October 27th

Polls Show Even Split in Israeli Elections
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
October 26, 2008 - 8:00pm

Israel moved closer Monday to a bruising election campaign that will decide the future of peace talks, as polls showed the moderate foreign minister, Tzipi Livni, in a surprisingly close race with hard-line opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu. Neither of Israel's two leading political parties would have enough seats to form a government on its own, according to the surveys, which also showed an even split between the country's hawkish and center-left blocs. That signals more deadlock in peacemaking with Syria and the Palestinians.

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My descent into Gaza's smuggling underworld
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Independent
by Donald MacIntyre - October 24, 2008 - 8:00pm

Crawling south in the dank metre-high passage, you have to hope the crude wooden supports will keep the thick layers of clay and sand above your head from crashing down on to you. Anyone who has been in a narrow-seam coal mine can relate to the mild sense of claustrophobia induced by a visit to Gaza's smugglers' tunnels, in which workers were killed at roughly the rate of three a week last month.

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Livni Abandons Effort to Form Israeli Coalition
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Linda Gradstein - October 26, 2008 - 8:00pm

Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni on Sunday gave up trying to form a coalition government, paving the way for new elections in early 2009. Palestinian officials worried that her decision could also mean the end of the fragile Israeli-Palestinian peace process, which resumed just under a year ago and had been a priority of the Bush administration.

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US's Dayton Views PA-US Security Coordination, Denies US Targeting HAMAS
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Ayyam
by General Keith Dayton - (Interview) October 26, 2008 - 8:00pm

Interview with General Keith Dayton, the US security coordinator, by Abd-al-Ra'uf Arna'ut; Dayton: These Are the Objectives of My Task, Truth of What I Did in Gaza [Arna'ut] You are very well known in the Palestinian arena, but few people actually know what you do. What do you specifically do?

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October 24th

The New York Times profiles how the larger Israeli-Palestinian conflict is playing out in the contested West Bank town of Nablus (1). The Christian Science Monitor examines the current calm in the midst of so many changing administrations (2). The World Bank announces that the price of property in the West Bank has soared to a level unreachable by most Palestinians (3). The Israeli ultra-Orthodox Shas party has refused to join Tzipi Livni’s coalition government (4). Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat urges the next U.S. President to continue efforts towards a peace deal (5).

Hamas takeover good for us
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
(Opinion) October 23, 2008 - 8:00pm

We’ve been hearing “horrifying scenarios” recently regarding the possibility of Hamas taking over Judea and Samaria just like it did in Gaza. Yet is this possibility really that bad for Israel? We can argue that this would actually be a desirable development for us.

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Breathing Life into the Arab Peace Initiative
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Israel Policy Forum
by Sadie Goldman - October 23, 2008 - 8:00pm

In a meeting in Sharm el-Sheikh with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak today, Israeli President Shimon Peres praised the Arab Peace Initiative, first introduced by Saudi Arabia and adopted by the 22 states of the Arab League, and said that, “peace has never been more possible than it is now. It would be a mistake to miss out on this opportunity.”

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Arab-Israeli peace - a suggestion
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times
(Opinion) October 23, 2008 - 8:00pm

It is a foregone conclusion that the Arab-Israeli conflict is difficult to resolve. A wide variety of obstacles stand in the way of a solution. While most have to do with Israel’s intransigence, internal politics, hidden agendas and long-term aspirations in the region, some have to do with exaggerated reliance on the US’ and the international community’s part to intervene and facilitate peace.

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Bitter harvest: peace hopes wither in orchards of violence
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Sydney Morning Herald
October 23, 2008 - 8:00pm

AT around 10am last Saturday, Abed Hashalmoun, 45, a Palestinian news photographer who lives in the West Bank city of Hebron, followed a group of Israeli and international peace activists on an exercise to help local Palestinian farmers harvest their annual olive crop. Hashalmoun was accompanied by his brother Nayef, 55, a photographer for the Reuters news agency, and several other Palestinian journalists and television news crews.

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Next US leader should get to work on Mideast: Palestinian
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP)
October 23, 2008 - 8:00pm

The next US president, be it Barack Obama or John McCain, should get to work immediately to jump-start Middle East peace talks, chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat said here Thursday. Erakat was visiting Tokyo for talks with Israel's Interior Minister Meir Sheetrit, in the latest meeting arranged by leading donor Japan aimed at building confidence between the two sides. "Whoever will be the next president of the United States, whether Mr. McCain or Mr. Obama, they must immediately engage and continue their engagement and no time should be wasted," Erakat told reporters.

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