Why Deal To Free Gilad Shalit Was Smart
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward
by J.J. Goldberg - (Opinion) October 20, 2011 - 12:00am

You didn’t have to be a great lover of Israel to get choked up at the sight of Gilad Shalit walking unsteadily into the sunlight of freedom October 18, after five years of being locked in a hole somewhere in Gaza. At the same time, you couldn’t miss the anguished second-guessing that dominated public discussion of the deal, both in Israel and pro-Israel circles here in America.

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The people are in trenches while the leaders are in the hotels!
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat
by Tariq Alhomayed - (Opinion) October 20, 2011 - 12:00am

The Israeli Prime Minister, and likewise the Palestinian leaders, took part in a race to secure pictures with the prisoners released on Tuesday; Netanyahu did so with the Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, and the Palestinian leaders did so with the released Palestinian prisoners, in what was a clear trade in human commodities, and the future of our region.

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Shalit deal throws Hamas a lifeline
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Avi Issacharoff - (Analysis) October 19, 2011 - 12:00am

Tuesday showed that after nearly four years, Hamas has reared its head in the West Bank. It's doing so with Israel's help: The Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange deal has in many ways thrown Hamas a life preserver. The organization, whose civilian and military infrastructure has almost completely disappeared from the West Bank in recent years - and support for it has tumbled - has been clever enough to register its first significant achievement since the Hamas government in Gaza was established in January 2006.

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Hamas Frees Israeli Soldier as Prisoner Swap Begins
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Ethan Bronner, Stephen Farrell - (Analysis) October 18, 2011 - 12:00am

An Israeli soldier held for more than five years by the militant Palestinian group Hamas was traded on Tuesday for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails in an elaborate exchange that could shake up regional politics. Buses containing the Palestinian prisoners — the first group of what will eventually be more than 1,000 — made their way into Egypt and from there to the West Bank and Gaza Strip where jubilant relatives awaited and celebrations were planned.

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Barghouti: Hamas did not consult its own prisoner leaders about Shalit deal
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Avi Issacharoff, Jack Khoury - (Analysis) October 17, 2011 - 12:00am

Marwan Barghouti, the head of Fatah's Tanzim armed wing, said Monday that he was not presented with the details of the Gilad Shalit prisoner swap, nor was the general secretary of Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, Ahmad Saadat. Barghouti added in a statement to the press that even Hamas prisoner leaders were not consulted, and heard about the deal in the media.

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Hamas feeling pressure amid changes in Middle East
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
by Edmund Sanders - (Analysis) October 17, 2011 - 12:00am

This seaside territory was abuzz with preparations for an elaborate homecoming ceremony, including a 21-gun salute, tearful family reunions and the largest stage ever built in the Gaza Strip in order to hold scores of Palestinian prisoners after their expected release Tuesday in exchange for Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit. But for Hamas, the Islamic militant group that controls Gaza and negotiated the swap with Israel, the hard part will be sustaining those high public spirits after the stage is dismantled and the decorative banners torn down.

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Hard Questions and Tough Answers with Yossi Alphe
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Americans For Peace Now
(Interview) October 17, 2011 - 12:00am

Q. Israel and Hamas have agreed to exchange more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners for IDF soldier Gilad Shalit? Why now, after more than five years of negotiating?

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Hamas success may push Abbas further down UN path
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Alertnet
by Tom Perry - (Analysis) October 17, 2011 - 12:00am

The huge Palestinian prisoner release won by Hamas in exchange for a lone Israeli soldier has drawn praise from those in the Middle East who believe violence is the only way to deal with Israel, unsettling President Mahmoud Abbas' camp and chipping away at what faith is left in his strategy of negotiating peace. To shore up his domestic credibility, Abbas may now feel he has to escalate the diplomatic offensive he is waging for Palestinian statehood at the United Nations, raising the prospect of more tension with the United States and Israel.

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Gaza awaits the ships’ whistle
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Bassam Nasser - (Opinion) October 17, 2011 - 12:00am

With the new deal between Israel and Hamas to release captive soldier Gilad Schalit in return for 1,027 Palestinian prisoners – the majority of whom are serving multiple life sentences for their participation in acts described as terrorist attacks against Israeli targets – there is a need for greater Israeli understanding of what these prisoners mean to Palestinian society.

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Poll: Israelis overwhelmingly support lopsided prisoner exchange for captured soldier
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Associated Press - (Analysis) October 17, 2011 - 12:00am

Israelis overwhelmingly support a lopsided prisoner swap in which 1,027 Palestinian prisoners will be released for a single captured soldier, a poll showed Monday, one day before the exchange between Israel and Hamas was slated to take place. The poll showed that 79 percent of Israelis support the deal under which the soldier, tank crewman Sgt. Gilad Schalit, will be released by the Hamas militants who have held him in Gaza for more than five years. Only 14 percent said they opposed the deal.

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