December 16th

Egyptian intellectuals pay price for curiosity ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times by Jeffrey Fleishman - December 16, 2008 - 1:00am It has been a tough peace for Ali Salem. His plays don't have a stage. Intellectuals shun him; the writers union refuses to pay his pension. He sits in a cafe window, typing on his laptop and defending his choice long ago to cross the border into Israel and make friends. Egypt and Israel made peace in 1979, but that treaty remains as agitating to Egyptian artists and intellectuals as a sliver of glass beneath the skin. Most of them don't accept it, and those who do are often vilified, their artistic voices muffled by condemnation. » Read more

In new ads, Palestinians try to sway Israeli public on peace plan ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor by Ilene Prusher - December 16, 2008 - 1:00am Along Route 2, which follows the Mediterranean coastline, motorists are seeing an unusual sight: a Palestinian flag next to an Israeli one. Below the image appearing on billboards is a message in Hebrew: There's a viable peace initiative on offer from Arab states. Reach a land-for-peace deal with Palestinians, and we will recognize you. The signature? The flags of 57 Arab and Muslim states – all except Iran. » Read more

U.N. Rights Investigator Expelled by Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Isabel Kershner - December 16, 2008 - 1:00am Israeli authorities on Monday expelled Richard Falk, a United Nations investigator of human rights in the Palestinian territories, saying he was unwelcome because of what the government has regarded as his hostile position toward Israel. Mr. Falk, an American, arrived in Israel on Sunday. He was held at the airport and placed on the first available flight back to Geneva, his point of departure. A spokesman for the Israeli Foreign Ministry said that Mr. Falk had been informed in advance that his entry would be barred. Mr. Falk was not immediately available for comment. » Read more

December 15th

Top US diplomat on the Middle East David Welch Urges Effective Diplomacy on Iran and Continuity on the Peace Process ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Dar Al-Hayat by Joyce Karam - December 15, 2008 - 1:00am With less than five weeks left for the Bush administration in office, the top U.S. diplomat to the Middle East, Assistant Secretary for Near Eastern Affairs David Welch, speaks to Al-Hayat in an exclusive interview discussing the long journey that Washington has taken in the region over the last eight years. The U.S. official who brokered the U.S.-Libyan comprehensive claims settlement agreement, calls for an effective diplomacy in the face of the increasing Iranian threat, and sees urgency in continuing the peace process and pursuing a two state solution: » Read more

Negotiator: Israel wants 6.8 percent of West Bank ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press by Aron Heller - December 15, 2008 - 1:00am Israel proposed to annex 6.8 percent of the West Bank and to take in a few thousand refugees under a peace deal, but it has not revealed its position on the most contentious issue _ the future of Jerusalem, the chief Palestinian negotiators said Friday night. Ahmed Qureia said the Palestinian side did not consider the ideas presented on annexation and the return of some Palestinians to be acceptable. » Read more

Abbas to announce election date 'shortly' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP) December 15, 2008 - 1:00am Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas will "shortly" announce a date for presidential and parliamentary elections, his spokesman said on Sunday. A general election is opposed by the Islamist Hamas movement which controls the Gaza Strip enclave, leaving the president's secular Fatah organisation in charge only of the West Bank region. "The president will shortly announce the date of presidential and parliamentary elections," Nabil abu Rudeina told AFP. » Read more

Hamas says truce in Gaza Strip will end on Thursday ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP) December 15, 2008 - 1:00am The Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas which controls the Gaza Strip said on Sunday that a troubled Cairo-brokered truce with Israel will not be renewed when it runs out later this week. But a spokesman for outgoing Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert insisted his government remained keen to see the six-month-old truce extended beyond Thursday provided Hamas halted rocket and mortar fire against southern Israel. » Read more

Time to end the settlement project ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons by Ghassan Khatib - (Opinion) December 15, 2008 - 1:00am The recent settler violence in Hebron, which was described by Ehud Olmert, the Israeli prime minister, as a pogrom, brought to the attention of Israelis and Palestinians the grave danger that settlements and settlers represent. » Read more

Israeli settlements are blockage to Middle East peace, says Gordon Brown ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian by Andrew Sparrow - December 15, 2008 - 1:00am Israeli settlements on the West Bank represent a "blockage" in the Middle East peace process, Gordon Brown said today. At a news conference in Downing Street with Salam Fayyad, the prime minister of the Palestinian Authority, Brown said he had consistently called for the settlements to be dismantled. Brown and Fayyad spoke before the opening in London of a two-day Palestine trade and investment forum, which is intended to promote Palestinian economic development. » Read more

Palestinian PM Fayyad says West Bank settlement must end for peace ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian by Ian Black - December 15, 2008 - 1:00am Settlement activity in the occupied West Bank must stop at once if there is to be any prospect of reaching a two-state peace agreement with Israel, the Palestinian prime minister has warned in a Guardian interview. Salam Fayyad said he found it "devastating" that Israelis were not even debating the settlement issue in their election campaign. He warned that Palestinian support for his policy of reform and negotiation would collapse if prospects for a workable deal faded away. Palestinian PM Salam Fayyad talks to Ian Black Link to this audio » Read more