September 19th

'Establishment of Palestinian state is in Jordan?s strategic interest'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times
September 18, 2008 - 8:00pm


Establishing an independent, contiguous and viable Palestinian state on Palestinian national soil serves Jordan?s ?higher strategic interests?, Minister of State for Media Affairs and Communications Nasser Judeh said on Thursday. Arriving at a just solution for the issue of refugees in accordance with international resolutions, especially UN General Assembly Resolution No. 194 that stipulates the Palestinian refugees? right to return and repatriation, is also in the Kingdom?s strategic interest, he noted.


Tough challenges ahead for Israel's Livni
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP)
by Patrick Anidjar - September 18, 2008 - 8:00pm


New Kadima leader Tzipi Livni faces numerous challenges in her bid to become Israel's prime minister - battling for parliamentary support and seeking to move the peace process forward. A first priority for the 50-year-old foreign minister is to ensure the unity of the governing party whose leadership she won on Wednesday over her closest rival by a mere 431 votes. "Considering the results and the narrow lead over [Transport Minister] Shaul Mofaz, it will be tough to guarantee stability within Kadima," said political analyst Avraham Diskin of Jerusalem's Hebrew University.


Tutu says West complicit in Palestinian suffering
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Stephanie Nebehay - September 17, 2008 - 8:00pm


South African Nobel Peace laureate Desmond Tutu on Thursday accused the West of complicity in Palestinian suffering by its silence, suggesting it did not want to criticise Israel because of the Holocaust. Archbishop Tutu spoke after delivering a report to the United Nations about Israel's deadly shelling of the town of Beit Hanoun in Gaza in November 2006, which he said may constitute a war crime. He criticised the international community for failing to speak out against the suffering in Gaza, home to 1.5 million Palestinians, under an Israeli blockade.


Israel?s Livni seen pushing Palestinian talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Adam Entous - September 17, 2008 - 8:00pm


Many see Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni's win in a party vote to succeed Prime Minister Ehud Olmert as a victory for Israelis who favor peace talks, but insiders played down the immediate prospect of bold moves. Livni, who clinched the leadership of the Kadima party in a ballot on Wednesday, has made clear to confidants and advisers that she wants to concentrate on talks with the Palestinians, pursuing a goal she shares with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice of reaching an agreement on statehood borders.


Second Palestinian battalion begins US-funded training
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
September 17, 2008 - 8:00pm


About 500 members of a security force loyal to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas crossed into Jordan on Thursday for U.S. funded training, the second such battalion to do so. Washington wants to train the backbone of a Palestinian gendarmerie that would underpin any future state. The battalion from Abbas's National Security Force will undergo training for four months in police tactics, riot control and human rights, officials said. An official at the Israeli-controlled Allenby Bridge, between the occupied West Bank and Jordan, said the battalion crossed without incident.


Israel and Palestine Can Still Achieve Peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Wall Street Journal
by Mahmoud Abbas - (Editorial) September 18, 2008 - 8:00pm


This month marks 15 painful years since the Arafat-Rabin handshake on the White House lawn. Palestinian children who started school when the Oslo Agreement was signed in 1993 are now young adults. They have not known a day of true freedom or genuine security in their lives.


September 18th

After claiming victory in yesterday?s Kadima party elections Tzipi Livni begins the task of assembling a new government (1) (2). The BBC offers a succinct summarization of the Israeli leadership change (3). Israeli and Egyptian negotiators meet in Cairo to discuss a Hamas prisoner exchange (6). The ongoing water shortage continues to challenge Palestinian farmers (7). The Israeli High Court intervenes to halt demolition of an illegal settler outpost in the West Bank (9).

Settlers suspected of setting Palestinian fields ablaze
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Ali Waked - September 17, 2008 - 8:00pm


Judea and Samaria Police detained two settlers from Yitzhar on Thursday for allegedly setting Palestinian farmlands on fire. According to the Palestinians, the settlers torched lands belonging to the Palestinian villages of Ma'adama and Burin, located near Yitzhar, as well as fields that belong to the village of Kfar Sara, located near the Havat Gilad settlement southeast of Kedumim.


Court halts outpost evacuation moments after IDF tears down buildings
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Aviad Glickman - September 17, 2008 - 8:00pm


Residents of Yad Yair petition High Court to stop illegal West Bank outpost's evacuation. Court grants plea, order arrives shortly after IDF, Civil Administration conclude demolition Aviad Glickman The High Court of Justice issued a temporary restraining order Thursday against the IDF's intent to tear down structures in the illegal West Bank outpost of Yad Yair.


Children Play with Death and Dispossession
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Inter Press Service (IPS)
by Mel Frykberg - September 17, 2008 - 8:00pm


Palestinian children continue to be victims of disproportionate and indiscriminate violence from the both the Israeli occupation and internal Palestinian infighting in the occupied Palestinian territories. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in its August report expressed concern for the inadequate protection afforded Palestinian children.



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