What Olmert's Exit Means For Peace Talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Chicago Tribune
by Joel Greenberg - July 31, 2008 - 3:51pm

Despite his vows to overcome corruption allegations and to work with the Bush administration to conclude a Middle East peace deal, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert bowed to the inevitable Wednesday.

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Olmert To Quit After Elections In September
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Isabel Kershner - July 31, 2008 - 3:49pm

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, embroiled in a high-profile corruption investigation, announced on Wednesday that he would resign after his party chose a new leader in September elections. The televised announcement injected new uncertainty into Israeli politics and the Middle East peace effort, coming just as Mr. Olmert has been intensifying negotiations with the Palestinian Authority as well as Syria.

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July 30th

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's announcement that he will resign in September leaves the future of the peace process uncertain (1) (2) (4) (9). The construction of twenty new settler homes in the West Bank is approved by the Israel Defense Ministry (3). An autopsy concludes that the ten year old Palestinian boy who was killed yesterday by Israeli forces was shot by live fire (5), while thousands turn out for his funeral in the West Bank (7). Three way peace talks with high-level negotiating teams begin today in Washington (8).

U.s. Says Settlements Are 'problem' As Israel-pa Talks Shift To Washington
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
July 30, 2008 - 3:39pm

The United States called Israeli settlement building "a problem" on Tuesday as U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice began fresh talks in her uphill push for an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal this year. The State Department voiced displeasure at Israel's latest plans to build new settlements after Rice met Barak for wide-ranging discussions that also covered Iran and its suspected pursuit of nuclear arms.

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Olmert: I'll Quit As Pm When Kadima Picks New Leader
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Barak Ravid - July 30, 2008 - 3:38pm

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Wednesday that he has decided not to contend in the Kadima primary election and would resign as soon as the new party leader was chosen, due to the criminal investigations that have embroiled him in recent months. "I have decided I won't run in the Kadima movement primaries, nor do I intend to intervene in the elections," Olmert said in an official statement to the public from his official residence in Jerusalem on Wednesday evening.

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Naalin Photographer's Father Kept In Custody
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Ali Waked - July 30, 2008 - 3:37pm

The father of the girl who filmed an IDF soldier firing a rubber bullet at a bound Palestinian in Naalin will remain in custody until legal proceedings again him are completed, judges decided Tuesday.  Jamal Amira's detention was extended by the Military Court at the Ofer Prison near the West Bank city of Ramallah.

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How Can A Boy Threaten Soldiers?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Ali Waked - July 30, 2008 - 3:35pm

A general strike has been called at the Palestinian village of Naalin Wednesday to protest the killing of 11-year-old boy Ahmed Mussa. IDF troops blocked the main entrance to the village, while businesses in Naalin closed their doors ahead of the funeral, scheduled for Wednesday. Meanwhile, weeping local residents gathered around the Mussa home and slammed the IDF and Israel's security forces.

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Where's Our Jerusalem?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
(Editorial) July 30, 2008 - 3:32pm

The image of municipal workers, backed by armed Border Police, demolishing a practically new residential dwelling in east Jerusalem makes for bad publicity. It also exposes an underlying incoherence in Israel's approach to the capital's Arab neighborhoods.

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Blast At Hamas Gaza Training Camp
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al Jazeera English
July 30, 2008 - 3:31pm

At least four people have been injured in an explosion at a Hamas training camp in the southern Gaza Strip, according to Palestinian health officials and witnesses. The blast near the town of Khan Yunis late on Tuesday reportedly destroyed the base and it was still on fire about one hour later. It was not immediately clear what caused the explosion, but the Israeli military said it was looking into reports of the incident.

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Not Just Another Interfaith Parley
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Middle East Times
by David Rosen - (Opinion) July 30, 2008 - 3:30pm

Last week, an amazingly colorful array of Arab princes and Muslim clerics came together with representatives of the world's major faiths in the Spanish Royal El Prado Palace in Madrid. While the Western media generally failed to appreciate the magnitude of the event, the Arab media understood how important it really was.

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