October 4th

Leader of Israeli settler movement dies ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Statesman October 4, 2011 - 12:00am Hanan Porat, a driving force behind Israel's settlement of the West Bank, died Monday of cancer. He was 67. Porat, a former Israeli lawmaker, was a founder of the now-defunct movement Gush Emunim — Hebrew for "the bloc of the faithful" — a messianic movement committed to settling land Israel captured in the 1967 war. Movement disciples believe God promised the West Bank to the Jewish people, and they set out to cement Israeli sovereignty there by creating a large-scale civilian presence. » Read more

Poet Taha Muhammad Ali dies in Nazareth ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency October 3, 2011 - 12:00am Celebrated poet Taha Muhammad Ali died in Nazareth on Sunday aged 80 years old. Muhammad Ali was born in Saffuriya village, north of Nazareth, in 1931. He fled to Lebanon with his family in 1948 when the village was captured by the Israeli army. The family was never able to return to his home, moving to nearby city of Nazareth, where he lived and worked in a souvenir shop throughout his life. His poetry followed the experiences of Palestinians living in Israel, and Palestinian refugees around the world. They were translated into several languages, including English and Hebrew. » Read more

Netanyahu is 'happy' to accept peace plans, less so to seal the deal ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Akiva Eldar - (Opinion) October 4, 2011 - 12:00am If the government's declaration that it welcomes the Quartet's plan is really true, it is not only a political revolution the likes of which we have not seen since the signing of the Oslo Accords 18 years ago, it is also a dramatic political change unlike any other since the Likud won the 1977 elections. » Read more

Union: PA employees to receive salaries ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency October 4, 2011 - 12:00am Government employees will receive their September salaries by Wednesday, the head of the civil servants' union Bassam Zakarnah said Tuesday. The Ministry of Finance in Ramallah informed the union that wages for civil servants in the West Bank and Gaza were distributed to banks on Tuesday, Zakarnah said. In recent months, the Palestinian Authority has twice failed to pay employees on time and in full. Officials had blamed a shortfall in aid from Arab states for the fiscal crisis. » Read more

US Defense Chief Criticizes Palestinian Aid Block ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Voice of America October 4, 2011 - 12:00am U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has criticized U.S. lawmakers for suspending $200 million in aid slated to fund development projects in the Palestinian territories. Panetta said Monday at a news conference in Tel Aviv with Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak that this is "no time to withhold those funds." He said it is a "critical" moment in the region, as U.S. officials continue to urge Palestinians and Israelis to negotiate a peace deal. » Read more

US discusses ways to keep aid flowing to PA ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency October 4, 2011 - 12:00am The Obama administration is lobbying Congress to unblock $200 million in aid for the Palestinian Authority that was frozen due to its bid for UN recognition of statehood over US and Israeli objections. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said on Monday the administration was in "intensive" discussions with key lawmakers who had put holds on the money, a financial lifeline for the Palestinian Authority. » Read more

Mosque torching in Israel: Could it spark Arab Spring-style protests? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor by Joshua Mitnick - October 4, 2011 - 12:00am A mosque was torched in northern Israel early Monday, prompting a clash between police who fired tear gas canisters and hundreds of Arab citizens of Israel who threw stones and briefly closed down a highway. The incident, seen as part of an ongoing campaign of Jewish vigilantism, underscores fears by Israeli officials that such attacks could spark Arab Spring-style protests among Palestinians. » Read more

October 3rd

Israel to demand adjustment of Quartet Mideast peace plan, official says ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Barak Ravid - October 3, 2011 - 12:00am While Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated on Sunday that he welcomed "the Quartet's call for direct negotiations between the parties without preconditions," the premier intends to present a list of qualifications to the Quartet's statement on a resumption of Mideast talks that in effect enfeeble that statement. » Read more

Where Do We Go from Here? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Foreign Policy by Hussein Ibish - (Opinion) September 30, 2011 - 12:00am In a perfunctory meeting on Wednesday morning, Sept. 28, as expected, and per its usual procedure for dealing with would-be new United Nations members since the late 1960s, the Security Council referred the Palestinian application to one of its standing committees. The committee -- which meets and votes in secret and requires unanimity to refer the matter back to the Security Council -- is scheduled to begin considering the application on Friday morning. The membership process usually takes weeks, but can take only days (as with the most recent U.N. » Read more

Why Israel can't be a 'Jewish State' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Jazeera English (Opinion) September 30, 2011 - 12:00am The Israeli government's current mantra is that the Palestinians must recognise a "Jewish State". Of course, the Palestinians have clearly and repeatedly recognised the State of Israel as such in the 1993 Oslo Accords (which were based on an Israeli promise to establish a Palestinian state within five years - a promise now shattered) and many times since. Recently, however, Israeli leaders have dramatically and unilaterally moved the goal-posts and are now clamouring that Palestinians must recognise Israel as a "Jewish State". » Read more