Olmert Says Israel Should Pull out of West Bank
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Ethan Bronner - September 28, 2008 - 8:00pm

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said in an interview published on Monday that Israel must withdraw from nearly all the West Bank as well as East Jerusalem to attain peace with the Palestinians and that any occupied land it held onto would have to be exchanged for the same quantity of Israeli territory. He also dismissed as ?megalomania? any thought that Israel would or should attack Iran on its own to stop it from developing nuclear weapons, saying the international community and not Israel alone was charged with handling the issue.

»

Shepherd shot dead in West Bank
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News
September 27, 2008 - 8:00pm

A Palestinian shepherd has been shot dead near the city of Nablus in the occupied West Bank. Palestinian officials accused Jewish settlers of pursuing Yahya Minya, 18, from the village of Aqraba, and shooting him a number of times. Israeli police said they were looking into the incident, which comes amid a rise violence by hardline settlers. Israel's defence minister later called for a tougher stance to be taken against people who attack Palestinians. Speaking at Sunday's cabinet meeting in Jerusalem, Ehud Barak said such offenders were rarely prosecuted for their actions.

»

Israelis see barrier link to Jerusalem violence
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Dan Williams - September 24, 2008 - 8:00pm

Israel's West Bank barrier is fuelling attacks by East Jerusalem Arabs who feel isolated from fellow Palestinians and are increasingly likely to lash out independently, Israel's domestic spy service said on Wednesday. The findings by the Shin Bet, which has usually championed tough tactics against a Palestinian revolt that erupted in 2000, appeared to dovetail with Palestinian arguments that a peaceful resolution of Jerusalem's status is key to addressing the causes of political violence in the city.

»

Most Palestinians reject ?Jordan option? - poll
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times
September 24, 2008 - 8:00pm

Over two-thirds of Palestinians living in the occupied territories reject any type of union with Jordan, according to a poll released earlier this week. According to the survey, released by Al Najah University Centre for Opinion Polls and Survey Studies on Monday, 66.8 per cent of Palestinians rejected the proposal, with 32.8 per cent saying they ?strongly reject? a union between the Palestinian territories and the Kingdom, the so-called ?Jordan option?.

»

Israel fears rise of attacks from East Jerusalemites
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP)
September 22, 2008 - 8:00pm

Israeli media on Tuesday raised fears of a growing trend of attacks by Palestinians from east Jerusalem after a man rammed his car into a group of soldiers, injuring 13 people before being shot dead. Monday's was the latest incident involving vehicle attacks in the Holy City by Palestinians, sparking calls for stepped-up security and harsher punitive measures. The incident took place near Tzahal Square, just outside the 400-year-old walls of Jerusalem's Old City and a few hundred metres (yards) from Jaffa Gate, a major tourist thoroughfare.

»

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.

»

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.

»

Unveiled: Massive Investment Plan for West Bank
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Media Line
by Abd el-Raouf Arnaout - September 21, 2008 - 8:00pm

A leading private Palestinian company is planning to pump hundreds of millions of dollars into the West Bank and eastern Jerusalem, beginning in the coming months. Projects range from an electricity power-generation plant in the West Bank city of Qalqilya to a multi-purpose hall next to the Israeli Justice Ministry in ?Salah A-Din Street in the center of Arab-dominated east Jerusalem.

»

Israel and Palestine Can Still Achieve Peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Wall Street Journal
by Mahmoud Abbas - (Editorial) September 18, 2008 - 8:00pm

This month marks 15 painful years since the Arafat-Rabin handshake on the White House lawn. Palestinian children who started school when the Oslo Agreement was signed in 1993 are now young adults. They have not known a day of true freedom or genuine security in their lives.

»

Tough challenges ahead for Israel's Livni
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP)
by Patrick Anidjar - September 18, 2008 - 8:00pm

New Kadima leader Tzipi Livni faces numerous challenges in her bid to become Israel's prime minister - battling for parliamentary support and seeking to move the peace process forward. A first priority for the 50-year-old foreign minister is to ensure the unity of the governing party whose leadership she won on Wednesday over her closest rival by a mere 431 votes. "Considering the results and the narrow lead over [Transport Minister] Shaul Mofaz, it will be tough to guarantee stability within Kadima," said political analyst Avraham Diskin of Jerusalem's Hebrew University.

»


American Task Force on Palestine - 1634 Eye St. NW, Suite 725, Washington DC 20006 - Telephone: 202-262-0017