September 24th

Jordan, Egypt say world must help ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times September 23, 2008 - 8:00pm Jordan and Egypt on Tuesday agreed to further coordinate their stands in the face of present challenges. During a summit meeting in Cairo, His Majesty King Abdullah and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak called for intensified international efforts to work out a just political settlement of the Palestinian issue that ends the Israeli occupation and leads to the establishment of an independent Palestinian state. » Read more

Fatah OKs plan for new govt ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP) September 23, 2008 - 8:00pm The ruling Palestinian faction Fatah has agreed to an Egyptian proposal to create a new government that would be acceptable to the international community, a senior Fatah official said yesterday. » Read more

Gaza: 5 Die in Smugglers' Tunnels ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters September 22, 2008 - 8:00pm At least five Palestinians were killed and four others were wounded on Tuesday when Egyptian forces blew up two smuggling tunnels beneath the Egyptian-Gaza border, medical workers and residents said. The tunnels, which are used to bring goods from Egypt into the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, collapsed when Egyptian soldiers detonated explosives in an attempt to curb smuggling, residents said. Egyptian officials were not immediately available for comment. Israeli officials have said many of the tunnels are also used by militants to smuggle weapons into Gaza from Egypt.

Palestinians win Livni pledge on talks ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Wafa Amr - September 22, 2008 - 8:00pm Chief Palestinian negotiator Ahmed Qurie won an assurance from Israeli prime minister-designate Tzipi Livni on Tuesday that peace talks will not stall while she tries to form a new coalition government. In an interview with Reuters following their meeting, Qurie warned that violence could erupt if the talks collapsed. "The Palestinians will continue to negotiate. But, if the talks reached a dead end, what do we do? Capitulate? Resistance in all its forms is a legitimate right," Qurie said. » Read more

September 23rd

A Precarious Coexistence? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons by Ali Jarbawi - (Opinion) September 21, 2008 - 8:00pm It is difficult to conceive of two more natural enemies than Hamas and the Zionist movement that dominates Israeli politics. In their different ways, each is rhetorically committed to the destruction of the other. However, their relationship is much more complex and symbiotic than a casual observer might expect. » Read more

Israel may reduce goods entering Gaza ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Hanan Greenberg - September 22, 2008 - 8:00pm The defense establishment is currently assessing the possibility of reducing commodities transferred daily to the Gaza Strip in an effort to press Hamas to proceed with negotiations on the release of kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit. Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilnai confirmed this report in an interview with Ynet Tuesday, in which he said the matter would be discussed and possibly carried out in the coming weeks. Before the ceasefire the siege on the Strip was an important factor in halting the rocket fire towards Sderot and the Gaza vicinity towns. » Read more

Livni assures PA talks will continue while she builds gov?t ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press December 31, 1969 - 8:00pm Foreign Minister and new Kadima leader Tzipi Livni on Tuesday held her first meeting with chief Palestinian negotiator Ahmed Qurei (Abu Ala) since she was entrusted with the task of forming a government. Qurei said that in their Jerusalem meeting, Livni assured him that talks would continue while she puts together her coalition. "She stressed that she'll continue the peace process, and that if she forms the new Israeli government, there will be no conditions or obstacles to continue the peace process," Qurei told The Associated Press. » Read more

Israel?s Livni Asked to Form New Government ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times September 22, 2008 - 8:00pm Israel's President Shimon Peres asked Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni on Monday to form a new government, a day after scandal-plagued Prime Minister Ehud Olmert officially stepped down. Livni, 50, a former Mossad spy who replaced Olmert as head of the centrist Kadima party in a leadership vote on Wednesday, is hoping to become Israel's second woman prime minister after Golda Meir, who served from 1969 to 1974. "After consultations with the political parties, the president has asked Kadima party leader Tzipi Livni to form a government", public radio quoted an official statement as saying. » Read more

A Strong Palestinian State Would Benefit Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Middle East Times (Editorial) September 22, 2008 - 8:00pm The murderous attack in East Jerusalem by a man who deliberately crashed his car into a crowd of pedestrians near Jerusalem's Old City around 11 p.m., Monday night, wounding 19 people before being shot and killed by an off-duty policeman, underlines the urgency in finalizing peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians. » Read more

Everyone Loses in the War of Silencing ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Inter Press Service (IPS) by Mohammed Omer - September 22, 2008 - 8:00pm So much is missing as you walk down the street along the shops of Gaza. Food and medicines kept out by the blockade enforced by Israel; but also newspapers once a part of the street landscape. Al-Hayat-Al-Jadeeda and Al-Ayyam, two newspapers loyal to Fatah, are not around any more. And for once, you couldn't blame the Israelis for censorship. Of the two big Palestinian territories, Gaza is ruled by Hamas, and the West Bank by Fatah. Fighting between the two groups has led to a silencing of voices on both sides. » Read more