Date
Type

Israel Oks Gaza Electricity Cutoffs
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
October 26, 2007 - 5:43pm


Israel approved Thursday a plan to start punitive disruptions of the Gaza Strip's scarce supplies of electricity in response to rocket attacks from the Palestinian territory. Israeli officials, noting that Palestinian militants fire rockets across the border almost daily, said the sanctions could start anytime. The plan calls for initial power cutoffs of 15 minutes, followed by increasingly longer ones each time more rockets fall.


Realizing God's Dream For The Holy Land
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Boston Globe
by Desmond Tutu - (Opinion) October 26, 2007 - 5:42pm


WHENEVER I am asked if I am optimistic about an end to the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, I say that I am not. Optimism requires clear signs that things are changing - meaningful words and unambiguous actions that point to real progress. I do not yet hear enough meaningful words, nor do I yet see enough unambiguous deeds to justify optimism.


‘israel Lobby’ Writers Miss The Real Jewish Conflict
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward
(Opinion) October 26, 2007 - 5:40pm


Among the (many) things that John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt get wrong in their controversial book, “The Israel Lobby,” is their characterization of the American Jewish community. According to their understanding, there’s a substantial contrast between the policies “the lobby” espouses and the more dovish views of the community at large. For the most part, as they see it, the lobby opposes a two-state solution to the chronic conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, while most American Jews very much favor such a solution.


Olmert Pledges Gaza Won't Face Crisis
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
October 26, 2007 - 5:36pm


Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert promised the Palestinian president Friday that Israel would not cause a humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip despite his government's intention to cut power to the territory in hopes of curbing rocket attacks He made the pledge during a working lunch with Mahmoud Abbas at the Israeli leader's Jerusalem residence, responding to Abbas' concern that electricity stoppages could hit hospitals and other essential services, Israeli and Palestinian officials said.


Chaotic Nablus: Testing Ground For Abbas
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
October 26, 2007 - 5:35pm


The Palestinian president has chosen the West Bank's most chaotic city to show he's in control, winning U.S. praise Thursday for beefing up his security forces here as part of an attempt to reassure Israel that he can implement a future peace deal. However, Mahmoud Abbas' campaign to disarm hundreds of militants in Nablus has had mixed results.


The Associated Press reports on continuing Israeli-Palestinian talks aimed at producing a joint document at the Mideast fall meeting (2.) A Forward opinion by Leonard Fein examines the 'psychic dissonance' that is characteristic of an American Jewish community that both supports a two-state solution yet are resistant to assigning any blame to Israel for actions undermining such a solution (3.) Inter Press Service looks at the discrimination and marginalization facing the Palestinian refugees in Lebanon (6.) In the Guardian (UK), filmmaker Clancy Chassay goes to Gaza to witness a debate on the issues that divide the organization (9.) In The Times (UK), former BBC Gaza correspondent Alan Johnston recounts the 144 days he spent as a hostage in Gaza (10.) In Dar Al Hayat (Lebanon) Raghida Dergham contrasts the Mideast fall meeting with the 'Damascus Conference' planned as a counter, suggesting ways for the fall meeting to succeed (12.) Haaretz (Israel) analyzes as two-fold Israel's reasons for imposing further sanctions against the Gaza Strip (15.)

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