Date
Type

October 10th

Pressure In Israel For Missile Defense
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Ilene Prusher - October 10, 2007 - 1:44pm


The firing of a long-range Katyusha rocket into Israel from Gaza on Sunday has ratcheted up concerns here for the increased threat of missiles against the Jewish state. The weapon of choice of Palestinian militants in Gaza has been the Kassam rocket, which has relatively poor aim and short range, but has nonetheless caused damage and killed 14 Israelis and injured hundreds more, according to an Israeli government tally.


Abbas Wants Return To Pre-1967 Borders
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
by Mohammed Daraghmeh - October 10, 2007 - 1:42pm


Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday laid out his most specific demands for the borders of a future independent state, calling for a full Israeli withdrawal from all territories captured in the 1967 Mideast war. Abbas' claim comes as Israeli and Palestinian negotiating teams are trying to hammer out a joint vision for a future peace deal in time for a U.S.-hosted conference next month.


An Israeli Strike On Syria Kindles Debate In The U.s.
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Mark Mazzetti And Helene Cooper - October 10, 2007 - 1:37pm


A sharp debate is under way in the Bush administration about the significance of the Israeli intelligence that led to last month’s Israeli strike inside Syria, according to current and former American government officials. At issue is whether intelligence that Israel presented months ago to the White House — to support claims that Syria had begun early work on what could become a nuclear weapons program with help from North Korea — was conclusive enough to justify military action by Israel and a possible rethinking of American policy toward the two nations.


Israel's Rising Right Wing
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Salon.com
by Gregory Levey - October 10, 2007 - 1:33pm


One of this year's nominees for Israeli TV's "Man of the Year in Politics" award doesn't speak Hebrew. He has vast wealth and a shady past. He was once a circus worker. He isn't even a politician, at least not yet.


Twin Mideast Peace Concerts Rouse Skepticism, Rancor
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from McClatchy News
by Dion Nissenbaum - October 10, 2007 - 1:28pm


It might sound like an inspirational convergence along the lines of John Lennon's antiwar ballad "Give Peace a Chance": twin concerts in which thousands of Israelis join thousands of Palestinians to call for an end to a demoralizing conflict that often looks as if it will go on forever. Except that this is the Middle East, where even a peace concert can become a raucous political battleground.


October 9th

Hamas Stamps Its Authority On Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al Jazeera English
by Nour Odeh - October 9, 2007 - 2:46pm


Gaza's paralysed legal system has left the territory in chaos, but recent steps taken by Hamas to resolve the issue have been criticised both by Hamas's rival Fatah faction and by human rights groups. Attempting to consolidate its control of the territory, Hamas's 8,000-strong Executive Force, accused by Fatah of torture and mistreatment, has been designated Gaza's new police force. Now, alongside that move, the de facto government in Gaza is working on the judiciary.


Sharing Jerusalem Makes Sense, But Who Will Make It Work?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star
(Editorial) October 9, 2007 - 2:42pm


Israel's deputy prime minister, Haim Ramon, has stirred up a hornets' nest in the Jewish state by proposing that Occupied Jerusalem be shared with the Palestinians as part of any comprehensive peace agreement. His boss, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, has studiously avoided public comment on the matter - which indicates very strongly that Ramon's statements have been trial balloons aimed at gauging the reactions of the Israeli public and the international community. It remains to be seen, therefore, whether or not the plan has a chance in the near future.


An Israeli View: An Extraordinary Opportunity
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons
by Galia Golan - October 9, 2007 - 2:38pm


Few are particularly excited by the upcoming Israeli-Palestinian conference; most may believe it will not or should not even take place. Yet this could be the most important and promising opportunity for a genuine peace process since the ill-fated Camp David II conference in July 2000. This optimism derives from both the unique constellation of circumstances in the region and the cumulative effect of developments within the Israeli and Palestinian publics.


Heading To December
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Tom Segev - October 9, 2007 - 2:36pm


Haim Ramon has been going around for some time with a proposal for power sharing in Jerusalem, and the sky has not fallen. Ostensibly this is quite an amazing phenomenon; there was a time when the vice premier's idea was heard only among the radical left, somewhere between Yesh Gvul and Gush Shalom. This seems to be a turning point of historic proportions.


Israel Takes Land To Ease Way To Build In E-1 Area
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Akiva Eldar - October 9, 2007 - 2:34pm


The Israel Defense Forces recently issued an order expropriating over 1,100 dunams of land from four Arab villages located between East Jerusalem and the West Bank settlement of Ma'aleh Adumim. The land is slated to be used for a new Palestinian road that would connect East Jerusalem with Jericho. That in turn would "free up" the E-1 area between Jerusalem and Ma'aleh Adumim - through which the current Jerusalem-Jericho road runs - for a long-planned Jewish development consisting of 3,500 apartments and an industrial park.



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