December 28th

Beware Of Barak ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Antiwar (Editorial) December 28, 2007 - 3:18pm Israeli "Defense" Minister Ehud Barak is definitely the most dangerous politician in the Middle East. Ahmadinejad can only dream of having the powers – political and military, conventional and non-conventional – that Barak already possesses. Netanyahu and other far-right Israeli politicians say what they think and are earmarked as extremists, so they are under permanent scrutiny. Barak is more extreme than Netanyahu, but he's an extremist in disguise. » Read more

Israel's Olmert Balks At Full Settlement Halt ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Adam Entous - December 28, 2007 - 3:15pm Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert balked on Thursday at committing to a total freeze in settlement activity, a key demand of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas for advancing U.S.-backed peace talks. But the leaders agreed during their two-hour meeting to press ahead with negotiations that have been paralyzed since Israel announced plans to build hundreds of new homes in an area near Jerusalem known to Israelis as Har Homa and to Palestinians as Jabal Abu Ghneim. » Read more

Abbas, Olmert Put Aside Settlement Fight ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post by Josef Federman - December 28, 2007 - 3:12pm Israeli and Palestinian leaders agreed Thursday to put aside a dispute over Israeli construction in a Jerusalem neighborhood and get down to work on a final peace agreement, according to participants at the meeting. The two-hour meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas appeared to break an impasse that has clouded renewed peacemaking, and cleared the way for a visit by President Bush next month. It was the first summit between the two leaders since they relaunched peace talks at a U.S.-hosted meeting last month. » Read more

Middle East Censors Seek To Limit Web Access ATFP World Press Roundup Article from McClatchy News by Hannah Allam - December 28, 2007 - 3:11pm In Iran, a large red icon pops up on computer screens. In Syria, there's a discreet note from the filter. Other Arab nations display "blocked" in bold lettering or issue crafty "page not found" replies. However the censors put it, the message is clear: You're not permitted to see this Web site. » Read more

Mideast Talks Already Tangled A Month After Annapolis Summit ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor by Ilene Prusher - December 28, 2007 - 3:08pm Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas are set to meet Thursday amid rising tensions over whether the promises of peace they made a month ago in Annapolis, Md., can be fulfilled. The Israeli and Palestinian leaders have quickly met a variety of roadblocks in the process they had pledged to relaunch last month at the summit under US auspices, buoyed by the attendance of other Middle East players. » Read more

Har Homa Crisis / Waiting For Bush ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Aluf Benn - December 28, 2007 - 2:45pm Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is scheduled to meet Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas tomorrow in an attempt to solve the so-called settlement crisis that has plagued negotiations since the Annapolis summit late last month. The Palestinians are upset over a tender by the Housing Ministry for the construction of 307 housing units in the southeast Jerusalem neighborhood of Har Homa, on the Palestinian side of the Green Line. » Read more

Apology In Kafr Qasem ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Tom Segev - December 28, 2007 - 2:43pm On October 29, 1956, a little after 5 P.M., several dozen Kafr Qasem residents were coming home from work, unaware that a curfew had been declared because of the start of the Sinai Campaign. Border police lined them up and shot them dead: 47 people, Arabs, citizens of Israel. » Read more

Clearing Out The Jails ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Akiva Eldar - (Opinion) December 28, 2007 - 2:41pm For many years, and especially as head of the Civil Administration in Judea and Samaria, Brigadier General Ilan Paz earned a living hunting down and jailing Palestinians. He has spent this last year, however, with two released prisoners: Fatah leaders Hisham Abd al-Razeq, Fatah's former minister of prisoner affairs, and Ibrahim Salameh, a former adviser to the Palestinian interior minister. » Read more

Israel Must Stop Its Latest Illegal Plan ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News (Editorial) December 28, 2007 - 2:40pm During this festive season, Israel has given the Palestinians one less reason to celebrate through its announcement that it will expand two of its existing illegal colonies. This comes at a time when the "serious negotiations" following the Annapolis conference were set to resume between Israelis and Palestinians. In fact, Palestinian and Israeli negotiators were scheduled to meet on Monday for the second time since last month's US-sponsored conference, but that meeting is now put on hold. » Read more

Close Down Dimona - The Risks Are Just Not Worth It ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star by Bennett Ramberg - (Opinion) December 28, 2007 - 2:39pm Nuclear facilities as military targets? The drumbeat appears to be growing louder. Western leaders repeatedly declare that no option is off the table to stem Iran's nuclear ambitions. And, in mid-November, London's Sunday Times reported that Israel put defenses around its Dimona nuclear reactor on "red alert" 30 times, as worries grew that Syria would avenge Israel's September attack on a suspected nuclear site in Syria. » Read more