Israel's Political Limbo Is Just As Thorny For Rice ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Barak Ravid - (Analysis) August 27, 2008 - 12:00am U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice may have arrived in Israel with the intention of advancing talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, but her meetings have also dealt with trying to understand Israel's political limbo. An Israeli government source said a key issue Rice's aides discussed with their Israeli counterparts was what happens the day after the Kadima party primary. » Read more

The Faulty Pleasant Approach ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz (Editorial) August 27, 2008 - 12:00am Underwear was among the many things the United States supplied Israel during the Yom Kippur War. This urgent shipment was somewhat ironic: It completely contradicted the dominant ethos of the previous 15 years and found expression in Haim Hefer's song "Cannons instead of socks." Hefer's lyrics, sung by the Nahal troupe, were part empathy and part criticism of the soldier's willingness to give up comfort and clothing for another gun and another tank. » Read more

Israeli Settlers Look For Compensation To Leave ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Der Spiegel by Christoph Schult - August 28, 2008 - 12:00am When Benny Raz comes home in the evening and gets out of his car, his neighbors turn their backs on him and disappear into their houses. Ras is wearing a short black jacket and jeans. His head looks like a coarsely modeled sculpture, with his protruding cheekbones and eyes set deeply in their sockets. He is 55, and he says: "I have lost all of my friends here." » Read more

Israeli Peace Pioneer Abie Nathan Dies Aged 81 ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press August 28, 2008 - 12:00am Abie Nathan - Israeli peace pioneer, pirate radio station founder and former Royal Air Force pilot - has died in Tel Aviv at the age of 81, officials at the city's Ichilov Hospital said Wednesday. Nathan burst onto the world of Middle East diplomacy in 1966 with a dramatic solo flight to Egypt in a rattletrap single-engine plane, more than a decade before Israel and Egypt signed a peace treaty. » Read more

Abbas Rejects Permanent Palestinian Resettlement In Lebanon ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press August 28, 2008 - 12:00am Palestinian Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said he rejects the idea that refugees living in Lebanon might be forced to stay there permanently. He emphasized that all Palestinians should have the right to return home. When it comes to armed Palestinian factions, however, Abbas says he supports any decisions the Lebanese government makes on how to deal with militants outside refugee camps. Abbas spoke to reporters Thursday in Lebanon's capital, Beirut. » Read more

Just How Powerful Is The Us' Jewish Lobby? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Middle East Times by Sherwood Ross - September 27, 2007 - 12:00am Just how large a role does the "Jewish lobby" play in shaping US policy in the Middle East? Some answers may be contained in The Israel Lobby and US Foreign Policy by John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt, reviewed in the September 23 issue of The New York Times, and the just-published Rulers and Ruled in The US Empire: Bankers, Zionists, Militants by James Petras. Mearsheimer teaches at the University of Chicago, and Walt teaches at Harvard. » Read more

Plan Carefully For Peace Meeting ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News (Editorial) September 28, 2007 - 12:00am The proposed international peace conference called by US President George W. Bush should be carefully planned because the Middle East cannot afford the failure of another peace gathering. This probably is the reason some in the region, including Saudi Arabia, are reluctant to take part. The failure of peace efforts will only frustrate the region's people and allow radicals to exploit sentiments. As the history of the Middle East tells us, bloody conflicts usually follow the collapse of peace talks. » Read more

Livni Widens Lead In Race To Replace Olmert ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters August 28, 2008 - 12:00am Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni will easily win leadership elections in the ruling Kadima party to replace embattled Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, poll results showed on Thursday. The survey in the daily Maariv showed Livni winning 49 percent of the votes among Kadima members, widening her lead over her closest party rival, Transport Minister Shaul Mofaz. The poll showed Mofaz receiving 28 percent. » Read more

Rockets Launched From Gaza Are Only Hurting Palestinian Civilians ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star (Editorial) September 28, 2007 - 12:00am As miserable as conditions have become in the Gaza Strip, there is plenty of potential for the situation to get even worse. Straining under the weight of a collapsed and besieged economy, the civilian population is already heavily dependent on foreign aid for basic foodstuffs, and the United Nations warns that drugs and other medical supplies are at dangerously low levels. To make matters worse, the continuation of rocket strikes into Israel produces a steady stream of violent responses from the Jewish state that often claim the lives of innocents. » Read more

Israel Reopens Gaza Crossings After Two-day Closure ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Nidal Al-Mughrabi - August 28, 2008 - 12:00am Israel on Thursday reopened its border crossings with the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, two days after they were shut in response to rocket attacks. Palestinian officials said three of the main commercial crossings were opened but a fourth remained closed. Israel tightened its borders with the Gaza Strip after Hamas Islamists seized the enclave more than a year ago. A June ceasefire has largely ended border violence, but Gaza militants occasionally fire rockets into Israel. Israel usually responds by shutting the crossings the following day.