October 8th

Exam Failure: The Price Gaza's Children Are Paying For International Blockade ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Independent by Donald Macintyre - October 8, 2007 - 4:08pm Unfailingly polite, and spotless in their uniforms of blue and white striped smocks, the teenage pupils from the UN Relief and Works Agency Girls' Preparatory A school in Al Deraj were initially shy about talking about why they had wound up in a remedial class. "We can't concentrate," said Kholoud Shehada, 15. "We have other things on our minds." What exactly? Kholoud paused before saying hesitantly: "My father is unemployed." » Read more

Boost Here, Squeeze There ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Economist by Hebron, Jenin And Nablus - October 8, 2007 - 2:54pm THEY came for Omar Maswadeh at half-past midnight. They broke furniture at his home in the West Bank town of Hebron, blindfolded him, shoved him in a car. They kept him in solitary, hooded and with his hands tied, in the painful seated shabah position that Israeli courts have outlawed. Two days later they came for his brother Alaa and his cousin Yusri. After holding the young men for two to three weeks each, they charged them with membership in Hamas's “executive force”, a militia that the Islamist party created in Gaza but never actually managed to form in the West Bank. » Read more

Olmert Reassures Critics Ahead Of Us Peace Meet ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP) October 8, 2007 - 2:50pm Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Sunday sought to counter domestic criticism that he may be moving too quickly in talks with Palestinians ahead of a US-sponsored Middle East conference. Speaking before the start of the weekly cabinet meeting, Olmert said that no agreements or deals had been reached in a series of one-on-one meetings with Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas over the past months. » Read more

Condi's Keys ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New Republic by Dennis Ross - October 8, 2007 - 1:54pm Secretary of State Rice is planning to convene an international meeting in Annapolis sometime in November. While President Bush has spent little time during his tenure on Arab-Israeli peacemaking, he has embraced Secretary Rice's ambitious desire to use the Annapolis meeting to endorse a statement of principles on how to settle the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. » Read more

Dissenting At Your Own Risk ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Star-telegram by Cecilie Surasky - (Opinion) October 8, 2007 - 1:51pm Last year, I agreed to speak to a Jewish youth group about my organization, Jewish Voice for Peace, and our opposition to Israel's occupation. My talk was to follow one from a member of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, which calls itself "America's pro-Israel Lobby." A week before, a shaken program leader said the AIPAC staffer had threatened to get the entire youth program's funding canceled if I was allowed in the door. The threat worked, and in disgust, they canceled the whole talk. » Read more

Hate Week Comes To Campus ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Counterpunch by Aaron Hess - October 8, 2007 - 1:47pm If you wanted to know what Sen. Joe McCarthy would sound like if he came back from the dead, read David Horowitz's explanation for "Islamofascism Awareness Week," an event he is sponsoring on college campuses across the country from October 22-26: » Read more

The Stakes At Mideast Summit ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Boston Globe (Editorial) October 8, 2007 - 1:44pm THERE ARE many reasons to be skeptical about next month's Mideast peace conference in Annapolis, Md. The political frailty of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's government, the fractured condition of the Palestinian Authority, the six years President Bush wasted refusing to emulate Bill Clinton's attempts to broker an Israel-Palestinian agreement - these are only some of the most obvious grounds for doubting that anything of value will come from the conference. » Read more

Israel May Ok Division Of Jerusalem ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press October 8, 2007 - 1:38pm Senior Israeli officials expressed support Monday for the transfer of Arab parts of Jerusalem to Palestinian control, offering a concession on one of the most contentious issues in the Mideast conflict. The offer appeared to fall short of Palestinian calls for a full Israeli withdrawal from key areas of the holy city. The officials spoke as Israeli and Palestinian negotiators were to begin talks in Jerusalem to work out a joint document they hope to issue at a U.S.-sponsored peace conference next month. The meetings were closed. » Read more

As Lebanon Goes . . . ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post by Jackson Diehl - (Opinion) October 8, 2007 - 1:37pm Lebanon has long been described as a theater where the larger tensions and conflicts of the Middle East are played out in miniature, and in the past three years its drama has seemed particularly representative. When the Bush administration's push for democracy appeared to be gaining momentum in 2005, Lebanese responded to the assassination of their prime minister with a classic "people power" revolution, and a relatively democratic election installed a pro-Western government. » Read more

Palestinians See Rifts With Israel On Peace Draft ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Wafa Amr - October 8, 2007 - 1:33pm Israeli and Palestinian negotiators are deeply divided over the content of a joint document they are drafting for next month's U.S.-sponsored statehood conference, Palestinian officials said on Sunday. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, both weakened by internal crises, have avoided formal discussion of agenda issues in a series of pre-conference summits. They appointed top aides to find common ground instead. » Read more