December 23rd

Palestinian, Russian presidents talk Mideast peace ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press December 22, 2008 - 1:00am MOSCOW: Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Monday discussed ways to cooperate on Middle East peace. Medvedev said Russia was ready to continue working with the Palestinian authorities to help peace efforts. "We hope we will continue to cooperate productively, especially as the number of problems we are facing haven't become smaller," Medvedev said at the start of his Kremlin talks with Abbas. "We need to move forward, so we will discuss issues related to the Middle East settlement and the Palestinian-Israeli dialogue." » Read more

Abbas: Hamas' abuse of religion for political end is unacceptable ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Deutsche Presse Agentur (DPA) December 21, 2008 - 1:00am Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, on a visit to Russia, strongly criticized the radical Islamic Hamas movement on Sunday, saying the organization's "abuse of religion for political ends" was unacceptable, Russia's Interfax news agency reported. Speaking in Grozny, the capital city of the Chechen Republic in Russia, Abbas said that extremists were to blame for Islam receiving so little respect in the world at present. In reality, terrorists have no relationship with religion, he declared. » Read more

Domestic politics fuels Gaza conflict ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor by Joshua Mitnick - December 23, 2008 - 1:00am The collapse of a six-month Israel-Hamas calm last Friday unleashed a new wave of cross-border attacks and a spate of threats from leaders on both side about worsening violence. And although the Islamist militants called for a 24-hour halt in attacks on Monday for mediation, the region seems once again to be at the brink of another escalation over Gaza. » Read more

Hamas says it may consider new truce with Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP) December 23, 2008 - 1:00am GAZA CITY - A tense calm reigned over the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip on Tuesday as the Palestinian Islamist group said it might be willing to agree to a new truce with Israel. Gaza militants fired one rocket which hit without causing damage or injury, and Israel did not launch any raids on the territory after Hamas announced on Monday that it would not launch rockets or fire mortars for 24 hours. » Read more

December 22nd

Loving The Two-State Solution to Death ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Israel Policy Forum by M.J. Rosenberg - December 19, 2008 - 1:00am It didn’t take long for the “two state solution” to move from the category of radical to banal, but that is what has happened. Today the “two-state solution” is everyone’s favorite remedy. And yet it is farther from realization than ever. Its fate may, in fact, be that rare instance of a concept being killed by kindness. » Read more

Ignoring the plight in Gaza ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Boston Globe by Yousef Munayyer - (Opinion) December 21, 2008 - 1:00am The lights are out in Gaza again and few are paying attention. The 1.5 million Palestinians living in the densely populated strip are being collectively punished once more, while Israel attempts to strangle the Hamas government. The UN agency that feeds hundreds of thousands of people is unable to get supplies in because the border is closed, and a plea from UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon has been ignored. » Read more

West Bank settler eviction offers warning, hope ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press by Amy Teibel - December 21, 2008 - 1:00am HEBRON, West Bank -- Israel's swift eviction of Jewish zealots from one of the most volatile West Bank flashpoints offers encouragement to people both inside and outside Israel who hope it is still possible to uproot settlers to make room for a Palestinian state. Israeli police and soldiers encountered little resistance this month when they expelled some 200 extremists from a contested house in Hebron, near the traditional burial site of Abraham, the shared patriarch of Muslims and Jews. » Read more

World Bank calls for steps to ease West Bank trade ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press December 22, 2008 - 1:00am RAMALLAH, West Bank: The Palestinian private sector won't prosper as long as trade in the West Bank is hampered by Israeli checkpoints and cumbersome cargo crossings, the World Bank said in a report Monday. Israel has been slow in easing its tight restrictions on Palestinian movement, citing security concerns. However, the World Bank said Israel could make improvements even within those restrictions. It singled out the Israeli-run Allenby Bridge crossing between the West Bank and Jordan, the main route for Palestinian exports to the Arab world. » Read more

Gaza Incursion Nears; Hamas Mulls Renewal of Suicide Bombing ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Middle East Times by Mel Frykberg - December 22, 2008 - 1:00am JERUSALEM -- Over the weekend, a barrage of rockets hit Israeli towns bordering the Gaza Strip following the end of a six-month truce between Israel and the Islamic resistance movement Hamas. While Israeli security officials prepare for a possible large-scale military invasion into Gaza, Hamas officials have said that they may renew suicide bombings. Hamas accused Israel of reneging on promises to open Gaza crossings and lift the economic blockade that has caused major suffering to the coastal territory's 1.5 million citizens, the vast majority of them civilian. » Read more

Israel Strikes Gaza Day After Truce Expires ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press December 20, 2008 - 1:00am GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) -- An Israeli airstrike against a Palestinian rocket squad killed a militant Saturday, the first death in Gaza since Hamas formally declared an end to a six-month truce. Palestinians fired 10 rockets and at least 23 mortar shells from Gaza into Israel, causing some property damage but no casualties, the Israeli military said. An Israeli airstrike at one of the rocket squads in northern Gaza killed a militant, said the army and Palestinian medics. » Read more