June 25th, 2008

Quartet Gives Support To Berlin Meeting To Help Palestinians
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Deutsche Presse Agentur
June 25, 2008 - 5:14pm

The four-member diplomatic group on the Middle East peace process gave support Tuesday to the conference held in Berlin, which aimed to assist the Palestinian Authority achieve statehood. The Berlin Conference in Support of Palestinian Civil Security and the Rule of Law was focusing on building a Palestinian police and justice sector, which is a part of efforts toward Palestinian state-building.

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Israel's Olmert Averts Early Poll
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bbc News
June 25, 2008 - 5:12pm

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has struck a last-minute deal with the Labour party to save his coalition and avert fresh elections. Labour's leader, Defence Minister Ehud Barak, has agreed not to support an opposition bill to dissolve parliament. In return, Mr Olmert will hold elections for a new head of his Kadima party by September, which analysts say he is likely to lose. Mr Olmert is under investigation for alleged corruption. He denies wrongdoing and has not been charged.

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In Jerusalem, Even A Bridge Divides
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Chicago Tribune
by Joel Greenberg - June 25, 2008 - 5:11pm

Poking out of a jumble of drab apartment buildings, office blocks and hotels, a soaring suspension bridge designed by an internationally celebrated architect is reshaping the main entrance to Jerusalem, generating debate about modern urban aesthetics in a city of timeless shrines.

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Why Israel Won't Accept A Two-state Solution
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Princeton University
by Bernard Chazelle - June 25, 2008 - 5:08pm

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is often narrated as a morality play, where offers are generous, lessons are taught, consciousness is seared, terrorism is rewarded, etc. Let's quit the blame game and focus, instead, on what's feasible and what's not. For starters, one can safely notch the right-wing fantasy of a Jordanian absorption of Palestine in the "Dream on, settlers" column. Ethnic cleansing is passé.

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June 24th

An article by Prinecton professor Bernard Chazelle examines the prospects of the Two-State Solution (1). The Quartet lends their support to Tuesday’s Berlin Conference (4). Controversy continues to surround the Hamas-Israel cease fire and its recent breach (5) (6). French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s pledges to aid the Palestinians are welcomed (7) (11).

Egypt Vows Rafah To Remain Closed Until Shalit Free
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Roni Sofer - June 24, 2008 - 4:45pm

With the volatile ceasefire holding up despite threats made by the Islamic Jihad to breach the shaky agreement following the killings of two organization members in the West Bank duringan IDF operation – Prime Minister Ehud Olmert stopped by for a brief visit to Egypt, where he hopes to advance the negotiations for the release of kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit. Olmert met with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak at the Sharm el-Sheikh resort on Tuesday afternoon, and received the latter's assurance that Cairo was exerting considerable efforts to free the Israeli soldier.

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Divide And Conquer
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons
by Ghassan Khatib - (Opinion) June 24, 2008 - 4:41pm

The ceasefire agreement that was reached between Israel and the Hamas leadership through Egyptian mediation and that has been observed successfully by the two parties since Thursday marks a very significant development with potentially far reaching consequences.

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Israeli Forces Kill 2 Palestinians In West Bank
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Atef Saad - June 24, 2008 - 4:40pm

Israeli forces killed two Palestinians, including an Islamic Jihad commander, in the West Bank city of Nablus on Tuesday in the first fatal raid since a ceasefire took hold in the Gaza Strip last week. Islamic Jihad threatened to launch attacks inside Israel to avenge the death of Tarek Juma Abu Ghali, whom the militant group described as one of its most senior commanders in the northern West Bank. A second Palestinian, affiliated with the Islamist militant group Hamas, was also killed in the overnight raid, Palestinian security sources said.

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Greece, Israel Held Two Military Test Runs For Attack On Iran
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Middle East Times
June 24, 2008 - 4:35pm

A top Greek air force official has revealed that Greece participated in two major military exercises over the Mediterranean Sea with Israel in recent weeks as test runs for possible long-range strikes against Iran's nuclear facilities. News of a secret exercise was broken by the New York Times last Friday, citing U.S. officials as saying that more than 100 Israeli F-16 and F-15 fighter jets took part in preparation for long-range strikes in the first week of June.

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On The Contacts Of Defiant Arabs With Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Dar Al Hayat
by Elias Harfoush - (Opinion) June 24, 2008 - 4:34pm

"Indirect" is so far the status of current contacts established between the three defiant sides in the region, namely Syria, Hezbollah and Hamas, with Israel. Despite their indirect nature, such contacts seem to bear promising results regarding issues where positive developments had until recently been difficult to imagine.

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