April 17th

Heavy Fighting In Gaza Casts Doubt On Egyptian-led Talks ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press April 17, 2008 - 5:56pm Gaza's worst day of violence in a month, in which at least 20 Palestinians and three Israeli soldiers died, appeared to jeopardize Egypt's efforts to mediate a Middle East cease-fire. Wednesday's death toll was the highest since a broad Israeli military offensive in early March that killed more than 120 Gazans, including dozens of civilians. Since then, Israel and Gaza's Hamas rulers appeared to be honoring an informal truce, though punctuated with Palestinian rocket attacks, some Israeli airstrikes and minor border skirmishes. » Read more

Abbas Says No Peace With Israel Unless All Prisoners Released ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press April 17, 2008 - 5:46pm Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said in televised speech Thursday that a release of all Palestinian prisoners must be part of any peace deal with Israel. Abbas delivered the televised address Thursday to mark Palestinian Prisoners' Day. About 8,500 Palestinian prisoners are held in Israeli jails and detention centers. Israeli and Palestinian negotiators are trying to reach a peace deal by the end of the year. » Read more

Palestinian Toll Rises After Day Of Violence ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Financial Times by Tobias Buck - (Opinion) April 17, 2008 - 5:43pm Israeli troops killed a Palestinian militant and a teenager on Thursday during a raid into the occupied West Bank, a day after 17 Palestinians, most of them civilians, and three Israeli soldiers, were killed in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip. Palestinian medical and security officials said the militant, a member of Islamic Jihad, and the 16-year-old youth were shot by soldiers who surrounded a house where gunmen were believed to have been hiding in Qabatiya refugee camp near the city of Jenin. » Read more

April 16th

New Jewish-american Lobby Wants To Be Alternative To Aipac ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Shmuel Rosner - (Opinion) April 16, 2008 - 6:07pm On Monday night, Samuel Lewis spoke from a small stage in one of the banquet halls of Washington's Mayflower Hotel to an audience of Anti-Defamation League activists seated around the dinner tables at their annual conference. Lewis, a former U.S. ambassador to Israel, was sharing fond memories from the days of the peace treaty with Egypt. Thirty years have passed, but Lewis still gets emotional when recalling that period, and so do his listeners. » Read more

Blair Urges Investment In Palestinian Territories ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News April 16, 2008 - 6:06pm Middle East peace envoy Tony Blair has urged investors to donate money to the Palestinian economy and said that the West Bank is ready for business. The former British prime minister made the plea during a visit to Abu Dhabi on Tuesday to discuss the latest developments of the Middle East peace process. Blair said he was working to remove restrictions on movement that have squeezed the Palestinian economy. » Read more

The Controversy Surrounding Carter And Meshaal's Meeting ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat by Tariq Alhomayed - (Opinion) April 16, 2008 - 6:05pm Huge controversy surrounds former US president Jimmy Carter's meeting with Hamas supremo Khaled Meshaal. Carter has stated that during his meeting with Hamas's leader in Damascus; he will strive to convince him to accept a peaceful solution with Israel and Fatah. » Read more

An Ominous Rift Grows In The Arab World ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star by Rami Khouri - (Opinion) April 16, 2008 - 6:05pm   As oil income to Arab producers continues to rise, we are witnessing sharper polarization between the wealthy, energy-producing states of the Gulf with their small populations on the one hand, and the more populous, energy-importing Arab countries in the Levant, the Nile Valley, and North Africa on the other. » Read more

Israeli Police Raid Peace Radio Station ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Middle East Times by Mel Frykberg - April 16, 2008 - 6:04pm Israeli police raided the Jerusalem studio of Ram FM – an English-language peace radio station, based in the West Bank, which aims to find common ground between Israelis and Palestinians – on the grounds the station was operating without a license. Seven of the station's employees, including Palestinians, Israelis and South-Africans, were arrested and imprisoned during the raid last week. The employees had their cell phones confiscated while the police seized office equipment, shut down the transmitter and closed the studio before taking the staff in for questioning » Read more

Eighteen Dead As Gaza Erupts In Violence ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian by Allegra Stratton - April 16, 2008 - 6:03pm Fifteen Palestinians, including at least four members of Hamas, and three Israeli soldiers have been killed in separate clashes inside the Gaza Strip today. According to Hamas, eight Palestinians were killed this afternoon when Israeli helicopters fired four missiles into central Gaza. Different accounts by Palestinian witnesses said they heard separate explosions. The Israeli army confirms a helicopter fired at a group of armed Palestinians. Earlier today, three Israeli soldiers and 4 Hamas gunmen were killed in clashes near Gaza's main fuel terminal. » Read more

Complex Regional Rivalry Muddying The Waters ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons by Ghassan Khatib - (Opinion) April 16, 2008 - 6:01pm The tension between Israel, Syria and Lebanon has carried indirect negative consequences for Palestinians. Even though it is correct to say that at the moment there is no serious or promising peace process between the Palestinians and Israelis to be disrupted, the tension, on the one hand, and Syria and its regional alliances on the other, can play an important role in influencing the domestic Palestinian situation as well as Palestinian-Israeli relations. » Read more