Search

Reports that Palestinian officials are preparing a presidential election to find Yasir Arafat's successor. Appointment of Mahmoud Abbas as chairman of the Palestinian Liberation Organization; Appeal of Palestinian officials to Israel to pull back its forces from Palestinian cities to allow voting; Suggestion that Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti could run for president from an Israeli prison.

Examines the issue on how the United States and its allies will bring the conflict in Iraq to an end. Foreign policy; Presidential politics; Military and diplomatic realities.

Examines whether gaining more control over more territory will lead Palestinians to an independent state, following Israel's withdrawal from the Gaza Strip. Challenges that the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, is facing; Suspicions of many Palestinians concerning Israel's motives; Outlook for progress; Views of Abbas' advisers and of Palestinians; Issue of security reform; Infrastructure plans.

Focuses on the negative impact of the peace process between Israel and Palestine. Nature of the conflict; Failure of cease-fire agreements; Efforts to intervene in the conflict.

Discusses the stance of presidential candidates Senator John Kerry and incumbent President George W. Bush on issues of foreign policy. Suggestion from politicians and policy analysts that there is a lack of clarification from either candidate about where they stand on the major issues; Feelings of Bush and Kerry on the war and Iraq; Claims from Kerry that he will find a way for U.S. troops to withdraw from Iraq more quickly if he is elected; How both candidates support the development of a better relationship with China while promoting internal reform; Support from Bush and Kerry for the policies of Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon regarding Israel and the Palestinians.

Presents the second of two articles about the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip. How it is uncertain who will rule the Palestinians in Gaza after Israeli forces leave; Concern of many that without a plan in place, the area could be lawless or run by force; Struggle by factions to assert their rule; How Palestinian president, Yasir Arafat, has not made a statement about a government for the area; Hope of some that it could become self-ruling and a model for the rest of the country; Efforts of Muhammad Dahlan who is favored by the Israelis, Europeans and Americans to position himself for leadership; Background on Dahlan.

Reports on Israeli Justice Minister Yosef Lapid's attack on Israeli plan to demolish Palestinian homes in Gaza. Lapid's claim that a suffering Palestinian woman reminded him of his grandmother; Israeli debate about a continuing Israeli military campaign in the Palestinian neighborhoods of the southern Gaza Strip; Remarks made by Lapid in a radio interview regarding the issue.

Comments on the Israeli army raids conducted in the Gaza Strip in May 2004. Death and damage to property caused by the raids; International reaction to the raids; Proposed withdrawal of all Israeli troops in the Palestinian occupied area.

Reports that several people were killed when an Israeli tank and helicopter gunship opened fire on a group of Palestinians protesting against Israel's occupation in Rafah in Gaza Strip. Implication for the peace process between the two countries; United Nations Security Council's reaction on the Israeli actions; Number of civilians killed in the attack.

Reports on the leftists' call for the pullout of Israeli soldiers out of the Gaza Strip near the border with Egypt. Support given in part by the lefitsts to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon; Turbulence in Israeli politics; Growth in the clamor for a Gaza withdrawal following the death of soldiers in separate attacks that destroyed two armored vehicles.

Reports on Israel's plan to widen an army-patrolled zone at the southern end of the Gaza Strip near the border with Egypt. Demolition of many Palestinian buildings; Efforts to protect Israeli soldiers who hunt for Palestinian smuggling tunnels in the area; Incidence of violence that resulted to the death of soldiers in the area.

Reports on the peace process in the Middle East. Plan of Israel Minister Ariel Sharon for withdrawal of Israel settlements in the Gaza Strip; Evidence of American diplomacy; Indictment of Sharon in a bribery investigation.

Reports on the reason for the hesitation of Israel Prime Minister Ariel Sharon on his planned trip to Washington, D.C. Fear of Sharon concerning the diplomatic guarantees he wanted from U.S. President George W. Bush; Reaction of the Palestinian leadership from the shifts in the American policy in the Middle East; Prediction of the advisers of Sharon on the domestic support he needed to push ahead with his Gaza plan.

Reports on President George W. Bush's support of an Israeli plan to withdraw from the Gaza Strip. Provision of diplomatic assurances that represented a victory for Prime Minister Ariel Sharon; Three commitments made by the United States, including backing for the Gaza withdrawal, recognition that Israel would hold on to parts of the West bank, and an American rejection of the right of Palestinians refugees from the 1948 to return to their lands in what is now Israel; Absence of the Palestinians in the negotiations.

