December 15th

Untenable status quo ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times (Editorial) December 15, 2010 - 1:00am Now it is out in the open that the US has given up trying to convince Israel to stop its settlement activities on Palestinian lands, including East Jerusalem. It is either because Israel is not listening or that the US administration does not want to be forceful enough. The end result is that the euphoria generated earlier by the resumption of direct peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians is short-lived. » Read more

Arab family's home win blow to Israeli 'Jews only' policy ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National by Jonathan Cook - December 15, 2010 - 1:00am The pretty two-storey home with a red-tiled roof built by Adel and Iman Kaadan looks no different from the rows of other houses in Katzir, a small hilltop community in northern Israel close to the West Bank. But, unlike the other residents of Katzir, the Kaadans moved into their dream home this month only after a 12-year battle through the Israeli courts. The small victory for the Kaadans, who belong to Israel's Palestinian Arab minority, dealt a big blow to a state policy that for decades has reserved most of the country's land for Jews. » Read more

Anti-Israel Rhetoric Raises Alarms At Brooklyn College ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Week by Doug Chandler - December 15, 2010 - 1:00am In a discomforting scene last month, three young Palestinians found themselves detained at an Israeli “checkpoint,” where an unsympathetic soldier ordered them to kneel on the pavement, hands behind their backs, and blindfolded them. As shouting began, both by the soldier and by the three detained Palestinians, the possibility of violence seemed to become a real possibility. » Read more

On Israel, can U.S. Jews disagree nicely? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) by Sue Fishkoff - December 15, 2010 - 1:00am Laura Sutta says she doesn’t feel safe talking about Israel. Sutta returned to the United States in 2003 after 23 years living in Israel and found that while she was away, the vitriol over Israel had reached a fever pitch in her Jewish community in the San Francisco Bay area. “I’ve lost two friendships over it,” she said. “One was a friend from high school. When I talked to him about Israel, I could feel him judging me.” Sutta says she’s dumbfounded by the “fury of the volleys being exchanged.” » Read more

Oren: Still pursuing F35s from US settlement freeze offer ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post December 15, 2010 - 1:00am Ambassador to the US, Michael Oren, said Israel is still seeking 20 additional F- 35 fighter jets even after the failure of a US offer to provide the planes in exchange for a freeze on settlement construction. The 20 jets would be in addition to the 20 Lockheed Martin Corp.-built F-35 Joint Strike Fighters, valued at about $2.8 billion, that Israel ordered in October, Oren told Bloomberg News reporters and editors in Washington yesterday. RELATED: US, Israel, PA fail to reach settlement freeze deal US refuses to confirm offer of 20 F-35 fighter jets » Read more

Peres: Time running out on peace ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Ahiya Raved - December 15, 2010 - 1:00am The European Union expressed its faith in peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians on Monday, but President Shimon Peres believes there is not much time left. "We are starting the countdown for peace, and time is running out," he said Tuesday at a Galilee convention in the northern city of Beit Shean. "There are serious processes of de-legitimizing Israel, radical Islamization in the region and Iran arming itself. We must come to our senses now. There is not much time left for discussions," the president warned. » Read more

Mitchell presented Abbas with offers ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Roee Nahmias - December 15, 2010 - 1:00am US special envoy to the Middle East George Mitchell presented a document of "unofficial" offers to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah, London-based Arabic-language al-Hayat newspaper reported Wednesday. But the report adds Mitchell offered no US guarantees. Israeli Side Netanyahu welcomes US focus on core issues / Reuters Prime minister tells economic forum that Clinton's announcement of intention to focus on borders, refugees, rather than additional settlement freeze will move talks along. 'To reach peace, we have to discuss issues delaying peace,' he says Full Story » Read more

Jordan soccer brawl highlights Palestinians' feelings of deprivation ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Zvi Barel - December 15, 2010 - 1:00am A soccer match played Friday between the Jordanian league's Al-Faisaly and Al-Wihdat ended in a 1:0 victory for Al-Wihdat. The real news, though, wasn't the score, but the skirmish that broke out, in which 250 fans and policemen were injured, after the wire fence that separates the spectators from the field collapsed. This wasn't just a clash between fans accompanied by stone-throwing, broken bones and arrests. It was a political battle pitting the Al-Wihdat fans, mostly of Palestinian descent, against the Al-Faisaly fans, mostly of Jordanian origin. » Read more

Hamas leader in Gaza vows group will never recognize Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Douglas Alexander - December 15, 2010 - 1:00am Hamas will never recognize Israel, Gaza leader Ismail Haniyeh said Tuesday at a rally to mark the 23rd anniversary of the militant group's founding. "We say it with confidence as we said it five years ago when we formed our government, and we say it today: We will never recognize Israel," Haniyeh told a crowd in Gaza City numbering tens of thousands. A poster at the rally featured photographs of Hamas leaders assassinated by Israel in the last 10 years. "Hamas will be the faithful guard of the Palestinian people's rights and the basic Palestinian principles," Haniyeh continued. » Read more

Israeli PM expresses willingness to discuss core issues of Mideast conflict ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua by Gur Salomon - December 15, 2010 - 1:00am As U.S. special Mideast envoy George Mitchell renewed his peace brokering efforts in the Middle East, Israel on Tuesday expressed its willingness to discuss core issues with the Palestinians while stopped short of settlement building freeze. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who met Mitchell Monday evening, said Tuesday at a domestic conference that the two persons "spoke about ways to advance the peace process" and added that the meeting was "very good." » Read more