December 5th

Nobel Laureate, Bibi's Sister-in-law Launch Fund To Fight Left In Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) by Jacob Berkman - December 5, 2007 - 4:52pm A Nobel laureate and the sister-in-law of former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are heading a group of intellectuals starting a philanthropic fund to combat what they describe as a "left-wing assault" on Israeli public opinion. Robert Aumann, a Hebrew University mathematician who won the 2005 Nobel Prize in economics, and Daphne Netanyahu, an Israeli law professor, trotted out the plans for the Israel Independence Fund last week in New York at a board meeting of the Zionist Organization of America. » Read more

The Failure Of Annapolis ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Foreign Policy In Focus by Stephen Zunes - (Commentary) December 5, 2007 - 4:51pm Despite the best efforts by the Bush administration of putting a positive spin on the recently-completed summit in Annapolis to restart the “Performance-Based Road Map to Peace,” there is little reason to expect that it will actually move the Israeli-Palestinian peace process forward as long as the United States insists on simultaneously playing the role of chief mediator and chief supporter of the more powerful of the two parties. » Read more

Ehud The Semi-believer ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The American Prospect by Gershom Gorenberg - (Analysis) December 5, 2007 - 4:49pm Ehud Olmert has begun to fascinate me. Don't misunderstand: I am completely innocent of ever voting for him. I have no intent of committing such an act in the future. Had fate not put me in a country of which Olmert is prime minister at a moment that might be seized by someone else, an actual leader, to make peace, my interest in him would be purely as a literary figure, a character. I don’t mean that he is a tragic hero; precisely the point is that he lacks grandeur. He is Willy Loman with a vision: a glad-handing hack politician who was ambushed one day by a truth. » Read more

Muslim Extremists Constantly Insult Faith ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Chicago Tribune by Hussein Ibish - (Commentary) December 5, 2007 - 4:47pm The recent jailing and deportation of a British teacher in Sudan highlights yet again the depths to which ultraconservative religious fanatics are damaging one of the great faiths of mankind. Gillian Gibbons' "offense" was to allow her 7-year-old students to name a class teddy bear Muhammad. She was initially threatened with a possible sentence of 40 lashes but was sentenced to 15 days in jail, before her deportation. » Read more

Israel Plans New Homes In East Jerusalem ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press by Mark Lavie - December 5, 2007 - 4:45pm Israel announced plans Tuesday to build more than 300 new homes in a disputed east Jerusalem neighborhood, drawing quick Palestinian condemnation that the move will undermine newly revived peace talks. The new housing would expand Har Homa, a Jewish neighborhood in an area Palestinians claim as capital of a future state. Palestinian officials appealed to the U.S. to block the project, but Israel says a pledge to halt settlement activity does not apply anywhere in the holy city. » Read more

Sick Gazans Stuck In Queue Of Death ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Nidal Al-mughrabi - December 5, 2007 - 4:44pm Born last week with a heart defect, Salem al-Masri needs life-saving surgery. But like hundreds in the Gaza Strip, he and his parents have no permit from Israel to exit the enclave to a suitably equipped hospital. Palestinians suffering serious illnesses have long traveled from Gaza to nearby Israeli hospitals for treatments unavailable at facilities in the territory, which is home to 1.5 million people and was occupied by Israel for 38 years until 2005. » Read more

December 4th

Adding Insult To Gaza's Injuries ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News (Editorial) December 4, 2007 - 2:25pm At a time when the international community is meeting to try to resolve one of the longest standing conflicts in the world, around 20 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza by Israel - in less than one week. These Israeli atrocities only fuel feelings of distrust between the two sides and further contribute to the isolation of the Gaza Strip. To make matters worse, hospitals in Gaza are beginning to run out of vital fuel supplies. This of course is a direct result of Israeli sanctions that have been imposed on the Gaza Strip. » Read more

Two States Or One? Time To Choose ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News by John V. Whitbeck - (Opinion) December 4, 2007 - 2:24pm Almost immediately after the hollow show in Annapolis, a ray of hope has appeared from an unexpected source — Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. In an interview published on Nov. 29 in the Israeli daily Haaretz, he declared, “If the day comes when the two-state solution collapses, and we face a South African-style struggle for equal voting rights (also for the Palestinians in the territories), then, as soon as that happens, the State of Israel is finished.” » Read more

A Letdown Even To Skeptics ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons by Ghassan Khatib - December 4, 2007 - 2:23pm Even those who had modest expectations for the Annapolis conference were disappointed by its results: an agreement to start negotiations and a statement that selectively reiterated parts of the roadmap that the parties had anyway failed to implement since it was introduced in 2003. » Read more

Pray For Success, Because Israel Will Pay The Price Of Annapolis Failure ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Gershon Baskin - (Opinion) December 4, 2007 - 2:22pm The Annapolis process is on its way. This week the permanent status negotiations will formally commence. On December 17 the international community will be convening in Paris to launch the second pillar of the process by committing hundreds of millions of dollars to rebuilding the Palestinian economy and supporting Palestinian institution development. Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian Prime Minister Salaam Fayed together with Israeli and Palestinian security officials are already deeply engaged in beginning to implement the Palestinian obligations of the Road Map. » Read more