October 3rd

Jewish settlers, rabbis clash over West Bank olives ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters October 2, 2008 - 8:00pm Militant Jewish settlers clashed with activists of the Rabbis for Human Rights movement near the West Bank city of Hebron on Friday as they protected Palestinians beginning the annual olive harvest. Israeli police and soldiers grappled with settlers who tried to drive off local Palestinians and international supporters of Palestinian rights in the Israel-occupied territories. "This is just the beginning of the olive harvest which will be going on for the next two months," said the executive director of Rabbis for Human Rights, Arik Ascherman. » Read more

Jewish terrorism threatens Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Telegraph by Tim Butcher - October 2, 2008 - 8:00pm Professor Zeev Sternhell knows as much as anyone about the current threat from Jewish terrorism. His right leg is recovering from shrapnel caused when a bomb, believed to have been the work of right-wing Jewish extremists, exploded outside the front door of his Jerusalem apartment last week. While Arab-Jewish violence is common, the attack on the 73-year-old historian has shocked public opinion in Israel because all the evidence points to it being intra-Jewish. "I consider it an act of Jewish terrorism," he said in an interview from the modest apartment where the bomb exploded. » Read more

Egypt to host 'Annapolis 2' peace summit in November ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Barak Ravid - October 1, 2008 - 8:00pm An international summit is to be held in Egypt in November, with representatives from Israel, the Palestinian Authority and the members of the Quartet - the United States, Russia, the European Union and the United Nations. According to a senior official in Jerusalem, the Israeli and PA participants will brief the Quartet over progress made in the ongoing peace talks. » Read more

Settlers cleared from West Bank outpost; Palestinian olive grove set on fire ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Erfat Weiss - October 1, 2008 - 8:00pm IDF forces and Civil Administration officials Thursday morning cleared settlers from the northern West Bank outpost of Shvut Ami, and two hours later a nearby olive grove belonging to Palestinians from the village of Kadum was set on fire. Former Kedumim Council head Daniela Weiss arrived at the scene and was arrested for allegedly assaulting a police officer. Investigators later reported that two suspects of the arson had been found hiding in her home. Both are 25-year-old settlers, one from Hebron and one from Adi-Ad. » Read more

PA, Hamas mutually release prisoners ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Khaled Abu Toameh - October 1, 2008 - 8:00pm Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday ordered the release of 40 Hamas members from PA prisons in the West Bank as a "goodwill gesture" to the Islamic movement on the occasion of the Muslim feast of Id al-Fitr. Palestinian Authority... The decision came two days after Hamas released 30 Fatah members who were being held in its prisons in the Gaza Strip. The Hamas government said that move was also a "goodwill gesture" for the Muslim holiday. » Read more

Third Palestinian Uprising Possible ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Middle East Times by Cherrie Heywood - October 1, 2008 - 8:00pm A senior Palestinian politician and member of Fatah, the largest faction of the Palestine Liberation Organization affiliated with the Palestinian Authority (PA) of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, has warned of the possibility of a third Palestinian uprising or Intifada. Kadoura Fares, a leader of the Palestinian peace coalition, demanded at a conference in Tel Aviv on the Geneva Initiative last week, that Abbas or Abu Mazen as he is better known, halt peace talks with Israel citing a lack of progress on the ground. » Read more

Israel evacuates illegal settlement in West Bank ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) December 31, 1969 - 8:00pm Israeli occupation forces on Thursday forced Jewish settlers out of an illegal settlement in northern West Bank, Israel Radio said. This came following confrontations between Israeli forces and Jewish settlers, who pelted stones at the former, but no casualties were reported, it said. Jewish settlers also set ablaze nearby farmland close to Qalqylia. They have recently stepped up their aggressions on Palestinians and their property in the West Bank. » Read more

Israeli general says settler violence increasing ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Jeffrey Heller - October 1, 2008 - 8:00pm Hundreds of Jewish settlers are engaged in violence against Palestinians and Israeli soldiers who get in their way, Israel's top general in the occupied West Bank said in remarks published on Thursday. "In the past, only a few dozen individuals took part in such activity but today that number has grown into the hundreds. That's a very significant change," Major-General Gadi Shamni said in an interview with the Haaretz newspaper. » Read more

NY judge OKs lawsuit seeking damages from PLO for terror acts in Israel against US citizens ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press by Larry Neumeister - September 29, 2008 - 8:00pm The Palestine Liberation Organization can't win dismissal of a lawsuit by victims of bombings in Israel by claiming the attacks were acts of war rather than terrorism, a judge ruled Tuesday. U.S. District Judge George Daniels said the 2004 lawsuit on behalf of victims and their families can proceed toward trial. It seeks up to $3 billion in damages from attacks between January 2001 and February 2004. » Read more

Palestinians Pick Abbas Over Haniyeh ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Angus Reid Global Monitor September 23, 2008 - 8:00pm Few people are ready to elect Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh to run the Palestinian Authority, according to a poll by the Palestinian Center for Public Opinion (PCPO). If Haniyeh ran for the presidency against Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas, Haniyeh would get 24.8 per cent of the vote, while Abbas would garner 46.6 per cent. In a different scenario, Haniyeh would also lose with 25.7 per cent of the vote against 48 per cent for Marwan Barghouthi, a Fatah member currently serving time in an Israeli jail. » Read more