March 20th

Erakat Warns Pa Could Fall Apart If Peace Fails To Break Out This Year
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP)
March 20, 2008 - 6:23pm

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM: Senior Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat warned Wednesday that failure to reach a peace deal with Israel this year could lead to a collapse of the Palestinian Authority. "If we fail to produce an agreement in 2008 ... we may disappear," Erakat said. "The impact will not be limited to Israel and the Palestinians," he warned. "Watch the region."

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Palestinian Rivals' Talks 'fail'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bbc News
March 20, 2008 - 6:21pm

Talks between rival Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas have collapsed, Palestinian Authority and Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas has said. Both sides blamed each other for the failure of the discussions, which took place in Sanaa, in Yemen. Mediators called for Gaza to be returned to the control of a national unity government and new elections. Fatah and Hamas admit their feud is damaging the Palestinian cause but will not yet compromise, correspondents say.

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Mccain Backs Israeli Reprisals In Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
by Ian Deitch - March 20, 2008 - 6:19pm

Touring a war-battered town, Sen. John McCain said Wednesday he understands Israel's tough response to Palestinian rocket fire, adding that there is no point in negotiating with the Gaza Strip's Islamic Hamas regime. The Republican presidential nominee-in-waiting also praised the moderate Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, saying he is committed to reaching a peace deal with Israel — though McCain is not meeting Palestinians this time.

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Israeli Offensive Boosts Hamas In Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Financial Times
by Tobias Buck - (Opinion) March 20, 2008 - 6:14pm

Hamas, the Islamist Palestinian group, has emerged from the recent Israeli offensive against its stronghold in the Gaza Strip more deeply entrenched and with broader public backing than before, according to independent analysts and a poll published this week.

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March 19th

A Tobias Buck opinion in The Financial Times suggests that recent Israeli offensives have only helped to strengthen Hamas in Gaza (1). The Associated Press reports that US Presidential candidate John McCain supports Israel’s recent operations in the Gaza strip (2). Senior Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat warns that the PA could fal apart if peace fails to break out this year, reports the Agence France Presse (4). The Kuwait News Agency reports that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has refused to approve any bills coming through from the Palestintian Legislative Authority (7). An editorial in Haaretz argues that the formation of a new peace coalition could invalidate Shas (9).

Racist? Us?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Avirama Golan - (Opinion) March 19, 2008 - 7:32pm

The television interview conducted by Orly Vilnai Federbush on Monday with Dmitri Bogotich - the head of a local "neo-Nazi gang," who later fled to Moscow - constituted good journalism under conditions of real risk. But more than the conversation revealed a violent criminal, it revealed the authorities' weakness in dealing with the case.

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Stalemate Is Increasing Hamas' Popularity
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star
by Rami Khouri - (Opinion) March 19, 2008 - 7:31pm

The likelihood of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks making real progress this year is very slim, but that does not keep the parties from meeting and making hopeful statements. US President George W. Bush's planned trip to Israel in May looms for many as a critical moment when any progress toward a permanent peace accord will have to be clear.

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Caught In A Vicious Cycle Of Violence
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Middle East Times
by Alon Ben-meir - March 19, 2008 - 7:28pm

The killing by Israeli undercover troops of four Palestinian militants in Bethlehem on March 12, raises questions not as much about Israel's right to self-defense but about the context and the circumstances under which this right is exercised. Even the right to self-defense and matters of national security must be balanced against the prevailing conditions.

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Mccain Supports Israeli Response
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bbc News
March 19, 2008 - 7:26pm

US presidential hopeful John McCain says he understands Israel's response to rocket attacks by Palestinian militant groups. Mr McCain was speaking in the Israeli town of Sderot, which has often been hit by rocket fire from the Gaza Strip. "No nation in the world can be attacked without responding," he told reporters. Mr McCain, a Republican senator who looks set to become the party's presidential candidate this autumn, also called for progress towards peace.

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Jailed Palestinian Barghouthi Eyes P.a. Leadership
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Media Line
by Media Line Staff - March 19, 2008 - 7:24pm

Jailed Fatah leader Marwan Al-Barghouthi is not ruling out his candidacy in the Palestinian Authority elections for chairmanship, he told an Italian news agency.   "When a date is agreed upon for the presidential elections, I'll make the appropriate decision," he said through his lawyers.   Barghouthi is serving five consecutive life sentences in an Israeli jail for his involvement in terror attacks against Israelis.   According to a recent poll conducted by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research (PCPSR,), Barghouthi has a better chance of beatin

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