Focuses on the parallels found between wars in the past and the war in Iraq in 2004. Description of the invasion of Lebanon in Israel in 1982; Comparison of wars or fighting in Vietnam, Lebanon and Baghdad; Similarities between the war in Iraq and Vietnam.

Reports that Palestinians are vowing revenge for the killing of Hamas cleric Sheik Ahmed Yassin. Death of the spiritual leader in an attack by the Israeli government; Mood at the funeral in Gaza; Protests and violence after the killing; Comments of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, whose government authorized the attack; Sharon's approach to terrorism; Reactions to the attack, including condemnation by Arab and European officials; Comparison of Sheik Yassin to Osama bin Laden by Israeli officials; Hamas' commitment to Israel's destruction.

Reports that two Palestinian suicide bombers not only killed ten Israeli in Ashdod on Sunday but their act also shut down what would have been the first meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and his counterpart, Ahmed Qurei of Palestine. Description of the suicide bombing; How Israel retaliated; Belief the bombers may have come from the Gaza Strip and the implications that makes concerning the electronic security fence around Gaza designed to keep terrorists out of Israel; Responsibility for the bombing which was claimed by an offshoot of Yasir Arafat's Fatah faction; Description of the actual attack; Gaza militants who are angry following an Israeli raid into central Gaza where 14 were killed.

Reports on the February 22, 2004 suicide bombing in Jerusalem, a Palestine effort in retaliation for the West Bank barrier and for an Israeli raid into the Gaza Strip on February 11 that killed 15 Palestinians. Number of casualties; Background on the barrier to be constructed by Israel to block terrorist bombers.

Reports on Israel Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's call on the American government to support his proposal for "unilateral disengagement" from the Palestinians. Sharon's assurance that the proposal will not replace the U.S. government's peace initiative; Commitment of Sharon to the U.S. road map for peace in the Middle East.

Reports on the proposition by Israel Prime Minister Ariel Sharon regarding dismantling of settlements. Comments from the leaders of the Israeli settlement movement on Sharon's proposal to dismantle seven isolated settlements as part of a plan of unilateral disengagement from the Palestinian; Denial of Sharon on the alleged negotiation; Plan of Sharon to evacuate some Jewish communities as part of his unilateral plan.

Reports on the refusal of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to make a state visit to Jerusalem in an invitation issued by Israel President Moshe Katsav. Reasons for al-Assad's refusal; History of the political relations between Israel and Syria; Issues relating to Syria's support for terrorism and its commitment to radicalism for pragmatic reasons to rally national support; International disagreements over the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights; Implications for world politics and international relations.

Reports the statement of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon of Israel that he saw no risk that Palestinians could undermine Israel's identity by gaining a demographic majority. Willingness of Israel to resume peace negotiations with Syria; Risk of being seen as an apartheid state; Support for Israel's policy of settling Jews in the occupied territories of the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Reports on the possibility of establishing diplomatic ties between Israel and Libya. Meeting between Ron Prosor, aide of Israel's foreign minister, with Libyan representatives; Effect of the killing of Palestinian gunmen by Israeli forces on the talks.

Reports that Israel has stopped Palestinian Muslims from going to a holy site in Jerusalem to pray. Defacement of a memorial to former Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin in Tel Aviv; Israelites' condemnation of the vandalism; History of the conflict between Palestine and Israel.

Focuses on the town of Abu Dis, on the West Bank, which was envisioned by negotiators as a possible capital of a Palestinian state. View that Abu Dis shows how divided the Israelis and Palestinians have become; Comments of Yossi Beilin, former Israeli minister of economy and planning; Implications of the resignation of Palestinian prime minister, Mahmoud Abbas; Deterioration of Israeli-Palestinian relations; Construction of a barrier by Israel to sever Abu Dis from Jerusalem; Description of Abu Dis; Reactions to the barricade.

Reports on the efforts to stop Palestinian prime minister Mahmoud Abbas from resigning. His efforts to secure peace between Israel and Palestine; Stalemate between Abbas and Yassir Arafat and his Fatah movement; Difficulty over which man has the power in Palestine; Threat by the U.S. government that if he resigns, the U.S. might walk away from the road map to peace; History of the relationship between the two men; Blame for the end of the cease fire which Abbas placed on Israel.

Deals with the move made by the Israeli government on July 12, 2003 to focus international blame on Palestinian leader Yasir Arafat for setbacks in the Middle East peace efforts.

