April 18th

Mayor To Raise Funds For E. J'lem Arabs To Block Hamas ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Jonathan Lis - April 18, 2008 - 6:27pm Jerusalem Mayor Uri Lupolianski is planning to enlist world Jewry in a fund-raising drive for East Jerusalem's Arabs, in a bid to counter Hamas influence in local schools. The money will be used mainly for educational projects in the east of the capital, where an acute classroom shortage means many pupils end up in schools identified with Hamas and the Palestinian Authority. "It should be a national imperative that every East Jerusalem child has access to a state school," Lupolianski said Thursday . » Read more

Abbas Turns To Russia For Help ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Middle East Times by Sana Abdallah - April 18, 2008 - 6:25pm As fighting continues to rage in the Gaza Strip and progress bogs down in the U.S.-sponsored peace negotiations with Israel, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has turned to Russia for help. Abbas was in Moscow Thursday calling to convene a conference in the Russian capital "as soon as possible" because the Palestinian-Israeli peace negotiations that were re-launched at Annapolis in November were not moving forward. » Read more

Palestinians Demand Release Of Prisoners Held By Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP) April 18, 2008 - 6:24pm Palestinians held demonstrations across the Occupied West Bank Thursday in honor of Prisoner's Day and over 11,000 Palestinians held in Israeli jails. In the north around 2,000 people gathered in the heart of Nablus, waving Palestinian flags and holding large, framed portraits of loved ones, an AFP correspondent said. » Read more

For Israel’s Sake, Moderate American Jews Must Find Their Voice ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward by Jeremy Benami - (Opinion) April 18, 2008 - 6:23pm In just a few short years, the “two-state solution” has gone from presumed conclusion to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to an increasingly distant hope. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has himself said that without such a deal, “the State of Israel is finished.” By the dozens, Israeli dignitaries solemnly warn: The window is closing on a two-state solution, and Israel’s prospects for a second, safer 60 years grow are growing ever dimmer. » Read more

Walking On J Street ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Israel Policy Forum by M.J. Rosenberg - (Opinion) April 18, 2008 - 6:22pm It’s been a long time since I’ve seen young Jews optimistic about anything related to Israel. I’m not talking about the college activists who, shocked at the anti-Israel sentiment on campus, find themselves joining up with conservative mainstream Jewish organizations to defend Israel to their skeptical peers. Those kids have always been around. I know. I was once one of the best-known campus activists for Israel, battling late 60’s and 70’s anti-Israel radicals almost non-stop. » Read more

Israel Sets Plans For More Homes In West Bank Settlements ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press by Sarah El Deeb - April 18, 2008 - 6:20pm Israel announced plans Friday to build 100 more homes in two West Bank settlements, one deep inside the territory sought by the Palestinians for their future state. Israel's housing minister said Israel never promised to freeze all such construction, although a U.S.-backed peace plan calls for a moratorium on settlement building. In a television interview, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said the expansion of settlements has emerged as a key obstacle to progress in peace negotiations with Israel. » Read more

Carter Meets Hamas Chief In Syria ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press by Bassem Mroue - April 18, 2008 - 6:19pm Former President Carter defied U.S. and Israeli warnings and met Friday with the exiled leader of Hamas and his deputy, two men the U.S. government has labeled terrorists and Israel accuses of masterminding attacks that have killed hundreds of civilians. Carter is the most prominent American to hold talks with Khaled Mashaal, whose Palestinian militant group claimed new legitimacy from the meeting along with two other sessions the Nobel laureate held with Hamas leaders in the Middle East this week. » Read more

Carter Calls Israel Treatment Of Palestinians A Crime ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times by Jeffrey Fleishman - April 18, 2008 - 6:17pm Former President Carter told a university audience here Thursday that the treatment of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip by the Israeli military was "a crime" but that there were "officials in Israel quite willing to meet with Hamas" and that may happen "in the near future." » Read more

Palestinian Official Says Talks With Israelis Yield Little ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Isabel Kershner - April 18, 2008 - 6:17pm The Palestinian Authority’s foreign minister on Thursday offered an unusually bleak assessment of the negotiations with Israel and said President Mahmoud Abbas would seek more active American intervention when he meets with President Bush in Washington this month. Riad Malki, the foreign minister and minister of information in the West Bank-based government, told the Foreign Press Association here that the talks on the core issues of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict had so far yielded “no results.” » Read more

Israel Oks Pa West Bank Police Stations ATFP World Press Roundup Article from United Press International (UPI) April 18, 2008 - 6:16pm Israel has agreed to allow the Palestinian Authority to open 20 police stations in the West Bank under Palestinian civilian control, officials said. It is the first time since 2001 that Israel has given the green light to such a move. The facilities will be permitted to deal with criminal matters in villages near Nablus, Hebron and Bethlehem, Israel's Haaretz newspaper reported Friday. The development followed a meeting between the head of Israel's Civil Administration and the chief of the Palestinian Authority's Civil Affairs Ministry. » Read more