Sealed Off By Israel, Gaza Reduced To Beggary
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Scott Wilson - December 17, 2007 - 1:16pm

The batteries are the size of a button on a man's shirt, small silvery dots that power hearing aids for several hundred Palestinian students taught by the Atfaluna Society for Deaf Children in Gaza City. Now the batteries, marketed by Radio Shack, are all but used up. The few that are left are losing power, turning voices into unintelligible echoes in the ears of Hala Abu Saif's 20 first-grade students.

»

On America's Strength And Weakness
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Shlomo Avineri - December 13, 2007 - 1:07pm

All that the participants in the Annapolis conference agreed upon was to begin negotiations on several parallel channels. It is clear the results will depend, to a large extent, on the United States' ability to navigate these moves. In this context, it is worth trying to recall where in the past the U.S. was successful in its diplomatic efforts in the Middle East, and where it failed. From the point of view of processes and events from past decades, the U.S. is successful in the Middle East if one of two scenarios is in place. When lacking, the U.S. fails.

»

How They Stole The Bomb
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News
by Uri Avnery - December 13, 2007 - 1:04pm

It was like an atom bomb falling on Israel. The earth shook. Our political and military leaders were all in shock. The headlines screamed with rage. What happened? A real catastrophe: the American intelligence community, comprising 16 different agencies, reached a unanimous verdict: already in 2003, the Iranians terminated their efforts to produce a nuclear bomb, and they have not resumed them since. Even if they change their mind in the future, they will need at least five years to achieve their aim.

»

Angry Start To Palestinian Talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Independent
by Donald Macintyre - December 13, 2007 - 1:02pm

The first formal Israeli Palestinian negotiating process for seven years made an acrimonious start yesterday in the shadow of plans for new Jewish housing in Arab East Jerusalem and the threat of military escalation in Gaza. Palestinian negotiators used the first session since the international Middle East conference in Annapolis to express their outrage over plans for an expansion of the settlement of Har Homa - already criticised by the US, EU and UK government.

»

Politics: U.s. Jews Tilt Rightwards On Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Inter Press Service (IPS)
by Jim Lobe - December 13, 2007 - 12:59pm

U.S. Jews appear to have become more opposed both to Israel's making key concessions in renewed peace talks with Palestinians and to the U.S. carrying out a military attack against Iran's nuclear facilities, according to the latest in an annual series of surveys of Jewish opinion released here this week by the American Jewish Committee (AJC).

»

Prerequisites For Peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Baltimore Sun
by Mustafa Barghouthi - December 13, 2007 - 12:58pm

As one who for decades has supported a two-state solution and the nonviolent struggle for Palestinian rights, I view the recent conference in Annapolis with a great deal of skepticism - and a glimmer of hope. Seven years with no negotiations - and increasing numbers of Israeli settlers, an economic blockade in Gaza and an intricate network of roadblocks and checkpoints stifling movement in the West Bank - have led us to despair and distrust. Any commitment must be made not only to conclude an agreement before the end of 2008 but also to end Israel's occupation.

»

Aiming To Translate Politics Into Hope For Palestinians
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Steven Erlanger - December 13, 2007 - 12:55pm

Tony Blair had that practiced politician’s half grin, his eyes in semi-focus, as the Palestinian minister of tourism, Khouloud Daibes, showed him around a display of Palestinian products at the Chamber of Commerce here Tuesday night. Mr. Blair, the former British prime minister and now the Western envoy for Palestinian development, posed for photos with businessmen and praised the quality of the local marble tiles.

»

From Annapolis To Har Homa
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
(Editorial) December 12, 2007 - 5:44pm

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice demanded explanations from her Israeli counterpart, Tzipi Livni, last week about the plan to build another 300 apartments in the Har Homa neighborhood of East Jerusalem. Rice did not make do with posing a question to Livni; she hastened to go public with the Bush Administration's objections to the plan.

»

Hamas - If We Can Kill Them, We Can Talk To Them
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Bradley Burston - (Opinion) December 12, 2007 - 5:39pm

Call their bluff. Hamas this week inched one notch further toward some form of accommodation with a reality it cannot bring itself to stomach. Israel should do no less. In an open letter to U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Ahmed Youssef, senior political advisor to Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, wrote at the weekend that the Bush administration cannot at once "preach about exporting democracy in Iraq and Afghanistan and ignore the democratic process in Palestine."

»

Israel 60 Years On - Partition Or Apartheid
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times
by Gwynne Dyer - December 12, 2007 - 5:36pm

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was just back from the Annapolis summit where President George W. Bush tried to reboot the moribund Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. More importantly, November 29 was also the 60th anniversary of the United Nations vote that divided British-ruled Palestine into a Jewish and an Arab state. That promised Arab state still doesn’t exist, of course, but if the peace talks fail to produce it in the end, Olmert told the newspaper Haaretz, then Israel is “finished”.

»


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