April 29th, 2008

Conflicting Claims Over Gaza Deaths ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al Jazeera English April 29, 2008 - 5:17pm Differing accounts have emerged of what caused four Palestinian children and their mother to die during an Israeli air raid on the Gaza Strip.   While Palestinian witnesses blamed Monday's deaths on an Israeli missile, the Israelis say the blast was caused when explosives carried by Palestinian fighters detonated during the raid.  » Read more

Israel Pullout Risks Iran Foothold On Golan: Minister ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP) April 29, 2008 - 5:16pm Deputy Prime Minister Shaul Mofaz on Tuesday said that returning the occupied Golan Heights to Syria would give Iran a foothold in the strategic plateau overlooking northern Israel. "Any Israeli withdrawal will lead to an Iranian presence on the Golan Heights," Mofaz told Israeli army radio in a telephone interview from Washington, where he was attending an Israeli-American security conference. » Read more

Islamic Jihad Sets Conditions For Truce With Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Alaa Shahine - April 29, 2008 - 5:15pm The Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad said on Tuesday any possible truce with Israel would not restrict its right to respond to strikes by the Jewish state in the West Bank. Abu Emad al-Rifaie, a senior member of Islamic Jihad, said the group told Egyptian mediators that it approved -- with qualifications -- a Hamas proposal for a truce with Israel that starts in the Gaza Strip. » Read more

Israel: Amnesty Program For Palestinian Gunmen A Success ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press April 29, 2008 - 5:14pm Israeli defense officials say an amnesty program meant to get Palestinian militants to surrender their weapons has been a success. Under last year's program, Israel offered to stop hunting down dozens of West Bank militants if they agreed to halt violent activities. The men are required to surrender their weapons, serve a brief sentence in a Palestinian jail and pass a probationary term. A senior Israeli security official says 281 gunmen accepted the offer. He says just six have returned to violence. » Read more

Bush To Visit Israel, Saudi Arabia, Egypt In May ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press April 29, 2008 - 5:13pm US President George W. Bush will visit Israel, Saudi Arabia and Egypt in May, a trip intended to hail Israel's 60th anniversary but also shove along Mideast peace talks that have stalled as Bush's term winds down. The White House on Monday released details of Bush's trip, the broad outline of which had been expected for weeks. Bush, who was in the Middle East in January to try to advance peace talks between Israeli and Palestinian leaders, had indicated at that time he would return in May to honor Israel's founding. » Read more

Palestinian Negotiators Go Home Frustrated ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Inter Press Service (IPS) by Khody Akhavi - April 29, 2008 - 5:12pm As President George W. Bush races to ink a deal before his term expires in January of next year, disagreements remain over the final-status issues and the territorial integrity of a future Palestinian state. Following the latest round of talks last week in the U.S. capital between President Mahmoud Abbas and Bush, the Palestinian negotiating team appeared pessimistic about any durable prospect for peace, despite assurances from Bush himself to the contrary. » Read more

Unforgiven ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Atlantic by Jeffrey Goldberg - April 29, 2008 - 5:10pm n early August of 2006, four weeks after the Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah, which has as its goal the physical elimination of Israel (and the ancillary ambition of murdering, whenever practicable, Jews elsewhere in the world), killed three Israeli soldiers and kidnapped two more in a cross-border raid, Israel found itself in an exceedingly disagreeable position. The Hezbollah attack had prompted an immediate, and intermittently unrestrained, Israeli military response, which included thousands of bombing runs over Lebanon. » Read more

April 28th

Above All, Olmert Must Want Peace ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Uzi Benziman - (Opinion) April 28, 2008 - 6:16pm It's not clear whether Ehud Olmert's situation regarding the possibility of initiating peace moves with Syria resembles that of the man who wants to but can't, the one who can but doesn't want to, or the one who can't and convinces himself that he doesn't want to anyway. » Read more

Mk Ariel: Arabs Should Be Urged To Willingly Emigrate From Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz April 28, 2008 - 6:15pm MK Uri Ariel on Sunday called on the government to encourage Israeli Arabs to "willingly emigrate" from Israel and from large cities within it, so as to solve the problematic situation of the country's minorities. The National Union MK made a speech during a first-of-its-kind conference dealing with the issue of Israel's minorities as well as with "the creeping Arab occupation", and said "the issue of Arabs living within the State of Israel should be addressed." » Read more

Settlers To Move Into E. J'lem Police Hq ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Akiva Eldar - April 28, 2008 - 6:14pm Based on an agreement signed with former police commissioner Moshe Karadi, right-wing settlers will take up residence in a group of buildings in Jerusalem's predominantly Arab neighborhood Ras al-Amud in the next few days. The building had hitherto served as the Samaria and Judea District Police headquarters. The buildings are slated to become the nucleus of a new Jewish neighborhood in the so-called Holy Basin area, the fate of which is supposed to be decided in Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. » Read more