Date
Type

Ehud The Semi-believer
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The American Prospect
by Gershom Gorenberg - (Analysis) December 5, 2007 - 4:49pm

Ehud Olmert has begun to fascinate me. Don't misunderstand: I am completely innocent of ever voting for him. I have no intent of committing such an act in the future. Had fate not put me in a country of which Olmert is prime minister at a moment that might be seized by someone else, an actual leader, to make peace, my interest in him would be purely as a literary figure, a character. I don’t mean that he is a tragic hero; precisely the point is that he lacks grandeur. He is Willy Loman with a vision: a glad-handing hack politician who was ambushed one day by a truth.

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Muslim Extremists Constantly Insult Faith
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Chicago Tribune
by Hussein Ibish - (Commentary) December 5, 2007 - 4:47pm

The recent jailing and deportation of a British teacher in Sudan highlights yet again the depths to which ultraconservative religious fanatics are damaging one of the great faiths of mankind. Gillian Gibbons' "offense" was to allow her 7-year-old students to name a class teddy bear Muhammad. She was initially threatened with a possible sentence of 40 lashes but was sentenced to 15 days in jail, before her deportation.

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Israel Plans New Homes In East Jerusalem
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
by Mark Lavie - December 5, 2007 - 4:45pm

Israel announced plans Tuesday to build more than 300 new homes in a disputed east Jerusalem neighborhood, drawing quick Palestinian condemnation that the move will undermine newly revived peace talks. The new housing would expand Har Homa, a Jewish neighborhood in an area Palestinians claim as capital of a future state. Palestinian officials appealed to the U.S. to block the project, but Israel says a pledge to halt settlement activity does not apply anywhere in the holy city.

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Sick Gazans Stuck In Queue Of Death
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Nidal Al-mughrabi - December 5, 2007 - 4:44pm

Born last week with a heart defect, Salem al-Masri needs life-saving surgery. But like hundreds in the Gaza Strip, he and his parents have no permit from Israel to exit the enclave to a suitably equipped hospital. Palestinians suffering serious illnesses have long traveled from Gaza to nearby Israeli hospitals for treatments unavailable at facilities in the territory, which is home to 1.5 million people and was occupied by Israel for 38 years until 2005.

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The Associated Press reports on Israeli plans to build 300 new homes in an East Jerusalem settlement based on their contention that East Jerusalem is not occupied territory (2.) In the American Prospect, Israeli author and journalist Gershom Gorenberg analyzes Israeli PM Olmert's reluctant and incomplete conversion to a true believer in a complete Israeli withdrawal from the occupied Palestinian territories (4.) The Jewish Telegraphic Agency reports on a new Israeli hardline right-wing fund established to offset the effect of left-wing groups on Israelis (6.) The Telegraph (UK) reports on the discrepancy between successive Israeli governments' pledges to demolish illegal settlement structures with actual demolition (8.) An Asharq Alawsat opinion by Hussein Shobokshi draws hope from the emergence of a Palestinian 'third way' (10.) In Miftah (Palestine) Joharah Baker laments the damage to the Palestinian cause that disunity has done (12.) A Jerusalem Post (Israel) opinion by B'Tselem executive director Jessica Montell is critical of Israel's policy in Gaza resulting in a humanitarian disaster for Palestinian civilians (14.)

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