Hamas Seeks Fatah Talks, Hints At Giving Up Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Nidal Al-mughrabi - October 11, 2007 - 2:31pm

Hamas said on Wednesday it would hold reconciliation talks with the Fatah faction of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and hinted it might be ready to cede control of the Gaza Strip, which it seized in June.

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Mideast: November Talks Must Be Inclusive, Urge U.s. Graybeards
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Inter Press Service (IPS)
by Jim Lobe - October 11, 2007 - 2:25pm

To succeed, next month's Israeli-Palestinian conference here should establish and endorse the contours of a permanent peace accord and secure the participation of Arab states that do not currently recognise Israel, including Syria, according to a letter sent Wednesday to President George W. Bush from a bipartisan group of eight former top U.S. policy-makers.

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The Test Of Leadership
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Gershon Baskin - (Opinion) October 10, 2007 - 2:13pm

The public mood regarding the US sponsored peace summit is quite negative. The leaders of Israel and Palestine are devoting time and energy to reducing expectations out of fear that the summit may not produce the agreement necessary to enable a genuine peace process to ensue. As we get closer to the summit it seems that public opinion on both sides is hardening with regard to concessions that are necessary to enable Israeli-Palestinian agreement.

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The Need For Bravery And Frankness Before The Peace Option
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Dar Al Hayat
by Raghida Dergham - (Opinion) October 10, 2007 - 2:05pm

Of course, the Syrian government has the right to make the recovery of the Golan Heights a priority, whether through peaceful negotiations with Israel or liberating the area through armed resistance. Certainly, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is right when he said, "I'm the president of Syria and not the president of Palestine, and I have to work for the interest of my country.

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Mid-east Diary: Summit Prospects
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bbc News
by Jeremy Bowen - October 10, 2007 - 1:53pm

Another Middle East peace summit is coming up in the United States, but there are risks in holding summits on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and one of the main parties to the conflict, Hamas, is being excluded.  At the moment, the summit looks likely to start in Annapolis, Maryland, on 15 November. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas are having regular meetings about it. They are trying to produce an agreed document about the future. Mr Abbas wants more detail. Mr Olmert wants something pretty vague.

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Israeli Army Orders Confiscation Of Palestinian Land In West Bank
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Conal Urquhart - October 10, 2007 - 1:49pm

The Israeli army has ordered the seizure of Palestinian land surrounding four West Bank villages apparently in order to hugely expand settlements around Jerusalem, it emerged yesterday. The confiscation happened as Israeli and Palestinian negotiators met to prepare the ground for a meeting hosted by President George Bush in the United States aimed at reviving a diplomatic solution to the conflict.

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Engaging Hamas: The When And The How
In Print by Ghaith al-Omari - The Orlando Sentinel (Opinion) - October 10, 2007 - 12:00am

The Hamas takeover of Gaza in June and the resulting West Bank-Gaza split has raised serious questions. What are the short-term prospects for reunification? Can serious political progress be made with Israel without Palestinian reconciliation? What are the elements of a successful and lasting future reconciliation?

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An Israeli View: An Extraordinary Opportunity
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons
by Galia Golan - October 9, 2007 - 2:38pm

Few are particularly excited by the upcoming Israeli-Palestinian conference; most may believe it will not or should not even take place. Yet this could be the most important and promising opportunity for a genuine peace process since the ill-fated Camp David II conference in July 2000. This optimism derives from both the unique constellation of circumstances in the region and the cumulative effect of developments within the Israeli and Palestinian publics.

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Giving Them Something To Talk About
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Avi Issacharoff - October 8, 2007 - 4:17pm

One by one, the Palestinian visitors entered the sukkah at the Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's official residence last Wednesday. They entered cautiously and hesitantly, noting the decorative Israeli flags closing in on them from all sides. They promptly underwent an accelerated course in Judaism, as Olmert explained the four plant species used in the Sukkot rituals. The pictures, they knew, would certainly not improve their standing among the Palestinian public.

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Some Dates Are Sacred
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Akiva Eldar - (Editorial) October 8, 2007 - 4:16pm

The Palestinians consider November to be unlucky, and justly so. Since the Balfour Declaration in November 1917, which recognized the establishment of a national home for the Jews in the Land of Israel, November bodes badly for them - in 30-year intervals.

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