October 25th, 2007

Images That Shock
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
(Special Report) October 25, 2007 - 11:33am

Occasionally the mask slips and unpalatable truths emerge. The Guardian has filmed rare scenes inside Hamas-controlled Gaza which the various players in the unfolding tragedy of the Middle East would rather we did not see - Hamas beating up Fatah dissenters, Palestinian doctors forced by their Fatah paymasters to go on strike or forfeit their salaries, the militants who log on to Google Earth to search for Israeli targets for their Qassam rockets. The images, now on the Guardian's website, affront our concept of right and wrong, but they serve our understanding of what is going on.

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Israeli Seeks Hamas Participation
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bbc News
October 25, 2007 - 11:32am

An Israeli minister has called on his government to invite "moderate" members from the Palestinian movement Hamas to an upcoming Middle East conference. Minister without portfolio Ami Ayalon said any invitation would be conditional on Hamas members fully recognising Israel right to exist. Mr Ayalon said that Israel should be talking to moderates regardless of their political stripes. The conference is planned for late November in Annapolis in the US.

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Don’t Rush Mideast Talks, Experts Urge
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward
by Nathan Guttman - October 25, 2007 - 11:31am

Skepticism was the name of the game as leading Middle East analysts and policymakers gathered last weekend and discussed the prospects for an upcoming Middle East peace conference. Diplomats, administration officials and regional experts all seemed to agree that the task facing the American-led conference is nearly impossible if peace between Israelis and Palestinians is the goal. Among the impediments mentioned were the lack of time for ironing out differences before the summit, significant gaps in expectations and a lack of commitment on behalf of the Bush administration.

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Israel Moves To Further Isolate Gazans
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Joshua Mitnick - October 25, 2007 - 11:30am

Ratcheting up pressure on Palestinians in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, Israel prepared to cut electricity supplies to Gazans in retaliation for an escalation in cross-border rocket and mortar attacks by Palestinian militants. After declaring Gaza an "enemy entity" in September, Israel has kept Gaza's borders sealed save for humanitarian foodstuffs and medicines. The policy has triggered dramatic inflation, shuttered businesses, and spurred demand for black-market goods smuggled through tunnels that were once used by gun runners and drug dealers.

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Israel Works On Plan To Cut Power Supplies To Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Dan Williams - October 25, 2007 - 11:29am

Israeli officials prepared a plan on Wednesday to cut power supplies to the Gaza Strip amid rising violence that killed two Palestinian boys after a rocket salvo damaged an apartment building in the Jewish state. We plan to dramatically reduce the two-thirds of power that is supplied by Israel, which will take several weeks," Israeli Deputy Defence Minister Matan Vilnai told Army Radio.

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Hawkish Handlers Guide Giuliani On Foreign Policy
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from International Herald Tribune
by Marc Santora, Micheal Cooper - October 25, 2007 - 11:27am

Rudolph Giuliani's approach to foreign policy shares with other Republican presidential candidates an aggressive posture toward terrorism, a commitment to strengthening the military and disdain for the United Nations. But in developing his views, Giuliani is consulting with, among others, a particularly hawkish group of advisers and neoconservative thinkers. Their positions have been criticized by Democrats as irresponsible and applauded by some conservatives as appropriately tough, while raising questions about how closely aligned Giuliani's thinking is with theirs.

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Rice: Mideast Peace Plan In Jeopardy
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
by Anne Flaherty - October 25, 2007 - 11:21am

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Wednesday that a "two-state solution" in the Middle East was in jeopardy and described a narrow window of opportunity to push Israel and the Palestinians toward peace. In a House hearing interrupted by anti-war protesters, Rice said an upcoming peace conference in Annapolis, Md., is needed to give hope to moderate Palestinian forces. She blamed Iran for fanning flames in the region, including what she called "troubling" new support for Hamas militants.

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Activists: Israel Pressuring Ill Palestinians To Be Informers
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from McClatchy News
by Dion Nissenbaum - October 25, 2007 - 11:18am

Yasser Hiyya didn't know why he was always so weak and tired until this summer, when doctors discovered a small hole in his heart. Israel gave Hiyya permission to leave the Gaza Strip last month and cross Israeli territory for immediate surgery in the Palestinian-controlled West Bank. But when he arrived at the Israeli border crossing, he learned that there was a catch. In a daylong interrogation, Hiyya said, Israeli intelligence offered him a deal: Tell us about your brother, a wanted militant, and we'll let you enter Israel for the operation you need.

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October 24th

The Associated Press looks at statements by Secretary Rice that the window of opportunity for realizing a two-state solution is small and in jeopardy (2.) Reuters reports on Israeli plans to cut electric power to Gaza's population in response to militant rocket fire out of the strip against Israel (4.) The Forward examines the consensus coming out of a recent Washington Institute conference that the fall meeting could not be expected to produce Israeli-Palestinian peace (6.) BBC (UK) reports on the call by Israeli minister Ami Ayalon for the Israeli government to invite 'moderate' members of Hamas to the fall Mideast meeting providing that they recognize Israel's right to exist (7.) A Guardian (UK) editorial warns of the erosion to President Abbas' standing due to the continued isolation of Gaza, both in terms of the Palestinian people and Israel (8.) A Gulf News (UAE) opinion by George Hishmeh examines efforts in the U.S. to increase knowledge about the Mideast and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict (9.) A Haaretz (Israel) opinion by Shmuel Rosner analyzes the divisions within the Republican party over Mideast policy and the importance of resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict (11.)

A Minimum Strategic Goal
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons
by Daoub Kuttab - (Opinion) October 24, 2007 - 2:45pm

In all previous attempts at negotiations with Israel, Palestinians have never made any real breakthrough. Progress has only been made on procedural or superficial issues, even if expectations were always raised unreasonably high, which in turn created exaggerated hopes for the peace process. This has been the case since the Madrid peace conference and was true of the Oslo process. Throughout, the Palestinian position was in permanent retreat and concessions were offered Israel at no cost.

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