September 15th

Palestinian Is Killed in a Clash With Israelis ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Isabel Kershner - September 12, 2008 - 8:00pm A Palestinian youth was killed on Saturday in a clash with Israeli soldiers in the West Bank village of Tekoa, near Bethlehem, Palestinian and Israeli officials said. Earlier in the day, armed Jewish settlers attacked a Palestinian village in the northern West Bank after a Palestinian intruder stabbed and lightly wounded an Israeli boy, 9, in an illegal Jewish outpost in the area, Israeli officials said. At least four Palestinians were wounded in that confrontation, some by live fire, according to Israeli and Palestinian officials. » Read more

Abbas to Meet Bush on Sept 25: Palestinians ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat September 14, 2008 - 8:00pm Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas is to hold talks with US President George W. Bush at the White House on September 25, a day earlier than initially announced, Palestinian officials said on Monday. "The meeting will be held on September 25," Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat told AFP. Before traveling to Washington, Abbas is to attend the opening session of the UN General Assembly. Abbas and Bush will "evaluate the Israeli-Palestinian negotiation process and discuss the obstacles that prevent reaching an accord," Erakat said. » Read more

Israel seals Gaza border crossings after rocket attack ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News September 14, 2008 - 8:00pm Israel?s border crossings with the Gaza Strip were sealed on Monday, following a rocket attack by Palestinian fighters. Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak ordered the indefinite closure of the crossings after the attack. The rocket, which was fired into the Israeli town of Sderot, started a fire but did not cause any casualties.

Israeli Police Probing "Pogrom" ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News September 14, 2008 - 8:00pm Israeli police are investigating a rampage by settlers in a Palestinian village in the West Bank on Saturday which PM Ehud Olmert called a "pogrom". Mr Olmert, who is about to step down, called the attack by about 100 settlers on Asira al-Qabaliya "intolerable". It was filmed by human rights groups and came after an intruder stabbed and wounded a child at Yitzhar settlement. But police have not arrested any of the settlers who were filmed. Four people suffered gunshot wounds in the attack. » Read more

Israeli soldier gets 14 days for role in stillborn at checkpoint ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star September 14, 2008 - 8:00pm An Israeli soldier was sentenced to 14 days in prison for his role in an incident in which a Palestinian delivered a stillborn baby after being forced to wait at a checkpoint inside the Occupied West Bank, the Israeli Army said Friday. "The incident is one that could have been prevented," the Israeli military said, adding that the squad commander who was in charge of the checkpoint at the time was removed from his position and sentenced to 14 days in jail. » Read more

Israeli, Palestinian leaders to hold talks ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press September 14, 2008 - 8:00pm The Israeli and Palestinian leaders have agreed to hold what could be their last meeting before Prime Minister Ehud Olmert leaves office. Officials from both sides say Olmert and Abbas plan to hold their talks in Jerusalem on Tuesday night. The summit comes on the eve of elections for Olmert's Kadima party. Olmert is expected to resign soon after the vote. Although he will remain in office for a brief caretaker period, it is unclear whether he will continue with peace talks during that time. » Read more

Olmert voices sorrow for plight of Palestinian, Jewish refugees ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Shahar Ilan - September 14, 2008 - 8:00pm Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Monday said he was sorry for the plight of Palestinians and Jews who became refugees as a result of Israel's establishment. "I join in expressing sorrow for what happened to the Palestinians and also for what happened to the Jews who were expelled from Arab states," the prime minister said. Olmert made the comments before a meeting of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, apparently in his last such session as prime minister. He was speaking in reference to the key Palestinian demand for a "right of return" in peace negotiations with Israel. » Read more

September 12th

PM Fayyad: Int'l community must press Israel to halt settlements ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Barak Ravid - September 11, 2008 - 8:00pm The international community's support for the peace process is meaningless so long as there is no real pressure on Israel to halt settlement expansion in the West Bank, Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad told visiting European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana on Friday. During his meeting with Solana in Ramallah, Fayyad said Israel's continued building in the settlements is a blatant violation of international law, according to Israel Radio. » Read more

Ahmadinejad: Iran will support Hamas until collapse of Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Deutsche Presse Agentur (DPA) September 11, 2008 - 8:00pm Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad vowed Friday to keep supporting the Palestinian militant group Hamas until the "collapse of Israel." The Iranian news agency Khabar quoted Ahmadinejad as telling Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh that Iran views the support of the Palestinian people as part of its religious and national duty and that Iran will stand behind the Palestinian nation "until the big victory feast which is the collapse of the Zionist regime." » Read more

Overcoming our whirlwinds ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Saliba Sarsar - (Opinion) September 11, 2008 - 8:00pm Dan Bar-On had a story about how he learned to see things through Palestinian eyes. An Israeli Jew, born in Haifa to refugees who had left Nazi Germany in 1933, Dan was a psychology professor at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, and he had long been interested in seeing his nation live in peace with its Palestinian neighbors. At a certain point back in the mid-1990s, however, he realized, as he told me in a formal interview I conducted with him last year, that "I could not live my life in this region without seeing Palestinians, without feeling their pain." » Read more