October 8th

Europe's top soccer official touts sport in West Bank ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency October 8, 2009 - 12:00am Bethlehem – Ma’an – The head of Europe’s football governing body visited the West Bank on Wednesday in a continuing Mideast tour where he has promoted the sport as peace building tool. UEFA President Michel Platini toured the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem in the morning before heading to Ramallah for talks with caretaker Prime Minister Salam Fayyad. » Read more

Fayyad: Road to statehood will not be of flowers ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency October 8, 2009 - 12:00am Ramallah – Ma’an – “Building the road to the establishment of an independent state will not be furnished with flowers,” Palestinian Prime Minister of the caretaker government in Ramallah Salam Fayyad said Wednesday. » Read more

US: Prospect of peace talks trumps Goldstone report ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency October 8, 2009 - 12:00am Bethlehem - Ma’an - US State Department spokesperson on the Middle East Ian Kelly refused to comment Wednesday on whether or not the US would use their veto in the Security Council over the issue of the Goldstone report. » Read more

Global promises to restore Gaza `dreams, illusion' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Star by Linda Gradstein - October 8, 2009 - 12:00am GAZA CITY, GAZA–Almost 10 months after the end of fighting between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, a cherry-red bulldozer is scooping up huge chunks of concrete and twisted metal struts at what used to be the Palestinian security forces headquarters. While some of the rubble has been cleared and trucked to southern Gaza, many half-destroyed buildings are still standing and almost no reconstruction has been done. According to United Nations estimates, some 4,000 homes were destroyed in the 22-day Israeli bombardment and 17,000 were partially destroyed. » Read more

Hamas Finds Gaza Tunnels’ $500 Million Loss Worse Than Madoff ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bloomberg by Jonathan Ferziger - October 7, 2009 - 12:00am Oct. 7 (Bloomberg) -- Investment opportunities are rare in the Gaza Strip. So when Nabila Ghabin saw one last year, she pawned her car and jewelry and put $12,000 into a network of tunnels that brought in supplies smuggled from Egypt. She was one of about 4,000 Gazans who gave cash to middlemen and tunnel operators in 2008 as Israel blocked the overland passage of goods. Then Israeli warplanes bombed the tunnels before and during the Dec. 27 to Jan. 18 Gaza offensive and the investments collapsed. » Read more

Israeli foreign minister: No chance for peace deal ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press by Amy Teibel - October 8, 2009 - 12:00am JERUSALEM — Israel's powerful foreign minister declared Thursday that there is no chance of reaching a final accord with the Palestinians any time soon, casting a pall over the U.S. Mideast envoy's latest effort to get peace talks moving again. Peacemaking policy in Israel is decided by the prime minister's office, and not the foreign ministry. But Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman carries significant weight in Israeli decision-making, and his is a sentiment common among confidants of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. » Read more

Furor Sends Palestinians Into Shift on U.N. Report ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Isabel Kershner - October 7, 2009 - 12:00am JERUSALEM — Faced with a torrent of criticism at home and abroad, the Palestinian leadership abruptly reversed course on Wednesday by endorsing a Security Council debate on a United Nations report accusing Israel of possible war crimes in Gaza. The report, produced by a panel of investigators led by an internationally respected jurist, Richard Goldstone, found extensive evidence that both Israel and Palestinian militant groups took actions amounting to war crimes during last winter’s Gaza war. » Read more

October 7th

Credit Barack Obama with resolve on a Palestinian state ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star by Hussein Ibish - October 7, 2009 - 12:00am Under the administration of President Barack Obama, the United States has vigorously re-engaged in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process and made commitment to Palestinian statehood an American national security and foreign policy priority. Obama has said that it is “absolutely crucial” to US interests to resolve the conflict, and appears determined to persist despite all difficulties and obstacles. » Read more

Two Difficult Tracks Launched as Arab World Absent ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Dar Al-Hayat by Paul Salem - October 6, 2009 - 12:00am In a flurry of diplomatic activity, US president Barack Obama has re-launched Israeli-Palestinian talks and taken the US into direct negotiations with Iran. The US-Iranian track has been dead for 30 years; the Israeli-Palestinian track only for eight. In both cases, the re-launch was not off to a promising start. Obama failed to get the Israelis to agree even to a settlement freeze, and the talks with Iran have been prefaced by a dramatic escalation of tension over the new nuclear reactor disclosed near Qum. » Read more

Banned from Al Aqsa ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National by Jonathan Cook - October 7, 2009 - 12:00am Tensions over control of the Haram al Sharif compound of mosques in Jerusalem’s Old City has reached a pitch unseen since clashes at the site sparked the second intifada nine years ago. Ten days of intermittently bloody clashes between Palestinians and Israeli security forces in Jerusalem culminated yesterday in warnings by Palestinian officials that Israel was “sparking a fire” in the city. Israel’s Jerusalem Post newspaper similarly wondered whether a third intifada was imminent. » Read more