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Breathing Life into the Arab Peace Initiative
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Israel Policy Forum by Sadie Goldman - October 23, 2008 - 8:00pm In a meeting in Sharm el-Sheikh with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak today, Israeli President Shimon Peres praised the Arab Peace Initiative, first introduced by Saudi Arabia and adopted by the 22 states of the Arab League, and said that, “peace has never been more possible than it is now. It would be a mistake to miss out on this opportunity.” |
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Arab-Israeli peace - a suggestion
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times (Opinion) October 23, 2008 - 8:00pm It is a foregone conclusion that the Arab-Israeli conflict is difficult to resolve. A wide variety of obstacles stand in the way of a solution. While most have to do with Israel’s intransigence, internal politics, hidden agendas and long-term aspirations in the region, some have to do with exaggerated reliance on the US’ and the international community’s part to intervene and facilitate peace. |
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Bitter harvest: peace hopes wither in orchards of violence
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Sydney Morning Herald October 23, 2008 - 8:00pm AT around 10am last Saturday, Abed Hashalmoun, 45, a Palestinian news photographer who lives in the West Bank city of Hebron, followed a group of Israeli and international peace activists on an exercise to help local Palestinian farmers harvest their annual olive crop. Hashalmoun was accompanied by his brother Nayef, 55, a photographer for the Reuters news agency, and several other Palestinian journalists and television news crews. |
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Next US leader should get to work on Mideast: Palestinian
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP) October 23, 2008 - 8:00pm The next US president, be it Barack Obama or John McCain, should get to work immediately to jump-start Middle East peace talks, chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat said here Thursday. Erakat was visiting Tokyo for talks with Israel's Interior Minister Meir Sheetrit, in the latest meeting arranged by leading donor Japan aimed at building confidence between the two sides. "Whoever will be the next president of the United States, whether Mr. McCain or Mr. Obama, they must immediately engage and continue their engagement and no time should be wasted," Erakat told reporters. |
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Israel's key Shas party will not join coalition
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters October 23, 2008 - 8:00pm The Israeli ultra-orthodox Shas party decided on Friday not to join a coalition led by Israeli premier-designate Tzipi Livni, a party spokesman said, making early elections almost inevitable. On Thursday, Livni set a Sunday deadline to either say she can form a new Israeli coalition government or announce failure, thereby starting the constitutional process that leads to an early general election. |
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West Bank land prices skyrocket
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News October 22, 2008 - 8:00pm In the city of Ramallah, the value of central commercial plots has doubled each year since 2005, hitting $4,000 per square metre ($372 per sq foot). Prices are being pushed up by a weak dollar and Israeli control of large chunks of the territory, the organisation said in a report. Investment in the Palestinian economy is "precariously" low, it also warned. In the report published on Thursday, the World Bank said prices for land in key West Bank cities are now beyond the reach of most local businesses and homebuyers. |
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Chances for peace emerge in Mideast clashes
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor by Ilene Prusher - October 23, 2008 - 8:00pm Both Israel and the United States soon will have new leaders at the helm. The Palestinians, too, are facing possible elections. During such transitional times for the three major players in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, few expected any concrete steps toward peace. But a new calm has emerged in the cross-border battle between Gazan militants and the Israeli army, Palestinian rival factions Fatah and Hamas are preparing for reconciliation talks, and on Thursday in Egypt Israeli President Shimon Peres backed the "spirit" of a 2002 Arab initiative that maps out regional peace. |
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Pilgrimage to Roots of Faith and Strife
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Isabel Kershner - October 23, 2008 - 8:00pm They came in waves, ardent Jewish settlers, religious women from central Israel, black-clad followers of Hasidic courts and groups of teenage boys and girls, almost a thousand of them in all. Crammed into a dozen buses and escorted by the Israeli military, the Jewish pilgrims slid quietly along deserted streets throughout the early hours of a recent morning while the residents of this Palestinian city, a militant stronghold ruled until recently by armed gangs, slept in their beds. |
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MKs demand: Raze Jerusalem terrorist's home
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Amnon Meranda - October 22, 2008 - 8:00pm Knesset Member Yitzhak Aharonovitch (Yisrael Beiteinu) warned Thursday that the latest streak of terror attacks in Jerusalem was a direct result of Israel's failing deterrence. Aharonovitch spoke in response to Thursday morning's stabbing attack in Jerusalem, which claimed the life of 86-year-old Avraham Ozeri and left a police officer moderately wounded. Ozeri was a resident of the Gilo neighborhood in the capital. |
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Livni: I'll call elections Sunday if no coalition formed by then
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Mazal Mualem - October 22, 2008 - 8:00pm Prime Minister-designate Tzipi Livni set an ultimatum on Thursday, giving her potential coalition partners three days to join a new government under her leadership or face the prospect of new elections. Livni, who under law has until Nov. 3 to put together a parliamentary majority, informed President Shimon Peres of her decision. "This is the time for decisions for all of us - either a government or elections and the decision will fall on Sunday and until Sunday everyone is going to have to some soul searching and make their decision," she told her Kadima party. |