Abbas Insists No Dialogue With Hamas ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP) October 22, 2007 - 2:51pm Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas on Wednesday insisted there would be no dialogue with Hamas until the Islamists return Gaza to his legitimate authority after seizing the territory in June. “What Hamas did was a destructive operation which helped those who don’t want to see an independent Palestinian state,” Abbas told journalists after talks with Eygptian President Hosni Mubarak in the Egyptian port of Alexandria. » Read more

Palestine: A Policy Of Deliberate Blindness ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Le Monde Diplomatique by Régis Debray - (Opinion) October 22, 2007 - 2:49pm Dennis Ross, formerly the United States envoy to the Middle East, admitted back in 2000 that mistakes had been made in the 1978 Camp David accords: the diplomatic process had not taken enough account of developments on the ground, especially the settlements. The number of Jewish settlers in the Palestinian territories doubled from 1994 to 2000. As many Israelis have settled in the West Bank since the Oslo accords of 1993 as in the previous 25 years. With an international conference again being discussed, it would be a mistake to continue to ignore the real state of affairs. » Read more

ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian by Rory Mccarthy - (Special Report) October 22, 2007 - 2:48pm Israeli police and soldiers forcibly removed two dozen illegal settlers and hundreds of their supporters yesterday from the centre of Hebron, in the occupied West Bank. The settlers threw stones, water, oil and cement powder as they tried to resist being carried out one by one. Thirty people were hurt, with one settler and six policemen needing hospital treatment after the three-hour confrontation. » Read more

Us/middle East: 'plan Against Iran May Trigger Arms Race' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Inter Press Service (IPS) by Meena Janardhan - October 22, 2007 - 2:47pm The new United States plan to sell arms to Saudi Arabia and other allies in the Middle East to counter growing Iranian influence could trigger an arms race and worsen instability in an already volatile region, say experts. » Read more

Israel Owes The U.s. A Blunt Word Or Two On Iraq ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward by Yossi Alpher - (Opinion) October 22, 2007 - 2:43pm Sometime in the next two years, the United States will begin removing its armed forces from Iraq. Whether next month’s anticipated Petraeus report hastens or delays that departure, the rhetoric of virtually all leading presidential candidates appears to ensure the ultimate outcome. Israel, located barely 300 miles from Iraqi’s border with Jordan, is certain to be affected by an American pullout at the most profound strategic level. So, of course, will other Middle East states, both Arab and non-Arab. » Read more

Mideast Two-step ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Baltimore Sun (Editorial) October 22, 2007 - 2:42pm To advance a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, President Bush needs the support and involvement of Saudi Arabia. The Saudis last week cautiously expressed interest in attending a regional peace conference Mr. Bush had proposed for the fall, provided the meeting tackles the core issues dividing Israel and the Palestinians. » Read more

Palestinians Fete School Exam Scores ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press by Mohammed Daraghmeh, Dalia Nammari - October 22, 2007 - 2:41pm The cell phone network collapsed under the load of frantic calls Tuesday, newspapers printed special editions and the streets reverberated with the boom of gunfire. It wasn't another day of calamity in the West Bank, though. It was an emotional response to the publication of the results of the "tawjihi," or high school final exams, with pass or fail determining who will be university-bound and who will be relegated to menial jobs. » Read more

Soldier's Refusal To Heed West Bank Evacuation Orders Roils Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor by Ilene Prusher - (Opinion) October 22, 2007 - 2:39pm The Israeli military order sounded small and simple: evacuate two families of Jewish settlers who had moved to the West Bank city of Hebron without permission. But when 12 soldiers refused Tuesday, that order turned significant and symbolic. Israel is awash in debate over whether its army can tolerate soldiers who won't carry out orders they oppose ideologically. The answer from the army is no; it is sending those soldiers to jail. » Read more

Saudi Says Palestinian State Should Be "viable" ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters October 22, 2007 - 2:37pm Saudi Arabia voiced support on Tuesday for a U.S.-sponsored Middle East peace conference and said a future Palestinian state should be "viable" on contiguous territory, apparently backing Washington's stand on the issue. Washington backs Israel in its rejection of a withdrawal from all of the lands it occupied in the 1967 Middle East war, and Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal appeared to endorse that position in a statement that did not call for full withdrawal but used U.S. language about a "viable" state. » Read more

Decades In Limbo ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al Jazeera English October 22, 2007 - 2:35pm Nearly six decades after the creation of Israel, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are still living as refugees in neighbouring Arab countries. The vast majority of Palestinians in the world today are stateless - that is, there is no state that recognises them as their nationals. The most vulnerable group are so called non-ID refugees, not registered by either the UN Relief and Works Agency or the Lebanese authorities. Zeina Khodr reports on those who are not only stateless, but also without a legal identity. » Read more