August 18th

New Fatah Leadership Boosts Mideast Peace Efforts ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press August 18, 2009 - 12:00am Fatah has elected a rejuvenated leadership that will likely bring the mainstream Palestinian movement more in line with President Barack Obama's vision for an Israeli-Palestinian peace settlement, according to unofficial results released Tuesday. But a reluctant Israel and militant Islamic Hamas stranglehold on the Gaza Strip pose formidable obstacles on the road toward a peace accord. » Read more

Palestinians prefer Abbas and Fatah to Hamas: poll ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP) August 18, 2009 - 12:00am Support among Palestinians for president Mahmud Abbas and his secular Fatah party is greater than that for his Islamist Hamas rivals, according to the results of a poll released on Monday. The survey carried out by the Palestinian Centre for Policy and Survey Research (PSR) found that 52 percent of Palestinians would vote for Abbas to remain president, up three percentage points from three months ago. » Read more

Settlers say 'old Bibi' is back ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Efrat Weiss - August 18, 2009 - 12:00am Settler leaders were furious Tuesday morning after learning of the agreement to freeze building starts in the territories, including in the settlement blocs and east Jerusalem, as reported by Ynet. "If the prime minister implements the policy of (Opposition Chairwoman) Tzipi Livni, (former Defense Minister) Amir Peretz and Talia Sasson (author of government report on illegal outposts) – this government's days are numbered," warned Ariel Mayor Ron Nachman. » Read more

Israel agrees to freeze settlement construction as gesture to US ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Roni Sofer - August 18, 2009 - 12:00am In a subtle overture to the US, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Housing Minister Ariel Atias agreed upon a de facto moratorium on new building in the settlements. According to the estimates of officials involved, the freeze will be in effect until the beginning of 2010. The objective is to provide an opportunity for a Mideast peace process to gain momentum in hopes that the new "waiting" tactic will allow international recognition of Israel's sovereignty in Jerusalem and the large settlement blocs. » Read more

Officials: Netanyahu froze new West Bank projects ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters August 18, 2009 - 12:00am Israel has quietly stopped approving new building projects in the West Bank while publicly still refusing U.S. demands for an official settlement freeze, government officials said Tuesday. The decision to temporarily shelve new construction was made jointly by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Housing Minister Ariel Atias, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because no formal measure has been announced. » Read more

August 17th

What is Required of the Obama Administration Today… ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Dar Al-Hayat by Raghida Dergham - (Opinion) August 14, 2009 - 12:00am The Barack Obama Administration behaved naively when, in demanding that both sides of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict fulfill their commitments, it forcefully introduced the idea of the Arabs offering the Israeli government a reward or a bribe to stop violating international law and freeze illegal settlement-building, by taking step towards normalization that would be linked or would coincide with freezing Israeli settlement activity. » Read more

Qaeda a challenge to Hamas, but also opportunity? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Alastair MacDonald - (Analysis) August 16, 2009 - 12:00am On Peace Street, it's hard to tell where the scars of one war end and another's begin. Yet the weekend battle that raged along this dusty alley in the Gaza Strip may just offer a glimmer of opportunity to ease conflict -- though only if one looks beyond evidence that it adds new layers of hatred to an already tangled struggle. The rubble of homes and the bullet-scarred mosque at the end of the road in the Palestinian border town of Rafah lay as fresh relics on Sunday of bloody clashes between Gaza's ruling Hamas Islamists and a splinter group aligned with global al Qaeda. [nLG71700] » Read more

A fight for Palestine ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News (Editorial) August 17, 2009 - 12:00am Hamas may have ended the rebellion launched by the Al-Qaeda-inspired Jund Ansar Allah, but it did so the hard away. Not before 24 people were killed, including two children, and over 100 were injured, was some semblance of order restored in the southern Gaza Strip. If Hamas would like to take credit for crushing this Al-Qaeda group in a standoff that came to a fiery end, it must also take the blame for having started the conflagration when it opened the Gaza Strip two years ago to foreign extremist elements in the absence of a legitimate Palestinian authority. » Read more

Who was Abu Noor al-Maqdisi? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat August 16, 2009 - 12:00am Dr. Abdul Latif Bin Khalid Al Mousa AKA Abu Noor al-Maqdisi was the leader of the Salafist Takirist Jihadist group Jund Ansar Allah [Soldiers of the Companions of God]. Al-Maqdisi was born in the Gaza Strip and was said to be fifty years old at the time of his death. He studied in the Gaza Strip education system, completing his secondary school education in the late 1970s where he was particularly noted for excellence the field of science. » Read more

Hamas: Extremism Breeds Extremism ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat by Tariq Alhomayed - August 16, 2009 - 12:00am Armed conflict between Palestinians has returned to Gaza once more, however this time it is against the Islamic Hamas movement in the name of religion and under the pretext of Jihad. On Friday, an extremist group announced the establishment of a new Islamic Emirate; the group also announced that it considered Hamas to be a secular movement that had falsely laid claim to Islam. » Read more