Analyzes the agreement by the three main Palestinian factions to suspend attacks on Israelis. Outlook for the success of the American-led peace plan; Complex politics of Palestinian violence; Role of Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian prime minister, and his relationship with Hamas leaders; Motives of Hamas in cooperating with the governing Palestinian Authority; Background on Fatah and Palestinian violence; Concerns of Fatah officials.

Reports that Palestinian leaders are urging smaller resistance factions to join in a cease-fire announcement it has planned with militant groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad. Plans of Israeli and Palestinian leaders to meet to discuss the transfer of security control over parts of the Gaza Strip; Details of the truce agreement; Details of bombing incidents in the region, which may have been conducted in response to the imminent truce agreement.

Reports that Israeli and Palestinian leaders reached agreement for Israeli forces to begin withdrawing from areas of the Gaza Strip and returning security control to Palestinian officers. Highlights of the peace plan; How the progress occurred despite more violence; Influence of U.S. national security adviser Condoleezza Rice; Pressure by the U.S. government, which is involved in the peace process; Possible Palestinian suspension of attacks; Reactions of Hamas leaders to an Israeli raid in Gaza.

Reports on the public appearance of Israel and Palestinian prime ministers together on June 4, 2003, to signal an era of American peacemaking in the Middle East.

Examines reactions of Israeli settlers to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's criticism of what he called Israel's occupation in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, captured in the 1967 war. Israeli government's support of eventually creating a Palestinian state; History of the Israelis movement into this area; Issue of giving up land; Comments of settlers, including a rejection of the peace plan; Overview of the debate; Sharon's emphasis on his roots as a Zionist; Outlook.

Reports on the resignation of Amram Mitzna as chairman of the Labor Party in Israel. Possibility of the Labor Party joining the government of prime minister Ariel Sharon; Implications on the peace plan of Israel with the Palestinians.

Reports that a diplomatic coalition that includes the United States formally presented Israeli and Palestinean leaders with a detailed plan for peace in the Middle East. Details of the plan, called a road map, aimed at the creation of a sovereign, independent, democratic and viable Palestine; Number of people killed in a suicide bombing at a Tel Aviv (Israel) jazz club, and what that says about the peace efforts of Palestinean prime minister Mahmoud Abbas.

Focuses on Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas, who is urging violent groups to end armed conflict. Suicide bombing in Tel Aviv after Abbas denounced terrorism and appealed for peace with Israel; Approval of Abbas' new government by the Palestinian parliament; Plan for the creation of a Palestinian state and Arab-Israeli peace; Details of the bombing; Abbas' speech to Parliament; Criticism of Abbas by some legislators; Role of the U.S. President George W. Bush administration in the peace process; Views of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon of Israel; Outlook.

Discusses promises made by United States President George W. Bush that he will act diplomatically to end a conflict between Israel and Palestine. Possibility that this may occur following the Iraqi War; Details of the so-called road map for peace drafted by the United States, Russia and others in 2002; Outlook for implementation.

Reports that Israel, using missiles launched from helicopters, killed a top Hamas leader and his three bodyguards in Gaza City. Vow by Hamas to avenge the killing of Ibrahim al-Makadmah; Nomination of Mahmoud Abbas, a critic of the Palestinian armed uprising, to a post of prime minister by Palestinian leader Yasir Arafat; The growing struggles; Arafat's stated desire for a two-state solution to the conflict with Israel; Outlook for Arafat's relations with militant Islamic group Hamas.

Reports on increased military intervention between Israelis and Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. Repossession of territory by Israel from Palestinian control; Description of the fighting between Palestinian youths in Beit Lahia and the Israeli Army; Controversy over the Israeli military presence in crowded neighborhoods.

Reports that the impasse over Palestinian leader Yasir Arafat is likely to muffle a renewed vow by U.S. President George W. Bush to achieve peace between Israelis and Palestinians.

Reports the offer made by Palestinian leader Yasir Arafat to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to begin diplomatic negotiations in January 2003.

Relates the views of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon on the stance of European states concerning his country's conflict with Palestine.

Reports on a series of violence between Israel and Palestine, including the charred body of an Israeli who was found near a West Bank village on January 3, 2003.

Reports on the release of the principal of a Palestinian school in the West Bank that was founded to teach coexistence, by Israeli security forces.

Offers observations on terrorist attacks against Israeli targets in Kenya. Details of a hotel bombing and an unsuccessful missile attack on an Israeli airliner; Reaction of the Israeli government to these and previous terrorist attacks; Possibility that terrorist groups may be luring Israel into an escalated role in the United States' war against terrorism.