April 4th

Arab Home Razed In Jerusalem ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Star-telegram by Karin Laub - April 4, 2008 - 6:13pm An Israeli wrecking crew knocked down Shadi Hamdan's home in an Arab neighborhood of Jerusalem in just a couple of hours, reducing the upholsterer's savings to a pile of gray rubble. The demolition of the home, which Israel claims was illegally built, vividly illustrate the toughest issue facing negotiators in Israeli-Palestinian peace talks: conflicting claims over Jerusalem. » Read more

Rice's Roadmap Achievement & Ipf Letter ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Israel Policy Forum by Sadie Goldman With Jason Proetorius And Ipf Staff - April 4, 2008 - 6:11pm Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice may have brokered the first tangible achievement in the Israeli-Palestinian negotiating process since the Annapolis peace conference four months ago. » Read more

Palestinians, Israelis Split Over Efforts ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Times by Joshua Mitnick - April 4, 2008 - 6:10pm Within days after Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice finished another round of Middle East shuttle diplomacy, Israelis and Palestinians are already at odds over a series of confidence-building measures aimed at breathing new life into the stuttering peace process. Israel said yesterday it has completed the removal of 50 roadblocks around the West Bank as it promised the U.S. over the weekend, but the Palestinians said they could discern no changes and called on the State Department to confirm the Israeli claim. » Read more

Girding For War With Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Times (Editorial) April 4, 2008 - 6:09pm Recent events serve as a reminder of how menacing behavior from Iran and Syria keeps the Middle East on a hair trigger. On Tuesday, Israel learned that Hezbollah was rapidly rebuilding its military capabilities and preparing for renewed conflict with Israel. The next morning, a London-based Arab newspaper reported that Syria was concentrating troops and tanks along its border with Lebanon and had massed troops in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley in preparation for an Israeli attack. » Read more

April 3rd

'allying With Christian Zionists Is Bad For Israel' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Shmuel Rosner - April 3, 2008 - 5:38pm "No, we cannot." We cannot cooperate with the Christian Zionists, Rabbi Eric H. Yoffie, President of the Union for Reform Judaism, told the annual conference of the movement's rabbis Wednesday night in Cincinnati, Ohio, according to copies of the speech distributed ahead of time to the press. » Read more

Labor, Lost ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Israel Harel - (Opinion) April 3, 2008 - 5:36pm Labor is disappointed with Ehud Barak. He is a master wheeler-dealer, Amir Peretz claims. He is disconnected, laments Benjamin Ben-Eliezer. He has learned nothing, he hasn't changed, yells Yoram Marciano. His main goal, Peretz charges, is to become prime minister. His main flaw, everyone agrees, is that he has no agenda. » Read more

Mubarak, Abdullah, Abbas Discuss Peace Process ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Roee Nahmias - April 3, 2008 - 5:33pm   Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak held a meeting on Wednesday in Cairo, in which Jordan's King Abdullah II, and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas took part. The three discussed a number of issues, including the progress of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process and the outcomes of the recent Arab summit, which was concluded in Damascus on Sunday.  » Read more

Enlightenment Through The Enemy's Eyes ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Middle East Times by Mel Frykberg - April 3, 2008 - 5:31pm As the barrage of rockets fired from the northern Gaza Strip began to rain down on the Israeli border town of Sderot the warning sirens were already wailing, sending thousands of Israelis scurrying for their lives in the city's ubiquitous underground bomb shelters. A few kilometers north at the Barzilai medical center in the town of Ashkelon, staff were on high alert as they scrambled to evacuate patients to safety. One of the Grad rockets fired from Gaza landed a mere 50 meters from the hospital entrance. » Read more

Israeli Rights Group Questions Military's West Bank Arrests ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press April 3, 2008 - 5:30pm The killing of four armed Palestinian fugitives in a hail of Israeli gunfire is raising new questions about the military's practices during arrest operations in the West Bank. The Israeli human rights group B'Tselem is calling for a criminal inquiry into the shooting, citing witness accounts claiming the men were summarily executed. B'Tselem says that would violate a ruling by Israel's supreme court that troops must try to take wanted men alive. » Read more

Palestinian Pm Threatens Striking Civil Servants With Pay Cuts ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press April 3, 2008 - 5:28pm Taking on the Palestinian civil servants' union, Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad warned Thursday that he will dock the pay of striking union members. The union has held repeated warning strikes in recent months, calling for wage increases. Fayyad said that every strike day would be deducted from the employees' salaries. According to Fayyad, Palestinian Authority civil servants have received a 27 percent salary increases over the past three years, and the Palestinian Authority cannot afford to pay them more. » Read more