October 8th

Hamas considering delaying reconciliation ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Ali Waked - October 7, 2009 - 12:00am The Hamas movement is considering asking Egypt to delay a meeting of rival Palestinian factions and the signing of a reconciliation agreement scheduled for October 26, following the Palestinian Authority's decision to defer a United Nations Human Rights Council vote on the Goldstone Report, which accused Israel and Hamas of committing war crimes in Gaza. » Read more

Restraint in a delicate place ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz (Editorial) October 8, 2009 - 12:00am The growing tension surrounding the Temple Mount threatens to undermine the calm Israel has enjoyed for the past few months. Some of the incidents of the past few days have been routine, such as Jews and Muslims worshipping and the annual Jerusalem March; others not, such as the visit by French tourists to the mosque area and the rumor of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu having dinner in Silwan. Either way, they underlay the recriminations and mutual threats, the diplomatic intervention by Jordan and the United States, and the street protests by masked Palestinians in East Jerusalem. » Read more

Only gall and nothing more ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Gideon Levy - (Opinion) October 8, 2009 - 12:00am Is the discourse we are conducting - if indeed we are conducting any discourse among ourselves and with our interlocutor - legitimate at all? Ever since the territories were occupied a public debate has been going on here about their future and what is being done there. The questions have come and gone, all of them in the same cursed vein: To give? To concede? Under what conditions? In exchange for what? » Read more

Jordan's king to Haaretz: Without two states, there is no future ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Akiva Eldar - October 8, 2009 - 12:00am Jordan's King Abdullah II has asked Haaretz to relay a message to the Israeli public that it disavow the illusion that the status quo can be perpetuated, because as a result of the diplomatic impasse, "We are sliding back into the darkness. "Is Israel going to be fortress Israel or is it going to be part of the neighborhood? Because if there is no two-state solution, what future do we all have together?" he asked in an exclusive interview on Tuesday at his palace in Amman at the height of the disturbances in East Jerusalem. » Read more

Palestine on the brink: only a quick de-escalation can prevent an explosion ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ibishblog by Hussein Ibish - (Blog) October 7, 2009 - 12:00am We are facing a perfect storm of provocations, grievances, outrage and mutually reinforcing escalations that have pushed the situation in the occupied Palestinian territories, particularly Jerusalem, to the brink of an eruption. Indeed, it would be no exaggeration to call the present situation uncannily and very disturbingly reminiscent of the build up to the unleashing of the second intifada, which created disastrous consequences for the Palestinian people. » Read more

Europe's top soccer official touts sport in West Bank ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency October 8, 2009 - 12:00am Bethlehem – Ma’an – The head of Europe’s football governing body visited the West Bank on Wednesday in a continuing Mideast tour where he has promoted the sport as peace building tool. UEFA President Michel Platini toured the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem in the morning before heading to Ramallah for talks with caretaker Prime Minister Salam Fayyad. » Read more

Fayyad: Road to statehood will not be of flowers ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency October 8, 2009 - 12:00am Ramallah – Ma’an – “Building the road to the establishment of an independent state will not be furnished with flowers,” Palestinian Prime Minister of the caretaker government in Ramallah Salam Fayyad said Wednesday. » Read more

US: Prospect of peace talks trumps Goldstone report ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency October 8, 2009 - 12:00am Bethlehem - Ma’an - US State Department spokesperson on the Middle East Ian Kelly refused to comment Wednesday on whether or not the US would use their veto in the Security Council over the issue of the Goldstone report. » Read more

Global promises to restore Gaza `dreams, illusion' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Star by Linda Gradstein - October 8, 2009 - 12:00am GAZA CITY, GAZA–Almost 10 months after the end of fighting between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, a cherry-red bulldozer is scooping up huge chunks of concrete and twisted metal struts at what used to be the Palestinian security forces headquarters. While some of the rubble has been cleared and trucked to southern Gaza, many half-destroyed buildings are still standing and almost no reconstruction has been done. According to United Nations estimates, some 4,000 homes were destroyed in the 22-day Israeli bombardment and 17,000 were partially destroyed. » Read more

Hamas Finds Gaza Tunnels’ $500 Million Loss Worse Than Madoff ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bloomberg by Jonathan Ferziger - October 7, 2009 - 12:00am Oct. 7 (Bloomberg) -- Investment opportunities are rare in the Gaza Strip. So when Nabila Ghabin saw one last year, she pawned her car and jewelry and put $12,000 into a network of tunnels that brought in supplies smuggled from Egypt. She was one of about 4,000 Gazans who gave cash to middlemen and tunnel operators in 2008 as Israel blocked the overland passage of goods. Then Israeli warplanes bombed the tunnels before and during the Dec. 27 to Jan. 18 Gaza offensive and the investments collapsed. » Read more