Barak’s unilateral steps dominate dailies

Statements by Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak regarding unilateral withdrawal from the West Bank and annexation of large settlement blocks dominated the front page stories of Tuesday issue of the three Palestinian Arabic dailies. Al-Ayyam and al-Hayat al-Jadida printed this story on the top section of their front page, while al-Quds gave it prominence on the middle of the page choosing instead to highlight on the top section a story about an Israeli plan to build 300 housing units on top of a hill in the Bethlehem area town of al-Khader. According to the daily, Israel started construction of the 300 units to expand the settlement of Efrat in the Gush Etzion settlement block, which Barak wants to annex to Israel; either in any future unilateral move or even through negotiations with the Palestinians. Al-Ayyam reported a story quoting Palestinian officials as condemning Barak’s statements calling them an attempt to get out of the corner the Palestinian Authority is going to put Israel in with its request for non-member state at the United Nations. The same paper reported a story by its correspondent about the donors meeting in New York, which called on the donors to expedite paying commitments to the Palestinian Authority. Al-Quds said in a story that the public transportation drivers in the West Bank have called off their strike planned for Wednesday opting to continue talks with the government over fuel prices and other issues. Al-Hayat al-Jadida had a story on the front page about a meeting President Mahmoud Abbas held in New York with officials who arrived in the city to attend the UN General Assembly meetings. The papers also reported on their front page about a UN report which said that Israeli soldiers and settlers are not held accountable for their crimes against Palestinian civilians. They also reported on the sentences an Egyptian court passed against 14 Muslim fundamentalists, who participated in armed attacks in the Sinai.