Livni begins new government talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News
September 17, 2008 - 8:00pm

Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni is beginning the task of putting together a new government after her election as leader of the ruling Kadima party. She has 42 days to form a coalition and replace Ehud Olmert as prime minister. The leadership vote was called after Mr Olmert, who will remain as caretaker prime minister, announced he would step down to fight corruption allegations. Ms Livni narrowly beat Transport Minister Shaul Mofaz by just 431 votes, or 1.1%, in Wednesday's primary.

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Q&A: Israeli leadership change
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News
September 17, 2008 - 8:00pm

srael may have a new prime minister within weeks. Scandal-hit PM Ehud Olmert is due to step down after his Kadima party elected a new leader, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, and a general election is possible in the coming months. BBC News looks at the political process, likely scenarios, and the potential new leaders. Why is Mr Olmert stepping down as prime minister?

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Children Play with Death and Dispossession
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Inter Press Service (IPS)
by Mel Frykberg - September 17, 2008 - 8:00pm

Palestinian children continue to be victims of disproportionate and indiscriminate violence from the both the Israeli occupation and internal Palestinian infighting in the occupied Palestinian territories. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in its August report expressed concern for the inadequate protection afforded Palestinian children.

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Tutu says West complicit in Palestinian suffering
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Stephanie Nebehay - September 17, 2008 - 8:00pm

South African Nobel Peace laureate Desmond Tutu on Thursday accused the West of complicity in Palestinian suffering by its silence, suggesting it did not want to criticise Israel because of the Holocaust. Archbishop Tutu spoke after delivering a report to the United Nations about Israel's deadly shelling of the town of Beit Hanoun in Gaza in November 2006, which he said may constitute a war crime. He criticised the international community for failing to speak out against the suffering in Gaza, home to 1.5 million Palestinians, under an Israeli blockade.

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Livni claims win in Israeli vote
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News
September 16, 2008 - 8:00pm

Tzipi Livni has claimed victory in the contest to lead Israel's ruling Kadima party as exit polls suggest she won by a clear margin. The foreign minister told supporters in a radio broadcast that "the good guys" had won after the ballot by members of the party. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is resigning amid corruption allegations. If she can form a coalition Ms Livni, 50, would become Israel's first woman prime minister in more than 30 years. Two television exit polls suggested Ms Livni had beaten Transport Minister Shaul Mofaz by a margin of 48% to 37%.

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Israel's Gaza shelling may be war crime - Tutu
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
September 15, 2008 - 8:00pm

Israel's deadly shelling in the Gaza Strip in November 2006 may constitute a war crime, South Africa's Archbishop Desmond Tutu said in a report to the United Nations released on Monday. Tutu, who serves as an independent UN human rights envoy, said Israel must be held accountable for its strike that hit two homes in the Gaza town of Beit Hanoun, killing 18 people.

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The Issue of Five Million Palestinian Refugees
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat
by Abdul Rahman Al-Rashed - September 15, 2008 - 8:00pm

Talking to the Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz last week, Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas admitted that the refugees represent the main obstacle preventing a peace agreement with Israel. He said that matters are not yet clear; every issue has complicated details for those who would return to the West Bank and Gaza Strip and those whom Israel would agree to return to their land which is today's Israel.

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There's a Partner, but Who Cares?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Avi Issacharoff - September 14, 2008 - 8:00pm

A new security reality has been developing in the West Bank in recent months, one that has been virtually ignored by the Israeli press. The chaos that once reigned in the West Bank's cities, villages and refugee camps has vanished, replaced by newly invigorated Palestinian security forces. In the 14 months since Hamas' takeover of the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian Authority has managed to revive a concept almost unknown to residents of the territories in recent years: law and order.

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'Terrorists planning Sinai kidnapping'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Yaakov Katz - September 14, 2008 - 8:00pm

Palestinian and Hizbullah terrorists are in the advanced stages of plotting to kidnap Israeli tourists from Sinai beaches and transfer them secretly to the Gaza Strip, the Counter-Terrorism Bureau announced on Monday. The warning came amid growing concern in Israel that Palestinian terrorists have recently infiltrated Egypt via tunnels connecting Gaza and Sinai and are planning attacks against Israeli tourists there. Hizbullah, officials said, also sought to kidnap Israelis in retaliation for the February assassination of arch-terrorist Imad Mughniyeh.

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How Much For That West Bank Home?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Week
by Joshua Mitnick - September 9, 2008 - 8:00pm

The Web site of the Jewish settlement here, near Ben-Gurion Airport, boasts ?private homes, spectacular views, fresh air, space, and peace of mind.? The idyllic mountain vistas from Na?aleh are indeed stunning, but whatever peace of mind the 9,000 residents absorb from the rural Judean hills has been ruptured by the nagging reality that their settlement is separated from the rest of Israel by a checkpoint and the West Bank security barrier.

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