October 27th

Israeli war planes raid Gaza Strip
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
October 27, 2011 - 12:00am

GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Israeli war planes launched four airstrikes in central and southern Gaza early Thursday morning, witnesses and the army said. No injuries were reported. Locals told Ma'an that Israeli fighter jets shelled three open areas and a site used by Hamas' armed wing the al-Qassam Brigades in Khan Younis in the south and Deir al-Balah in central Gaza. The Israeli army said its forces targeted "three terror activity sites" in central Gaza and a weapons storage facility in the southern Gaza Strip. "Direct hits were confirmed," the military said in a statement.

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Palestinian statehood bid adds urgency for Israeli-Palestinian peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Christa Case Bryant, Joshua Mitnick - October 26, 2011 - 12:00am

Tel Aviv and Washington Quartet envoy Tony Blair held talks in Jerusalem and Ramallah today to convince Israelis and Palestinians to resume negotiations, a mission given added urgency by a looming vote on Palestinian membership in the United Nations. Amid widespread pessimism that the two sides aren't even interested in coming back to the table, the quartet of Middle East peace mediators – the US, Russia, the European Union, and the United Nations – fears that the Palestinian bid could further unravel the peace process and isolate Israel.

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Palestinian leaders to meet in Cairo to revive reconciliation deal, official says
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
October 27, 2011 - 12:00am

JERUSALEM — A Palestinian official says the Palestinian president will meet with the leader of the militant Hamas movement next month to discuss uniting dueling governments in the West Bank and Gaza. The meeting will be the first between President Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas’ Khaled Mashaal since they signed a surprise reconciliation agreement in May. Amin Makboul, a senior official with Abbas’ Fatah movement, said on Thursday the two will meet in Cairo. He gave no specific date.

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Mideast 'quartet' tries new approach with Israel, Palestinians
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
by Edmund Sanders - (Interview) October 25, 2011 - 12:00am

Reporting from Jerusalem— Frustrated in its bid to restart peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians, the international group known as the Mideast quartet is pushing both sides to submit detailed proposals for borders of a Palestinian state and measures to ensure Israel's long-term security, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair said Tuesday. Blair, who serves as envoy for the quartet — consisting of the U.S., Russia, the European Union and United Nations — will discuss the latest approach during separate meetings Wednesday in Jerusalem and Ramallah.

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October 26th

Jordan’s king urges Israel, Palestinians to restart talks, look to Arab Spring for inspiration
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
October 22, 2011 - 12:00am

SOUTHERN SHUNEH, Jordan — Jordan’s King Abdullah on Saturday urged Israel and the Palestinians to look to the Arab Spring uprisings for inspiration and to restart their stalled peace talks. “The future for the Middle East and beyond is with the normalcy of peace,” Abdullah told the opening of a two-day special meeting of the Davos-based World Economic Forum, held on the shores of the Dead Sea, the lowest point on earth.

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NEWS: In her new memoir, former Sec. Rice says peace was very close in 2007. Pres. Peres and EU foreign policy chief Ashton defend Pres. Abbas against criticisms by FM Lieberman. A World Bank agency is going to insure some Palestinian investments. Occupation forces close two offices in occupied East Jerusalem they claim were being used by Hamas. Palestinian officials say they're unaware of any new US proposal to restart negotiations. Former US peace envoy Mitchell says deadlocked negotiations could lead to violence. The ADL and AJC press Republicans not to attack Pres. Obama over Israel. Quartet officials say they're making another push to restart talks. The Palestinian stock exchange is performing much better than its peers under uncertain conditions. COMMENTARY: The LA Times says both the California and Israeli-Palestinian experiences show that textbook issues should be debated between scholars and not politicians. Lally Weymouth interviews Jordan's King Abdullah. Ha'aretz says PM Netanyahu must treat Abbas as a genuine partner. Jonathan Freedland says Netanyahu has no vision for peace. Kapil Komireddi says Indian-Israeli friendship should not be marred by anti-Muslim sentiments. Salman Shaikh says Hamas needs to find friends outside Damascus. Dan Rothem looks at the difficulty of drawing an Israeli-Palestinian border. Shlomo Brom says the Israel-Hamas prisoner exchange will have limited ramifications.

Short-lived ramifications
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons
by Shlomo Brom - (Opinion) October 24, 2011 - 12:00am

The exchange of 1,027 Palestinian prisoners for one Israeli soldier, Gilad Shalit, after years of campaigning and negotiating is a dramatic event that deeply affects Israeli public opinion and probably also Palestinian public opinion. Naturally, there is a tendency to look for broad and long-term implications of this recent development.

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Difficult Truths on Borders
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Atlantic
by Zvika Krieger - (Opinion) October 25, 2011 - 12:00am

For Palestinians, a two-state solution is the only realistic way to achieve independence and realize the dream of a sovereign, viable Palestinian state. For Israelis, a two-state solution is an existential imperative, less the emerging Arab majority between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River force Israel to choose between its Jewish and democratic characters.

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A chance for Hamas to find friends outside of Damascus
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
by Salman Shaikh - (Opinion) October 26, 2011 - 12:00am

In mid-March Khaled Meshaal, the Damascus-based leader of Hamas, spoke to Bashar Al Assad to express his concern about the Syrian regime's crackdown on popular protests spreading across the country. Mr Meshaal had been asked to do so by key supporters at a private meeting at his home in the Syrian capital a few days earlier.

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IMPERVIOUS: Palestinian exchange rides regional upheavals
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from KippReport
October 25, 2011 - 12:00am

The Palestinian stock exchange has proved resilient in the face of regional political upheaval, but is still heavily undervalued because of the territory’s reputation for violence and strife, the bourse’s CEO said on Monday. Since the start of the year, the Palestine Securities Exchange (PSE) has fallen just 1.5 percent, against drops of up to 40 percent in some neighbouring markets, such as Egypt, chief executive operator Ahmad Aweidah said in an interview.

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