September 17th

Israel may abduct Ahmadinejad, Eichmann kidnapper hints ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz September 8, 2008 - 8:00pm Former Mossad agent Rafi Eitan hinted in an interview with Germany's Der Spiegel magazine that Israel may abduct Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in order to bring him before the International Criminal Court in The Hague. "It could very well be that a leader such as Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad suddenly finds himself before the International Criminal Court in The Hague," the Minister for Pensioners' Affairs told the German publication in an interview published Monday. » Read more

Police source: Olmert likely to face jail time ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Jonathan Lis - September 8, 2008 - 8:00pm There is a good chance that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert could be convicted of money laundering, a crime which carries a maximum 10-year jail sentence, a police source said Monday. While a bribery charge is regarded as much harder to prove, Olmert would not be able to easily evade the money-laundering charges, the source added. "I don't see how Olmert could get out of this rap, it is unlikely that he'd be able to use these felonies to get a plea bargain," one source said. » Read more

Palestinian Public Opinion Poll No (29) ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Palestinian Center For Policy And Survey Research September 8, 2008 - 8:00pm These are the results of the latest poll conducted by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research (PSR) in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip between 28 and 30 August 2008. This period witnessed a relative consolidation of the ceasefire between Hamas and Israel in the Gaza Strip and the release by Israel of about 200 Palestinian prisoners as a gesture to President Mahmud Abbas. » Read more

The 2008 Democratic Party Platform and the Middle East ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Foreign Policy In Focus by Stephen Zunes - September 4, 2008 - 8:00pm The excitement over the nomination of Barack Obama as the presidential nominee of the Democratic Party has been tempered by some key foreign policy planks in the 2008 platform, particularly those relating to the greater Middle East region. These positions appear to run counter to Obama's pledge early in the primary race to end the mindset that led to the Iraq War. » Read more

Jenin?s Theatrical Oasis ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Jazeera English September 8, 2008 - 8:00pm Artsworld's Mona Ibellini travelled to Jenin and finds that one of the key figures of the Palestinian intifada has swapped weapons for the stage. Zakaria Zubeidi has featured near the top of Israel's most wanted list for many years. But the head of the Jenin branch of the al Aqsa Martyr's Brigade now believes that children's theatre is as important a method for achieving Palestinian statehood as armed conflict. "One of my first poignant memories in life was waking up in a hospital with a bullet wound when I was thirteen and a half," Zubeidi says. "At 14 I was imprisoned." » Read more

Saudi Arabia Urges Arab ?Help? to End Palestinian Rift ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times September 8, 2008 - 8:00pm Saudi Arabia's foreign minister on Monday urged for an Arab push to help end inter-Palestinian rifts and re-establish moderate Palestinian rule in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip. Prince Saud Al Faisal's remarks came during a meeting of Arab foreign ministers in Cairo. The top Saudi diplomat appeared to back an Egyptian proposal to send Arab troops to the coastal Strip ruled by Hamas. "It's about time that the Arab countries take a solid and decisive stance against those who shed Palestinian blood and deepen the Palestinian division," Saud said. » Read more

Arab League Chief Says Angry with Palestinian Groups ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters September 8, 2008 - 8:00pm The head of the Arab League said on Tuesday that he was angry with fractious Palestinian political groups and that sanctions against them were being discussed by Arab governments. Egypt, the main mediator between often rival Palestinian groups, has been holding bilateral talks with minor groups in preparation for similar talks with the two main groups -- Fatah and Hamas. "I am extremely angry with the Palestinian organizations," Amr Moussa, secretary-general of the league, told a news conference in an unusually harsh criticism of the Palestinians. » Read more

B'Tselem: Israel cutting off Gaza from West Bank ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews September 9, 2008 - 8:00pm Israel is taking unilateral steps in order to institutionalize a new reality of separation between the Palestinian population in the Gaza Strip and the one living in the West Bank, human rights group B'Tselem stated in a new report released Wednesday. The report warns against harming Palestinians' human rights and their possibility to realize their right for self-definition. » Read more

Palestinians: Delay in IDF checkpoint led to son's death ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Ali Waked - September 9, 2008 - 8:00pm A Palestinian couple from the West Bank city of Nablus claimed Wednesday that an IDF soldier delayed them in a checkpoint when they were on their way to a local hospital, causing the woman ? who was pregnant ? to give birth to a stillborn baby. Muayed Abu Raja and his wife Nahil, of the Palestinian village of Kafr Kusra, south of Nablus, were expecting their second child, when Nahil began experiencing severe abdominal pain last Thursday. » Read more

Darwish to Peres: PA has 'no more to give' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Greer Fay Cashman - September 8, 2008 - 8:00pm Israelis and Palestinians have never been closer to making strategic decisions than they are today, and at the end of the day, each side wants to win a little more than the other, Sheikh Abdallah Nimr Darwish, founder of the Islamic Movement, told President Shimon Peres on Tuesday. "But the Palestinians have nothing left to offer Israel," he added. Darwish spoke at the traditional Iftar meal for leaders of Israel's Arab communities hosted by President Shimon Peres during Ramadan. » Read more