Overnight airstrike brings Gaza deaths to 12 ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency October 31, 2011 - 12:00am GAZA CITY (Ma’an) -- Two militants were killed overnight Sunday as Israeli forces targeted the Gaza Strip, bringing the death toll in the coastal enclave to 12 since Saturday. Palestinian medical sources identified the victims as Yousif Rawhi Mahmoud Abu Abdu and Ali Abdullah al-Aqad, both from Khan Younis, south Gaza. Both victims were transferred to Nasser hospital in Khan Younis. The Al-Ansar brigades, a military wing of the Al-Ahrar movement, said in a statement that the victims were fighters in the group. They vowed to retaliate for the deaths. » Read more

Tensions high a day after Gaza violence ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times by Batsheva Sobelman - October 30, 2011 - 12:00am Reporting from Jerusalem— The day after a series of Palestinian rocket attacks and Israeli airstrikes killed nine militants in the Gaza Strip and an Israeli civilian in southern Israel, strikes Sunday appeared to thin out, though tensions remained high. After an early-morning barrage was launched at southern Israel on Sunday, Islamic Jihad announced it would accept an Egyptian-brokered cease-fire and hold its rocket fire while reserving the right to respond to any attacks from Israel. » Read more

After Attacks, Efforts to Restore Truce Between Israel and Groups in Gaza ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Isabel Kershner - October 30, 2011 - 12:00am JERUSALEM — Cross-border tensions between Israel and Gaza simmered on Sunday as Egyptian efforts to restore an informal cease-fire began to take effect after a deadly round of Israeli airstrikes and Palestinian rocket attacks on Saturday. The Israeli military fired on what it said was a terrorist squad in southern Gaza preparing to fire rockets at Israel on Sunday afternoon. Gaza security officials said one Palestinian militant was killed and another was seriously wounded. Both, it said, were members of the armed wing of the leftist Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine. » Read more

October 28th

Alstom loses $10b Saudi railway contract ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News by Abbas Al Lawati - (Analysis) October 28, 2011 - 12:00am French transport giant Alstom has lost a $9.4 billion rail tender in Saudi Arabia, a move thought to be punishment for the company's involvement in Israeli expansion projects in Occupied Jerusalem. The Saudi Railway Organisation (SRO) has awarded a contract for the second phase of the Haramain rail link between the holy cities of Makkah and Madinah to, Al Shoula, a consortium of 12 Spanish companies, after facing pressure for awarding its first phase, worth $1.8 billion, to Alstom in February, 2009. » Read more

Quartet on mission impossible in Mideast logjam ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Tom Perry - (Opinion) October 28, 2011 - 12:00am Some political analysts argue it is now time for them to scale back their ambitions. With faint hope of a deal, would-be peacemakers may inevitably find themselves seeking to manage rather than resolve the generations-old conflict. The latest effort by the Middle East Quartet -- a body comprising the United States, the European Union, Russia and the United Nations -- was arguably a failure before it began. » Read more

Run silent, run cold—the silent freeze that isn’t so silent (or so real) ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) by Ron Kampeas - (Opinion) October 28, 2011 - 12:00am There's a lot of reporting in Israeli media about U.S. pressure on Israel to impose a silent freeze on settlement to allow the Palestinians wiggle room to come back to the talks table. Maariv was apparently the first to report it Tuesday, it was picked up by Arutz Sheva, and soon enough there were the requisite squalls of outrage from the Israeli right. Two things: I can't find any evidence -- and I've dug in the right places -- of the United States making any such request. » Read more

Travel is a challenge in a Palestinian's life ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily News Egypt by May Marei - (Opinion) October 28, 2011 - 12:00am No words can describe how I felt, as a Palestinian, the moment I got my permit to Jerusalem from the Israeli government. I had waited seven hours in line with other Palestinians trying to get permissions for emergency visits to what is considered as an Israeli forbidden area. It’s been 12 years since my last visit to that holy amazing – as I believe – Palestinian city. The feeling of knowing that I will be in Jerusalem the next day was remarkable. » Read more

The UNESCO meltdown ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Alan Elsner - (Opinion) October 28, 2011 - 12:00am On Monday, unless the Palestinians can be persuaded to back down, the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) will vote to accept Palestine as a full member state, triggering an automatic cutoff of U.S. funding and wreaking havoc with many of the agency’s programs. Under legislation adopted by Congress over 15 years ago, the United States is mandated to withdraw from any U.N. agency that accepts Palestine as a full member state in the absence of a peace treaty with Israel. » Read more

What Condi Rice's Memoir Gets Wrong (and Right) on Israel-Palestine ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Atlantic by Zvika Krieger - (Opinion) October 28, 2011 - 12:00am Newsweek's cover story this week features excerpts from former Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice's upcoming memoir, in which she reveals details of private interactions she had with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas as she oversaw their negotiations beginning with the Annapolis process in 2008. She felt like her efforts were on the precipice of "push[ing] the peace process to a new level," and is quite breathless in reflecting on the Olmert's "remarkable" concessions in his private discussions with her, particularly on Jerusalem: » Read more

Behind Bars, Palestinians Find Love, Marriage ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Media Line by Omar Ghraieb - (Analysis) October 27, 2011 - 12:00am He was from Fatah and she was from Hamas, the two rival Palestinian movements. They were both serving multiple life sentences. They had participated in killings – she for her role in a Jerusalem restaurant bombing, he in connection with the killing of an Israeli. As lovers go they could not have been more star crossed, yet Nezar and Ahlam Al Tammimi met, fell in love, got engaged and finally married while they were sitting in Israeli jails. Both were among some 450 Palestinian prisoners swapped for Israeli hostage Gilad Shalit last week. » Read more