Let them stay in Palestine ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Akiva Eldar - August 24, 2008 - 8:00pm The question Kadima voters must ask themselves on the way to the polls is not which candidate is most qualified to order the army chief of staff, at 3 A.M., to launch strikes against Iran. That decision will in any event be made at the White House. The question they face is tenfold more difficult and no less fateful: Which candidate is capable of instructing the chief of staff, at 3 P.M., to evacuate 110 settlements in the West Bank. After all, this was Kadima's major promise to its voters. » Read more

ANALYSIS / On verge of Rice visit, Israel and PA far from peace accord ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Aluf Benn - August 24, 2008 - 8:00pm The visit of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will seek to determine whether it will be possible to present an Israeli-Palestinian accord to the world, or even a partial document of agreement, before the end of the current year. Nine months have passed since the Annapolis conference, which was held at the behest of Rice and where the participants promised to "make every effort" to reach a settlement by the end of 2008. Any attempt to redeem that promise will take place in the shadow of a political crisis in Israel. » Read more

Partial process of prisoner releases is devoid of context ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons by Walid Salem - August 24, 2008 - 8:00pm In the fifteen years that have passed since the Oslo process began, several partial releases of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli prisons have occurred even while the number of Palestinian prisoners continued to increase. How can one understand the seeming paradox that partial releases take place, but the number of prisoners increases because of new Israeli arrests? » Read more

The right move ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons by Yossi Alpher - August 25, 2008 - 8:00pm The release scheduled for today of 198 Palestinian prisoners, many of them convicted of serious terrorist offenses--including two who were directly involved in the murder of Israelis prior to the Oslo accord of 1993--is a smart and courageous move by the otherwise highly problematic Olmert government. If it introduces some logic into criteria for future prisoner release by Israel it could have a positive strategic effect beyond its immediate confidence-building impact on Israeli-Palestinian relations. » Read more

Settler accused of injuring Palestinian with stone ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Raanan Ben-Zur - August 24, 2008 - 8:00pm A young man suspected of injuring Palestinian mother and her two daughters stands trial. The State Prosecutor's Office on Monday filed an indictment against 19-year-old Daniel Avraham of the settlement of Yitzhar, accusing him of injuring a pregnant mother and her seven and two-year-old daughters. According to the indictment, a Palestinian family – Mali Hazen, his wife Palestine, who was seven months pregnant at the time, and their three daughters – drove by Yitzhar on August 1. » Read more

The ‘one-state solution’ is full of dangers ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National (Editorial) August 10, 2008 - 8:00pm Every so often comes a remorseful Israeli leftist academic, a well-meaning Western peace activist, or a frustrated Palestinian official like Ahmed Qurie, the head of the Palestinian peace delegation, who pronounces the death of the two-state formula and advocates a one-state solution on the whole land of historic Palestine as a way to end the 60-year Israeli-Palestinian conflict. » Read more

Israel releases 198 Palestinian prisoners ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Mohammed Assadi - August 24, 2008 - 8:00pm Israel freed nearly 200 Palestinian prisoners to a hero's welcome in the West Bank on Monday, seeking to bolster President Mahmoud Abbas as Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice began a new peace mission. Making her seventh visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories this year in the long-shot U.S. effort to secure a peace agreement by December, Rice welcomed the release as "something that matters a lot to the Palestinians." » Read more

Officials: Cairo talks unlikely to reconcile Hamas and Fatah ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters August 24, 2008 - 8:00pm A new round of Egyptian mediation starting on Monday and aimed at reconciling the rival Hamas and Fatah factions is unlikely to produce a breakthrough, officials familiar with the talks told Reuters. Sharp differences between Egypt and Hamas on two key issues will make it even harder for Cairo to broker a deal between the Islamic militant group that now rules the Gaza Strip and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah movement, they said. » Read more

Rice to make new push for Mideast peace agreement ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP) August 24, 2008 - 8:00pm US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice left for Israel and the Palestinian territories on Sunday in another bid to push the stalled Arab-Israeli peace process forward. Rice "will travel to Israel and the Palestinian Territories on August 24," said spokesman Sean McCormack.

Rights Advocates Defy Israeli Blockade of Gaza ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Taghreed El-Khodary, Isabel Kershner - August 22, 2008 - 8:00pm Two boats carrying more than 40 international human rights advocates landed in Gaza on Saturday, challenging an Israeli blockade of the Hamas-run territory. About 2,000 residents came out to greet them at the small seaport near Gaza City. Many were singing, while others swam or set out in fishing vessels to meet the boats. Israel had told the activists to keep their boats away but ultimately decided to allow them to land, apparently to prevent a potentially more damaging public relations drama. » Read more