Looking For A Home In Pisgat Ze'ev
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Danny Rubenstein - December 19, 2007 - 4:07pm

The separation fence surrounding eastern Jerusalem winds north of the city among the crowded houses of the Dahit al-Barid neighborhood. The wall is not finished and, in a few places, there are openings enabling passage (which confirms the graffiti drawn nearby by an Israeli tagger, "Yoram Arbel was right," i.e., this is not how you build a wall).

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'australianist' Sees Barriers To Peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Australian
by Greg Sheridan - December 19, 2007 - 4:01pm

IN so far as you can have one, Isaac Herzog is an Australianist in the Israeli Government. He is the Minister for Labour, and a key Labour Party figure in keeping Ehud Olmert's coalition Government together. He believes Australia's diplomatic and political support for Israel has been important, and he hails Australia as "highly respected, a very important state in world politics because of its worldwide involvement. It's also a donor country to the peace process."

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The Palestinians Need Peace As Well As Aid
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Telegraph
by Tim Butcher - (Opinion) December 19, 2007 - 4:00pm

There is a children's park not far from my Jerusalem home, which neatly illustrates international aid attempts to deal with the Israel-Palestine question. The playground, really only known to the Palestinian local population, was paid for by an Italian contribution, funded through the EU and constructed by the UN Development Programme, and, at first glance, all looks in order with its see-saw, slides and climbing frame. Then you notice the swings.

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Annapolis Gains Momentum
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Gershon Baskin - December 18, 2007 - 12:36pm

There is great public skepticism regarding the outcome of the Annapolis meeting. Many of the skeptics state that at the end of the day, it was little more than a photo-op for the principals - Bush, Olmert and Abbas - and that it produced no real substance. The failure of the parties to produce a joint statement that contained any content on the principles for resolving the core issues for permanent status, for some, points to the Annapolis meeting as a failure.

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The Demographic Argument Is Inherently Racist
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons
by Hanan Ashrawi - (Interview) December 18, 2007 - 12:34pm

bitterlemons: Israel's demand to be recognized as a "Jewish state" at Annapolis caused an uproar among Palestinians. This doesn't seem like a new demand, so why the uproar?

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Blair's Uphill Battle To Revive Palestinian Economy
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Ian Black - (Special Report) December 18, 2007 - 12:26pm

It was hard to avoid the obvious seasonal message when Tony Blair, briefly playing the tourist, stayed overnight in Bethlehem recently: yes, there was room at the inn in the little West Bank town, a rare public vote of confidence in prospects for the Palestinian economy. Britain's former prime minister has been travelling incessantly since becoming the representative of the "Quartet" of Middle East peacemakers in the summer, and generally keeping a low profile.

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The Viable Two-state Solution?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Miftah
by Caelum Moffatt - (Analysis) December 17, 2007 - 1:26pm

Following the summit in Annapolis, Benjamin Netanyahu, leader of the Likud opposition party in Israel declared in reference to the Israeli / Palestinian peace process, “if it’s not broken, don’t fix it”.

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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.

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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.

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No Peace Without Justice
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times
December 13, 2007 - 1:05pm

Negotiations between Palestinians and Israelis started yesterday under a cloud. Understandably, both sides preferred to keep their talks as low-key as possibly, choosing a secret location in Jerusalem rather than, as expected, the King David Hotel [where Jewish terrorists once killed British soldiers]. One suspects that this decision came at the behest of the Palestinian team who could hardly afford to be seen grinning and backslapping at that place while Palestinians were being killed in Gaza and yet more land is set to be confiscated in the West Bank.

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