December 19th

Palestinian Militants Die In Israeli Strikes On Gaza Strip
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
by Rushdi Abu Alouf, Ken Ellingwood - (Special Report) December 19, 2007 - 3:08pm

Israel on Tuesday carried out more airstrikes against Palestinian rocket squads based in the Gaza Strip, killing at least six more militants a day after slaying Islamic Jihad's military chief. Israeli air operations have killed at least 11 militants since Monday evening. Most belonged to Islamic Jihad, which has claimed responsibility for dozens of cross-border rocket attacks into southern Israel in recent months.

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Down Payment On Mideast Peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
(Editorial) December 19, 2007 - 3:07pm

The political and territorial challenges facing Israeli and Palestinian peace negotiators are formidable and familiar. The economic obstacles to the creation of a viable Palestinian state are also formidable, but easier to make a dent in — if all the donors who claim to care about the Palestinians and peace live up to their promises.

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Bush's Itinerary Includes Jerusalem, The West Bank
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
December 19, 2007 - 3:06pm

President Bush will make his first trip to Jerusalem and the West Bank next month to push Israel and the Palestinians toward peace, the White House announced yesterday. Bush also plans to stop during his nine-day trip in Kuwait, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Egypt. The trip, which begins Jan. 8, comes after a conference in Annapolis last month reenergized White House efforts toward assisting Israel and the Palestinians in forming an independent Palestinian homeland.

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December 18th

A New York Times editorial emphasizes the importance of matching financial assistance to the Palestinians with diplomatic progress in negotiations towards a final peace settlement (2.) Reuters reports on an Israeli housing ministry preliminary proposal on further settlement expansion in the Qalandia area of the occupied West Bank (4.) Americans For Peace Now present their weekly translated excerpts from the Israeli press (6.) A Toronto Star (Canada) editorial (8) and a Miftah (Palestine) opinion by Caelum Moffatt (13) join the chorus of newspapers urging Israeli easing of Palestinian movement restrictions to take advantage of funds pledged at the Paris donor conference (8.) The Australian (Australia) interviews Israeli Labor party minister Isaac Herzog on the parameters of an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement and the obstacles to achieving it (11.) Palestine Center for Policy and Survey Research presents its latest poll of the Palestinian people revealing a stabilization of support for Hamas due to a lack of public confidence in the Annapolis meeting (14.) A Haaretz (Israel) opinion by Nehemiah Shtrasler takes the Israeli media to task for a 'double standard' in reporting on the issue of Gaza and militant rocket fire out of it directed against Israel (15.) A Jerusalem Post (Israel) opinion by Michael Felsen urges American Jews, Israelis and Palestinians to acknowledge mistakes in their dealings with each other (17.)

Annapolis Gains Momentum
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Gershon Baskin - December 18, 2007 - 12:36pm

There is great public skepticism regarding the outcome of the Annapolis meeting. Many of the skeptics state that at the end of the day, it was little more than a photo-op for the principals - Bush, Olmert and Abbas - and that it produced no real substance. The failure of the parties to produce a joint statement that contained any content on the principles for resolving the core issues for permanent status, for some, points to the Annapolis meeting as a failure.

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Roadblocks Counter Funding
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
(Editorial) December 18, 2007 - 12:35pm

When Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni declared in Paris on Sunday that "a developed Palestinian economy is in Israel's interest," we can assume that she meant that it is also in the interest of the Palestinians. After all, it is for the Palestinian, not the Israeli interest that more than 90 representatives of states and organizations gathered in order to express their willingness to contribute to the economic development of Palestine.

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The Demographic Argument Is Inherently Racist
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons
by Hanan Ashrawi - (Interview) December 18, 2007 - 12:34pm

bitterlemons: Israel's demand to be recognized as a "Jewish state" at Annapolis caused an uproar among Palestinians. This doesn't seem like a new demand, so why the uproar?

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Har Homa Is Not In Jerusalem
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
by J.r. Almoslino - December 18, 2007 - 12:33pm

Israel announced a plan last week to build 307 new housing units in what most international media are calling "a Jewish neighborhood of East Jerusalem." Har Homa's white apartment blocs are draped on a hillside overlooking the city of Bethlehem, where I work. Like other West Bank settlements, it was erected on high ground, with the intention of intimidating the Palestinian population below. Spatially speaking, Har Homa is no more in Jerusalem than Bethehem itself is.

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It Will Take More Than Money To End The Plight Of The Palestinian People
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star
(Editorial) December 18, 2007 - 12:31pm

Monday's gathering in Paris of donor countries to support the widely hoped-for establishment of a Palestinian state was necessary but not sufficient. Without the funds that were pledged, any form of Palestinian independence that might be negotiated as part of a peace agreement to end the Israeli occupation would be a flimsy thing indeed. The more important litmus tests are yet to come, however, and each demands unprecedented levels of seriousness from both the principals and their American mediators.

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Annapolis Unsettled
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Financial Times
(Editorial) December 18, 2007 - 12:30pm

The hopes raised by last month’s Annapolis conference on Middle East peace, at which Israel and the Palestinians undertook to negotiate a solution to the conflict by the end of next year, are already in danger of being dashed. Only days afterwards, the Israeli government gave the go-ahead to complete work on arguably the most contentious of its settlements on occupied Arab land.

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