November 10th, 2008

The only alternative to two states is conflict ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons by Ghassan Khatib - August 17, 2008 - 8:00pm With Palestinians facing greater and greater difficulties in their struggle to achieve an independent state in the territories occupied by Israel in the war of 1967, a serious debate has been sparked over the viability of the two-state solution. » Read more

Israel to free prisoners in gesture to Abbas ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times August 17, 2008 - 8:00pm Israel confirmed on Sunday it would release 200 of some 11,000 Palestinians it holds prisoners in the hope of shoring up support for President Mahmoud Abbas and the peace talks he is conducting with the Jewish state. "The idea is to strengthen the process of dialogue, to strengthen the hand of the moderates, to strengthen the peace process," a spokesman for Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said before the Cabinet agreed to his proposal to free about 200 people. » Read more

Qatar to mediate between Hamas, Fatah ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Deutsche Presse Agentur (DPA) August 15, 2008 - 8:00pm Qatar has entered the mediation efforts between rival Palestinian groups Fatah and Hamas in a new bid to achieve reconciliation between the two sides, Palestinian sources said on Saturday. "Qatar, as a state of strategic weight in the region, seeks to sponsor the mediation between Hamas and Fatah to end the internal split and reunite the two wings of Palestine," the sources said. » Read more

Rice set for another Mideast visit ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters August 17, 2008 - 8:00pm U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will visit the Middle East next week in another attempt to achieve progress towards an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal, officials said on Monday. The United States has said it hopes to conclude a framework peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians before President George W. Bush leaves office in January. But the talks have stumbled over disputes over Israeli settlement building and the future of Jerusalem. » Read more

Hamas meets Jordanian official, says frozen ties starting to thaw ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters August 14, 2008 - 8:00pm Officials from Hamas have met with a top Jordanian security official to try to patch up ties soured since 2006 by charges that the Islamist Palestinian group was planning to carry out attacks in Jordan. Hamas' leader in the Gaza Strip Ismail Haniyeh said on Friday that the contacts, involving two Hamas officials and Jordan's intelligence chief, Mohammed al-Thahabi, could help reconcile Hamas with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' secular Fatah faction. » Read more

Israel sends truckfuls of money to replace worn out currency in Gaza ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz August 18, 2008 - 8:00pm Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip fired a Qassam rocket into Israel Tuesday, in violation of the two-month old truce between Israel the coastal territory. The rocket landed in an open area in the Sha'ar HaNegev regional council area. No injuries or damage were reported. Defense Minister Ehud Barak ordered the border crossings with Gaza closed between Wednesday morning and Thursday afternoon in response to the rocket attack. » Read more

Palestinians slam Israel's 'revolving door policy' on prisoners ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Ali Waked - August 18, 2008 - 8:00pm Officials in the Palestinian Authority do not appear overly enthused by the Israeli cabinet's recent decision to release 199 prisoners, including detainees with 'blood on their hands', as a gesture to President Mahmoud Abbas. According to data provided by the Palestinian Center for Human Rights, the IDF has arrested 1,751 Palestinians in the West Bank since the beginning of the year, including 500 who have been detained since last month's Mediterranean summit in Paris, during which Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert pledged to free more prisoners. » Read more

Court orders IDF to explain soft indictment against Naalin commander ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Aviad Glickman - August 18, 2008 - 8:00pm Several human rights groups petition the High Court Tuesday asking that it order the Military Advocate General, Brigadier-General Avi Mandelblit and the IDF's Chief Prosecutor, Colonel Liron Lieberman, to explain their reluctance to amend the indictment filed against Lt. Col. Omri Burberg and Staff Sergeant L. for their involvement in the Naalin shooting incident. The petition was filed by B'Tselem, Yesh Din, the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel, and the Palestinian who was shot, Ashraf Abu-Rahma. » Read more

This land isn’t Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Yair Lapid - (Opinion) August 18, 2008 - 8:00pm Last week, we marked three years to the disengagement. An overwhelming majority of Israelis has an ambivalent attitude towards it to this day: On the one hand, feeling that the experiment has failed; on the other hand, glad that we are no longer in Gaza. But also ashamed of the disgraceful treatment of the evacuees; yet proud of the fact that it turned out that the State is still able to implement something once it decides to do it. There are other views in addition to that, depending on who you talk to. » Read more

Analysis: Prisoner release does nothing for Abbas ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Khaled Abu Toameh - August 17, 2008 - 8:00pm It's hard these days to find one Palestinian who regards Israel's decision to release some 200 Palestinian prisoners as a "goodwill gesture." It's also hard to see how the release of the prisoners would "boost" the popularity of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas among his people. The argument that the release of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails strengthens the "moderates" has never proven to be correct. » Read more