September 27th

Palestine, yes, but Israelis draw the line at Jerusalem
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Independent
by Robert Fisk - (Opinion) September 27, 2011 - 12:00am


They wear their wounds well, the buildings of the old "green line". Forget the new Jerusalem hotels across the road, the state-of-the-art tramway that glistens down the highway; just take a look at the bullet holes on the walls to the left, the shell gashes in the preserved façade of what was once an Israeli army bunker and is now Raphie Etgar's little art gallery. You can still peer between the rusting iron shutters, across the road. A hundred metres away was the Arab Legion. Just 300ft from here was the Jordanian frontier.


Shapiro: US opposes preconditions to peace talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
(Analysis) September 27, 2011 - 12:00am


Washington does not agree that a settlement building freeze should be a precondition to the renewal of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, United States Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro said Tuesday morning in an interview with Army Radio. He said that "the US has had the same policy for the past 40 years - against building settlements in the West Bank." However, he stressed that the US believes that direct talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, without preconditions, are the only way to resolve the conflict.


Reciprocity, mutuality – key to Mid-East peacemaking
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Gershon Baskin - (Opinion) September 26, 2011 - 12:00am


Dear President Abbas and Prime Minister Netanyahu, welcome home to both of you. You both did a fine job at the UN and made your peoples feel proud. You represented the cause of your peoples’ struggle for existence and peace with great honor. You can both claim victory and come home to a hero’s welcome.


Israel set to approve 1,100 new Jerusalem homes beyond the Green Line
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Nir Hasson - (Analysis) September 27, 2011 - 12:00am


The Jerusalem District Planning Committee is set to approve 1,100 new housing units in Jerusalem's contested Gilo neighborhood on Tuesday, despite past U.S. objections concerning any construction that expanded Gilo further across the Green Line. The plan was submitted by a subsidiary to the Jewish National Fund, and must pass 60 days in which the public may oppose it before being finally approved by Jerusalem's planning authorities.


Actions, not slogans, for the New Year
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by David Newman - (Opinion) September 27, 2011 - 12:00am


Unlike most other countries’ New Years, Rosh Hashana is not simply about festivities and parties. It is, for most of us, a period of introspection, personal and collective, a period when we sit down with ourselves, weigh up our deeds and actions of the past year and, hopefully, resolve to do some things differently in the coming year.


Border Control / Mideast peace can provide all the security Israel needs
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Akiva Eldar - (Opinion) September 27, 2011 - 12:00am


The main, if not the only, innovation in the prime minister's address at the UN General Assembly was the demand that the Palestinians house military bases inside their new state. This, of course, in addition to the need for "defensible borders," that is a result of Israel's narrow middle. In order to illustrate the sensitivity of this shape, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "disclosed" to the world that a fighter jet could cross the width of the country in just three seconds.


U.S. lawmaker: Palestinians must return to peace talks or suffer possible divestment
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Natasha Mozgovaya - (Analysis) September 26, 2011 - 12:00am


A U.S. Congressmen said Monday that the Palestinians should think twice about their bid to gain recognition at the United Nations,urging the Palestinian Authority to "reverse course" and get back to the negotiation table.


Israel must annex West Bank settlements, right-wing MKs tell Netanyahu
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Jonathan Lis - (Analysis) September 27, 2011 - 12:00am


Israel should legally annex West Bank settlements in response to the Palestinians' recent bid for recognition in the United Nations, the leaders of several right-wing Knesset factions said in a letter to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday. The letter was signed by Likud chairman Ze'ev Elkin, Shas chairman Avraham Michaeli, Habayit Hayehudi chairman Uri Orbach, and the leader of the National Union faction Yaakov Katz.


Netanyahu's popularity rises locally after UN speech
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
by Mu Xuequan - September 26, 2011 - 12:00am


JERUSALEM, Sep. 26 (Xinhua) -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's popularity got a boost after his speech at the United Nations last Friday, a poll showed on Monday, following his ratings plunged in the wake of social protests across the country during the summer. The survey showed that Netanyahu's approval spiked upwards when he rejected the Palestinians' statehood bid on the grounds that such a state could only come through negotiations with Israel, and not as a unilateral step.


UN speech gives Abbas a stronger hand
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Statesman
by Karin Laub - (Analysis) September 26, 2011 - 12:00am


GAZA CITY, GAZA STRIP — President Mahmoud Abbas' surge of popularity following his bid for U.N. recognition for a Palestinian state is bound to give him a stronger hand against the rival Hamas group as they prepare to resume talks on a stalled power-sharing deal next week.



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