October 1st

Why Israeli settlers are lashing out ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor by Ilene Prusher - September 29, 2008 - 8:00pm When Yaron Ezrahi was a young political science professor in 1983, his star student was Emil Grunzweig, who had just completed his thesis on free speech. Two days later, Mr. Grunzweig was killed at a peace rally here, when a right-wing activist threw a hand grenade into a crowd of people demonstrating against Israel's involvement in the war in Lebanon. » Read more

Failure Written in West Bank Stone ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post by Gershom Gorenberg - September 29, 2008 - 8:00pm The latest phone call came from a journalist in Denmark. Why, he asked, has Israeli settlement in the West Bank continued despite peace negotiations with the Palestinians? » Read more

Olmert's Lame-Duck Epiphany About Palestinian Peace ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Time by Scott MacLeod - September 29, 2008 - 8:00pm He is a former leader in the rightist Likud Party who for decades staunchly believed that the West Bank and Gaza Strip belonged to the Jewish people and that the territories, along with the Golan Heights, should remain part of Greater Israel forever. Along with former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, Ehud Olmert gradually came to understand that this was a fantasy. They broke away from Likud and created the centrist Kadima ("Onward") Party three years ago. » Read more

September 30th

The Etzion illusion ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Gershom Gorenberg - September 28, 2008 - 8:00pm History - the history everyone thinks they know - misleads us. Take the story of Kfar Etzion, the first Israeli settlement in the West Bank, established 41 years ago this week. In the Israeli consciousness, Kfar Etzion has played a double role. On one hand, it has been the ultimate "consensus settlement." After all, the settlers returned to the site of a kibbutz that was overrun, along with the rest of the Etzion Bloc, on the eve of Israel's independence. Even veteran opponents of settling in occupied territory shrug, smile and say "that's different" when the Etzion Bloc is mentioned. » Read more

Israeli Rights Watchdog Sets Up Shop in Washington ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward by Nathan Guttman - September 28, 2008 - 8:00pm A new and unusual player is joining the Israel advocacy scene in the nation?s capital. B?Tselem, Israel?s leading human rights watchdog organization, launched its Washington operation September 24, aiming to spread information regarding Israeli human rights abuses against Palestinians to the crowd of Capitol Hill policymakers and Middle East think tanks, and to the American Jewish community. » Read more

Hamas challenges Abbas term extension ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Khaled Abu Toameh - December 31, 1969 - 8:00pm Hamas is planning to declare one of its top officials as interim president of the Palestinian Authority after Mahmoud Abbas's term in office expires in January 2009, Hamas officials in the Gaza Strip said Sunday. The officials told The Jerusalem Post that Hamas would not recognize Abbas as president of the PA after that date. "We will remove his pictures from all the public institutions," said one official. "Until now, our policy has been not to challenge Abbas's legitimacy as the elected leader of the Palestinian Authority." » Read more

Palestinian?s Planned Cities Planner ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Media Line by Felice Friedson - (Interview) September 27, 2008 - 8:00pm Bashar Masri is chairman of the board of Massar International, a private development company with offices across the Middle East and Asia. Bashar is also the creator of the first planned Palestinian city, Rawabi. He spoke with The Media Line's Felice Friedson. TML: When you drive through Ramallah you see lots of construction going on, and business seems to be booming. Are foreign businesses investing in Palestinian areas? » Read more

Palestinian Economy: From Bad to Wretched ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arabic Media Internet Network by Ramzy Baroud - September 28, 2008 - 8:00pm The numbers are grim, whether in the West Bank or the Gaza Strip. The Palestinian economy is in one of its most wretched states, and the disaster is mostly, if not entirely manmade, thus reversible. » Read more

Oslo at 15 Years--A Vanishing Dream ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Prospectsforpeace.com by Daniel Levy - September 28, 2008 - 8:00pm This month marked 15 years since the signing of the Israel-PLO Declaration of Principles on the South Lawn of the White House, launching the Oslo process and a new hope for the Middle East. The anniversary was largely ignored, overshadowed by the latest rounds of political uncertainty and upheaval in both Israel (where the ruling Kadima party elected Tzipi Livni its new leader) and in the Palestinian territories. Indeed there was little cause for fanfare or celebration. » Read more

Hamas, Fatah leaders pledge Palestinian unity bid ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters September 29, 2008 - 8:00pm Leaders of the rival Palestinian groups Fatah and Hamas marked the end of the holy month of Ramadan on Tuesday with pledges to seek unity at talks in Cairo in the coming weeks. Healing the deep rift between them is seen as a vital step towards an eventual peace deal with Israel. But there was no evident sign of a change of position on either part signaling that their feud, which climaxed with militant Islamist Hamas fighters forcing Fatah forces out of the Gaza Strip in June 2007, would soon be resolved. » Read more