Peacemaking Truths And Lies
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Gershon Baskin - (Opinion) October 24, 2007 - 10:48am

For 60 years Palestinian and Arab leaders have been lying to their people. Creating and sustaining the lie that the Palestinian refugees of 1948 would return to their original homes and lands makes it almost impossible for President Mahmoud Abbas to reach an agreement with Israel on this, the most central issue in the conflict.

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Peace Studies: Children Of Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Independent
by Donald Macintyre - October 24, 2007 - 10:36am

At first glance the class of excited nine-year-olds looks like any other when the principal drops in for a visit.

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Mideast Agreement Must Pass Israeli Vote
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
by Mark Lavie - October 24, 2007 - 10:29am

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has pledged to seek parliamentary approval for any significant agreement with the Palestinians, including the joint declaration of principles he is trying to reach ahead of a U.S.-sponsored Mideast conference later this year, according to a letter released Monday. Approval would be far from automatic if the declaration commits Israel to giving up parts of Jerusalem or other main concessions sought by the Palestinians. Hawkish parties in Olmert's coalition have threatened to bring his government down if he agrees to such steps.

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Palestine: A Policy Of Deliberate Blindness
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Le Monde Diplomatique
by Régis Debray - (Opinion) October 22, 2007 - 2:49pm

Dennis Ross, formerly the United States envoy to the Middle East, admitted back in 2000 that mistakes had been made in the 1978 Camp David accords: the diplomatic process had not taken enough account of developments on the ground, especially the settlements. The number of Jewish settlers in the Palestinian territories doubled from 1994 to 2000. As many Israelis have settled in the West Bank since the Oslo accords of 1993 as in the previous 25 years. With an international conference again being discussed, it would be a mistake to continue to ignore the real state of affairs.

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ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Rory Mccarthy - (Special Report) October 22, 2007 - 2:48pm

Israeli police and soldiers forcibly removed two dozen illegal settlers and hundreds of their supporters yesterday from the centre of Hebron, in the occupied West Bank. The settlers threw stones, water, oil and cement powder as they tried to resist being carried out one by one. Thirty people were hurt, with one settler and six policemen needing hospital treatment after the three-hour confrontation.

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Touring Israel's Barrier With Its Main Designer
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Scott Wilson - October 22, 2007 - 11:31am

From his stone balcony, Dan Tirza looks out over a rippling expanse of Judean desert, the biblical landscape of the Jewish people. A student of that history, the retired army colonel is a leading actor in Israel's modern story of statehood, conquest and the volatile task of erecting a boundary that divides Arab from Jew. Soon Israel's $2.5 billion separation barrier will rise around Tirza's settlement, where 350 Jewish families live among palms, playgrounds and a synagogue 10 miles inside the West Bank.

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If Hamas Isn't In The Game
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Danny Rubenstein - (Opinion) October 22, 2007 - 11:28am

The Olmert government in Israel and the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, headed by Mahmoud Abbas, are in the midst of renewed political activity, encouraged by intensive American efforts. There have been frequent meetings, discussions of an agreement of principles and plans for a regional conference. Although there still are many problems in the field, like the amnesty agreement for wanted men that the two sides haven't managed to finalize, there certainly has been progress.

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Family Reunification
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Miftah
(Opinion) October 22, 2007 - 11:14am

Since the beginning of Israeli occupation in 1967, all policies towards curbing the process of Palestinian family reunification have greatly threatened normal and stable family life for many. This has been especially true for residents of Jerusalem, whose linkage with the West Bank has been severed, not only geographically but also socially. Families have had to establish two homes, one in Jerusalem and one in the West Bank, which is disruptive to children’s educational process to say the least.

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Excuse Me, What Nationality Did You Say You Were?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from
by Joharah Baker - (Opinion) October 22, 2007 - 10:41am

My older brother recently informed me that his three children were eligible for US passports, given that he, like myself and my other siblings, were all born in the United States. But my nephew and niece were hardly without citizenship even before this most recent discovery. Married to a Palestinian/German woman with both German [or EU] and Israeli citizenship, my brother’s children also have European Union passports while the baby, born in Palestine is also the bearer of an Israeli passport.

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The Missing Link
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times
by George Hishmeh - (Opinion) October 19, 2007 - 4:46pm

The continued give-and-take over the predawn Israeli air strike at an unmanned Syrian site, reportedly a nascent nuclear facility close to the Turkish border, remains a mystery several weeks after it happened. Even the United Nations watchdog organisation handling nuclear issues, the International Atomic Energy Agency, has pleaded ignorance on the subject.

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