Good News From Gaza ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Gideon Levy - November 12, 2007 - 1:47pm The group of reservist paratroopers returned all astir: Hamas fought like an army. The comrades of Sergeant-Major (Res.) Ehud Efrati, who fell in a battle in Gaza about two weeks ago, told Amos Harel that "in all parameters, we are facing an army, not gangs." The soldiers of the Israel Defense Forces were impressed by their enemy's night vision equipment, the tactical space they kept between one another - and their pants even had elastic bands to make them fit snugly around their boots. This is good news from Gaza. » Read more

Good Ackerman, Bad Ackerman ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Shmuel Rosner - November 12, 2007 - 1:46pm There are people in Jerusalem who have not yet forgotten the criticism leveled at Prime Minister Ehud Olmert by Gary Ackerman, a United States congressman from New York and head of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia. He "kissed President Bush's ass," said the representative, in language that was not quite diplomatic, commenting to The Forward about Olmert's criticism of the new Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, after her visit with Syrian President Bashar Assad in Damascus last April. » Read more

Unite Or Dissolve ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons (Interview) November 12, 2007 - 1:45pm bitterlemons: Hamas is saying that by pursuing negotiations with Israel under current circumstances, the Abbas-led Palestinian Authority is in effect collaborating with the occupying power. Is this a fair assessment? » Read more

Enlarge Annapolis ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Middle East Times (Editorial) November 12, 2007 - 1:43pm The good thing that may be said about the Annapolis meeting is that the expectations are gloomily but realistically low. There are not many illusions left in the Middle East, and little is expected from yet another U.S.-brokered summit between Israeli and Palestinian leaders. Perhaps what is wrong is not just the plot of this over-familiar drama, but the personnel. Maybe it is the three-way relationship between Americans, Israelis and Palestinians, who all know each very well by now; that is the problem. » Read more

Remembering Yitzhak Rabin ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Economist (Opinion) November 12, 2007 - 1:42pm The inner price Israel pays for its continuing occupation of the West Bank “YOU were the pillar of fire before the camp and now we are left only as the camp, alone and in the dark”. So said his weeping grand-daughter, eulogising Yitzhak Rabin after he was shot in the back by a Jewish religious zealot 12 years ago. The murder of a strong and popular prime minister appeared briefly to unite the Jewish state. But the Israel of that time was in fact a camp divided. This year's anniversary has brought grim new evidence of how bitter the divisions have grown. » Read more

Abbas Urges Support Of Peace Talks ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Financial Times by Tobias Buck - November 12, 2007 - 1:39pm Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority, on Sunday seized on a demonstration marking the third anniversary of Yassir Arafat’s death to urge support for the latest round of Middle East peace talks and turn up the heat on Hamas, his Islamist rivals. » Read more

Mideast: All Not Quite Aboard For Annapolis ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Inter Press Service (IPS) by Peter Hirschberg - November 12, 2007 - 1:37pm U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has again paid a visit to the Middle East, held meetings with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, spoken about the seriousness of the two sides in their efforts to revive the peace process, but has again left the region without issuing invitations to a planned U.S.-led peace summit in Annapolis, Maryland. » Read more

Israel, U.s. Jews Intensify ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) by Ron Kampeas - November 12, 2007 - 1:36pm A renewed push from Jewish organizations for tougher sanctions against Iran is facing tough obstacles in Washington and capitals throughout the world. American Jewish groups are aggressively attempting to rally support for isolating Iran until it ends its suspected nuclear weapons program. They are lobbying Congress, reaching out to friendly nations overseas and seeking allies in the United States. » Read more

A Glimpse At A Life In Line ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Chicago Tribune by Robert Cotton Fite - (Opinion) November 12, 2007 - 1:35pm Waiting in line at a West Bank border checkpoint, intimidated by the prisonlike atmosphere and frustrated by the Israeli soldier denying me passage back into Israel, I got my first real taste of what it's like most days for thousands of Palestinians. There I was, having just enjoyed visits to several Palestinian towns, looking very much the harmless, middle-class American tourist, with what I was sure were the right stamps in my passport, being told I could not re-enter Israel nor continue my trip to Nazareth. » Read more

The Spy Who Wants Israel To Talk ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post by David Ignatius - November 12, 2007 - 1:34pm Efraim Halevy, the former head of the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad, titled his memoirs "Man in the Shadows." But now that he's out in the sunlight, the 72-year-old retired spy chief has some surprisingly contrarian things to say about Iran and Syria. The gist of his message is that rather than constantly ratcheting up the rhetoric of confrontation, the United States and Israel should be looking for ways to establish a creative dialogue with these adversaries. » Read more