Cheney Meets Israelis And Palestinians To Promote Peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Isabel Kershner - March 24, 2008 - 5:49pm

Vice President Dick Cheney met Sunday with Israeli and Palestinian leaders here and in the West Bank city of Ramallah in what American officials described as an effort to promote the peace process. But Israeli officials seemed more interested in seeking Mr. Cheney’s help with broader regional issues, chief among them the perceived threat from Iran, while Palestinian officials expressed deep pessimism about the peace process and prospects of success.

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Pressure? What Are You Talking About?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Shmuel Rosner - (Opinion) March 20, 2008 - 6:31pm

To tell the truth, I didn't ask him," Assistant Secretary of State for Near East Affairs David Welch said in response to a question from U.S. Representative Gary Ackerman (Democrat, N.Y.). The person who wasn't asked was Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and the question that wasn't asked was whether he planned to run for a second term in a year.

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Stalemate Is Increasing Hamas' Popularity
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star
by Rami Khouri - (Opinion) March 19, 2008 - 7:31pm

The likelihood of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks making real progress this year is very slim, but that does not keep the parties from meeting and making hopeful statements. US President George W. Bush's planned trip to Israel in May looms for many as a critical moment when any progress toward a permanent peace accord will have to be clear.

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Israel Bars Access From W. Bank, Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
March 19, 2008 - 7:19pm

Israel declared a heightened security alert on Wednesday and barred Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza Strip from entering the country, fearing Hezbollah guerrillas may try to carry out a major attack during holiday celebrations this week. The Purim holiday coincides with the end of a 40-day mourning period for Hezbollah commander Imad Mughniyeh, who was killed in a car bombing in Syria last month. Israel has denied involvement, but the Lebanese guerrilla group has blamed Israel and vowed revenge.

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Fanatics Taking Over
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Yehuda Litani - (Opinion) March 18, 2008 - 6:58pm

Three days after the murder of the eight Mercaz Harav yeshiva students, I traveled to the only place in Jerusalem where Jews and Arabs meet every evening – the Abu-Leil family’s falafel stand in the French Hill neighborhood. On Saturday nights, the commotion here is usually at its peak: Groups of Jews and Arabs, each intermingling with its own, using its own language. 

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Olmert Defiant On Settlements
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al Jazeera English
March 18, 2008 - 6:53pm

Ehud Olmert has said that Israel will not stop building on occupied land in and around Jerusalem, defying US criticism and sparking protests from Palestinians during renewed negotiations.   The Israeli prime minister said his government would continue to build hundreds of new apartments in Har Homa in east Jerusalem

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Us Presidential Hopeful Backs Israel's Claim To Occupied Jerusalem As Capital
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star
March 18, 2008 - 6:50pm

US Republican presidential candidate John McCain said on Tuesday that he supported Israel's claim to Occupied Jerusalem as the capital of the Jewish state, flying in the face of the international community's stance. "I support Jerusalem as the capital of Israel," McCain said in Jordan on the latest leg of a visit to the region.

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Right-wing Israelis Storm Arab Area
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times
March 17, 2008 - 6:49pm

Dozens of right-wing Jewish activists on Sunday stormed the Arab neighbourhood in East Jerusalem of a Palestinian gunman who killed eight Israelis at a Jewish seminary earlier this month, police and witnesses said. Dozens of protesters broke through police barriers and hurled stones at cars and houses in the neighbourhood of Jabal Mukaber, where the family of the seminary attacker lives. About 200 people had gathered outside the village and a number of protesters broke through the police barrier, said police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld.

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Shifting Towards Israel?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Star
by Oakland Ross - (Opinion) March 17, 2008 - 6:43pm

A United Nations panel voted overwhelmingly this month to condemn Israel for a recent armed incursion in the Gaza Strip that claimed more than 120 lives, many of them civilian. Thirty-three member countries of the 47-seat UN Human Rights Council endorsed the resolution, which accused Israel of war crimes in its ongoing battles against Palestinian militants in Gaza. Those in favour of censuring the Jewish state included China, India and Russia. Thirteen countries abstained, among them seven European governments.

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Israeli Intel Report Paints Grim Picture
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Middle East Times
March 10, 2008 - 5:45pm

Israel's intelligence community painted a bleak picture of threats facing the Jewish state. The report – an annual assessment somewhat similar to Washington's National Intelligence Estimate, or NIE, was delivered to the Israeli cabinet on Sunday.   The report singles out Iran and Hamas as the two most pertinent threats to the Jewish State. It comes on the heels of an attack against Jewish religious students in Jerusalem last week, the worst such attack in four years.  

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