October 9th

Israel Takes Land To Ease Way To Build In E-1 Area ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Akiva Eldar - October 9, 2007 - 2:34pm The Israel Defense Forces recently issued an order expropriating over 1,100 dunams of land from four Arab villages located between East Jerusalem and the West Bank settlement of Ma'aleh Adumim. The land is slated to be used for a new Palestinian road that would connect East Jerusalem with Jericho. That in turn would "free up" the E-1 area between Jerusalem and Ma'aleh Adumim - through which the current Jerusalem-Jericho road runs - for a long-planned Jewish development consisting of 3,500 apartments and an industrial park. » Read more

Palestinians Offered Jerusalem Olive Branch ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Times by James Hider - October 9, 2007 - 2:30pm Israel is willing to hand over Arab east Jerusalem to the Palestinians as part of a new peace initiative, the Deputy Prime Minister said yesterday. The announcement came amid reports that the two sides were considering handing custody of the Old City’s holiest site to Jordan. Haim Ramon, the Israeli Deputy Prime Minister, said that handing over parts of the predominantly Arab east Jerusalem could be on the table during a regional conference to be held in the United States next month. » Read more

Israeli Pm Praises Palestinian Leadership ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian by Mark Tran - October 9, 2007 - 2:26pm The current Palestinian leadership is committed to peace with Israel, the Israeli prime minister said today as senior figures discussed a possible division of Jerusalem. Ehud Olmert said he planned to make every effort to pursue peace with the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, also known as Abu Mazen, as he laid out his agenda. » Read more

Understanding The Israeli Attack On Syria ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Slate by Shmuel Rosner - (Opinion) October 9, 2007 - 2:23pm Israel's "ministers committee for the northern front" gathered in early August for the sixth time of the summer. The prime minister's office told the press that the committee was focused exclusively on preventive measures—making sure that Israel was ready for any possible eruption of hostilities on the northern border with either Hezbollah, which operates in Lebanon, or Syria. "Israel does not want a war with Syria," government sources emphasized time and again. Three weeks later, on Sept. 6, a couple of Israeli fighter jets hit targets deep inside Syria. » Read more

Jerusalem Taking Center Stage ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) by Leslie Susser - October 9, 2007 - 2:19pm With just over a month to go before the Israeli-Palestinian peace conference is scheduled to take place, Jerusalem is shaping up to become the key issue. Talks between Israeli and Palestinian negotiating teams opened Monday with major differences on the table, but with both sides committed to making a concerted effort to produce a significant framework agreement for the parley in Annapolis, Md. » Read more

Gaza Blockade Stops Students From Studying Abroad ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Nidal Al-mughrabi - October 9, 2007 - 2:16pm Palestinian student Khaled al-Mudallal arrived home to Gaza on a mission: marry his fiancee Duaa then spirit her back to Britain where he would complete his university degree. Instead, they both ended up stuck in the impoverished Hamas-run coastal enclave because of an Israeli blockade that stops anyone without a permit from leaving. The 22-year-old student returned to Gaza half way through his 3-year business management course at Bradford University in northern England to get married and escort his new wife home. » Read more

Middle East Summit: A Recipe For Failure? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from International Herald Tribune by Daniel Kurtzer - (Opinion) October 9, 2007 - 2:14pm As diplomats scramble to piece together the parts of the Middle East peace meeting that the United States is determined to convene in November, one crucial question is getting too little attention: How will success be measured? » Read more

As Mideast Realigns, Us Leans Sunni ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor by Howard Lafranchi - October 9, 2007 - 2:04pm Americans are hearing much less from the Bush administration about democracy for the Middle East than they did a year ago. As Shiite Iran rises, the White House has muted its calls for reform in the region as it redirects policy to reembrace Sunni Arab allies – who run, to varying degrees, authoritarian regimes. The invasion of Iraq in 2003 shifted the balance of power in the Middle East, delivering a Shiite-led government to a country that had for decades been dominated by its minority Sunnis. That, in turn, opened the door to Iranian expansion. » Read more

Christian Activist Killed In Gaza ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press by Ibrahim Barzak - October 9, 2007 - 1:40pm A prominent Palestinian Christian activist was found dead on a Gaza City street Sunday, sending a shudder of fear through a tiny Christian community feeling increasingly insecure since the Islamic Hamas seized control last summer. The body of Rami Khader Ayyad, the 32-year-old director of Gaza's only Christian bookstore, bore a visible gunshot wound to the head, and an official at Gaza's Shifa Hospital said he was also stabbed numerous times. Ayyad had been missing since Saturday afternoon. » Read more

As Farmers And Fields Rest, A Land Grows Restless ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Steven Erlanger - October 9, 2007 - 1:37pm As Israel’s Jews start a new year, the country finds itself in the middle of a fierce religious dispute about the sanctity of fruits and vegetables. In the southern Israeli town of Kiryat Malahi, a man held a scroll of the Torah, which mandates shmita, a kind of sabbatical for the land which occurs every seven years. Rabbis are pitted against one another, the state and the religious authorities are in conflict, the Israeli Supreme Court is involved, the devout are confused and the cost of produce is rising. » Read more