September 22nd

2 Palestinians die in Gaza smuggling tunnel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
September 20, 2008 - 8:00pm

Two Palestinians suffocated inside a tunnel used by smugglers under the border between the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip and Egypt on Sunday, local medics said. Several Palestinians have died in similar incidents in recent months in the tunnels, which are used to smuggle arms, fuel and other supplies into Gaza. Just last Thursday two people died in the collapse of a smugglers' tunnel under the Gaza-Egypt border.

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Unveiled: Massive Investment Plan for West Bank
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Media Line
by Abd el-Raouf Arnaout - September 21, 2008 - 8:00pm

A leading private Palestinian company is planning to pump hundreds of millions of dollars into the West Bank and eastern Jerusalem, beginning in the coming months. Projects range from an electricity power-generation plant in the West Bank city of Qalqilya to a multi-purpose hall next to the Israeli Justice Ministry in ?Salah A-Din Street in the center of Arab-dominated east Jerusalem.

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Fatah Official Says Military Option Against Hamas Possible
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat
by Ali El-saleh - September 21, 2008 - 8:00pm

Palestinian National Security Forces Commander Major General Diyab al-Ali does not excluded a military solution as one of the options for retrieving the Gaza Strip from the hands of the Hamas movement and reuniting the homeland's two parts.

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Livni seeks unity with new Israeli government
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Alastair MacDonald, Joseph Nasr - September 21, 2008 - 8:00pm

Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni accepted the task of forming a new Israeli government on Monday following the resignation of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and called on her right-wing opponents to join a unity coalition. There was no indication, however, that Benjamin Netanyahu, the former premier who leads the opposition Likud party, would drop his demand for an early parliamentary election instead -- an election which opinion polls suggest he could win with ease.

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Fury over British embassy link to Jewish settlement-builder
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Independent
by Donald MacIntyre - September 19, 2008 - 8:00pm

The British Government's plan to rent new premises in a Tel Aviv skyscraper hasrun into trouble after a wave of protests that their prospective landlord is a major participant in Jewish settlement-building in the occupied West Bank. The British embassy has been in negotiations to lease three floors in Kirya Tower from Africa Israel Investments, a company controlled by Lev Leviev, a London-based property and diamonds billionaire with substantial business interests in Israel.

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Iran is an inevitable distraction but a Palestinian pact is vital
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Times
by Bronwen Maddox - September 18, 2008 - 8:00pm

No wonder that Tzipi Livni?s campaign managers were edgy just before the polls opened. Sitting in their offices, under thin-lipped posters of their normally photogenic champion, they talked at twice normal speed about how she was sure to win. In the end, her pitch for ?change? beat Shaul Mofaz?s ?security? refrain only by a whisker. She has won the leadership of the Kadima party, but nothing certain by way of power.

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Olmert Quits Post, and Political Maneuvering Begins
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Ethan Bronner - September 20, 2008 - 8:00pm

Ehud Olmert officially resigned as prime minister of Israel on Sunday, but the woman who hopes to replace him, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, faces formidable obstacles in preserving the governing coalition. Labor, her main governing partner, is weighing a move to early elections. Mr. Olmert, mired in corruption investigations, stepped down by handing a letter to President Shimon Peres. Under Israeli law, Mr. Olmert automatically became the head of an interim government until a new prime minister is sworn in.

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September 19th

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas discusses the future of the peace process in an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal (1). A second battalion of Palestinian National Security Forces begin U.S. funding training in Jordan (2). A pair of articles discuss the challenges that face newly elected head of the ruling Kadima party Tzipi Livni (3) (5). A Palestinian candidate enters the race for mayor of Jerusalem (7). Haaretz examines the revitalization of the West Bank town of Jenin (8).

Jenin? Jenin!
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Amoss Harel, Avi Issacharoff - September 18, 2008 - 8:00pm

All military camps are similar, and in the Middle East they also occasionally change hands, without their external appearance undergoing any significant changes. As such, Israel handed Jenin's Muqata compound over to the Palestinian security forces in 1996. Although part of it was bombed in 2001, today the compound once again serves as an active Palestinian Authority headquarters. Even the mirror next to the exit gate, a familiar sight from every Israel Defense Forces base, has remained in place. Only the slogan, "Soldier, Improve Your Appearance," has been removed by the Palestinians.

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The surprise candidate
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Ronen Medzini - September 18, 2008 - 8:00pm

Even though the election is a few months away, the race for the position of mayor of Jerusalem is becoming more and more interesting. In addition to the two main candidates, Nir Barkat and Meir Porush, a new, some would say surprising, face has entered ? a Palestinian candidate by the name of Zohir Hamdan.

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