September 24th, 2008

Forget Palestine? Surely You Jest.
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Middle East Times
by Claude Salhani - September 23, 2008 - 8:00pm

Okay. The Israeli-Palestinian peace talks are getting nowhere fast. Some experts are starting to say that maybe it's time to look at the future of Palestine with a completely set of new lenses. The paradox in the comatose peace negotiations is that although the details calling for a two-state solution are generally accepted by all sides, a solution is not truly desired by either the Palestinians or the Israelis for various reasons. See the Sept. 15 issue of the Middle East Times

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Jordan, Egypt say world must help
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times
September 23, 2008 - 8:00pm

Jordan and Egypt on Tuesday agreed to further coordinate their stands in the face of present challenges. During a summit meeting in Cairo, His Majesty King Abdullah and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak called for intensified international efforts to work out a just political settlement of the Palestinian issue that ends the Israeli occupation and leads to the establishment of an independent Palestinian state.

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Fatah OKs plan for new govt
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP)
September 23, 2008 - 8:00pm

The ruling Palestinian faction Fatah has agreed to an Egyptian proposal to create a new government that would be acceptable to the international community, a senior Fatah official said yesterday.

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Gaza: 5 Die in Smugglers' Tunnels
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
September 22, 2008 - 8:00pm

At least five Palestinians were killed and four others were wounded on Tuesday when Egyptian forces blew up two smuggling tunnels beneath the Egyptian-Gaza border, medical workers and residents said. The tunnels, which are used to bring goods from Egypt into the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, collapsed when Egyptian soldiers detonated explosives in an attempt to curb smuggling, residents said. Egyptian officials were not immediately available for comment. Israeli officials have said many of the tunnels are also used by militants to smuggle weapons into Gaza from Egypt.


Palestinians win Livni pledge on talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Wafa Amr - September 22, 2008 - 8:00pm

Chief Palestinian negotiator Ahmed Qurie won an assurance from Israeli prime minister-designate Tzipi Livni on Tuesday that peace talks will not stall while she tries to form a new coalition government. In an interview with Reuters following their meeting, Qurie warned that violence could erupt if the talks collapsed. "The Palestinians will continue to negotiate. But, if the talks reached a dead end, what do we do? Capitulate? Resistance in all its forms is a legitimate right," Qurie said.

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September 23rd

The Palestinian government receives pledges of almost $300 million in new aid (1). Yesterday?s incident in Jerusalem raises Israeli concerns over attacks in the city (2). The Angus Reid Global Monitor features a poll of Palestinian expectations for statehood (3), and an op-ed by Ali Jarbawi supports the results, calling for a new approach to state building (10). Israeli President Shimon Peres asks Kadima election winner Tzipi Livni to form a new government following Ehud Olmert?s resignation (7).

A Precarious Coexistence?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons
by Ali Jarbawi - (Opinion) September 21, 2008 - 8:00pm

It is difficult to conceive of two more natural enemies than Hamas and the Zionist movement that dominates Israeli politics. In their different ways, each is rhetorically committed to the destruction of the other. However, their relationship is much more complex and symbiotic than a casual observer might expect.

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Israel may reduce goods entering Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Hanan Greenberg - September 22, 2008 - 8:00pm

The defense establishment is currently assessing the possibility of reducing commodities transferred daily to the Gaza Strip in an effort to press Hamas to proceed with negotiations on the release of kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit. Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilnai confirmed this report in an interview with Ynet Tuesday, in which he said the matter would be discussed and possibly carried out in the coming weeks. Before the ceasefire the siege on the Strip was an important factor in halting the rocket fire towards Sderot and the Gaza vicinity towns.

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Livni assures PA talks will continue while she builds gov?t
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
December 31, 1969 - 8:00pm

Foreign Minister and new Kadima leader Tzipi Livni on Tuesday held her first meeting with chief Palestinian negotiator Ahmed Qurei (Abu Ala) since she was entrusted with the task of forming a government. Qurei said that in their Jerusalem meeting, Livni assured him that talks would continue while she puts together her coalition. "She stressed that she'll continue the peace process, and that if she forms the new Israeli government, there will be no conditions or obstacles to continue the peace process," Qurei told The Associated Press.

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Israel?s Livni Asked to Form New Government
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times
September 22, 2008 - 8:00pm

Israel's President Shimon Peres asked Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni on Monday to form a new government, a day after scandal-plagued Prime Minister Ehud Olmert officially stepped down. Livni, 50, a former Mossad spy who replaced Olmert as head of the centrist Kadima party in a leadership vote on Wednesday, is hoping to become Israel's second woman prime minister after Golda Meir, who served from 1969 to 1974. "After consultations with the political parties, the president has asked Kadima party leader Tzipi Livni to form a government", public radio quoted an official statement as saying.

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