Obama's defeat is bad news for the peace process
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News
by Osama Al-Sharif - (Opinion) November 10, 2010 - 1:00am


The results of the US mid-term elections last Tuesday were not only bad news for the Democrats and the White House, but also for the Palestinians. President Barack Obama will emerge weaker at home now that the House of Representatives has been retaken by the Republicans. The Democratic majority in the Senate has been drastically reduced and while the people have spoken it is now up to the President and Congress to find a formula to govern in the remaining two years of Obama's term.


The Audacity
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat
by Hussein Shobokshi - (Opinion) November 9, 2010 - 1:00am


The international community lacks merit, honesty, objectivity and credibility, when it focuses its attention on the issue of Iran's nuclear program, and yet turns a blind eye to the alarming situation that is Israel's well-established nuclear activity. This issue must be a cause for concern, considering the fact that Israel has a dangerous record in occupying the lands of others, and in unlawfully assaulting the property of neighbouring and non-neighbouring states, in a flagrant violation of international laws and conventions.


Israeli tactics are 'uniting' Palestinians
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
by Jonathan Cook - (Opinion) November 10, 2010 - 1:00am


Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel's prime minister, is in the United States this week, but few observers expect an immediate or significant breakthrough in the stalled peace talks with the Palestinian leadership. In public, Mr Netanyahu maintains he is committed to the pledge he made last year, shortly after he formed his right-wing government, to work towards the creation of a demilitarised Palestinian state.


Hard times drive Gazans into perilous 'buffer zone'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC World News
by Jon Donnison - November 9, 2010 - 1:00am


Basam and Mustapha Adwan make for a sorry sight. In their small, cramped house in northern Gaza, which they share with 12 other family members, 24-year-old Basam sits in a wheelchair. His younger brother Mustapha sits on the floor, his crutches by his side. Both men have heavily bandaged right feet. They say they were shot by Israeli soldiers while working close to the border. "Normally they give a warning shot," says Basam, who says he was shot a month ago. "But this time there was no warning. The bullet went right through my foot." He winces as he remembers the pain. Trade flourishing


Jaffa imam arrested on terror claims
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Eli Senyor - November 10, 2010 - 1:00am


Police have arrested an additional imam for terror-related offenses, after Nazareth cleric was arrested this week on charges for inciting to terrorism. Jaffa's Muhammad Ayash, of the al-Bahr mosque, was arrested on suspicion of involvement in security offences. The Petah Tikva Magistrate's Court extended his remand by eight days and placed a gag order on most of the details of the case. Ayash was arrested Tuesday by investigators working in tandem with the Shin Bet. Police searched his home and then took him to an interrogation facility in Petah Tikva.


Livni: Two-state solution only way to keep Israel Jewish and democratic
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Natasha Mozgovaya - November 10, 2010 - 1:00am


A two-state solution is the only way to keep Israel as a Jewish democratic state, opposition leader and Kadima chairwoman Tzipi Livni said on Tuesday in an address to the annual General Assembly of the Jewish Federations of North America. "A Jewish state is a homeland for the Jewish people," she said. "It's not a religious state or halachic state. A Jewish state is a sovereign state that can take the decisions about the future of Israel but takes into consideration the concerns of the world Jewry."


Israel's latest building plan is a pointless provocation
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
(Editorial) November 10, 2010 - 1:00am


"That's my character," the scorpion says to the frog, in a familiar joke, as it stings the frog to death after being transported by its victim across the river. It appears that the Interior Ministry, the Jerusalem District Planning and Building Committee and planning authorities in Ariel suffer from similar symptoms.


PNA de facto controls Jerusalem's Arab neighborhoods: report
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
November 10, 2010 - 1:00am


JERUSALEM, Nov. 9 (Xinhua) -- The Palestinian National Authority (PNA) is the de facto sovereign in Jerusalem's Arab neighborhoods as Israeli institutions gradually sever ties with their residents, local daily Ma'ariv reported on Tuesday. While senior officials in Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing government often pledge that Jerusalem will forever be united under the Israeli sovereignty, the PNA exercises its control in the Arab neighborhoods in its eastern sector, the report said.


Israeli parliament sets to deny pension from former Arab legislator
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
November 10, 2010 - 1:00am


JERUSALEM, Nov. 9 (Xinhua) -- The Israeli Knesset parliament on Tuesday approved in its first reading of a bill that would revoke stipends and other benefits from legislators who fail to appear at criminal proceedings held against them, reported The Jerusalem Post. One former lawmaker who stands to lose his monthly pension is Azmi Bishara, an Israeli Arab who headed the Balad party and fled the country in April 2007 after being suspected of allegedly spying for Hezbollah during the Second Lebanon War in 2006.


Israel arrests Hamas official in West Bank
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
November 10, 2010 - 1:00am


RAMALLAH, Nov. 10 (Xinhua) -- The Israeli army arrested a Hamas official in the West Bank on Wednesday, Palestinian sources said. The soldiers detained Mahmoud al-Rumhi, a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC), in his house near Ramallah city, sources from his family told Xinhua. In March 2009, Israel released al-Rumhi after 32 months of detention.



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