All items
- Practical Prisoner Release Planning
- Setting the Record Straight | Aug 18, 2008
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"Instead of adopting a resolute stance against terrorism, the Kadima-Labor government continues to release hundreds of prisoners in return for nothing,"
—Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu, August 18, 2008 
- "In an expedited process Israel should now announce an organized plan to release prisoners as part of the diplomatic track with Abbas. The announcement alone and a real move toward implementing such a plan would immediately boost Abbas’ popularity ... Initiating a plan, rather than responding to terrorists demands and strong internal public pressure, would start a process in which each side—Israel, the PA and the international community—assumes responsibility. If we don’t plan the next step ahead of time, we might find ourselves in the same situation again."
—Lt. General (Ret.) Orit Adato, former commissioner of the Israeli Prison Service; first international vice president, International Correction and Prison Association (ICPA), June 26, 2008. Interview with Middle East Bulletin. - Israel Releases 199 Palestinian Prisoners
- Analysis | Aug 18, 2008
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The Israeli ministerial committee that oversees prisoner releases approved today the cabinet decision to release 199 Palestinian prisoners as a gesture of goodwill to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. This move comes a month after the Israeli government exchanged with Hezbollah five Hezbollah terrorists, including the killer Samir Kuntar, and 199 bodies of Lebanese combatants and infiltrators, for the remains of Israeli soldiers Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev.
In June, Middle East Bulletin spoke with Brigadier General (Ret.) Ilan Paz, former
- Significant Lebanese-Syrian Meeting Overshadowed by Bombing
- Analysis | Aug 16, 2008
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While news agencies have been focused on a bombing attack in northern Lebanon, there were separate events unfolding in Damascus that could affect Lebanese and Syrian politics for years to come. On August 14, Lebanese President Michel Suleiman completed a historic two-day visit to Syria, the first by a Lebanese president since Syria withdrew its troops from Lebanon in April 2005. During the visit, Suleiman and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad pledged to work together on four critical issues:
1)
- Base Barrier on Security
- Heard on the Street | Aug 7, 2008
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Yossi Alpher, coeditor, bitterlemons family of internet publications, former director, Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies, Tel Aviv University, “Hard Questions, Tough Answers,” Americans for Peace Now, July 28, 2008:
“At the time the Jerusalem security barrier was built, many Israeli security experts … pointed out that the wall was attaching 230,000 Palestinians to Israel and detaching them from the West Bank in a way that was sure to spell trouble. Only in Jerusalem has the barrier attached to a
- Israel to Free More Than 150 Palestinian Prisoners as Gesture to Abbas
- News | Aug 7, 2008
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Prime Minister Ehud Olmert pledged Wednesday to free more than 150 Palestinian prisoners by the end of August as a goodwill gesture to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. …
[Olmert] spokesman [Mark Regev] did not say if jailed Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouti would be among the freed prisoners. Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat … said Abbas specifically requested the release of Marwan Barghouti … [and] Ahmed Saadat, leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, who is in an Israeli
- J’lem Municipality OKs Panel to Consider Cheap Housing for Young
- News | Aug 7, 2008
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After decades of continued Jewish emigration from Jerusalem, the Jerusalem Municipality announced plans Monday to establish a committee to consider cheap housing options for students and other would-be young residents of the capital. …
The committee, to be headed by Prof. Shlomo Hasson of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, will study various proposals for affordable housing for students and young couples.
- Supreme Court: Palestinian Authority Can Be Sued
- News | Aug 7, 2008
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The Supreme Court overturned a Jerusalem District Court decision on Wednesday and determined that the Palestinian Authority is not immune to lawsuits filed by Israeli bodies and it does not hold sovereign immunity.
The Supreme Court’s ruling followed a petition filed by the Beit Midrash of the Elon Moreh settlement in the West Bank against the Jerusalem District Court, which rejected the Jewish organization’s 2006 lawsuit and determined that the PA is considered autonomous and thus, can’t be sued.
- Yeshiva Shooter’s House To Be Demolished
- News | Aug 7, 2008
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The house of the terrorist who killed eight students at Jerusalem’s Mercaz Harav Yeshiva will be destroyed, Defense Minister Ehud Barak decided [Wednesday]. …
This will be the first time in five years that the government has destroyed a terrorist’s house in East Jerusalem. However, this demolition is expected to be soon followed by two others: the homes of the two bulldozer drivers, both residents of East Jerusalem, who used their vehicles to carry out attacks in the capital earlier this
- Jordan Resumes Talks with Hamas
- News | Aug 7, 2008
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A Jordanian Islamist says Jordan has renewed dialogue with the terrorist Hamas group after two years of icy relations.
Muslim Brotherhood spokesman Jamil Abu-Bakr says a “preliminary meeting” recently took place in Amman between the two sides, whose relations soured when Jordan in 2006 arrested three Hamas members for conspiracy to attack Israeli businessmen and Jordanian officials.
- The Challenge of Jerusalem
- Analysis | Aug 7, 2008
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If the current situation remains as is and there is no significant progress in the peace talks, it is important to look at temporary alternative ways to manage the city better for the welfare of all of its residents. …
De facto, Jerusalem is already divided. There is no real integration between Jews and Arabs. We suggest dividing the city into separate boroughs, Jewish and Arab, all of which would be under Israeli sovereignty until a peace agreement is reached, but