Editorial: A nail in the coffin
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News
(Editorial) November 29, 2010 - 1:00am

By requiring a two-thirds Knesset majority to cede land in East Jerusalem to the Palestinians and the Golan Heights to Syria, a new Israeli law raises the bar for passage. Putting any such withdrawals to a national referendum will subject international law to the whims of Israeli public opinion. The bill which Israel’s Parliament has passed will complicate peace efforts with the Palestinians and Syria by making it very difficult for any Israeli government to make territorial withdrawals.

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Likud MKs: PM doing what he fancies
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Yair Altman - November 29, 2010 - 1:00am

As talks between Israel and the United States on a new settlement construction freeze continue, the Likud party's hawkish camp clarified Monday that it was not going to make life easy for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Some 200 Central Committee members and heads of the party's offices across the country took part in the conference at the Knesset, calling on the prime minister not to resume the building freeze.

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Leaked cable: Israel consulted PA prior to Gaza war
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
by Jared Malsin - November 28, 2010 - 1:00am

GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Israel approached the PA and Egypt about potentially assuming control of the Gaza Strip following a theoretical "defeat" of Hamas before Israel's winter war on Gaza, a leaked US diplomatic cable revealed Sunday. Made public by The New York Times, the document is a report on a conversation between US Senator Bob Casey, Representative Gary Ackerman, and Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak from June 2009.

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Regional leaders accuse Netanyahu of 'rejecting peace'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
by Vita Bekker - November 27, 2010 - 1:00am

TEL AVIV // Leaders from Syria, Egypt and Lebanon accused the Israeli premier yesterday of rejecting peace efforts in what appeared to be a bid to pressure Israel to accept a US plan that could lead to renewed talks with the Palestinians. Their charges came just hours after the Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu's predecessor, Ehud Olmert, lashed out at his successor for not heeding Washington's demand to halt new settlement projects in the occupied West Bank for three months to help restart negotiations.

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Washington bends for Israel once again
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star
by Rami Khouri - November 27, 2010 - 1:00am

The revelation in the United States Wednesday that Washington was offering Israel new security-related guarantees in return for a two-month extension of the partial moratorium on new Jewish colonies in the occupied Palestinian territories is neither surprising nor encouraging. It may reflect a continuation of the tradition in Washington that emphasizes a fawning and almost servile attitude to Israeli “security” concerns as the primary substantive issue in Arab-Israeli negotiations, which the Israelis astutely use as leverage in tactical negotiations to press their side of the negotiations.

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U.S. efforts to restart Mideast peace process stumbling
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
by Adam Gonn - November 26, 2010 - 1:00am

Two months after the direct Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations broke down, effort by the U. S. to restart them seems stumbling. When Israel's 10-month freeze on Jewish settlement construction in the West Bank ended in September, so did the U.S.-sponsored peace talks between the two parties. The Palestinians insist that the negotiations can only be continued after settlement construction halts.

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Awaiting the final step
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times
by George S. Hishmeh - November 26, 2010 - 1:00am

The longer the standstill in the peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority the further both are from a fair settlement and the more complex the terms will be in the future, especially now that Israel manages to up the ante almost daily. In the meantime, a war of words has emerged, among former US officials, some known to be sympathetic to Israel, and well-known commentators who regularly echo the Zionist position.

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The demise of peace camp
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times
by Hassan Barari - (Opinion) November 25, 2010 - 1:00am

Not one Israeli premier ever thought of moving the peace process forward without taking into account the internal political scene. The history of the Arab-Israeli peace process is full of examples of missed opportunities thanks to the political complications within Israel. The Israeli premier places greatest priority on political survival.

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Abbas: PLO will reopen Jerusalem office
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
November 24, 2010 - 1:00am

President Mahmoud Abbas opened the new headquarters of the Palestine Liberation Organization in Ramallah on Tuesday, but said it was temporary and would be moved to Jerusalem. The president recalled visiting the PLO headquarters in Jerusalem in 1964, and said the body would return to the city "one day." The PLO often faced difficulties as the sole legal representative of Palestinians to the international community, Abbas said.

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Israel stakes out lonely position on Jerusalem
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Statesman
by Matti Friedman - November 24, 2010 - 1:00am

If there is ever to be Middle East peace, here's a knot that must somehow be undone. Hundreds of thousands of Israelis who have moved to sprawling Jewish areas in east Jerusalem believe they are ordinary residents of their capital who will never be asked to vacate their homes. It's a sentiment shared by most of their countrymen and affirmed by lawmakers who voted this week to limit a government's ability to ever pull out.

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