October 22nd

Israeli Group Decries Palestinian Limits ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press by Steve Weizman - October 22, 2007 - 11:33am Dozens of Israeli checkpoints and restrictions on motorists' travel on highways in the West Bank amount to illegal collective punishment of Palestinians on territory they claim for a future state, an Israeli human rights group said Tuesday. A report by Jerusalem-based B'Tselem acknowledges Israel's right to protect its citizens from attack by Palestinian militants, but said the measures it imposes _ 47 checkpoints among them _ go beyond legitimate security needs. » Read more

Touring Israel's Barrier With Its Main Designer ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post by Scott Wilson - October 22, 2007 - 11:31am From his stone balcony, Dan Tirza looks out over a rippling expanse of Judean desert, the biblical landscape of the Jewish people. A student of that history, the retired army colonel is a leading actor in Israel's modern story of statehood, conquest and the volatile task of erecting a boundary that divides Arab from Jew. Soon Israel's $2.5 billion separation barrier will rise around Tirza's settlement, where 350 Jewish families live among palms, playgrounds and a synagogue 10 miles inside the West Bank. » Read more

Palestinian Merchants In Gaza Live Hand-to-market ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Nidal Al-mughrabi - October 22, 2007 - 11:31am Reduced to poverty by a blockade on the Gaza Strip, Palestinian merchants in the Hamas-ruled enclave complain Israel's method for allowing in their merchandise often adds insult to injury. Since the Islamists took over Gaza in a June civil war, Israel has shut the main commercial crossing on the Gaza border, Karni, citing security concerns. That left Sufa crossing, where, in the absence of formal Israeli-Palestinian coordination, vendors from the Jewish state simply dump cargo on the frontier. » Read more

If Hamas Isn't In The Game ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Danny Rubenstein - (Opinion) October 22, 2007 - 11:28am The Olmert government in Israel and the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, headed by Mahmoud Abbas, are in the midst of renewed political activity, encouraged by intensive American efforts. There have been frequent meetings, discussions of an agreement of principles and plans for a regional conference. Although there still are many problems in the field, like the amnesty agreement for wanted men that the two sides haven't managed to finalize, there certainly has been progress. » Read more

A Visit To The Jungle ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Akiva Eldar - (Opinion) October 22, 2007 - 11:26am Last week the prime minister congratulated Ariel College for being elevated by the Judea and Samaria Council of Higher Education to university status. Today, Ehud Olmert is traveling to Jericho, in order to hold talks with Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, on an agreement of principles (and perhaps even "agreed-upon principles") for the establishment of a Palestinian state. » Read more

Palestinians: We Can't Take Responsibilty For Security In West Bank ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Avi Issacharoff, Barak Ravid - (Opinion) October 22, 2007 - 11:16am The Palestinian Authority's security organizations are unable to assume security control of cities in the West Bank, Prime Minister Salam Fayad told senior Israeli officials during recent meetings. Fayad told Israeli officials that the PA's security forces are unable "to impose law and order in the West Bank at this time." » Read more

Family Reunification ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Miftah (Opinion) October 22, 2007 - 11:14am Since the beginning of Israeli occupation in 1967, all policies towards curbing the process of Palestinian family reunification have greatly threatened normal and stable family life for many. This has been especially true for residents of Jerusalem, whose linkage with the West Bank has been severed, not only geographically but also socially. Families have had to establish two homes, one in Jerusalem and one in the West Bank, which is disruptive to children’s educational process to say the least. » Read more

Jericho Meeting ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News (Editorial) October 22, 2007 - 11:11am When Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert meet in the West Bank town of Jericho today to “try to narrow some of their differences,” there are not many in either of the camps or among their well-wishers outside who expect a spectacular breakthrough. » Read more

Elections One Way Out Of Impasse ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons by Hanan Ashrawi - (Interview) October 22, 2007 - 11:09am bitterlemons: President Mahmoud Abbas has called for early elections. Do you support the idea of early elections? Ashrawi: I support the idea of elections. I think elections are an absolutely necessary instrument of democracy and therefore the only way to settle disputes and allow the public to elect representatives and hold their representatives accountable. Elections are an essential tool for the creation of a responsible system of good governance. » Read more

Palestinians Struggle With 'three-state Solution' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Financial Times by Harvey Morris - October 22, 2007 - 11:04am A gaggle of officious but otherwise friendly Hamas militiamen in smart camouflage-blue fatigues has replaced the solitary Fatah recruit who used to snooze at the first Palestinian checkpoint inside the Gaza Strip. With them and thousands of their fellow Executive Force personnel deployed throughout the Strip, a measure of calm has returned after the violence that marked the Islamists’ power struggle with the secular Fatah party. » Read more