October 22nd

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

White Elephants ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arabic Media Internet Network by Uri Avnery - (Opinion) October 22, 2007 - 2:33pm THE KING of Siam knew how to deal with domestic opponents: he would present them with a white elephant. White elephants are rare in nature, and therefore sacred. Being sacred, they may not be put to work. But even a sacred elephant does eat, and eat a lot. Enough to turn a rich man into a pauper. My late friend, General Matti Peled, one time Quartermaster General of the army, pointed out the similarity between this elephant and many of our gifts from the President of the United States. » Read more

While Olmert Was Talking ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Akiva Eldar - (Opinion) October 22, 2007 - 1:29pm Veteran activists of the left who have met Ehud Olmert recently report that the prime minister is determined to pull out from the territories and bring the conflict to an end. They say Olmert recognizes that a failure of the Israeli-Palestinian-American summit in Annapolis means a victory for the extremists of the settlements, Hamas and Iran. They say that were it only up to him, the prime minister would make a deal with Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas. » Read more

Back To The Iranian Arena ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Aluf Benn, Shmuel Rosner - (Opinion) October 22, 2007 - 1:28pm Republican Senator John McCain of Arizona began his remarks with a joke about erstwhile movie star Zsa Zsa Gabor. After her wedding to her fifth husband, the guests had gone home and the husband was perplexed. I know what I am supposed to do now, he said to her, but as husband No. 5, I'm not certain I can do it in an interesting way. » Read more

Lower Expectations ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons by Ghassan Khatib - (Opinion) October 22, 2007 - 1:25pm On one level, the American initiative to convene a peace meeting at Annapolis marks a positive transformation in the American approach to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. But on another, it reflects a continuation of the past. » Read more

The New Center Of Gravity Of Arab Stability ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star by Rami Khouri - (Opinion) October 22, 2007 - 1:24pm   Some things move slowly in life, including transitions to democracy and getting governments to treat their citizens decently. I mention these two because they cropped up again and again this week during a working visit to Jordan, where, among other things, I had to twice engage the menacing Ottoman-era bureaucracy - to renew my driver's license and complete a power of attorney procedure with my brother. » Read more

Quartet In The Dock ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News (Editorial) October 22, 2007 - 1:23pm If the UN withdraws from it, the damage done to the Quartet might not be extensive, seeing how insipid the group’s members have been thus far in their attempts to break ground in the Palestinian-Israeli impasse. Still, a dropout would be considered a serious blow to peace efforts. The possible UN departure from the Quartet makes the outlook for the major US-sponsored peace conference between the Palestinians and Israel, expected next month, even bleaker than at present. » Read more

School Crosses Religious Divide To Teach Children A Lesson In Unity ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Times by James Hider - October 22, 2007 - 1:22pm When she told her cousin that her 12-year-old Jewish schoolfriend had slept over at her house one night, Aeen, an Arab-Israeli schoolgirl, was shocked at the response. » Read more