June 17th, 2008

A New Kid On The Peacemaking Block ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Middle East Times by Claude Salhani - (Editorial) June 17, 2008 - 5:20pm There is a relatively new group on the Middle East peacemaking block who go by the name of The Israeli Palestinian Confederation. The Los Angeles-based IPC has been kicking around the idea for the last three years of a confederation between Israelis and Palestinians as a means to resolve the 60-year-old dispute that has been at the center of the Middle East's turmoil. » Read more

Gaza Truce To Begin Thursday: Palestinian Official ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Nidal Al-mughrabi, Jeffrey Heller, Ori Lewis - June 17, 2008 - 5:15pm GAZA (Reuters) - A ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip will begin on Thursday, Egypt said after mediating a deal that could ease a crippling Israeli blockade of the Hamas-controlled territory. "Both sides have pledged to halt all hostilities and all military activities against each other," Egyptian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hossam Zaki said in Cairo on Tuesday, after weeks of separate talks with Israel and Hamas. » Read more

West Bank 'attackers' Arrested ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bbc News June 17, 2008 - 5:13pm Israeli police say they have arrested two Jewish settlers over an apparent assault of Palestinians that was filmed as part of a human rights project. An adult male and a minor were arrested in Susia settlement overnight and will appear in court on Tuesday. B'Tselem human rights group has been giving Palestinians video cameras as part of its Shooting Back scheme. The footage shot on 8 June shows four masked figures walk up to some shepherds and attack them with clubs. » Read more

Our Position: Secretary Rice Was Right To Call Israel On Adding Its Footprint To Disputed Land ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Orlando Sentinel (Editorial) June 17, 2008 - 5:09pm If the Bush administration is to have any hope of succeeding in its belated push for a peace deal between Israelis and Palestinians, the United States must be seen as an honest broker. That's why it was important for Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to criticize Israel this week for its plans to add hundreds of new homes to land claimed by the Palestinians. » Read more

What Ehud Olmert Should – But Probably Didn't – Tell George Bush ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Americans For Peace Now by Ori Nir - (Opinion) June 17, 2008 - 5:08pm WASHINGTON—What Ehud Olmert should – but probably won’t - tell George Bush last Wednesday in the White House. Thanks for seeing me, George. This may be my last meeting with you as Israel's prime minister. I'm in a pinch, you know, and I'm fighting to save my political life. All these calls in recent days for me to resign have broadened my perspective. They have actually inspired me to speak bluntly to you. » Read more

Israel Seems To Make Progress In Talks ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Isabel Kershner - June 17, 2008 - 5:07pm JERUSALEM — Israel and Hamas have agreed to an Egyptian-brokered mutual cease-fire for the Gaza area starting Thursday morning, Egyptian and Hamas officials announced on Tuesday. “The Palestinian and Israeli sides have accepted the first stage of a reciprocal and simultaneous period of calm, starting in the Gaza Strip, from 0600 on Thursday,” an unidentified senior Egyptian official told the state news agency MENA. » Read more

June 16th

Take Advantage Of Ceasefire ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Yossi Beilin - (Opinion) June 16, 2008 - 5:12pm   The decision has apparently been taken. After we already tried all other solutions, perhaps we have come to realize that the best way to stop the attacks on the western Negev is to reach a ceasefire. This is no great bargain, and certainly no substitute for peace. The fact that we are forced to reach either a direct or indirect agreement with Hamas is unpleasant. » Read more

On A Collision Course ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al- Ahram by Saleh Al-naami - June 16, 2008 - 5:11pm Over the past 10 months, observers have been expecting an Israeli offensive in Gaza, notwithstanding Egyptian efforts to arrange a truce between the Israelis and Hamas. Yediot Aharonot 's military analyst Ron Ben-Yishai says that it is impossible for Israel to agree to the Egyptian initiative, not after the recent attacks by the Palestinian resistance. Israeli leaders, commanders, and intelligence officials believe that a truce would be seen as a victory of Hamas. The latter says that the rocket attacks are its way of telling Israel to lift the blockade. » Read more

What Us Role Between Syria And Israel? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star by Ariel Kastner - (Opinion) June 16, 2008 - 5:10pm The recent announcement that indirect peace talks between Israel and Syria are being conducted in Turkey has led many to ask whether this round of negotiations represents anything more than political games. Given that Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is facing a deepening corruption investigation with louder calls for him to step down, and in light of floundering negotiations with the Palestinians, many Israelis presume he might be using the cover of peace talks with Syria to divert attention from his political challenges. » Read more

It's Either Land For Peace, Or Expect Little Peace ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons by Rana Sabbagh-gargour - June 16, 2008 - 5:08pm There is an argument in some political quarters that the land for peace formula, upon which efforts to realize comprehensive Arab-Israel peace and a settlement to the Palestinian problem were based, is clinically dead. » Read more