March 18th

' Anything Is Possible'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al- Ahram
by Saleh Al-naami - March 18, 2008 - 6:54pm

Just two weeks after Israel began its bloody incursions into the Gaza Strip Israeli-Palestinian negotiations resumed today under American auspices. Despite repeated decisions by the Israeli government to step up settlement and Judaisation activities in the West Bank, and a week following the attack on a Jewish seminary in Jerusalem, and the two sides are meeting against the backdrop of an un- announced truce that, with the exception of minor violations, appears to be holding.

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Olmert Defiant On Settlements
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al Jazeera English
March 18, 2008 - 6:53pm

Ehud Olmert has said that Israel will not stop building on occupied land in and around Jerusalem, defying US criticism and sparking protests from Palestinians during renewed negotiations.   The Israeli prime minister said his government would continue to build hundreds of new apartments in Har Homa in east Jerusalem

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Barghouti, Abbas Popular For Palestinian Voters
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Angus Reid Global Monitor
March 18, 2008 - 6:51pm

Two members of Fatah are the most popular presidential contenders for residents of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, according to a poll by the Palestinian Center for Public Opinion (PCPO). 24.3 per cent of respondents say Marwan Barghouti is their favourite candidate in the next presidential election, while 23.1 per cent prefer incumbent Mahmoud Abbas. Hamas member Ismail Haniyeh is third with 12.4 per cent, followed by Mustafa Barghouthi of the Palestinian National Initiative with 9.5 per cent, and former national security advisor Mohammed Dahlan with 5.2 per cent.

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Us Presidential Hopeful Backs Israel's Claim To Occupied Jerusalem As Capital
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star
March 18, 2008 - 6:50pm

US Republican presidential candidate John McCain said on Tuesday that he supported Israel's claim to Occupied Jerusalem as the capital of the Jewish state, flying in the face of the international community's stance. "I support Jerusalem as the capital of Israel," McCain said in Jordan on the latest leg of a visit to the region.

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Israel's 'religious Right' Gains Clout, Complicating Peace With Palestinians
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Ilene Prusher - (Opinion) March 18, 2008 - 6:48pm

On a hilltop far enough from the existing Israeli settlement of Givat Zeev that one needs directions to get here stands the framework of a settlement meant to house up to 750 families. Eli Yishai stood on an unfinished balcony of one of the new development's shell homes. He's a key coalition partner of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and the leader of the religious party Shas, which is feted by some and decried by others for having broken Israel's "settlement freeze."

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March 17th

An opinion by Ilene Prusher in the Christian Science Monitor discusses the role of Shas in pushing settlement growth (1). The Agence France Presse reports on US Republican presidential candidate John McCain’s recent comments supporting Jerusalem as the capital of Israel (2). In the Daily Star, Yossi Beilin suggests waiting for the new US administration before panicing (7) A Yehuda Lankri opinion in Haaretz discusses the upcoming visit of US ambassador James Cunningham (8).

American Intervention Now
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
(Editorial) March 17, 2008 - 6:52pm

A senior American official quoted yesterday in Haaretz predicted that despite the upcoming presidential elections, and in advance of his visit to Israel in May, President George W. Bush will increase the pressure on both Israel and the Palestinian Authority to achieve significant diplomatic progress. The American intervention will be evident already at the end of the week, with the arrival of Vice President Dick Cheney for talks in the region. Immediately after him, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is expected to arrive here. Recently, Rice has not concealed the U.S.

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Talking Like Meretz, Behaving Like The Likud
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Akiva Eldar - (Opinion) March 17, 2008 - 6:50pm

Judging by his declarations, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert could have run tomorrow for the Meretz party's leadership. Judging by the behavior of his government in the territories, he could return to Likud.

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Right-wing Israelis Storm Arab Area
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times
March 17, 2008 - 6:49pm

Dozens of right-wing Jewish activists on Sunday stormed the Arab neighbourhood in East Jerusalem of a Palestinian gunman who killed eight Israelis at a Jewish seminary earlier this month, police and witnesses said. Dozens of protesters broke through police barriers and hurled stones at cars and houses in the neighbourhood of Jabal Mukaber, where the family of the seminary attacker lives. About 200 people had gathered outside the village and a number of protesters broke through the police barrier, said police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld.

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Take Off The Masks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Gadi Gvaryahu - (Opinion) March 17, 2008 - 6:48pm

 One cannot but recall that Jewish murderers who massacred others with a machinegun at the Cave of the Patriarchs and in the Islamic College in Hebron.

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