March 3rd, 2008

Israelis Show Declining Zest For Military Service
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from McClatchy News
by Dion Nissenbaum - March 3, 2008 - 6:53pm

Throughout Israel's short, turbulent history, the nation has grown cynical about almost every sector of society but one: its military. Though the Israeli military has been buffeted by political scandal, castigated for enforcing a 40-year occupation of the Palestinians, and humbled during its 34-day war in 2006 against Hezbollah fighters in southern Lebanon, most Israelis never seemed to lose faith in their citizen soldiers. But, under the surface, something has been slowly shifting in Israel as the nation prepares to celebrate its 60th anniversary May 14.

»

Another Mideast Peace Plan Slipping Away
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from International Herald Tribune
(Opinion) March 3, 2008 - 6:50pm

For the first time, an Israeli leader and a Palestinian leader seem genuinely committed to peace. They set a deadline for a deal by year's end. Yet the likelihood of achieving the two-state solution they have embraced diminishes with every rocket lobbed into Israel from Hamas-controlled Gaza and with every Israeli military strike or squeeze on civilian life in Gaza. The political and security situation is growing more desperate.

»

Abbas Halts Mideast Talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Baltimore Sun
by Richard Boudreaux - March 3, 2008 - 6:49pm

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas suspended peace talks with Israel yesterday amid growing international criticism of the Jewish state's incursion into the Gaza Strip. Mounting casualties in Gaza drew protests from European and Arab capitals and sent thousands of Palestinians into the streets across the West Bank, where Israeli troops killed a teenager during a demonstration.

»

Give Palestinians A Chance To Implement The 'road Map'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons
by Yossi Alpher - (Opinion) March 3, 2008 - 6:46pm

Under the circumstances, and by comparison to its predecessors, the current Palestinian Authority (PA) government in Ramallah led by President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Salam Fayyad is making reasonable progress toward fulfilling its "road map" phase I security obligations. Of course there is still a lot to be desired - but the PA deserves better than the degree of reciprocation it has received thus far from Israel.

»

March 2nd

An opinion by Yossi Alpher in BitterLemons requests Palestinians be given the opportunity to implement their ‘road map’ obligations (1). In the Baltimore Sun, Richard Boudreaux reports that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has suspended mideast talks with Israel (2). The International Herald Tribune warns that another mideast peace plan is slipping away (3) while the international community rips Israel over Gaza in the Daily Star (7). The Jordan Times asserts that more forceful action is needed by the UN in regards to the situation in Gaza (8).

February 29th

Kosovo And Palestine: Why Different Standards?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News
by Walid Awad - (Opinion) February 29, 2008 - 6:09pm

In July 2000, President Clinton, at the insistence of Israel’s Prime Minister Ehud Barak, invited President Arafat and Barak to Camp David. In less than two weeks of intensive negotiations, Clinton expected Arafat and Barak to arrive at a solution to end the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Incomplete progress was achieved at Camp David, but an agreement was not.

»

Putting The Strategy To The Test
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
(Editorial) February 29, 2008 - 6:09pm

Dozens of rockets are fired every day at southern communities, people are being killed and wounded and struggling to retain their sanity in the face of a threat that disrupts their daily routines, and all the while, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni is meeting with Ahmed Qureia (Abu Ala) in an effort to reach a peace agreement. This is the Olmert government's diplomatic strategy. But in order to learn whether it stands a chance, it needs to finally be put to the test.

»

An Explosive, Dangerous Balance
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Meron Benvenisti - February 29, 2008 - 6:08pm

It is hard to say who was responsible for fueling the recent uproar over warnings that Palestinian protesters would try to break through the borders and checkpoints of the Gaza Strip. Was it the defense establishment, or perhaps the media? In any case, the hysteria-mongers succeeded all too well, for the mountain became a molehill. The artillery batteries and thousands of Israeli soldiers who stood before a few thousand Palestinian children turned the Israeli response into a fiasco.

»

Thinking The Unthinkable
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward
(Editorial) February 29, 2008 - 6:03pm

Israel is in a diplomatic and military jam that keeps getting worse, but has no obvious solution. It is rapidly approaching the demographic tipping point, when Palestinian Arabs outnumber Israeli Jews in the land now under Israeli control. When that happens, Israel will find that it has become a minority-rule state, and it will have to make the choice it has avoided up to now: whether to be a Jewish or a democratic state.

»

Israel Warns Of Invasion Of Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bbc News
February 29, 2008 - 6:02pm

Israel's deputy defence minister has said Israel will have "no choice" but to invade Gaza if Palestinian militants step up rocket attacks. Matan Vilnai said Palestinians risked a "shoah", the Hebrew word for a big disaster - and for the Nazi Holocaust. Mr Vilnai made the comments after rockets hit the city of Ashkelon, 10km (six miles) from Gaza. His colleagues insisted he had not meant "genocide". Hamas leader Ismail Haniya said it was ready for a large-scale Israeli attack.

»


American Task Force on Palestine - 1634 Eye St. NW, Suite 725, Washington DC 20006 - Telephone: 202-262-0017