk then turns to Israeli politics. At last, the question is a simple one. If there were an election now, who would get your vote? There are 10 people present. Not one of them manages to come up with a single answer.


A new freezing point
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Shaul Arieli - (Opinion) January 5, 2010 - 1:00am


Israel's political and unilateral moves in the past decade have shown that its position on the borders with the Palestinians is divorced from the requirements of security, water supply and infrastructure. They are dictated by one factor alone: the settlements. Israeli prime ministers, only too aware of their domestic political weakness, want to avoid any significant evacuation of settlers.


How Israel is implementing the settlement freeze
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA)
by Marcy Oster - January 4, 2010 - 1:00am


While an Israeli magician sat in an ice cube in Tel Aviv for 64 hours in a bid to shatter a world record, settler leaders in Jerusalem prepared to smash an ice cube of a very different sort this week opposite the prime minister’s residence.


Jews raise voices for brutalised Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News
by Linda S. Heard - January 5, 2010 - 1:00am


Last week in Cairo, Hedy Epstein, a frail 85-year-old American woman, embarked on a hunger strike for the first time in her life to protest the ongoing blockade of Gaza. She has no idea how her body will hold up, she says, but that isn't her priority. She is one of more than 1,300 international participants from 42 countries who flew to Cairo with the aim of participating in the Gaza Freedom March, initially planned to coincide with the first anniversary of Israel's Operation Cast Lead.


Rights group slams planned 'Israelis only' highway in West Bank
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
(Editorial) January 5, 2010 - 1:00am


Less than a week after Israel's highest court ordered the state to lift its ban on Palestinian motorists from a highway that stretches into the West Bank, left-wing activists are denouncing new plans on Tuesday to build a road on West Bank land which they claim is intended for use by Israelis only.


Palestinian children suffer from inadequate TV shows
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star
by Daoud Kuttab - January 5, 2010 - 1:00am


Television penetration in the Palestinian territories is nearly 100 percent. Almost every home – no matter how poor the family – has a television set in its sitting room. Television viewership is higher than average among Palestinians for two primary reasons: First, because of the continuing conflict, people feel the need to watch television to keep up with the events that will often directly affect their lives. And second, with high levels of insecurity and trouble lying outside Palestinian homes, the television has often become the only source of entertainment.



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