America's Diplomatic Fig Leaf ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat by Amir Taheri - September 28, 2007 - 12:00am What do diplomats do when they don't know what to do? You guessed it; they propose holding an international conference. The device is useful on several grounds. It covers one's political nakedness with the fig leaf of an impression that something is being done. It creates a crowd to divert attention from one's isolation. And, last but not least, it enables one to put a tiresome problem on the backburner for a while. Does the rule apply to Washington's proposal to convene an international conference on the Middle East peace in November? » Read more

Palestine Central Bank's Tricky Path ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Wall Street Journal by Bob Davis - August 22, 2008 - 12:00am Ben Bernanke worries about being held hostage to the global economy. The central banker for the Palestinian territories frets about hostage-taking of a different kind. "Sometimes people take a gun to the head of a branch manager," says Jihad al-Wazir, governor of the Palestine Monetary Authority. "Then I get a phone call." » Read more

Collective Punishment ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News (Editorial) October 1, 2007 - 12:00am Israel's rejection of family unification files pertaining to residents of Gaza is one more example of the collective punishment meted out by the occupying power to the Palestinians. The Israeli step comes after Tel Aviv declared the Gaza Strip a “hostile entity.” Israeli officials justify their decision on the grounds that, since Israel disengaged from Gaza two years ago, it could no longer be considered an occupying power, responsible under international law for the welfare of the people under its occupation. » Read more

From Israel, A Call For Patience ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post by Linda Gradstein - August 22, 2008 - 12:00am Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni warned Thursday against outside efforts to pressure Israel and the Palestinians to come up with a peace agreement this year, saying violence could erupt if they fail to meet international expectations. The statement, coming on the eve of Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice's visit to Israel, effectively dooms the already slim chances that an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement will be reached before President Bush leaves office in January. » Read more

Gaza's Deadly Guardians ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Times September 30, 2007 - 12:00am Hamas wants you to believe it has created a benevolent sanctuary where once chaos reigned. At the beginning of the journey into Gaza it’s easy to believe that things are better. There is no longer a Palestinian immigration desk after the long walk from the air-conditioned Erez terminal on the Israeli side, past concrete blast walls, and down a dusty track in the furnace heat. But further down the road, Hamas gunmen have taken over the checkpoints. They are polite and well turned out in blue camouflage trousers, clean black T-shirts, shiny black boots. » Read more

Rethinking Israel's Approach To Iran ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Prospectsforpeace.com by Daniel Levy - (Opinion) August 22, 2008 - 12:00am Israel's response to the Iranian challenge has been out of synch with developing realities for some time. Recently though, it has become dangerously counter-productive, anchored as it is in denial. As Israel intensifies its role as threatener-in-chief, and clings to a "more sticks, bigger sticks" line, events all around are moving on. » Read more

Powerful, But Not That Powerful ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Economist September 27, 2007 - 12:00am FROM the forged “Protocols of the Elders of Zion” in the 19th century to the charter of Hamas, the Palestinians' Islamist movement, a common claim by anti-Semites has been that Jews trick great powers into needless wars. That is why an article published in March 2006 by two American academics, John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt, caused such outrage. Writing in the London Review of Books, they argued that the activities of Israel and its supporters were the “critical” reason for America's invasion of Iraq. » Read more

Jordan Protests Against Israel's Jerusalem Dig Plans ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews August 22, 2008 - 12:00am Jordan said on Thursday it summoned the Israeli ambassador to protest against plans for excavation and construction work near the Al-Aqsa mosque compound, Jerusalem's most volatile holy site. "Foreign Minister Salah Bashir summoned the Israeli ambassador this week to officially inform him that Jordan rejects such illegal measures," said MP Mohammed Abu Hdeib, head of the lower house of parliament's committee on international affairs, after meeting Bashir on Thursday. » Read more

Create Jobs Or Create Extremists, Says Arab Minister ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Financial Times by Krishna Guha - September 28, 2007 - 12:00am Business and social entrepreneurs need to take urgent action to create 80m jobs for young people in the Middle East and north Africa over the next decade to stop them falling prey to extremists, Mohammed Al Gergawi, minister of state for cabinet affairs in the United Arab Emirates, said on Friday. Mr Al Gergawi told the final day of the Clinton Global Initiative “either we have in the next ten years 80m productive young people…or we have 80m radical extremists in the Middle East.” » Read more

Palestinians Relaunch Soccer League In West Bank ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian August 22, 2008 - 12:00am Palestinian soccer saw the start of a revival in the West Bank on Thursday with the relaunch of a league suspended after an uprising against Israeli occupation erupted in 2000. Twenty-two teams across the territory will compete in a seven-month-long tournament, but teams from the Hamas-run Gaza Strip will not take part. Israel sharply restricts travel and trade to and from the coastal enclave. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's authority has been restricted to the Israeli-occupied West Bank since Hamas Islamists took over the Gaza Strip by force a year ago. » Read more