September 23rd

NY Jewish group calls Fayyad meeting 'unprecedented' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency September 23, 2010 - 12:00am BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- PA Prime Minister Salam Fayyad met with leaders from The Israel Project in New York on Tuesday, telling his audience that he would try to eliminate incitement against Israelis as talks continue. A statement from the group called the event, and its question and answer period "unprecedented," saying some 65 business, political and religious leaders from America's Jewish community attended the event, held in a private Manhattan home. » Read more

Jerusalem flare-up after Israeli kills Palestinian ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Dan Williams - September 22, 2010 - 12:00am An Israeli security guard killed a Palestinian in an Arab neighbourhood of Jerusalem on Wednesday, triggering clashes between police and rioters, including in the compound of the al-Aqsa mosque. Police said they entered the plaza to push back Palestinians who had thrown rocks at the nearby Jewish prayer site, the Western Wall. The Palestinians withdrew into the mosque, Islam's third-holiest shrine, and there were no immediate reports of casualties or further confrontations, a spokesman said. » Read more

Poll: Slim majority support peace negotiations ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency September 23, 2010 - 12:00am RAMALLAH (Ma'an) -- A public opinion poll released Thursday suggests that just over half of Palestinians support negotiations with Israel. But a larger majority, 59 percent, say Palestinians were coerced into entering the talks, the first since 2008. Only one-third of respondents believe the negotiations will succeed, according to the poll conducted by the Jerusalem Media and Communications Center. » Read more

Settlement must stop if Israel wants talks to go on: Abbas ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua September 23, 2010 - 12:00am Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday told Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak that settlement must stop if Israel wants direct peace talks between the two sides to go on and succeed. Palestinian state-run news agency "Wafa" quoted Palestinian Presidency spokesman Nabil Abu Rdeineh as saying that Abbas' statements were made during a meeting with Barak in New York. The leaders are attending the 65th General Assembly convention of the United Nations together with most of the world's leaders. » Read more

Outgoing Israeli army chief warns of local violence ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua September 23, 2010 - 12:00am The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi has warned that the regions could fall into wide-scale violence if the recently launched Middle East peace talks fail. Confrontations with the Palestinians would be "inevitable" if the Israeli-Palestinian direct negotiations come to a halt, local daily Ha'aretz quoted Anhkenazi as addressing the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Security Committee on Tuesday. He estimated, however, that the potential violence would not be on a par with confrontations in the second Palestinian uprising in 2000. » Read more

Turkey lauds UN report on Gaza flotilla ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz September 22, 2010 - 12:00am Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu praised Thursday the UN Human Right Council's report on the Gaza flotilla, telling Anatolia news agency that the report was fair, impartial and used strong evidence. The report, compiled by three United Nations appointed human rights experts, said that Israeli forces violated international law when they raided a Gaza-bound aid flotilla, killing nine activists, earlier this year. » Read more

Peretz, Thomas, and the Middle East double standard ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Boston Globe by Matthew Duss - (Opinion) September 22, 2010 - 12:00am LAST JUNE, veteran White House reporter Helen Thomas was fired for telling Jews to “get the hell out of Palestine.’’ While many were deeply and rightly offended by Thomas’s remarks, it was a sad end to a storied journalism career. » Read more

Norway: Deputy FM Ayalon ‘distorted the facts’ about meeting with Palestinian PM ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Shlomo Shamir - September 22, 2010 - 12:00am Norway's Foreign Ministry on Wednesday accused Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon of “distorting the facts” in regards to his Tuesday meeting with Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad in New York. Ayalon told Haaretz on Tuesday that a meeting of the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee (AHLC), which coordinates financial aid for Palestinians, ended abruptly due to a disagreement between Fayyad and Ayalon on the terms of a two-state solution. » Read more

Hopes and fears as settlement freeze due to expire ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News by Yolande Knell - September 22, 2010 - 12:00am His landlord has long wanted him to leave the property nearby where he currently lives with his six children. He has been waiting to begin work since November. "Most of all I have hope. This Sunday we start to build the house," he declares. "It will take only four months." Mr Erdan lives in Shilo, a Jewish settlement in the occupied West Bank, half-way between Ramallah and Nablus. He got his construction permit from the Israeli defence ministry a day before the Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, imposed a 10-month partial moratorium on new residential buildings. » Read more

Abbas: Talks may go on without freeze ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Politico by Laura Rozen - September 22, 2010 - 12:00am NEW YORK — Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas told American Jewish leaders Tuesday that direct talks with Israel could continue even if a partial moratorium on West Bank settlement construction is not extended. » Read more