'marching Toward Total Ruin'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Avi Issacharoff - (Interview) April 4, 2008 - 6:28pm

"When you see Zakariya, maybe you'll be surprised, but he looks like just any other Palestinian man now. Without armed men, without a weapon, just an ordinary guy," related an acquaintance of Zakariya Zubeidi, until not long ago the commander of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades in Jenin.

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Rice's Roadmap Achievement & Ipf Letter
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Israel Policy Forum
by Sadie Goldman With Jason Proetorius And Ipf Staff - April 4, 2008 - 6:11pm

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice may have brokered the first tangible achievement in the Israeli-Palestinian negotiating process since the Annapolis peace conference four months ago.

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Rice Visit Prompts Israel Policy Shift
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Week
by Stewart Ain - March 27, 2008 - 6:55pm

Just days before Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s scheduled arrival in Israel Saturday night, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak announced a series of moves to bolster the Palestinian Authority, including the deployment of another 600 Palestinian policemen and approving permits for thousands of Palestinians to work in Israel. The issuance of work permits is a major change in Israeli policy, according to Yitzhak Reiter, a professor of Islamic and Middle Eastern History at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

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Olmert Pours Cold Water On Peace Process
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star
March 27, 2008 - 6:47pm

  Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said on Wednesday that he expected that only a framework of a peace deal could be reached with Palestinians by the end of the year, not an actual agreement. The Israeli premier also announced that Israel would continue construction in large settlement blocs in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

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Olmert Upbeat On Mideast Peace Talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
by Ashraf Khalil - March 27, 2008 - 6:45pm

Amid ongoing rocket fire from Gaza Strip militants and efforts by the Israeli government to shore up the Palestinian Authority, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Wednesday said he was optimistic that current negotiations would produce a lasting peace with the Palestinians. "We want it. They want it. We have to agree. It's not easy. It takes time," Olmert said during a briefing with foreign journalists. "Those who want peace, those who want good neighborly relations, will prevail. . . . These are not empty talks. We are very serious."

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Turning Words Into Concrete Actions
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Middle East Progress
by Brigadier General (ret.) Ilan Paz - (Interview) March 27, 2008 - 12:17pm

Q: What is your current assessment of the Israel-Palestinian track since the Annapolis conference?

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Israel Backs Larger Deployment Of Palestinian Forces
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Adam Entous - March 25, 2008 - 5:54pm

Israel said on Tuesday it would allow up to 600 members of a Palestinian security force trained in Jordan under a U.S. program to be deployed in a West Bank city once considered a hotbed of militant activity. Israel hopes the Defence Ministry decision, announced ahead of a weekend visit by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, will help blunt Western and Palestinian complaints that it was not doing enough to bolster U.S.-backed peace talks and a Palestinian "law and order" campaign in the occupied West Bank.

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Minister (of Interior) Al Yahya And General Dayton Inspect Palestinian Security Training At The International Centre Near Amman And Witness A Field Exercise With Weapons And Live Ammunition.
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al- Quds
by Amman – Abdulla Al Qaq - March 24, 2008 - 5:59pm

The Minster of Interior Abdul Razzaq Al Yahya and the American General Dayton inspected the almost 1000 members of the Palestinian Police (National Security Force) and the Presidential Guard battalions that are currently training at the Jordanian International Police Training Center (JIPTC).  Their training includes security apparatus, human rights, riot control and civil disturbance.

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Annapolis's Fading Hope
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
(Opinion) March 10, 2008 - 5:29pm

The Annapolis peace conference last November was a good moment for Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. She seemed to be getting serious, finally, about using American diplomacy to push for an Israeli-Palestinian agreement whose basic parameters are understood by everyone -- but which requires U.S. follow-through to make it happen.

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Rice To Raise Humanitarian Issues With Israelis
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Glenn Kessler - March 4, 2008 - 6:25pm

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Monday she planned to tell Israeli officials to ease the humanitarian suffering in the Gaza Strip and avoid attacks that might kill civilians, but she repeatedly refused to say whether she supported a cease-fire.

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