Daily News Issue Date: 
October 14, 2008

The Middle East Times reports on the address given by Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad at ATFP's Third Annual Gala (1). Leaders from both Hamas and Fatah call for reconciliation in separate speeches given over the weekend (2). Israel bars entry from the West Bank for the weeklong Sukkot holiday (3). Tzipi Livni continues work towards building a coalition government (4). Shimon Peres appeals for tolerance following four days of clashes in the city of Acre between Arabs and Jews in Israel (7). Plans are announced to deploy an additional 700 Palestinian security personnel in the West Bank town of Hebron (9).

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Palestinian leaders call for reconciliation
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
by Albert Aji - October 11, 2008 - 8:00pm

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Sunday the rift between his mainstream Palestinian faction and archrival Hamas must end. The Hamas leader, meanwhile, said the time is right for reconciliation. Fatah and Hamas have been at odds since the latter's violent takeover of the Gaza Strip in June 2007. Following the takeover, Abbas dissolved the Hamas-led government from his base in the West Bank and formed a new administration excluding the more radical group.

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Israel closes West Bank for Sukkot holiday
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
October 12, 2008 - 8:00pm

Israel has shut down entry from the West Bank during the weeklong Sukkot holiday. The order bars almost all West Bank Palestinians from entering Israel until Oct. 21, though Israel says exceptions will be made for humanitarian cases. Israel routinely imposes such closures on Jewish holidays. It fears Palestinians could carry out attacks during the holiday period. Sukkot is a seven-day festival that commemorates the 40 years Jews spent in the desert living in temporary huts in biblical times. Many Israelis build sukkahs, or huts, to live or eat in to mark the holiday.


Israeli official says Livni closer to PM post
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
by Karin Laub - October 12, 2008 - 8:00pm

Prime Minister-designate Tzipi Livni's Kadima Party initialed a partial agreement Monday on bringing the Labor Party into a new governing coalition, but several issues remained to be settled before a formal pact, a Labor official said. Livni also will need to attract support from smaller parties to form a new government to replace the one headed by former Kadima leader Ehud Olmert, who resigned as prime minister under the cloud of a corruption investigation.

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Hamas locks out striking Gaza teachers
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
by Ibrahim Barzak - October 13, 2008 - 8:00pm

The Hamas government announced Tuesday that it will not permit thousands of striking teachers to return to their jobs, further heightening tensions with its political rivals in the West Bank. The strike was called Aug. 24 by the West Bank-based teachers' union. It was seen, in part, as an attempt to disrupt life in Gaza and weaken Hamas, which seized control by force in 2007 and defeated troops loyal to moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Most of Gaza's 10,000 public school teachers are still paid by the Abbas government.

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Palestinian brewer still waiting for peace to break out
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP)
December 31, 1969 - 8:00pm

Some Palestinians have taken up arms and others attend peace talks in their decades-long struggle, but Nadim Khoury has found a third route to statehood - the brewing of delicious local beer. The 49-year-old returned to his native Occupied West Bank village of Taybeh from the US in 1994 with the unusual and ambitious idea of distilling the dream of Palestinian independence into a smooth, full-bodied golden lager.

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Peres visits Acre in wake of clashes, says ‘we are destined to live side by side’
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP)
October 13, 2008 - 8:00pm

Israeli President Shimon Peres traveled on Monday to the northern city of Acre where he appealed for tolerance after four days of clashes between Palestinian-Israeli and Jewish residents. "I was surprised by the extent of appeals for peaceful coexistence issued by leaders from both sides," the Israeli politician told journalists. "We are destined to live side by side, and a bright future awaits Acre," said Peres, who was accompanied by Interior Security Minister Avi Dichter and Israel's two chief rabbis, Yona Metzger and Shlomo Amar.

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Final Stages of the Palestinian Conflict?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Middle East Times
by Claude Salhani - October 13, 2008 - 8:00pm

Every decade of so the dynamics of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict undergo serious transformation as the result of changing conditions on the ground. The changes, however, have not always been for the better. Consider the following shifts in direction from the late 1940s with the creation of the State of Israel and the declaration of war by all its neighbors in 1948. Almost 10 years later, Israel goes to war against Egypt during the Suez crisis (1956). Then 11 years later Israel launches the Six-Day War, capturing large swathes of Arab lands.

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Palestinians believe Oslo harmed their cause
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News
by HIsham Abu Taha - October 13, 2008 - 8:00pm

A public opinion poll released yesterday showed that Palestinians believed the Oslo peace accord harmed their cause, and half of the respondents preferred simultaneous presidential and parliamentary elections in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. The poll, conducted by the Jerusalem Media and Communication Center (JMCC) in the first week of October, found that according to 41 percent of those surveyed the Oslo accord harmed the Palestinian national interests, compared to 20.4 who said it served them. Thirty-four percent said the Oslo accord made no difference.

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700 More PA Personnel to Deploy in Hebron
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Media Line
October 12, 2008 - 8:00pm

The Palestinian Authority plans to deploy an additional 700 security personal in the West Bank city Hebron to carry out security operations among the city’s Palestinian population, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported.

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Abbas, Olmert to meet Friday
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times
October 13, 2008 - 8:00pm

Outgoing Israeli PRIME Minister Ehud Olmert is to meet Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas for a new round of peace talks this week, the Palestinian foreign minister said on Monday. "[Abbas] will meet Prime Minister Olmert on October 17 within the framework of their regular meetings," Riyad Malki said at a news conference in Ramallah. Olmert and Abbas have been meeting about twice a month since the peace process was relaunched at a US conference in November.

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