Route Of Security Fence Realigned To Leave 1,000 Acres To East ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Aviad Glickman - August 21, 2008 - 12:00am The State Prosecution informed the High Court of Justice on Thursday that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defense Minister Ehud Barak have decided to significantly alter the course of the security fence near the settlement of Maale Adumim, moving it to the west and leaving some 1,000 acres east of the fence. The decision was made following to petitions regarding the route of the fence in the area of Maale Adumim. » Read more

The Problems Are Already Here ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Danny Rubenstein - October 1, 2007 - 12:00am Palestinian and Israeli sources share the opinion that regular meetings between Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, which will continue tomorrow after Abbas returns from the United States and Portugal, were significant and comprehensive. Perhaps the most comprehensive meetings ever held between the two statesmen. » Read more

Moot Argument ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Meron Benvenisti - (Opinion) August 21, 2008 - 12:00am It's hard to tell whether the reports that more and more Palestinians are now leaning toward a one-state solution are genuinely due to an increase in supporters of the idea, or to Israeli sensitivity. The binational bogeyman is so off-putting to Israelis that any Palestinian expression on the issue gives rise to speculation and conspiracy theories. » Read more

In The End, Bet On Israeli Hawks To Forge The Peace ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Bradley Burston - October 1, 2007 - 12:00am You could always count on the leftists here for certain things. They have proven themselves superb novelists and collective farmers, singer-songwriters and operators of fighter-bombers. They are unsurpassed at holding demonstrations, signing petitions, opening channels of communication in the arts, in academia, and, trans-wall, on the ground with the Palestinians of the West Bank and Gaza. They just can't make peace. » Read more

Livni: Time Is Running Out For Peace Talks With Palestinians ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Barak Ravid - August 21, 2008 - 12:00am Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni on Thursday called for a unity coalition to pursue the creation of Palestinian state living peacefully alongside Israel, saying "time is against the moderates" looking to reach a peace agreement. Livni, a front-runner to replace Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, said she would try to form such a government if she wins next month's primary election of the ruling Kadima Party, as polls indicate she is likely to do. » Read more

America's Diplomatic Fig Leaf ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat by Amir Taheri - September 28, 2007 - 12:00am What do diplomats do when they don't know what to do? You guessed it; they propose holding an international conference. The device is useful on several grounds. It covers one's political nakedness with the fig leaf of an impression that something is being done. It creates a crowd to divert attention from one's isolation. And, last but not least, it enables one to put a tiresome problem on the backburner for a while. Does the rule apply to Washington's proposal to convene an international conference on the Middle East peace in November? » Read more

Palestine Central Bank's Tricky Path ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Wall Street Journal by Bob Davis - August 22, 2008 - 12:00am Ben Bernanke worries about being held hostage to the global economy. The central banker for the Palestinian territories frets about hostage-taking of a different kind. "Sometimes people take a gun to the head of a branch manager," says Jihad al-Wazir, governor of the Palestine Monetary Authority. "Then I get a phone call." » Read more

Collective Punishment ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News (Editorial) October 1, 2007 - 12:00am Israel's rejection of family unification files pertaining to residents of Gaza is one more example of the collective punishment meted out by the occupying power to the Palestinians. The Israeli step comes after Tel Aviv declared the Gaza Strip a “hostile entity.” Israeli officials justify their decision on the grounds that, since Israel disengaged from Gaza two years ago, it could no longer be considered an occupying power, responsible under international law for the welfare of the people under its occupation. » Read more

From Israel, A Call For Patience ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post by Linda Gradstein - August 22, 2008 - 12:00am Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni warned Thursday against outside efforts to pressure Israel and the Palestinians to come up with a peace agreement this year, saying violence could erupt if they fail to meet international expectations. The statement, coming on the eve of Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice's visit to Israel, effectively dooms the already slim chances that an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement will be reached before President Bush leaves office in January. » Read more

Gaza's Deadly Guardians ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Times September 30, 2007 - 12:00am Hamas wants you to believe it has created a benevolent sanctuary where once chaos reigned. At the beginning of the journey into Gaza it’s easy to believe that things are better. There is no longer a Palestinian immigration desk after the long walk from the air-conditioned Erez terminal on the Israeli side, past concrete blast walls, and down a dusty track in the furnace heat. But further down the road, Hamas gunmen have taken over the checkpoints. They are polite and well turned out in blue camouflage trousers, clean black T-shirts, shiny black boots. » Read more