September 17th

Saudi Arabia Urges Arab ?Help? to End Palestinian Rift ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times September 8, 2008 - 8:00pm Saudi Arabia's foreign minister on Monday urged for an Arab push to help end inter-Palestinian rifts and re-establish moderate Palestinian rule in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip. Prince Saud Al Faisal's remarks came during a meeting of Arab foreign ministers in Cairo. The top Saudi diplomat appeared to back an Egyptian proposal to send Arab troops to the coastal Strip ruled by Hamas. "It's about time that the Arab countries take a solid and decisive stance against those who shed Palestinian blood and deepen the Palestinian division," Saud said. » Read more

Arab League Chief Says Angry with Palestinian Groups ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters September 8, 2008 - 8:00pm The head of the Arab League said on Tuesday that he was angry with fractious Palestinian political groups and that sanctions against them were being discussed by Arab governments. Egypt, the main mediator between often rival Palestinian groups, has been holding bilateral talks with minor groups in preparation for similar talks with the two main groups -- Fatah and Hamas. "I am extremely angry with the Palestinian organizations," Amr Moussa, secretary-general of the league, told a news conference in an unusually harsh criticism of the Palestinians. » Read more

B'Tselem: Israel cutting off Gaza from West Bank ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews September 9, 2008 - 8:00pm Israel is taking unilateral steps in order to institutionalize a new reality of separation between the Palestinian population in the Gaza Strip and the one living in the West Bank, human rights group B'Tselem stated in a new report released Wednesday. The report warns against harming Palestinians' human rights and their possibility to realize their right for self-definition. » Read more

Palestinians: Delay in IDF checkpoint led to son's death ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Ali Waked - September 9, 2008 - 8:00pm A Palestinian couple from the West Bank city of Nablus claimed Wednesday that an IDF soldier delayed them in a checkpoint when they were on their way to a local hospital, causing the woman ? who was pregnant ? to give birth to a stillborn baby. Muayed Abu Raja and his wife Nahil, of the Palestinian village of Kafr Kusra, south of Nablus, were expecting their second child, when Nahil began experiencing severe abdominal pain last Thursday. » Read more

Darwish to Peres: PA has 'no more to give' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Greer Fay Cashman - September 8, 2008 - 8:00pm Israelis and Palestinians have never been closer to making strategic decisions than they are today, and at the end of the day, each side wants to win a little more than the other, Sheikh Abdallah Nimr Darwish, founder of the Islamic Movement, told President Shimon Peres on Tuesday. "But the Palestinians have nothing left to offer Israel," he added. Darwish spoke at the traditional Iftar meal for leaders of Israel's Arab communities hosted by President Shimon Peres during Ramadan. » Read more

The evolving facts of life ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons by Yossi Alpher - (Opinion) August 31, 2008 - 8:00pm A brief perusal of headlines in the regional media would appear to confirm that, of the two main Palestinian movements, Fateh and Hamas, the latter has recently been the object of the most attention from Israel's neighbors, particularly Egypt and Jordan. » Read more

Oslo's failure led to the rise of Hamas ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons by Ghassan Khatib - (Opinion) September 9, 2008 - 8:00pm The future of Jerusalem has yet again presented itself as one of the most difficult issues in final status negotiations. This is not to say that other issues are either easy or have already been resolved, but the issues of Jerusalem and refugees appear the hardest to crack. » Read more

Musa says angry with Palestinian groups ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters September 9, 2008 - 8:00pm The chief of the Arab League said on Tuesday that he was angry with fractious Palestinian political groups and that sanctions against them were being discussed by Arab governments. Egypt, the main mediator between often rival Palestinian groups, has been holding bilateral talks with minor groups in preparation for similar talks with the two main groups-Fateh and Hamas. "I am extremely angry with the Palestinian organisations," Amr Musa, secretary general of the league, told a news conference in an unusually harsh criticism of the Palestinians. » Read more

Israeli official: Militant Hamas ?like cancer? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post by Steven Gutkin - September 9, 2008 - 8:00pm Israel's point man in indirect, Egyptian-mediated talks with Hamas said Wednesday the Islamic militant group is more powerful than the Western-backed Palestinian government and is "like cancer." Senior Defense Ministry official Amos Gilad said talks with Hamas designed to secure the release of a captured Israeli soldier have gone better since a truce went into effect in June, but he added that a deal is "not close." "Since the truce we are discussing more seriously, but I am impressed only by results," he said. » Read more

Hamas and Islamic Jihad meet for Damascus talks ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press September 8, 2008 - 8:00pm Officials from Palestinian groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad have met in Syria to resolve a Gaza flare-up between the two, the groups announced on Tuesday, just days after Hamas-led police forcefully dispersed a gathering by the other group. The two groups issued a joint statement saying they held a "long meeting" on Monday in Damascus, discussed their relations and the situation in the Palestinian territories. Both sides asserted their "strategic relations", adding that minor disagreements and events on the ground "will not affect the depth of these relations". » Read more