IDF recommends freeing Fatah prisoners as gesture to Abbas
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Amos Harel, Avi Issacharoff, Barak Ravid - (Analysis) October 24, 2011 - 12:00am

Israel should make a series of gestures to the Palestinian Authority to reduce the damage caused the PA by last week's deal for the return of Gilad Shalit, the Israel Defense Forces' General Staff believes. But Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's advisers vehemently oppose the idea, as do several members of his forum of eight senior ministers, arguing that PA President Mahmoud Abbas "should be punished" for his unilateral bid for UN recognition of a Palestinian state.

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How Shalit became everybody’s son
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News
by Uri Avnery - (Opinion) October 24, 2011 - 12:00am

THE MOST sensible — I almost wrote “the only sensible” — sentence uttered this week sprang from the lips of a 5-year old boy. After the prisoner swap, one of those smart-aleck TV reporters asked him: “Why did we release 1027 Arabs for one Israeli soldier?” He expected, of course, the usual answer: Because one Israeli is worth a thousand Arabs. The little boy replied: “Because we caught many of them and they caught only one.”

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The new U.S. Zionist: Israel-bashing, made kosher
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Bradley Burston - (Opinion) October 23, 2011 - 12:00am

Israel-bashing is not what it used to be. In fact, Israel-bashing is not what it was a week ago. The difference is Gilad Shalit. The difference is that it now turns out to be just fine for U.S. Jews to denounce the actions and policies of the government of Israel – so long as it's being done by hard-line rightists.

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With Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange finished, attention turns to security
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Joshua Mitnick - (Analysis) October 18, 2011 - 12:00am

The unprecedented prisoner exchange today between Israel and Hamas will shift attention in the coming months to undermining the possibility of an upsurge in violence in the West Bank, where hundreds of Palestinian prisoners returned today after being released in return for Gilad Shalit.

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Future will reveal true price of Shalit swap deal
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Avi Issacharoff - October 17, 2011 - 12:00am

In the debate on the prisoner exchange for the release of Gilad Shalit, many Israelis identify with the suffering of the Shalit family and feel a duty to return a captive soldier, while others feel anger over the release of murderers who slaughtered hundreds of Israelis. Symbolism has also received a lot of attention, but the issue that has been shoved aside in the debate - and it will surely be raised in Monday's petitions to the High Court of Justice - is the risk posed by the prisoners being set free.

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Hamas' military wing threatens to capture more Israeli soldiers
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
October 13, 2011 - 12:00am

Hamas' military wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, threatened Thursday to abduct more Israeli soldiers in order to force a prisoner exchange with Israel. At a press conference in Gaza City, the Brigades' spokesperson, Abu Obeideh, said, "An Israeli incursion in Gaza announces good news to Gilad Shalit, that he may have new friends." Abu Obeideh announced a plan to defend Gaza saying, "It will stun the Israelis and confuse them." He gave no further details.

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Prisoner Swap Shows Abbas Weakness
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Beast
by Dan Ephron - (Opinion) October 12, 2011 - 12:00am

For most Palestinians, the prisoner swap deal between Israel and Hamas is a cause for celebration. For President Mahmoud Abbas, it’s shaping up as political blow and a security headache.

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Hamas boosted, Fatah weakened by deal
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Yaakov Lappin - (Analysis) October 12, 2011 - 12:00am

The Hamas regime in Gaza will be significantly fortified by the Schalit deal and see its standing in the Palestinian street, and the wider Arab-Muslim world, boosted. Despite Israel’s overwhelming military superiority, Hamas has been able to force Jerusalem to negotiate with it as an equal partner, and has achieved the release of a large number of terrorists – some of whom were sentenced to life terms for personally murdering Israeli civilians.

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Schalit and the Arab Spring
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Yaakov Katz - (Analysis) October 11, 2011 - 12:00am

The deal to release Gilad Schalit is without a doubt controversial. The main change, though, took place on the Israeli side, which in recent months changed its position on the deal that has retained mostly the same format since Hamas kidnapped Schalit in June, 2006. The big question is what brought about this change. The main answer is the so-called Arab Spring. Israel is concerned that the Arab regimes now in power will not be here tomorrow and that the Egyptian regime currently in power - the deal's main mediator - will not be there in a few months after elections are held in Cairo.

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Who Gains, Who Loses in Israel-Hamas Prisoner Swap to Free Gilad Shalit?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Time
by Tony Karon - (Opinion) October 11, 2011 - 12:00am

Win-win outcomes are all too rare in the Middle East, but the agreement that will see Hamas free captive Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in exchange for a reported 1,000 Palestinian prisoners will allow each of its stakeholders to claim victory.

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