September 12th

Israel accuses Gaza fighters of bombing attack
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP)
September 11, 2008 - 8:00pm

Militants in Hamas-ruled Gaza on Thursday detonated a bomb near an Israeli Army patrol along the border fence, causing no injuries but shaking a fragile truce, an Israeli Army spokeswoman told AFP. "An explosive device was set off against an army force patrolling the fence in central Gaza, south of the Kissufim crossing, causing some damage to the fence but no injuries," the spokeswoman said. A Gaza witness said that an Israeli ambulance had been at the scene, at the border between Israel and the central Gaza Strip, but the army said nobody was injured.

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Abbas: Mid-East deal is far off
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC World News
September 11, 2008 - 8:00pm

Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas has said peace talks with Israel have failed to reach any breakthrough, despite nine months of negotiations. "I can't say that even one issue has been agreed upon," Mr Abbas told Israel's Haaretz newspaper. Israeli and Palestinian negotiators have met since talks resumed following a US-sponsored summit last November. But Mr Abbas said the process would continue with whoever replaced Israel's outgoing Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. Mr Olmert has said he will step down after his Kadima party chooses a new leader next week.

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The Iron Wall That Was
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Israel Policy Forum
by M.J. Rosenberg - (Opinion) September 11, 2008 - 8:00pm

Thirty-eight percent of Israelis support the Arab League Initiative (formerly, the Saudi peace plan) while 69 percent of Palestinians do. That is the finding of a September poll conducted jointly by the Harry Truman Institute at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem and the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research in Ramallah.

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A West Bank Ruin, Reborn as a Peace Beacon
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Ethan Bronner - September 10, 2008 - 8:00pm

Pessimism is a steady companion these days for advocates of Middle East peace. A lame-duck Israeli government is negotiating with a weak Palestinian leadership in the twilight of an unpopular American administration. Few forecast success. But a quiet revolution is stirring here in this city, once a byword for the extremes of violence between Israelis and Palestinians. In 2002, in response to a wave of suicide bombers from Jenin, Israeli tanks leveled entire neighborhoods.

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September 11th

IDF soldiers shoot and kill a Palestinian during a raid last night in the West Bank city of Nablus (1). In an op-ed for the Washington Post Daniel Seidemann cautions against his hometown of Jerusalem being used to influence U.S. voters (2). Human -rights group B?Tselem reports that Israeli authorities and settlers have seized large tracts of land in the West Bank to be used as ?security zones? (3). Palestinian security forces are making a positive difference in the West Bank town of Hebron (4).

Nasrallah: No peace in Middle East as long as Israel exists
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
September 10, 2008 - 8:00pm

Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah said in a recent interview that as long as Israel exists, there will be no peace in the Middle East. "The region will not see the light of peace or any stability because of Israel's aggressiveness and militant nature," Nasrallah said. Despite hiding out in a bunker since 2006's Second Lebanon War, Nasrallah recently spoke to the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting radio station, Army Radio reported.

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West Bank: 2 soldiers lightly injured in clashes with settlers
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Erfat Weiss - September 10, 2008 - 8:00pm

During the ensuing clashes with dozens of settlers, the tires of a vehicle belonging to the Civil Administration were punctured and, according to the IDF, one settler unleashed his dog on a soldier, who sustained light injuries. Another soldier broke his finger during the clashes. Police forces dispatched to the scene managed to calm the situation down. 'Commander forgot to leave his politics at home'

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Naalin: 12-year-old arrested over violent riot
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Ali Waked - September 10, 2008 - 8:00pm

Large IDF forces arrived Wednesday night at the West Bank village of Naalin in order to arrest 12-year-old Muhammad Hawaja, who is suspected of involvement in violent riots held in protest of Israel's construction of the security barrier. His father, Salah Hawaja, told Ynet that the forces, ?came in from the mountains, surrounded the house and removed Muhammad from his bed. "My wife and I can?t forget the image of IDF soldiers grabbing hold of Muhammad's pajama collar and leading him away as if he were a sheep crying and screaming," said the father, a paramedic.

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In Jerusalem All Politics Isn?t Local
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Israel Policy Forum
by Sadie Goldman - September 10, 2008 - 8:00pm

The circus that is Jerusalem local politics is back in the headlines with the kick-off of its mayoral race.

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Can an ex-convict be Jerusalem's mayor?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Ilene Prusher - September 10, 2008 - 8:00pm

One of Israel's most charismatic and controversial political figures, who fell from grace when he was jailed in 2000 for bribery, is making a comeback that is quickly sowing controversy. Aryeh Deri, the former leader of the ultra-Orthodox Shas Party, said Wednesday he would run for mayor of Jerusalem, a key office that was held by Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert through much of the 1990s.

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