October 3rd, 2007

Reuters reports on expectations by the Palestinian government that formal negotiations to create a Palestinian state could be completed six months after the fall Mideast meeting (2.) The Forward looks at how Fatah and the Palestinian Authority are replacing Hamas-affiliated prayer leaders at mosques across the West Bank (3.) In the New Republic, Carnegie Endowment's John Judis comes to Congressman Jim Moran's defense regarding charges of anti-Semitism leveled against him as a result of comments in an interview he gave (5.) The Independent (UK) reports on the results of a telephone poll of Gazans taken yesterday on the issues of rocket attacks against Israel, Hamas, and a peace agreement with Israel (7.) The Guardian (UK) looks at how Palestinian youth in the West bank are using technology and the internet to overcome the restrictions placed on them by the Israeli occupation and culture (8.) A Jordan Times (editorial) urges the U.S. to use its influence with Israel to make meaningful gestures to the Palestinians in the lead-up to the fall Mideast meeting (10.) A Ynet/Yedioth News (Israel) opinion by settlement expert Dror Etkes addresses the discriminatory policy of the Jewish National Fund when it comes to leasing land to non-Jews (11.)

Rice's Clock
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Shmuel Rosner - October 3, 2007 - 6:35pm

Four former ambassadors to the Middle East, three of whom also served as under secretary of state, have signed a paper circulated this week under the sponsorship of the Israel Policy Forum, a dovish Washington institute. They were joined by a CIA man, an adviser and a professor - an impressive group. Tell me who your writers are and I'll tell you what's in the paper. In this case, it's advice to U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in advance of the "Annapolis meeting," the Israeli-Palestinian peace summit planned for November.

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The Right And The Return
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Ruth Gavison - October 3, 2007 - 6:32pm

In his article "The problems are already here" (Haaretz, October 1), Danny Rubinstein reported that the Palestinians will oppose any move - which is said to be at the basis of the talks between Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas - toward recognizing not only Israel's right to exist, but also its status as the state of the Jewish people. This opposition stems from both the implications of such recognition for the status of Arab citizens of Israel and the concession of the right of return that it implies.

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Where Is The Occupation?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
(Editorial) October 3, 2007 - 6:30pm

The occupied territories and the Palestinians living there are slowly becoming virtual realities, distant from the eye and the heart. Palestinian workers have disappeared from our streets. Israelis no longer enter Palestinian towns for shopping. There is a new generation on each side that does not know the other. Even the settlers no longer meet Palestinians because of the different road systems that distinguish between the two populations; one is free and mobile, the other stuck at the roadblocks.

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A Bittersweet Homecoming
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Miftah
by Joharah Baker - (Editorial) October 3, 2007 - 6:30pm

In a perfect world, little could be comparable to the joy of receiving a son, daughter, father or husband from the clutches of Israeli incarceration. Even in the terribly distorted world of Palestine where absolutes do not exist and every political move is dissected, analyzed and reanalyzed, the release of a handful of Palestinian political prisoners from Israeli prisons is still a joyous event.

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Is Israel Planning To Release Barghouti?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News
by Sami Moubayed - October 3, 2007 - 6:29pm

The man who arrested Marwan Barghouti in 2002 is now lobbying for his release. Benjamin Ben-Eliezer, the Minister of National Infrastructure in the Kadima-led government, has made the following offer: Marwan Barghouti in exchange for Gilad Shalit.

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Analysis: Syria-israel Tensions
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bbc News
by Lyse Doucet - October 3, 2007 - 6:14pm

The secret is out. But the speculation has not ended. And the tension lingers dangerously. Israel has suddenly broken its exceptional news blackout on a covert air raid against Syria, admitting officially its warplanes hit a "military installation" on 6 September. This unexpected disclosure, after weeks of mysterious silence, came hours after the first public comments from Syria's President Bashar al-Assad.

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Shooting The Messengers
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Le Monde Diplomatique
by Mariano Aguirre - October 3, 2007 - 6:12pm

The New York Post editorial on 5 January 2007 read: “How did this man ever become president of the United States?” Readers might have thought this was a crack about President George Bush in a paper owned by Rupert Murdoch. But the editorial went on: “He’s gone from failed president to friend of leftwing tyrants and global scold of anything that represents America’s legitimate interests”; he wanted to “demonise Israel” and had secretly given “PR and political advice to Yasser Arafat”.

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The Teflon Alliance With Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Counterpunch
by Katleen And Bill Christison - October 3, 2007 - 6:10pm

Two recent offhand comments, both widely publicized, have seriously undermined whatever progress might have been made in exposing the fact that the Iraq war was initiated at least in large part to guarantee Israel's safety and regional dominance in the Middle East.

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Dropping "muqawama"
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Terrorism.opendemocracy.net
by Maria Stephan - (Blog) October 3, 2007 - 6:07pm

With another international conference focused on resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict just around the corner - likely to take place in Washington in November - hopes rise for a negotiated breakthrough in this decades-long conflict. However, without a Palestinian strategy to apply steady pressure on Israel, the November talks are likely to produce a new "road map" to nowhere. The Palestinian Authority may be aware of this, as its recent call for a new form of struggle against the Israeli occupation suggests.

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