April 4th

Palestinians, Israelis Split Over Efforts
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Times
by Joshua Mitnick - April 4, 2008 - 6:10pm

Within days after Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice finished another round of Middle East shuttle diplomacy, Israelis and Palestinians are already at odds over a series of confidence-building measures aimed at breathing new life into the stuttering peace process. Israel said yesterday it has completed the removal of 50 roadblocks around the West Bank as it promised the U.S. over the weekend, but the Palestinians said they could discern no changes and called on the State Department to confirm the Israeli claim.

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Girding For War With Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Times
(Editorial) April 4, 2008 - 6:09pm

Recent events serve as a reminder of how menacing behavior from Iran and Syria keeps the Middle East on a hair trigger. On Tuesday, Israel learned that Hezbollah was rapidly rebuilding its military capabilities and preparing for renewed conflict with Israel. The next morning, a London-based Arab newspaper reported that Syria was concentrating troops and tanks along its border with Lebanon and had massed troops in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley in preparation for an Israeli attack.

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April 3rd

An editorial in the Washington Times discusses renewed military buildup in the Middle East (1). A summary of the agreement brokered by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice between the Israelis and Palestinians during her latest visit is reported by IPF (3). Reuters reports on claims by Israel that they have removed 50 West Bank roadblocks (5). An editorial in the Jewish Daily Forward examines the implications of new settlement construction on President Abbas (7). In Haaretz, an interview with Zakariya Zubeidi (9) and an opinion by Akiva Eldar concerning the possibility of a third intifada is Israeli does not negotiate credibly (10).

'allying With Christian Zionists Is Bad For Israel'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Shmuel Rosner - April 3, 2008 - 5:38pm

"No, we cannot." We cannot cooperate with the Christian Zionists, Rabbi Eric H. Yoffie, President of the Union for Reform Judaism, told the annual conference of the movement's rabbis Wednesday night in Cincinnati, Ohio, according to copies of the speech distributed ahead of time to the press.

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Labor, Lost
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Israel Harel - (Opinion) April 3, 2008 - 5:36pm

Labor is disappointed with Ehud Barak. He is a master wheeler-dealer, Amir Peretz claims. He is disconnected, laments Benjamin Ben-Eliezer. He has learned nothing, he hasn't changed, yells Yoram Marciano. His main goal, Peretz charges, is to become prime minister. His main flaw, everyone agrees, is that he has no agenda.

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Mubarak, Abdullah, Abbas Discuss Peace Process
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Roee Nahmias - April 3, 2008 - 5:33pm

  Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak held a meeting on Wednesday in Cairo, in which Jordan's King Abdullah II, and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas took part. The three discussed a number of issues, including the progress of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process and the outcomes of the recent Arab summit, which was concluded in Damascus on Sunday. 

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Enlightenment Through The Enemy's Eyes
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Middle East Times
by Mel Frykberg - April 3, 2008 - 5:31pm

As the barrage of rockets fired from the northern Gaza Strip began to rain down on the Israeli border town of Sderot the warning sirens were already wailing, sending thousands of Israelis scurrying for their lives in the city's ubiquitous underground bomb shelters. A few kilometers north at the Barzilai medical center in the town of Ashkelon, staff were on high alert as they scrambled to evacuate patients to safety. One of the Grad rockets fired from Gaza landed a mere 50 meters from the hospital entrance.

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Israeli Rights Group Questions Military's West Bank Arrests
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
April 3, 2008 - 5:30pm

The killing of four armed Palestinian fugitives in a hail of Israeli gunfire is raising new questions about the military's practices during arrest operations in the West Bank. The Israeli human rights group B'Tselem is calling for a criminal inquiry into the shooting, citing witness accounts claiming the men were summarily executed. B'Tselem says that would violate a ruling by Israel's supreme court that troops must try to take wanted men alive.

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Palestinian Pm Threatens Striking Civil Servants With Pay Cuts
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
April 3, 2008 - 5:28pm

Taking on the Palestinian civil servants' union, Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad warned Thursday that he will dock the pay of striking union members. The union has held repeated warning strikes in recent months, calling for wage increases. Fayyad said that every strike day would be deducted from the employees' salaries. According to Fayyad, Palestinian Authority civil servants have received a 27 percent salary increases over the past three years, and the Palestinian Authority cannot afford to pay them more.

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Slow Progress For Palestinians In Lebanon
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Time
by Andrew Lee Butters - (Blog) April 3, 2008 - 5:24pm

In the past few weeks of writing about Palestinian refugees, I've painted a grim picture of their treatment by Lebanese society: how after nearly sixty years and four generations in exile here they still don't have citizenship, how they are barred from some seventy professions and face all sorts of other legal discrimination, and how during last summer's battle with foreign jihadis based in Nahr al Bared camp, the Lebanese army appears to have taken out its frustrations on Palestinian civilians.

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